Incredible Guidance ~ Try this!

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Chanting to become a man/woman 

of UNLIMITED SELF EXTEEM

Whatever it is that you are suffering from...whatever it is, it has a common root and this way of prayer will have a deep impact!!

...You can analyze your situation all you want. You have to get to the bottom of why "I don't believe in the greatness of my life". You have to grab it by the roots and yank it out of your life. 

You must chant to AWAKEN TO YOUR OWN GREATNESS!

Chant to appreciate and value your own life!

Your mission as a Buddhist is TO BECOME HAPPY! NOT TO MASTER SUFFERING!!!

We all have negative and positive voices in our heads... one says "Who are you kidding?" and the other says "You can do it!." Which voice will you listen to? Which will you tell to just go away? It's your choice! You HAVE to fight not to give in to your negativity. It is the ULTIMATE win you MUST HAVE! This is not about being a writer, artist, actor, etc. It's about becoming the person you always wanted to become, a person who values and appreciates his/her life at EACH MOMENT! A person who revels in being who they are! 

I am living proof that this is possible. I am enjoying every single moment of my life and appreciating myself every second of every day. I am producing excellent results at work...and loving it! I am so happy in every aspect of my social life....especially those aspects that have challenged me so completely for my entire life. I have just seen my two Buddha boys go off to college, and YES, I do feel the sadness of the changes of time...the passage of a phase of my life. My little Ben is never going to come running across the field with his arms outstretched and jump into my waiting arms...but I have a life so rich and exciting that I am feeling the loss, I'm present to this moment of poignancy, but I am not laid low for very long before I spring into the excitement of my next exciting encounter.  The guidance I am sharing this evening is part of the reason I am flourishing. 

THE OBSTACLES YOU FACE ARE THE ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYER!

Those feelings of self-doubt, those feelings of "I am a failure"....or "I am NEVER going to change this"...THOSE are the feelings you have to address and fight head on! YOUR TALENT IS NOT BEING QUESTIONED....it's about how you feel about yourself! THAT is the karma! You have to value your own life! You have to appreciate it!




Unless you conquer those feelings you will not break through to the happiness that is YOUR BIRTHRIGHT ! You deserve to be happy! Chanting to REALIZE THE MAGNIFICENCE OF YOUR LIFE WILL HELP YOU TO SEE IT!




It has nothing to do with someone else validating you! Follow your heart! Chant to feel your own magnificence! THAT is what will move mountains in your life.
Chant to Do your human revolution!




You need to follow your heart, truly treasure your life. When Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon, he was already chanting daimoku, and out of the greatness of his life welling forth in the realization that he had tapped into the key to happiness itself, he inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon for all humanity, so that every single person could attain enlightenment, relieve their suffering, and be HAPPY! When you sit in front of the Gohonzon you have to have the most reverence for your life. The Gohonzon is the universe within you. It is the beautiful life state you can call forth by chanting in front of it. If you chant for at least two weeks to really be a man/woman of unlimited self esteem and to REALLY, TRULY appreciate your life, including your flaws, your accomplishments, your defeats, your losses, your victories, all you have created, and truly APPRECIATE YOUR TALENT AS________________ for at least two weeks then EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE.




Forget about all the garbage in the past. Put it away! From today on really chant to be a man/woman of unlimited self esteem!

This is part one, but a very good start! Make your determination and chant NOW!!!

Learning Gongyo

Hello!

I spent the afternoon teaching Gongyo. Gongyo is the recitation of the Lotus Sutra (just two of the chapters) that we recite every morning and evening at our altars.

It is a very deep cause we make for our lives. It is a recitation of the actual words of the Lotus Sutra...the words of the Buddha (and remember, he didn't start expounding the Lotus Sutra until he was 72 years old...that is SO inspiring to me!)

When you recite Gongyo you are speaking the words of the Buddha. I like to think of it as a renewed declaration that you know you ARE in fact, The BUDDHA!

When we recite Gongyo it has absolutely precise pronunciation and rhythm. Once you master it, you can do Gongyo with anyone, anywhere in the world...but the most important thing I can tell you is this:

Learn Gongyo correctly!!! Make a determination to absolutely master it so that you can teach anyone, and you can master your own life. It is one of the very first things to do when you begin your practice, and I promise it will make a difference in your life. I will always be grateful to Terri Wong, my District leader in San Francisco. At one point she led the way and all of us took every syllable and got it absolutely right. That is the reason I can be such a good teacher today. I can lead Gongyo anytime anywhere and feel totally confident...because early in my practice I sat down with a pencil and the gongyo book and learned it. I treated it like learning music and circled the parts I found difficult, and wrote the phonetic spelling of anything I found tricky. And it is tricky!

Gongyo is a sacred rite. When you do Gongyo and chant Daimoku (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo over and over) you are joining the microcosm of your life with the macrocosm of the universe. It is a sacred rite, and honor, NOT a duty! When you view it in that manner, living itself becomes a sacred rite...and your problems melt away. You see them instead as part of your mission, not your burden. These are important distinctions.

And the point of this blog is THIS:

It is easier to learn Gongyo correctly the FIRST time, then it is to RELEARN what you've gotten wrong. Learn it perfectly and you won't be sorry. make it a determination for your own happiness and watch your life so beautifully unfold!!!!

Wow!!! Four comments on the last blog post!!!

Thank you for your comments!!! I love hearing from you!!!

And to answer your questions:

No, you do not need to wait until you have a Gohonzon to start chanting, but you will want to get one as soon as you can. The only way to do that is to go to meetings of your local Soka Gakkai district. It's easy to get connected. All you have to do is go to SGI-USA.org and look up the community center closest to you (search on the nearest big city) and give them a call. If you have any problem at all getting connected send me a comment and I will do all i can to help you! It's important to connect with the people close to you who chant...they will become like family to you...just wait! It's awesome.

~And to start chanting without a Gohonzon you can still set up an altar or your sacred space. Pick a place in your home that you feel comfortable, that doesn't have too much traffic and is not in front of a window. Decide what you are going to sit in, chairs are fine...I like a really comfy one! And hang a picture on your wall that has a focal point.

When I first started chanting I had a picture of Mono Lake with a beautiful moon over it and a beautiful blue sky. I put the picture a little higher than my line of vision and focused on the moon.

I chanted that way for about two months...and was overjoyed when I got my Gohonzon!!!! Think of your altar as your "home base". Treat it just like YOU want to be treated. Keep it clean, put food on it...some put fruit, or something you like to eat. One of our new members puts her favorite candy! I like to burn candles on my altar. Some burn incense, but it makes me sneeze! Then you're ready to chant away! Chant away!

And the question about where I got my Butsudan...I got it at my local Community Center but I have my eye on another one I'll tell you about soon!

I have been chanting so much Daimoku...about 5 hours over the last two days. Good thing too....the challenges at my new job keep coming...but finally I feel more composed and better able to take them on. And both of my sons have had a string of challenges so I am chanting so hard for them. A matter of the heart has gotten me all fired up and I feel as if I can chant all day and all night! I love it when the fire burns!

Do I get everything I want Right Away? Where's My Benefit!

The real thrill about being a Practical Buddhist and chanting Nam Myoho REnge Kyo every day is this:

Even when I don't get what I want...I get what I want. When I keep chanting, and keep focused...what I want is always on its way. The challenge is to not let my own doubt and negativity overshadow things.

Right now I am chanting with appreciation for my life, for being able to chant and for knowing, that NO MATTER WHAT I will be victorious is all areas of my life. I base my life on reading Daisaku Ikeda's writings, encouraging my fellow members and the readers of my blog. My entire life is tied to helping others be happy, and living as an example that NO MATTER WHAT, I will win in all aspects of my life.

Has everything "finished" in my life? No! And it never will! Am I enjoying the process along the way? YES! When you base your life on the mystic law it is possible to even enjoy your own sadness...because you see it for what it is...fuel for the fire of your Daimoku (chanting).

And because you can always turn poison into medicine...NOTHING will ever stop you.

I had a friend in Japan who always used to say "I love it when I get BIG PROBLEMS! Because I know that a BIG BENEFIT is on its way!"

He is so right! As long as you keep chanting, keep reading President Ikeda's guidance, and keep encouraging people...you can't lose.

And if you are at the beginning stage of chanting...just face the Gohonzon and pray about what you want. You deserve to be happy. Don't ever listen to the people who tell you that you don't deserve to be happy....you know you deserve happiness and you have ALWAYS known this. Tap into your life force of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Be fearless. Make your glorious life overflow with benefits!