Turning Poison Into Medicine and Building Fortune in Our Lives

A pond on my daily walk - can you see the koi fish? 

In For Today and Tomorrow,  Daisaku Ikeda's passage for today, July 25th reads:

"Buddhism is, in a sense, 
an eternal struggle 
between the Buddha and demons, 
in other words, 
a contest between positive and negative forces. 
If we are never assailed by negative influences, 
we cannot be said 
to be truly practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. 
Buddhist practice 
lies in bravely facing and overcoming adversity." 

I feel so fortunate to be practicing this philosophy. I mean, our perspectives on life, as Nichiren Daishonin's practitioners is so completely POSITIVE. We greet problems themselves as benefits. There is nothing that cannot be turned into a positive. Every single challenge you are facing, if you truly FACE it, and chant about it, will be turned into a benefit for your life. This is the essence of the principle of "turning poison into medicine," one of my favorite Buddhist concepts. 

Yesterday was a sparkling day for me. In the morning I was on the radio talking about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and I'll share the link so you can listen. Then I got further good news and I sprang out of my chair in happiness, and felt a little pop in my calf and fell onto the rug and was really a bit upset. I called the doctor's office and they said to go the emergency room. (Yikes!) I called my son Aaron, who just finished his first year in medical school, and it was my great fortune that he had changed his plans to take a long bike ride downtown because it was too windy. He was available and came right over. 

We talk about the term "FORTUNE" in Buddhism. "Fortune" is something money cannot buy. Fortune is gained through assiduous Buddhist practice. Fortune is being in the right place at the right time. It is things that just work out in your favor as if the protective forces of the universe, the "shoten zenjin," as we call them, are truly looking out for you. In reality, fortune comes from the human revolution we have all undertaken through chanting every morning and evening. 

(I have mentioned before that one of my greatest fortunes is that when my son chose the BEST medical school for his life, it happened to be the closest Medical School to my house. That is fortune. Money can't buy that!)

So Aaron came over and looked at my leg and assured me that I did not need to run out to the emergency room, and that it may just be a bit of a pulled muscle that will entirely heal on it's own. (Several years ago I did go to the emergency room with something that turned out to be a new allergy to a food, but felt like a heart attack. That cost me almost $2,000 in fees even with insurance!)
Needless to say I was very happy not to have to go to the hospital yesterday. I spent a nice afternoon on the patio with my son instead, and hosted a great SGI District Meeting last night. Today my leg does feel better.  

Our ongoing, daily practice of Buddhism reveals itself in benefits every moment of the day...it is up to us to be aware of them. 
What problems have you had that you have turned into benefits with your practice? 

I'm sure the readers would love to hear. 
Please email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com and send a picture too. (Or I can publish anonymously if you wish) 

PowerPrayer for Releasing Resistance to Change

This post contains one of the most important PowerPrayers. I think many of us (me included) have what many religions call "attachments" to the way we see things, and the way we think things ARE. 
To really be able to change our lives, we have to be courageous and willing to release fear of the unknown and step into change. 
Last fall I was reading Louise Hay's seminal book You Can Heal Your Life. This is a book I have kept close to me ever since discovering it many years ago. Louise is an amazing human, one of the people I most revere. In the 80s she was one of the first to work with people with AIDS.  She is also the founder of Hay House Publishing which publishes Doreen Virtue, another of my favorite writers. 

So I came across the affirmation "Release my resistance to change." and I thought "Wow, this is really powerful. What would happen if I chanted this way?" And I tried it. Immediately my life shifted drastically and I was given the time and space to write my Treasure Map of PowerPrayers for you. 

I warn you! This prayer, along with chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo may shake up your life a bit. But if you are courageous and you have a strong practice (meaning you chant every day, twice a day, are connected to the SGI, and are going to meetings, study President Ikeda's guidance and the Gosho and encourage others to chant), you might be as appreciative of this powerful prayer as I am! 

Please let me know how this PowerPrayer works for you. I deeply appreciate all your letters and posts. I will be using many of your testimonials in the book. You and your feedback and support are crucial to helping this book and blog reach people who are looking for solutions...seeking Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Your efforts at sharing this blog and emailing the link to people, liking the Facebook page "Chant for Happiness" and sending me your thoughts are so important! My email is chantforhappiness@gmail.com. 

Power Prayer 

for 

Releasing Resistance to Change

I chant to release my resistance to change 
and to be willing to change from the inside out. 

I am now open to changing in any way 
that will help me to be a shining beacon of light and hope 
to myself and those around me. 
I now find the experience of change deeply pleasurable! 
I love it. 
I love the sensation of changing 
and becoming a happier and more beautiful person 
and inspiring 
that same kind of change in everyone in my life.
My inner wisdom and intuition is blossoming. 
I can hear it, 
I trust in it, and I love to see the effect in my life! 

Our Lives are Our Own - Power Prayer for Increasing Confidence

How do we gain confidence in the power of our own lives? 
On what do we base our decisions? 

Practicing Buddhism is a process that enables us to better know our desires and continue to refine them day after day after day. Our continual process helps us to hone who we really are and instills in us the confidence that we CAN HAVE what we truly desire. 

President Ikeda says in Faith and Action (in the Self-Reliance section), page 65:

"Our Lives are our own. 
It is not for someone else to dictate to us 
how we should live. 
All that awaits those who allow themselves to be continually swayed by what other people say or do 
is unhappiness. 
We simply need to have the self-belief to be able to say: This is right. 
This is the path I will follow. 
I am content." 
Happiness is born from such inner fortitude. 
Moreover, those who earnestly devote themselves in accord with the mystic law 
cannot fail to realize lives of total fulfillment." 

How do we develop this core of self belief? 
We can chant for it:

Power Prayer for Increasing Confidence:

Life! I am determined to increase my confidence in my own life. I am determined to tap into the core and essence of my life itself, and bring the full wisdom and power of my life into everything I do. I am determined to know exactly what I want and chant to fulfill it. I am a votary of the Lotus Sutra and I will make my life shine like the sun! I am determined to use every breath of my life as a beacon for good, and to be a light for others along the path of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
  

Dreams do Come True

We're headed off to swim with the manta rays, the puppies of the sea. Here's a picture of the sandbar off Grand Cayman Island where the rays come to hang out with people. They are big and friendly. When I came here in 2011 I vowed I would bring my son Ben back with me because I knew this was just the kind of thing he would adore. And here I am, setting out in a few minutes. I feel great! I've been eating a plant-based whole food diet since November 14th and I feel healthy, vibrant and alive. Not to mention all my clothes either fit or are a little big. That's the way I like to begin a cruise. I'm taking my computer and will continue blogging.
This trip is actual proof. 
We can be happy and make our dreams come true. 
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!