A Special Blog for my Loyal Readers

Today is a special day for me. 

It has been a year since my son Ben first got sick. Some of you have followed his progress closely both through this blog and through emailing me directly to voice your concern. Many of you have been chanting for Ben. 

My appreciation for YOU knows no bounds. Surely we have all been friends lifetime after lifetime after lifetime. You are my cherished friends. 

This is a photo I took this weekend of Aaron (left) and Ben (right) joking together. It makes me so happy to see this. 

This year has changed me. I have chanted more daimoku than I've ever chanted in one year. I have summoned appreciation for having an obstacle SO BIG that made me chant so much~! And Ben is doing great. 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo WORKS! It absolutely works. 

Whatever you are dealing with just do not give up. Do not give up! 

The Most Powerful Prayers to Get RESULTS ~ Part 1

Faith and Attitude - Part 1

Written by By SGI-UK Advisor Mitsuhiro Kaneda, UK Express March 2000

(Reprinted from the Facebook Page, The Power of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo)

Today I’d like to talk to you about how to make your prayers as effective as possible.
Firstly, it is very important to set clear goals. If you are sick, your goal will be to get better as quickly as possible; if you have problems with human relationships, you will want to get over these as soon as possible; and if you have financial difficulties, then of course you should be setting goals accordingly.

Once you have decided on the goal, the most important thing to do next is make a strong determination: ‘Whatever happens, I absolutely will attain that goal’. A firm determination like this is very important. The next stage, of course, is prayer. And after chanting daimoku, the next step necessary is to take action in order to realize your goal. Of course, after we’ve done all that, we know what the effect will be: actual proof. If we do not achieve the goal we have set then, in certain cases, we may need to review the determination, set a new goal, and once again strive to achieve it.

Why we need to pray:

There are three reasons why we should pray. Firstly, so we can have the same wisdom as the Buddha. Secondly, so that we can have life-force, in other words the energy, the courage, to take action. Thirdly, so that we can benefit from the protection of the shoten zenjin, the Buddhist ‘gods’, the protective functions within the universe.

One point I’d like to make sure that you really understand, is that the shoten zenjin only start to take action and protect us when we ourselves undertake action. So, in order for us to achieve a goal, we need to act. We need to move. We need to make efforts. And it is important that our actions and our efforts are the best we can possibly undertake. To ensure that our actions and efforts are efficient, we need wisdom. Furthermore, if we are to attain the goal we have set ourselves, we need to make constant efforts – and we also need courage.

So we pray to the Gohonzon to have the wisdom to take the best, most efficient action possible; to have the life-force to make constant efforts; and to attract the protection of the shoten zenjin when we take an action. However, even if we chant ever so hard, it will be very difficult to boil that pot of spaghetti unless we take action. And to make sure that we not only boil the spaghetti, but that it is al dente, we need wisdom and we need experience.

Quality of prayer

The quality of our prayer is also extremely important. For example, someone who is sick may simply pray to overcome their illness. Or they may pray to regain their health in order to fight for kosen rufu. There is a very big difference between these two types of prayer.

To take another example, suppose there’s a couple who have been unable to have children, despite trying for a long time. While they may be chanting to have a child as soon as possible, what are their reasons for wanting a child? Are their reasons purely personal, because it would make them happy, because they want to have children? Or are they chanting to have a child do that they can bring this child up to become someone who will be a capable person for kosen rufu? There is a huge difference between these two in terms of quality of prayer.

The reason it is very important for us to focus on the quality of our prayer is that President Ikeda has said that true and sincere prayers for kosen rufu (not prayers aimed simply at justifying our own point of view) will be answered without fail.

To be continued in the next post

Written by By SGI-UK Advisor Mitsuhiro Kaneda, UK Express March 2000

The More You Focus ~ The More Powerful Your Life!

When we chant we are doing something very important. We are tuning our lives to the rhythm of life itself. We are calling forth the harmony of the spheres from within our lives and using our determination to focus on what we want to create or to change. 

The focus you bring to bring to this sacred ceremony of communing with your life force is very important. In the last week I have received emails from people who have told me they chant at work or in front of the computer. I appreciate these people for having the sincerity of heart to write to me. And I had to tell them that chanting this way will not bring the human revolution they are seeking. 

If we are serious about changing our lives, if we really want our desires fulfilled and to live in a state of appreciation we just have to put our lives first and our practice FIRST in our lives. 

This practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo should take place twice a day, every morning and evening with our full concentration. No cell phone, no texting, no television, no driving. Nothing. Focused concentration while intoning the name of the mystic law which has always been within our lives. We ARE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but if we treat chanting in a casual way and only chant in the car...it will not resonate as deeply in our lives. 

Two members in my district recently started chanting consistently twice a day. They are so excited about the changes in how they feel and how their environment is responding to them. It's truly something you have to have to experience; no one can explain it to you !

What can you do starting right this very second that will deepen your concentration and focus? What can you commit to yourSelf that you will do? 
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I always say that the more I "work" at my practice, the less I have to "work" in life. And the work you put into this practice comes back into your life in so many marvelous ways! Don't trust me on this...it's something you have to experience for yourself! 

As Daisaku Ikeda states:

"It is not a question of your environment, 
those around you, 
or what the organization or leaders may be like. 
To be swayed by such externals is pointless. 
It all comes down to one person: you. 
What matters is that you become a brilliant beacon, 
shining with joy and happiness, 
and live your life with confidence and courage. 
If you shine with radiant light, 
there can be no darkness in your life."

Faith in Action, P. 8

P.S. I am accepting experiences for the book. If you'd like to submit one for us to review please send it to chantforhappiness@gmail.com

What you Focus on Increases

It is so easy to think of all the things we want to change in our lives. It is so easy to focus on what we don't want, rather than concentrating on all of the good things, in our lives and in ourselves. I received some positive feedback this week about one of the blogs postings. 

A reader wrote me to tell me that she'd made a sign for her Butsudan that says: 

What you focus on increases. 

It is true. 

When I give my talk "Change Your Words, Change Your Life" I begin by telling this story:

Great Quotes from President Ikeda about focusing our minds

Sunrise from the Ship Today

I am really looking forward to chanting in appreciation this morning. 

It is so easy to blame our environment for our unhappiness and discontent. But as President Ikeda says in "On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime"
"Grumbling and complaining are the principle gateways leading to general doubt and disbelief. Even if we know that such behavior is wrong, we may find ourselves doing it in spite of ourselves. Should grumbling and complaining become habitual it will act as a constant brake on our growth and cause us to forget about advancing and improving ourselves. When that happens, we effectively close off our own potential, falling into the path of seeking the law outside of us." 

Grumbling and complaining take many forms. For some it is a form of hopelessness, and looking at what is NOT working. When all you see is what is not working, or changing, and you continually focus on the care and troubles of life, that is all you see. That is what is in your radar screen. What you DON'T life amplifies. When you focus on what you DO like, and what IS working, no matter how small, you get more of what you want, and you start seeing the positive everywhere. And you're happier!
You get more benefits and happiness from focusing on what IS working. I promise. Try it.  

Please remember that whatever is going on in your world is YOUR OPPORTUNITY to grow. 
The things you think of as problems that come at you from the environment can be fuel for your growth, fuel for your determination to reveal your own Buddhahood and create your own happiness. It is up to you though, to determine this for your own life...

Putting the fault on your environment is easy. But not helpful! You are a Buddha. Dig deeper. Get to the root source of your suffering. You do not have to figure it out. Just chant to change it. 

President Ikeda also says:

"Because our practice of faith is aimed at attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime, it is absolutely essential that we have a solidly focused mind or attitude when chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It is like trying to shoot an arrow: without a clear target, we will not draw the bow with any real energy or determination. In the same way, our prayers can only be realized when we replace vague yearnings with concrete determinations and confident daimoku to definitely accomplish what we hope to achieve."

Focused Concentration

When SGI members chant, we focus our eyes on the scroll written in Japanese characters called the Gohonzon. 


I will go into the significance of the scroll at a later time. 


Right now I want to address our attitude while we chant. 


I've mentioned that I chant an hour every morning. Yesterday I decided to chant that hour without moving from my seat, without checking my iphone even once, without getting up for any reason, or even writing anything down. I glued my eyes to the beautiful scroll in front of me and let my desires flow. I chanted for my life to be a brilliant, shining example that this practice works, and for me to be able to inspire all of you that you can achieve ANYTHING, any HAPPINESS you desire. I chanted for the core of my life to strengthen immensely. 


And I realized how hard it was to just stay focused without interrupting my flow. It was hard! But I DID it. And I'm going to continue doing it. Everything else can wait. That hour communing with the universe is the most important hour of my day! It is the hour for the microcosm that is my life to connect with the macrocosm that is the universe. 


I am chanting for focus and concentration...and to increase my capacity in all areas of my life. 


You can chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for anything you wish!!! 

See if you can deepen your connection while you are chanting. You are, after all, connecting with the source of your power and happiness!


Have you experienced a level of deepening connection? 
Tell me about it! Write me at silversunsinger@gmail.com