Friday, October 10, 2014

Focusing on The Positive Brings Results

Noriyo's Sunset Over Tokyo 
(Noriyo is my friend from YWD days in San Francisco)

My speech yesterday went very well. 

There was an 88 year old man in the audience who had such wise words for us. He said, 

"No matter what's going on in your life 
there is a bright spot in it, 
and as long as you focus on that bright spot 
the brightness will increase 
and take over the darkness." 

What a beautiful way to express what I talk about in my speech - "What we focus on increases." We have the power to bring more joy, and love and light into our lives if we focus on the positive. 
It works the opposite way too, doesn't it? 
I have known people who constantly complain...constantly complain and don't even realize they are doing it. 
I saw a meme yesterday that said 

"If you constantly complain, 
you will always have something to complain about." 

Isn't that the truth? 
We need to steadily focus on the light, on the positive ~ 
and keep chanting to elevate our life condition. 

I chanted strong and focused Daimoku yesterday. I poured my heart into chanting for my mission for kosen-rufu and the light coming through me to touch other's lives, and to not be deterred by anything or anyone. 
And I had a great and uplifting day. 

Sensei's guidance for October 11th is: 


"It is important 
to have a sufficiently elevated life-condition 
so that you will be able 
to calmly accept whatever happens in life, 
striving to put problems into perspective 
and solving them with a positive attitude.
Happiness blossoms forth 
from such a strong and all-encompassing life-condition."


There is light in all our lives, there is a silver lining in every cloud. Just as my 88 year old friend said yesterday, focus on the light and it will grow. Every time we chant we are focusing on the light. We are all making steady, continual progress!  

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

We Are So Much More Powerful Than We Know~ !


Tomorrow at 10:30am I'm giving a free speech at the Riverside Public Library. (In Riverside Illinois) 
All are welcome! 
The title is:

Growing Bolder
Tools and Techniques for Thriving at Every Age
Presenting the Latest Research that 
PROVES life gets better as we age,  
and our attitudes, actions and language 
all play a part in living with more 
Happiness, Strength and Vigor 
than ever before!

This speech encapsulates what I truly believe, and have researched and lived my entire life ~ that we are responsible for creating our own happiness, and that OUR HAPPINESS IS IMPORTANT. When we thrive ~ when we live fulfilling, happy contributive lives, our energy is contagious. And now there's scientific evidence that this is true. 
Science is really coming a long way to support the things that I have long believed, but had no evidence to support. 

Science now proves that emotions are contagious, and we really ARE as old as we think. People who embrace getting older with a spirit of optimism live longer, happier and healthier lives. I also present my own insights on how our language determines our lives, not just describes our lives. 

Our WORDS MATTER! 

I tell a story about a time when I was in the car with my babies and the car just stopped in the highway...in the cold rain in San Francisco. At that moment I had a decision to make. Were we going to have a "disaster" or an "adventure"? I chose adventure! And me and my two little boys aged 4 and 2 at the time had so much fun that we even got to ride in a tow truck! We laughed and laughed. We have the choice to frame our lives by our language every single day. 

We can be "overwhelmed" and a victim of our lives, or we can be "in demand" and important. The choice is up to us! 

I've been giving this speech quite often lately, and I weave stories about the wonderful senior living community that I represent into the speech. 

I prepare for every speech just like I do every Buddhist meeting. I chant that every single participant will hear something that changes their life and outlook forever...I chant that they leave with their cells rearranged and with more hope and vigor than ever before! 

All my Buddhist training as a youth division member, a meeting Emcee and a District Leader are being put to good use in the world. 

I owe so much to my practice and the SGI!  


Monday, October 6, 2014

PowerPrayer to Demand your Results! You are the Buddha!


Sometimes we have to get mad when we chant! 
Lions ROAR! Lions ROAR! 

When we are chanting we are chanting 
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to our own life, and sometimes we have to chant with this thought:

 "Life! Enough is enough! I am changing this karma NOW."

Some of you have written me that you are feeling hopeless and controlled by others. 

RISE UP to your life in front of the Gohonzon (scroll that reflect our highest life potential) and DEMAND results now. 

We are all noble Boddhisatvas of the earth. 

In The Heart of the Lotus Sutra, Daisaku Ikeda writes:

When we do gongyo "we are in effect vowing to advance kosen-rufu in accord with the spirit of the original Buddha. Every day we pledge to the Daishonin, "Without fail, I will believe in and spread the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin and help lead all people to enlightenment." 
page 150

And to fulfill this vow, we have to win in our lives. 
  
Each of us has some negative tendency that happens over and over, don't we? For me, I struggled for years with a feeling that would just overcome me, and wash over me like a wave. Out of nowhere I would feel unloved, unlovable and hopeless. The voices in my head were penetrating and awful!
And when I got this feeling sometimes I would think it was real...that I really was unloved and hopeless, and then I'd pick up the phone to call Kate (my dear friend in faith) and she would remind me that this was my fundamental darkness arising once again. This feeling was a function of the fundamental darkness within my life and within all of life, and this was AGAIN my time to summon up the power of my faith. 

That's why I say BE FUELED BY YOUR OBSTACLES, not FOOLED BY THEM! 

"Get MAD at the shoten zenjin!" Kate would say. 
(Shoten Zenjin are the protective forces that counterbalance fundamental darkness. We use our practice to increase the shoten zenjin and banish fundamental darkness.) 
And I would generate some angry energy, roar like a lion and use this PowerPrayer inspired by Kate - it totally changed my life:

PowerPrayer to say, 
"No More! Enough is enough!”
I change this negative function NOW! 
By Jamie Lee Silver from ChantforHappiness.com

I am chanting with 
absolute conviction in the power of my life to declare and demand:

No more of this karma 
of feeling insecure and doubting myself.

No more of this karma 
of being abused or disrespected by anyone or any thing!

No more doubting my own Buddha Nature!

No more living in fear!

No more feeling unloved or hopeless.

No more ________________ (you fill in the blank.)

I now create _________________________________in my life starting now.

I don't CARE how many times I have to chant about this. I don't CARE how many times you try to bring me down. 

I MUST Win because I am a votary of the Lotus Sutra. I am living my life to prove that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo works and to help others become happy. 

I will win!!!

I am the Buddha.
I am roaring with power in my life!
I now determine with all the power vested in me that I will___________________________.

The wisdom to take the actions to create this breakthrough comes to me now!




Thursday, October 2, 2014

PowerPrayer to Overcome Our BIGGEST Obstacle!



What do we do when we have a problem that looks like it is bigger than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo? 
(The rhythm of life itself - l
earn more about chanting by clicking the SGI-USA link to the right) 

Have you ever had one of those? 
When you think to yourself...
"Oh well, all those other Buddhists, 
they've never seen THIS problem." 
And although you have seen results from your practice, year after year, somehow you think THIS problem is different. THIS problem is too much for the Gohonzon. In your heart you know that nothing is more powerful than your prayer...but also, in your heart, you are struggling to summon absolute faith that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo can overcome THIS one? 

What do you do? 

The answer to this question lies in our SGI organization. It is precisely for this reason, and many others, that we practice together. 

When I was facing a problem that seemed impossible I consulted a friend in faith who said:

"This is just another opportunity for your life to stand up and tell your fundamental darkness who is BOSS. This is just another WAVE, just another WAVE. You MUST stand up to it. You must chant with the conviction that there is no other way than your victory. You must summon that conviction from within your heart." 

Okay.... 

And I chanted with absolute conviction that my prayer...this very moment was EXACTLY the breakthrough I needed to solve the problem and to END MY SUFFERING over the problem. 

And I have felt renewed confidence and vigor ever since. 

Whatever you are facing...It is just another wave. Stand UP to it!

PowerPrayer for 
Overcoming Our BIGGEST Problems
by Jamie Lee SIlver from Chantforhappiness.com

Read this before chanting and summon your inner conviction. These exact words are not important - the strength of your chanting and your heart IS important! 

Life~ !!!
Fundamental Darkness ~ doubt ~ fear ~ 
that exists in my life and in the lives of others
YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO
THIS Daimoku, 
right her, right now  
is obliterating my fundamental darkness and the world's fundamental darkness 
and clearing the path for ______________________. 
I claim my victory
I claim my life
I feel Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 
flowing from within my life 
to all around me. 
I shine like the sun
I show proof of this victory right now
I will win over this problem 
and I use this experience to help others~!!!
RIght here!
Right NOW
I VOW TO WIN~ No Matter what!  

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Human Revolution = Loving Ourselves MORE AND MORE!

YES!

Every day, every SINGLE DAY, in the morning and the evening we chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (meaning "I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration"). 

We chant, we focus, we pray. We bring forth the power of the Mystic Law of the entire universe within our lives. It is always there...by chanting we tap into that law. And it responds in complete union with the power and conviction with which we chant, and how we connect with the power within our lives. 

This is what is most important for me. President Ikeda says over and over that we must be natural when we chant, that we must share our heart. Our chanting is communing with the unlimited self we all are...it is our reaching into the vast universe that we are, and summoning forth that power to use however we want to channel it. 

We must chant for exactly what we want! 

We are so fortunate to have this tool, this ultimate tool. 

At this time I am using this tool to bring forth the ultimate, most magnificent, most wise and wonderful self I possibly can. I am chanting to experience the deepest love I have ever felt...for my own life! And I know that this prayer will show up in all ways in my life. 

A few weeks ago I shared that I am chanting to the Gohonzon (Gohonzon = the scroll we chant to that is a reflection of the highest life condition we can possess, and is also our own selves, our own potential) as if I am in love with it. I am falling more and more in love with my own life...the most powerful place to be! 

I have so much else to share with you and I am headed out the door to a conference...I will write more soon. Until then...how much can you summon love for your self...for your own precious life, for your body, your heart, your mind and spirit. How deeply can we love ourselves? 

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Secret to Achieving Your Human Revolution by Daisaku Ikeda:


With the world in such turmoil, it is important for each of us to keep our life conditions sky high. The best way to do this is to follow the formula we all know that will lead us to success:
1. Chant Abundant Daimoku
How much is this? As much as you can do. My minimum is one hour every morning, and whenever I can, I chant much longer. It all depends on my challenges at the moment. If my problems feel overwhelming I summon up conviction and chant as long as I can. 
2. Study the Works of Daisaku Ikeda and the Gosho by Nichiren Daishonin
Study always brings wisdom to light and helps us focus when we're in front of the Gohonzon. 
3. Go to Meetings 
Yes, this is where we connect and magnify our own good fortune and encourage others. 
4. Do shakubuku!
It's easy. I carry around cards I give out at every opportunity...especially when people are helping me in stores, or when I'm just chatting with a stranger about anything. I love in the Midwestern part of the USA. People here are very friendly. It's easy to spark up a conversation any time. 

Below is a very powerful PowerPrayer from our Mentor Daisaku Ikeda: 

The Secret 
to Achieving Your Human Revolution

"Pray that instead of devils 
or negative, destructive forces 
infiltrating your being, 
Brahma ("Bonten"in Japanese),
Shakra ("Taishaku" in Japanese),
and the gods of the Sun and the Moon
~ the positive, protective forces of the universe ~
will enter your life!
Pray that they will enter the lives 
of all members in your region
and the entire membership of the SGI, as well.
If you do this, 
your strength will multiply 
a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
With such prayer,
with such faith, 
you will realize a fundamental transformation
in the depths of your life. 
This is the secret to achieving your human revolution."

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, World Tribune, 9/8/2000



Tuesday, September 23, 2014

True Faith by Vice President Tsuji


Note: I have been chanting with deep love for the Gohonzon, and in apology for slandering my life for not loving myself as much as I could have, and I deeply feel the effects. This guidance is perfectly in line with that! 
….True Faith, by SGI VP Tsuji….
(Thank you Bina for posting this on SGI Barbados)

I would like to talk about true faith today. It is important to advance true faith.

Gongyo is directly related to your life. There are three things directly related to sustaining life. One is to eat and rest. It is important to consume nutrients and to get adequate sleep. These two are easy to understand and everyone does them. You don't quit eating or sleeping because you are unhappy with someone.

But when it comes to doing Gongyo there are those who quit doing their prayers easily. It is because they do not realize that Gongyo and Daimoku are directly related to sustaining their life. You can improve your destiny by chanting Daimoku. Your karma will further deteriorate with out chanting. If you do not chant your destiny will revert back to your former bad karma. It is like reverting back to your former state of having a weak intestinal system or back to poverty. These types of changes are not easily recognized. This is why people get lazy with their daily Gongyo and Daimoku. This is a frightening thing.

There is a phrase in the Gosho, English Gosho page 81, 

"There is no true happiness other than upholding faith in the Lotus Sutra." 

But do you really do your Gongyo with this conviction?

You must feel that it gives you the greatest pleasure to do Gongyo and Daimoku. There is phrase in the Gosho that emphasizes that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest of all joys. To be wed is a joyous thing. But Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a greater joy. To save millions of dollars may make you happy. But Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is even more enriching. To finally renovate your home after many years of waiting may bring you joy but chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is better than that.

Finally getting a child after many attempts may be a joyous occasion but Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is more joyous than that. Look into your hearts to see if you are chanting with this type of gratitude. Are you receiving 100% of the benefits that the Gohonzon would like to grant you? I feel that most of you are just receiving 10 to 15% of what you could be receiving.
With this type of life condition you will lose to obstacles and deep karma.
Why do you receive benefits when you chant to the Gohonzon - and why do you continue to chant? If you chant only to overcome a specific illness will it only cure that illness? If you chant for the success of your business, will you only become successful in business? It is not such a limited practice.
The Gohonzon is telling us it can elevate our life to the highest level, equal to the Gohonzon. There is a passage in the Gosho, "hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us." You should chant with deep gratitude to the Gohonzon for granting you the same life condition as the Gohonzon.

As you continue chanting you yourself will embody Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. There is another quotation from the Gosho page 216, 

"Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless Kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate law of life and death."

If you doubt whether this Gosho is true or not you are already separated from your Gohonzon. Because you think there is a difference your connection is weak. Therefore your benefits are diminished.
There is another quotation from page 832 of the Gosho, 

"Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." 

As stated in this Gosho Nam-myoho-renge-kyo exists within us. But for some reason it is very difficult to manifest Nam-myoho-renge-kyo or we can not seem to bring it out. That is why we are mere mortals. Then how can we manifest it in our lives?
We can bring it forth by just vocalizing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
You may see cherry blossom and feel how beautiful it is. You may see a full moon and enjoy the moonlight. You may see a cockroach and feel disgusted. By seeing these things you feel these types of life conditions.
You may be moved by hearing beautiful music or be motivated by hearing President Ikeda's speech on tape. You achieve these through your ears.
You're related to your Gohonzon through vocalization. That means by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo out loud you bring forth your Buddhist life force.
There is a phrase in the Gosho that states that your voice brings out Buddhahood. As long as you chant Daimoku you bring out your Buddhahood. It will explode from you.
If you are conned or robbed your life will burst with anger. If your life is filled with worries and suffering you may commit suicide. If you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you can change a life filled with such suffering, anger or poverty and overcome your problems.
There is a Gosho phrase on page 412, "What sickness can therefore be an obstacle?"
For those of you suffering with poverty there is a phrase on page 1137 of the Gosho "...those who now believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten thousand miles away."
We recite in our Gongyo, "Jiga toku burai" or "Since I attained Buddhahood". It is that crucial that we chant with conviction. To think that someone else will grant you Buddhahood is wrong. You must act yourself.
I visited the Kawai residence in Fukui Prefecture of Japan to give guidance at a meeting being held there around February. Mr. Kawai who is now 51 years old had been blind from three years old after contracting measles. I told him, "You have eyeballs don't you? If you have eyes then you can open them. This Gohonzon is the Gohonzon of "The Opening of the Eyes".
"The Opening of the Eyes" teaches us to see clearly. And yet you can not see - it must be because you did something against the Gohonzon and the Buddhist teachings in your past. You must have committed great slanders in the past. 

Ask the Gohonzon to please forgive your slanders. Express your gratitude to have had the fortune to meet the Gohonzon in this lifetime. 
Pledge to dedicate your life to Kosen rufu. 
Ask the Gohonzon to allow you to see the Gohonzon, your family and others around you so you can contribute towards Kosen-rufu." 
I asked him to pray in such a way.
In the beginning of March, I received a message that he regained his sight after almost fifty years. Through his experience the whole Fukui prefecture has revitalized itself. It is such a surprise that one person regaining his sight can have such a great impact on an entire region.
But what I wonder about this incident is why he couldn't regain his sight sooner? He was a member who offers his own home for meetings, never missed his Gongyo and had strong faith. Yet why wasn't he able to see sooner. It was because his attitude when doing his Gongyo and Daimoku was incorrect. His faith had gone off track.
You must pray earnestly, "Isshin yokenbutsu fujishaku shinmyo" or "single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha". You must chant with gratitude and conviction that you will become one with the Gohonzon and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. There is no such thing as a sick or poor Buddha. Therefore all worries will be resolved. That is why you can achieve human revolution. Only human beings are able to achieve these things.
In May 22nd when I visited Okayama Culture Center a young mother came to me for guidance. She was concerned about her two year old son who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. This disease causes shrinking of the muscles until it affects even the internal organs until it results in death. I told this mother that it was her karma to suffer over her child. On the Gohonzon it is written that things are supposed to prosper and grow, then what is it that such a thing as shrinking happening? It must be because of the horrendous slander she committed against the Gohonzon. Pray that the two of you will work together as mother and child for Kosen rufu so please cure the disease. The Lotus Sutra is like a like a plague that spans past, present and future. The Lotus Sutra can even help a person who has passed away to achieve enlightenment. Your child is still alive.
It is natural to transmit the Lotus Sutra to your child. There is no sin that can not be eradicated by this Gohonzon. Your worry is not the result of your current slanders, it is a result of slanders in your past life. It is a slander from your past life that you can remedy in this life. Parent and child are one. Pray earnestly.
This mother was sort of a complainer and insisted that her son was named by President Ikeda and that he was a fortune baby. I told her that President Ikeda will name a child at a parent's request but he can not change your destiny. It is up to you to change your own karma and destiny.
I got a message from her afterwards that her son began to run without falling after three days. She was shocked at how great the Gohonzon's power was and how happy she was. Her son could now play on the slide and kneel by himself. He no longer had nose bleeds when he ran. As she continued practicing and her son got healthier, her husband began practicing earnestly too. For this mother who used to complain that she was suffering and had to practice because of her son, her attitude changed 180 degrees to gratitude towards her son for helping her to practice. Her practice changed from one of complaint to a practice of gratitude. With this as a turning point all her prayers were then answered and her wishes fulfilled.
Each time I hear such experiences I truly comprehend how great the power of the Gohonzon. To be able to receive guidance to change our life is the benefit of having the organization. In the end what our attitude is when we face our Gohonzon is the most important thing.