When You're Down - Just Keep Chanting

(I share these posts as a fellow SGI member, not in an official SGI capacity. (Although I love the organization and strongly encourage you to follow the link to the right to find out more! If you'd like to subscribe to the blog please enter your name at the right)

Sometimes life seems to hit you from all sides all at once. I'll just bet you know what I mean. We call this sansho shima, (the fundamental darkness in life) and we know our problems are tailor made to strengthen our lives. We know this. We know we can turn any poison into medecine. 

But we are human, and occasionally we get a little down. 
When I woke up this morning I felt heavy with worries. I went for a walk and sat down to chant. For the first 15 minutes, I had very unsatisfying chanting (Daimoku). My mind was full of "What if I did this? What if I do that? Maybe I should..." I was attempting to strategize my worries away. But I know this is not the most powerful way to chant. I knew I had to get back to my lion's roar of Daimoku. 

"Help!" I thought. And I reached for a recent World Tribune (that's the SGI newspaper in the U.S.), and found this quote by my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda. He was quoted in Gitima Sharma's experience from the April 20th, 2015 World Tribune.
"The daimoku (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) that we chant...is not a weak, imploring pleas for something. It is a lion's roar that reverberates with all our being, and is powered by making a personal vow, setting our minds on realizing it and aligning our lives with the fundamental law of the universe. Ther is no force stronger or more sublime." 
Gitima goes on to state in her experience, "With the roar of a lion, I prayed: I will shine as President Ikeda's disciple and use my education to advance kosen-rufu."

And I went back to chanting in front of my Gohonzon. Once again realizing I am a Buddha. 


After this, I chanted another hour of hope-filled dynamic Daimoku to change any part of me that could be limiting me in any way. I chanted to fulfill my vow to use my talents for kosen-rufu.
I chanted in appreciation, and I chanted for kosen-rufu, and every member and all my friends...especially a dear friend in the hospital. 

And I ended my morning chanting feeling refreshed and ready for the day. So the moral is, if you feel stuck chanting and strategizing don't give up. Reach for a quote of Sensei's and chant until you feel satisfied and strong!