We are ALL Interconnected - Each Nam-myoho-renge-kyo COUNTS!

"We need to awaken 
to a common consciousness 
of all being inhabitants of Earth. 
This consciousness is not to be found 
in some distant place. 
It will not be found on a computer screen. 
It lies in our hearts, 
in our ability to share the pain 
of our fellow human beings. 
It is the spirit that says: 
“As long as you are suffering, 
whoever you are and whatever your suffering may be, 
I suffer also.”

Daisaku Ikeda, Ikedaquotes.org
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We are Boddhisattvas of the earth. We feel these words deeply in our hearts, as so many people around the world also do....when we see the pictures of the refugees, and think "how can I help?"
There are many ways we can help, and we can also help in our prayers. 

Years ago I put a picture of a boy who had been burned in the Iraq war on my altar, and chanted that somehow my prayers would reach this one child, (and all else who were suffering), and bring him some sort of relief and help. One day a member was chanting with me and she saw the picture and recognized the boy. She told me he'd been airlifted out of Iraq and brought to Canada where they were giving him the finest care possible. 

Sometimes when we see all the problems and all the suffering we feel it's out of reach, and that we can't help, but we can help. 

We are all interconnected...we know this intellectually, and being Buddhists, we also know this from experience whenever we chant for someone's happiness  - we see and feel the result. 

We are all here right now for a reason, chanting for peace, chanting for happiness. We have to know, that even if we do not see the direct result today, and even if some of our prayers are not "answered" right away that every cause we make has an effect. (I use "answered" in brackets because no one is answering our prayers in the commonly thought of way - that of some outside force giving us the answer. We ourselves ANSWER our OWN prayers when we do our Human Revolution and change from within.) 

And every Daimoku has an effect...EVERY Daimoku is a cause.We must not give up, no matter what! 

That is something we must all engrave in our lives. No matter what, keep chanting!