Inspiring Poetry For You

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your letters, emails, cards and notes. You are so kind, and you warm my heart. 

Today, I'm here at Riva's Restaurant in Navy Pier in Chicago to meet a friend from out of town. My computer is almost out of charge.
Today my friend and I will take a boat ride. The last time I was out on Lake Michigan it was with my Ben. 
Life has not quite gotten back to normal, or the "new normal" as we are saying, but I'm more determined than ever to have my life, and Ben's life make a difference. 

I already feel it happening, and it will be my ongoing determination. 

I know that life is eternal, and I know that all our lives make an incredible difference. You know, I was born on the 22nd, September 22nd, and 22 has always been my lucky number. Ben entered his next journey on the 2nd of July at the age of 22. How about that? And his life has already made a huge difference. Soon I will be able to post his entire life ceremony for those of you who missed it, and want to be a part of it. 

He brought over 700 people together in the celebration of his life  ~  making new memories,  celebrating our community and joining together to honor an excellent human being. Already he is continuing to make an impact. 

Both yesterday and today I gave my "Growing older, Bolder, BETTER" speeches and will start full time back to work tomorrow.  It makes me so happy to give these speeches that change people's lives. I will get one of them up on here for you as well. 

For now, I want to share some poetry with you that meant a lot to Ben. 

I found this in his writings from around 6th grade: 

I Want an Adventure

I want and adventure 
I say to myself. 
I want to walk miles
Without any stop. 

I want to climb trees 
And see all that's about. 
I want to set out 
Either north or south. 

I want to shout
On the top of a ridge
I am Free
I am Free
And whisper among the trees. 
I see all, but no one sees me. 

By Benjamin Lee Silver



Thank you for sharing this journey with me!
Jamie Lee Silver
17w702 Butterfield #104
Oakbrook Terrace, Il 60181

Joyously ~ Forever On

Thank you so much for all your emails and letters. It is wonderful to receive real mail from real people and not just bills! My address is at the bottom of this post. 

My dear friend Joy read this poem at Ben's Life Ceremony. She said he'd written it himself, through her pen, that very day: 

Joyously ~ Forever On 

What was missing was the rock, 
A place for me to stand.
A place for me to look 
Over the vast land.

But I was sucked down to the bottom
Of a canyon steep and dry
I saw dark chamber walls
As I gazed up at the sky. 

I could hear all of you calling
"Ben, Ben, come on."
But the echoes tore my ears to shreds 
As my hope was all but gone. 

I was locked up in a cage
And I caught a glimpse of light
My heart opened up a bit
And I actually felt just right. 

Now in endless open space
The bars and dark are gone.
All that lies is endless plains
And the horizon - rising sun.

The chains broke off
My heart did sing.
The lightness finally 
joy did bring.

I run like wind.
I write my songs.
I compose poems
All day long. 

I sprinkle smiles 
on Mom and Dad.
Aaron too,
And the clan.

My sparkly eyes 
see broken hearts
But live on 
Yes, you can.

I'll show you how
For blessed with light
I'm with you anytime
Day and night.

I'll touch you
Hug You 
Sing you songs

All while I run 
Joyously
Forever 
on 

Jamie Lee Silver

17W702 Butterfield #104

Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

Change to Link Address! Ben Silver's Life Celebrations LiveCast Links. Please Join Us!

We are Live Streaming Ben Silver's Ceremonies Tomorrow 
July 12, 2015

Please join us as we celebrate Ben's life. 

Times are USA central standard time. 
We will then post permanently on Youtube.

Below is the link and time for each ceremony:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chant-for-happiness

Join us for : 

Ben Silver’s Buddhist Ceremony (10am) -

Ben Silver’s Life Celebration (1pm) 

What is Nichiren Buddhism? What is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo?

What does Nam-myoho-renge-kyo mean, 

and why do we chant it? 

By Jamie Lee Silver of ChantforHappiness.com - 
Not an official SGI site

(Subscribe by putting your email in the box to the right. 

Translate button is at the top right.)

The literal translation is:

"I fuse my life 

with the mystic law of cause and effect 

through sound vibration (or sutra)." 

It is the title of the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha's highest teaching that declares that ALL people possess the Buddha Nature...all people ARE Buddhas...and we can access this nature by calling it forth in our lives using this phrase. 

Being a Buddha - 
is tapping the river of life that runs through ALL life - summoning the mystic law 
by realizing 
we ARE the Mystic Law. 
We not only chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ~ 
we ARE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ~the Mystic Law. 

I like to think of it as "I am one with the rhythm of all life." It is the rhythm that exists within all of life...the reason for the turning of the tides...the reason for the seasons...the atoms that exist within every single cell...from an elephant to a spec of dust...to the cells in our hearts and minds. Everything possesses this connectedness...this rhythm.  
It is all encompassing and contains the wisdom and energy of all of life itself...the whole universe. 

When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we tap into that energy and access it for our lives...directed towards our desires and for the fulfillment of happiness for all. In this practice, it's okay to have desires. More than okay! We don't have to alleviate them. Desires make us who we are and lead us to chant. 

When we chant we change the internal life within our lives. We change the core and fiber of our lives. We change our karma. And when we make that internal change, our ENVIRONMENT (meaning everything that is not within our own skin, our jobs, our relationships, our sense of self, everything we experience and think) ALL of that changes to reflect our internal change. We call this "Human Revolution."

When we chant we harness the energy that is our birthright. And we chant twice a day, every single day, to get and keep our lives in rhythm. 

When we are in rhythm we are in the right place at the right time... to find out about and get the job...or to meet the man of our dreams...or to protect our child from danger. When we are in rhythm life isn't so much of a struggle as it is a joy...we see the beauty in everything and we feel our lives overflowing with appreciation. 

We chant for something and get it or something better. We get access to internal happiness and strength that cannot be blown away by any event or obstacles. 

In fact we view obstacles themselves as benefits, as strange as that may sound....because obstacles make us chant more, and when we chant more we draw even higher life conditions and deeper satisfaction into our lives. 

What can we chant FOR? Anything. We chant for others, we chant for our planet, our countries, and ouselves. 
We can chant for whatever our desire may be...even if it might not be the "right" desire for us. In the act of chanting, we will change our karma and our desires themselves will naturally begin to shift. We will open our lives to the deeper wisdom within...the deeper yearning, the REAL desires that we have forgotten or given up on. We will grow. We will prosper and we will blossom. 

We will gain the wisdom of the right action to take - because ACTION springs from wisdom. 

The challenge is...we need to DO it. We have to chant to bring all this rhythm and harmony out. And that's why we practice together as an organization, the SGI, The Soka Gakkai, our fellowship of friends who support each other, chant for each other, and create a new Soka family for each practitioner. We are so fortunate. 

I hear from people all over the world, and some have strong SGI groups in their towns and others are completely alone. I love that we can connect through the power of the internet. From the moment I began chanting almost 30 years ago I have had the deep desire to share this practice, this practice that WORKS, with everyone who is looking for the real, practical means of creating happiness and results in their lives. 

We are in this life together...sharing our challenges and our successes. If you are not yet connected to the SGI please go to sgi-usa.com and find your local members. You will be so glad you did. 

Some Powerful Quotes from Daisaku Ikeda:

THIS moment, this instant, is important, 
not some unknown time in the future. 
Today, this very day is what matters. 
You must put your whole being 
into the time that exists now. 
For future victory rests in the present moment.

BUDDHISM holds that 
everything is in a constant state of flux. 
Thus, the question is 
whether we are to accept change passively 
and be swept away by it, 
or whether we are to take the lead 
and create positive changes on our own initiative. 
While conservatism and self-protection
might be likened to winter, night and death, 
the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize 
the ideals evokes the images of spring,
morning and birth.

DO gongyo and chant daimoku with a fresh spirit. 
And, filled with renewed vitality, 

build a history of accumulating fresh benefit.

Coping with Loss by Daisaku Ikeda, Based on the Buddhist Parable

Sorry there's no picture. Aaron's using my computer to make a video and my computer is not happy about that!

Aaron and I have been staying together for this week. A good friend took him to a baseball game on Tuesday. He looked around and thought "Every single one of these people is carrying a loved one who passed away with them here today. I am not alone in my grief. They got through it. So will I" 

Coping with Loss

by Daisaku Ikeda

The impermanence of life is an inescapable fact. Yet while it is one thing to know, in theory, that each moment of your life may be the last, it’s much harder to actually live and act, on a practical level, based on that belief. Most of us tend to imagine that there will always be another chance to meet and talk with our friends or relatives again, so it doesn’t matter if a few things go unsaid.

But whenever I meet someone, I try to extend myself to them to the utmost, for that may be our last encounter. I never leave room for regret, aiming to concentrate my whole being in each moment.

Buddhism identifies the pain of parting from one’s loved ones as one of life’s inevitable sufferings. It is certainly true that we cannot avoid experiencing the sadness of separation in this life.

Shakyamuni, the Buddha who lived in India over 2,000 years ago, lost his mother when he was just one week old. As he grew up, he always wondered, “Why did my mother die? Where did she go? Where can I go to meet her? What is this thing ‘death’ that has robbed me of my mother? What, after all, is life?”

His sorrow at the loss of his mother became a powerful driving force which enabled him to have deep compassion for others and to seek the truth of life.

One day he met a woman whose child had died; she was wandering about in a grief-stricken daze with the tiny body clutched to hers. “Please give me some medicine to save my baby,” she begged Shakyamuni, her eyes red with tears.

He knew the child was past saving, but wanted somehow to encourage her. He told her to fetch some poppy seeds so he could make medicine, but only to collect poppy seeds from families which had never known bereavement.

The woman hurried off into town and called on every household. But although many had poppy seeds, there was not a single house in which there had never been a death. The distraught mother gradually came to realize that every family lived with the sadness of lost loved ones quietly concealed somewhere in their hearts. Through this experience she realized she was not alone in her feelings of grief. 

Daisaku Ikeda, 

From Ikedaquotes.org 

Having a Determined Spirit is Everything!

At the starting line of the state Cross Country Meet

Ben is the first in a white jersey from the left

"An awareness and understanding of death raises our state of life. When we are cognizant of the reality and inevitability of death we begin to seek the eternal, and become determined to make the most valuable use of each moment of life."

Daisaku Ikeda from Ikedaquotes.org

Everything is coming together for an inspiring tribute to Ben's life on Sunday. And you can be there! We are doing a live web simulcast!  We are going to have it real-time on the web so we'll let you know how you can actually be there for the ceremony. 

The Buddhist Ceremony will take place at 10:00 Central Standard Time, and his Life Celebration will be at 1:00 the same day, Sunday, July 12th. Both will have music, video and stories of Ben's Life. 

We are planning to memorialize Ben's Victorious Spirit in a number of ways. We will have a bench and tree in the park right by where we lived. Before we moved from San Francisco to Chicago I chanted for a park in walking distance - where no one had to cross the street - and got it - Whitlock Park in Downers Grove. This park has a running path Aaron and Ben spent many hours running on - and I walked this path over and over.

We are also talking about having the Ben Silver Memorial Mile. Every summer this running community (hundreds of young men and women and their families) will come together and run or walk for a mile on the High School track and then share some time in the American Legion Hall. This is where the team met for a joyous Cross Country Team Banquet every year. Prior to this, there has been no yearly reunion, and Ben's life will change this. We are also looking into other ways to memorialize his great spirit. Send me your ideas! 

Ever since he died, one week ago today, I have thrown open my doors and have had a constant stream of visitors to hug all of us, and to tell us their stories about Ben. 

One coach said he coached seven Olympic athletes, and NONE had the drive and energy Ben did. Ben ran in the state cross country championship three times, more than any athlete at the High School (that's what we understand to be true). The point is he "ATTACKED" every course as if it were the last race he would ever run. People I'd never met used to come up to me at races and ask "Are you Ben Silver's Mom? I came out here today just to watch him run. There's something about watching Ben Silver run. It's so compelling." I think it's because he went full out. He gave every race his all. 

And he gave his other endeavors his all as well. His poems...his songwriting...his acting when he was younger. I posted the original song he performed before a live audience the other day. I know the sound quality is not good. I can post the words if you'd like. They are actually hilarious. 

I am keeping my spirit strong through Daimoku. 

I have not given up one ounce of courage, conviction and strength. Through my sweet boy's death, I am determined to use my life force more fully for the happiness of all. I am fighting for kosen-rufu (a world of respect for all) with all my might. I am determined that no family should ever have to suffer what we've been through these last few years with Ben's illness. Somehow we must find a cure for Schizophrenia. And change the way it is treated. My mission for spreading the word about this incredible Buddhist practice burns more deeply in my heart. Thank you for sharing this blog with others. I will continue using my life to inspire, as I know you are all doing as well! 

Right now Aaron is using my computer to make a video for Ben so it is difficult to answer emails, thank you for your patience! 

You can send written notes, etc., to 
Jamie Lee Silver at 
17w702 Butterfield apt. #104, 
Oak Brook Terrace, IL 60181
I am chanting for you ALL to be inspired, more inspired than ever through Ben's courageous life! 

PowerPrayer for Turning Grief into Determination

Ben and Aaron

You know, the main thing is always the same: 
do not be discouraged and do not give up. 

I have been thinking of you constantly and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration - this one phrase is the basis of Nichiren Buddhist practice) that not one of you gets discouraged because our beloved Ben died. Believe me, I am cycling with every emotion...from appreciation to sadness to anger to wonderment. 

But not for a moment am I discouraged. No. I am more 
en-couraged than ever. I feel the power in my Daimoku so strongly. I am chanting to encourage all of you through my words and actions. 

The past few days I have been busy designing two ceremonies...one Buddhist ceremony and another Life Celebration. I would love for you to share your ceremony ideas with me at chantforhappiness.com. 

Ben's Life Celebration that will be incredible. His Life IS an inspiration.

I think the entire town of Downers Grove, Illinois will turn out. We will be standing room only. 

For the past few days I have had a steady stream of visitors through my doors...all telling stories of Ben's incredible drive and inspiration. He was the kind of runner who pushed other runners to be their best and was respected by all. Part of his Life Celebration will be giving people the time to take the mic and tell their stories about Ben. I am really looking forward to that with all my heart. 

Tonight as I was chanting I was writing a PowerPrayer for You. PowerPrayers are meant to be read before chanting, and their determinations can enforce the power of our connection while we are chanting.

Here it is:

PowerPrayer for Turning Grief Into Determination
By Jamie Lee Silver of ChantforHappiness.com

Life!
Now is the crucial moment of my faith
Now I must muster up more faith than ever before!
I MUST see the value in this death somehow. 
Through my beloved one's death I am determined to understand the eternity of life and death with my life...not just my intellect. 

I know within the depths of my heart that this, 
even THIS, 
is the answer to my prayers. 
And part of my true mission in life. 

I am determined to create value at every moment...for me...for my family...for my friends...and for every person who has ever lost a loved one. 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 
I am STILL the fierce lioness for my loved one
I am Still fighting for the happiness of his/her eternal life. 

With every Daimoku I am changing his karma and renewing my vow for kosen rufu (world peace through individual transformation). 

From this moment on I am transforming his karma, and mine! 

In my love one's next life time he/she will be free to soar! 
He/she will be able to FULLY EXPRESS every talent.

My loved one will come back into this world, 
or the world of their choosing, 
hearing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
My loved one will have a house filled with Daimoku, laughter, and happy Buddhas. 

My loved one will have a clear, healthy mind, a strong healthy body, and a steady, strong determined spirit. 
All my loved one's greatest strengths will remain!
While the prior struggles are erased by my Daimoku.

My loved on will live a life with no regrets...in the sun...in the warmth...in a happy environment. 

My loved one will know peace, absolute happiness and fulfillment.  

My loved one's life, and death makes a difference. 
May my loved one's struggles and triumphs inspire the world! 


If you wish to contact me please email me at Chantforhappiness.com or write to Jamie Lee Silver at 17w702 Butterfield #104, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA, 60181