This morning, at 6:22am, there is a gentle breeze in the air, no clouds in the sky and I'm feeding the baby ducks and thinking about the significance of this sunflower blooming in my garden.
The interesting thing is ~ I never planted this lovely flower. As a matter of fact, when it started growing I almost cut it out because I thought it might be a weed. Then a few days ago I looked at it before it opened and realized I had my very own sunflower...my first ever. How could this be? I didn't plant it. Then I laughed as I realized that I toss sunflower seeds to the ducks almost every day, and it had taken root all on its own.
It's a lovely metaphor for something we call "Inconspicuous Benefits. There are two types of benefits. The first are the ones you chant for and achieve. Boom! There they are. You get the job, you get the car, your health improves, etc.
The second kind of benefit is called "Inconspicuous" because you can't see it at first, but then, at some time in the future, it manifests just when you need it most. Inconspicuous benefits can manifest in emotional resilience...one day you may wake up and say "Oh how wonderful, I am no longer feeling sad...or mad...or frustrated...or full of anxiety. Or you may be in tough financial straights but keep discovering new sources for money flowing into your life. Or you may avert an accident. Inconspicuous benefits grow and grow over time.
You know, this Sunflower on my patio makes me really happy! It reassures me that YES, the things I am chanting about that have not yet happened...they are surely on their way. And I should not and will not give up hope.
It is the same in your life. I know its hard sometimes when what you chant for doesn't magically appear. We all want immediate benefits, don't we? On this day of America's Independence, the day after the full moon, and the day of Jamie's Sunflower please continue to have hope. And strive in faith harder than ever. Do gongyo twice a day. You win in the morning and you win in life!
Muster your faith harder than ever. When you chant please tell your life what you must have. Please realize that whatever you are still suffering from...whether it's a love affair, school plans, health problems, an unhappy family member, depression, looking for a job etc....please realize that your problems are the exact fuel you need to become happy. If you didn't have these problems maybe you wouldn't sit down in front of your Gohonzon so earnestly every day and chant. And remember that every Nam Myoho Renge Kyo you chant goes deeply into your life. Every Nam Myoho Renge Kyo you chant is a CAUSE for your own happiness...whether you see the manifest effect today or tomorrow, please realize that you have made the cause and the effect simultaneously, only you might not see the effect today. Don't give up hope. As Nichiren Daishonin writes in "Letter to Niike"
"For example, the journey from Kamakura to Kyoto takes twelve days. If you travel for eleven but stop on the twelfth, how can you admire the moon over the capitol?" He also says, in the same Gosho: "Strive even harder in faith and never give in to negligence....be diligent in developing your faith until the last moment of your life."
We DEVELOP our faith. We BUILD it. PLease realize that the harder you strive in faith, the easier your life gets. I know this is true with my very life.
Happy day of independence!
Gardeners typically call those plants that just magically show up "volunteers". Not only is it a metaphor for inconspicuous benefits, but could it not also be interpreted -- as the plant world's answer to NMRK - aggressively seeking to solve problems of existence, be one a plant or a human ....
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