4 Steps to Overcoming Unhappiness ~ and a PowerPrayer to Defeat Despair

This post is in answer to a question I got from a reader yesterday. 

She asked if I ever feel despair, and what do I do when I sink into that feeling?

And yes, even Buddhas (like you and I), who have been chanting for many years still get occasional moments of despair!  Every time I feel a moment of sadness I think of all of you, and my district members, and I make a new VOW to overcome my karma (and propensity toward depression) once and for all by ripping it out at the roots. This is Human Revolution...never giving up. I must pave the way for others, just as you are paving the way for others through every one of your fresh determinations.

Welcome to the new Era for Kosen Rufu. Some of you made your goals for November 18th, others are still chanting for the ourcome you desire. 
As Sensei says, the important thing is to keep chanting. 

There are several steps I recommend for when you are battling to WIN over your own despair ~
1. Chant
2. Call someone who encourages you 
and read Sensei's writings.
3. Make a fresh determination and a new vow
4. Chant again and win! 

I will pass along some wise words from my dear friend Kate who overcame her lifelong depression: 

She says that when you are making huge causes for Kosen Rufu it is natural to get obstacles in the form of emotions, and that once again your karma has shown itself to you anew so that you can once again determine to root it out forever. 

She also said at the core of our suffering is the fact that many aspects of our environment reflect our own deep seated feelings of self doubt and of not being good enough...but our preseverance will change this. 

She said our environment does not yet truly reflect the amazing and wonderfully shining, worthy people we are. And she attributes that to our deep seated doubts somewhere in our lives. (karma, of course). 

We have been suffering over some of the same things for our entire lives, haven't we?  She said 
Human Revolution is HARD 
because you have to break the ties 
to your own unhappiness. 
Those grooves are familiar, and hard to break. 

The following is a PowerPrayer...some powerful words to keep in mind from time to time while you are chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo...a suggested attitude to WIN!

Out of Kate's wise words I wrote this 

PowerPrayer to Defeat Despair:

Every day I love and appreciate myself more and more. 
I see myself for the noble, brilliant Buddha I am! 
I DEMAND that all my circumstances in life 
appreciate me!  
I DEMAND that my environment 
reflect who I really am, 
not my fears or doubts of who I am. 
I DEMAND that I have the courage 
to do Human Revolution 
and to FOREVER break 
those ties to my own unhappiness. 
I am determined to stop making causes 
that bring me pain! 
I am determined to make causes 
that bring me happiness! 
Not just for me, but for everyone!
I MUST succeed 
LIFE 
No matter what! 
I choose to be happy!
I choose happiness now!  

True Happiness in Life!

What makes us truly happy? 
What is Absolute Happiness? 

I just got off the phone from an almost three hour conversation with a person I've known for many years. She is coming tonight to the meeting at my house and wants to start practicing. It is amazing how well Daimoku works. I have been chanting for shakubuku, and to meet the people who are seeking this practice. Now I will be introducing two people in one week. And truly...nothing makes me happier. 

Seeing a person embrace this practice and start the dialogue with their own life (by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) that will lead to inner transformation  ~ and outer results, is the most exciting thing in the whole world. And now she will have this tool of practicing Buddhism to pass along to the people in her life who need it! 

There are many ways of happiness in this world, but giving someone the key to their own happiness is indescribably delicious! 

True Happiness is knowing that NO MATTER WHAT trials we face, with our practice we can overcome ANYTHING! 
I feel such inner happiness...inner peace...confidence...contentment...excitement...real, true unshakable happiness. 

I will keep chanting "Bring me the people seeking this practice who want to learn, and are ready to practice. I want to end suffering on this planet. Kosen-rufu is possible! I am Kosen-rufu in action" - and so are you, my wonderful friends in faith!!! 

Victory! Actual Proof!

Mike Menard got his Gohonzon last night 

at the Chicago Buddhist Center

What a victory! Daimoku WORKS! All of us have been focusing on having breakthroughs for November 18th, right? I have been chanting for youth division...for ALL young people to wake up to the infinite potential in their lives, for them to regain hope and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo...and to be able to mentor at least one youth by Novemebr 18th. Over this past weekend I just chanted all day. I felt great and strong and my life condition was high, so I felt I already achieved a victory inside my life, but I also wanted the actual proof of my prayers so that I could inspire you!  

Well, on Sunday, shortly after a super storm roared through the Chicago area (there were four members here with me chanting at the time ~ and they helped me bring in the patio furniture so it would not come crashing through the patio doors! Such protection! Thank you my friends!) I got a call from Mike Menard, the young man in the center of this picture. He told me Kris Saunders, on the left, our Greater Chicago YMD Region leader, had given him my number. Mike said he'd been practicing for two months, had just moved to Downers Grove and was ready to get his Gohonzon! How awesome! 

We arranged for him to receive it downtown at the Commemorative Gongyo the evening of the 18th. 

Mike has a fascinating story. We will tell it all in detail soon. But for right now I will tell you he has been homeless for many years, and was introduced to the practice by a friend in Binghamton New York. From the moment he began chanting he felt the power of his infinite potential. He has been chanting every day to stabilize his life. He feels the power of Daimoku and is eager to study and learn! Tonight we enshine his Gohonzon, and tomorrow he and his brother will be attending the Downers Grove District meeting at my house. We are embracing him and are totally dedicated to him achieving his life-long dreams, learning about this practice, and using his life experience to inspire others! He has an incredibly seeking mind and feels he has come home. I remember the feeling. I remember the feeling. And I still feel it as strongly, even after almost 30 years of practicing! 

Wherever you are in achieving your goals for November 18th, whatever you do, do not give up! Honor your life, praise your life, realize you the the Buddha, you are the infinite potential of life itself and keep chanting no matter what. 

Please keep emailing me your challenges, your successes and your questions at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. I will never share anything you send me without your written permission. 

Share Your Victories and Fresh Determinations Here!

Happy November 18th Victorious YOU! 

Please share your victories with me, and/or the 35,000 readers of this blog!
Send your picture if you want, and include a line saying "Yes! You can share this with the readers!" 

Write to chantforhappiness@gmail.com

Remember that victories come in all shapes and sizes...even if we have not achieved our "goals" we are stronger and more determined to win in all areas! 

Write me about anything! I will respond. chantforhappiness@gmail.com

I'm going to go chant my first hour now, and will post more later! Cheers! 

3 Ways to Change Your Karma TODAY

At any moment we can have a change of heart that totally changes our destiny. In Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism there is no karma that cannot be changed, no poison that cannot be turned into medicine. We can all change our karma starting from this very moment. NOW. 

Three Steps to Changing Our Karma Forever:

1. First - we need to make the deep, deep determination in our hearts that we CAN and WILL change our karma, and that we deserve to be happy. 
We are all Buddhas. Every single one of us!  
It's important to stop trying to figure out WHY we have the karma (or suffering)...or blaming anyone or anything for it. Most of all we have to stop blaming ourselves. When we blame ourselves we are just slandering our lives. It is another thing to wallow in the blame and uncertainty of it. We practice Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism - we have the Hon-nin-myo spirit..."From this moment forth" we can change our lives! 

2. Next we VOW to change our karma, not just for ourselves, but for all who are also suffering. When we tie our happiness to the happiness of others our prayer is much more powerful! We are living the life of the Buddha. 

3. We can then chant to root the cause of the karma out of our lives FOREVER, and to replace it with our brilliant, shining, sparkling self. At the core of all of our lives is our shining, diamond-like Buddha nature. Much of our suffering stems from our disbelief that we are the Buddha. That is why it is so important to chant as I talked about in yesterday's post. We must reawaken to how great we are. When we chant in this manner, study the works of Daisaku Ikeda and Nichiren Daishonin and help others to the best of our ability we will definitely win in life. 

As Sensei says:

"To be concerned only with one's own happiness is egoism. To claim you care only about the happiness of others is hypocrisy. Genuine happiness is becoming happy together with others. Josei Toda said: "Just becoming happy oneself—there's nothing difficult to that. It's easy. Helping others become happy is the foundation of our faith." - Daisaku Ikeda

"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like fire. When you burn the firewood of earthly desires, then the fire of happiness - that is, of enlightenment - burns brightly. Sufferings thus become the raw material for constructing happiness. For someone who does not have faith in the Mystic Law, sufferings may be only sufferings. But for a person with strong faith in the Mystic Law, sufferings function to enable him or her to become happier still." ~ SGI President Daisaku Ikeda ~ Learning From the Gosho: The Eternal Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 91.

Demand Your Results Now! You are a Worthy Bodhisattva of the Earth!

By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we can strengthen our belief in life, and we can strengthen our faith in our own power. We ARE the universe. We ARE the Gohonzon. We ARE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! The more we chant with that conviction, the more results we get, and the stronger we get. 

Here we are ~ a few days away from November 18th! Let's use this time to strengthen our faith and our lives more than ever before. Sensei says:

"When we chant to the Gohonzon right then and there the doors of the microcosm within us open completely to the macrocosm, and we can experience a great and serene sense of happiness, as though gazing out over the entire universe. We savor tremendous fulfillment and joy, and gain access to a great and all-encompassing wisdom. The microcosm of our lives that is encompassed by the universe in turn encompasses the entire universe."

Excerpted from Lectures on the "Hoben" (Expedient means) and "Juryo" (Life Span of the Thus Come One) Chapters of the Lotus Sutra, (SGI-USA 1996)

If the above is true, we ARE the Universe, aren't we? And our prayer has summoning power. That is why it is so important not to BEG while chanting! We are not beggers. 

We are capable of summoning the power we need in all areas of our life. 

If there is any part of ourselves thinking "Oh Please..." when we chant, then we are praying to a power outside of ourselves! 

If instead, while we are chanting we are thinking: 

'BY THE POWER VESTED IN ME AS A VOTARY OF THE LOTUS SUTRA - I will make _____________happen!" and 

"I demand results in this area______________now!" and 

"I am determined to win! I WILL win" and 

"I am determined to change in any way possible to make ___________happen in my life!" and 

"I NOW manifest all the wisdom I need to take the correct action now!" 
we have so much more power! 

The Gohonzon is OUR life...not something outside of ourselves! 

We ourselves ARE the wish-granting jewel!

If we can chant without begging our entire attitude changes. We are honorable and worthy Boddhisatvas of the Earth. We are chanting for kosen-rufu and the happiness of all people. We are worthy of having our prayers answered! 

Thank you so much for sharing links to this blog! We all want to get this message out and help people become absolutely happy! 
(Please do not cut and paste the words)
Write me and I will answer all emails! chantforhappiness@gmail.com. 
I am determined to find an agent and publisher for my book PowerPrayers for Chanting for Absolute Happiness and Success. Any assistance you can give me would be highly appreciated! 

10 Powerful and Inspiring Quotes on Prayer by Daisaku Ikeda

Sensei's 10 Powerful Quotes on Prayer 

1. Prayer entails an intense challenge to believe in yourself and stop diminishing yourself. To belittle yourself is to disparage Buddhism and the Buddha within your life. 

2. Prayer is the way to destroy all fear. It is the way to banish sorrow, the way to light a torch of hope. It is the revolution that rewrites the scenario of our destiny.

3. Prayers are invisible, but if we pray steadfastly they will definitely effect clear results in our lives and surroundings over time. This is the principle of the true entity of all phenomena. Faith means having confidence in this invisible realm.

5. Prayer is not a feeble consolation; it is a powerful, unyielding conviction. And prayer must become manifest in action. To put it another way, if our prayers are in earnest, they will definitely give rise to action. 

6. Prayer is the courage to persevere. It is the struggle to overcome our own weakness and lack on confidence in ourselves. It is the act of impressing in the very depths of our being the conviction that we can change the situation without fail. 

7. Prayer is an attempt to merge the inner workings of our life with the rhythm of the universe. 
When we pray in such a way, all the workings of the universe will function to protect us and the endless cycle of painful reality will be transformed into a cycle of victory and happiness. Prayer is the key to open the door to unleach that infinite human potential within our lives. 

8. The important thing is to firmly fix our gaze on our own weaknesses, not run away from them, but to battle them head-on and establish a solid self that nothing can sway. Hardships forge and polish our lives, so that eventually they shine with brilliant fortune and benefit. If left in its raw, unpolished form, even the most magnificent gem will not sparkle. The same applies to our lives. 

9. Prayer is not of the realm of logic or intellect. It transcends these. 

10. Prayer is an act of which we give expression to the pressing and powerful wishes in the depths of our being and yearn for their fulfillment. 

"What kind of future do I envision for myself? What kind of self and I trying to develop? What do I want to accomplish in my life?" The thing is to paint this vision of your life in your heart as specifically as possible. That "painting" itself becomes the design of your future. The power of the heart enables us to actually create with our lives a wonderful masterpiece in accordance with that design. 

It is not about others. It is about you winning, and winning over yourself. By doing so, you will provide inspiration and encouragement to all around you. 

From Ikedaquotes.org

November 18th is almost here. 
Have you broken through yet? 
Send your victories to me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. Don't give up!