Just like this sunflower...
We Shine!
The speech I gave on Thursday was incredible...and my daimoku powered it all. I spoke to 260 of my peers ~ people who are in the field of helping seniors. It was a great success.
(As always, I am a 30 year SGI member, and I write these posts from my heart to yours. They are not official SGI posts.) You can now get these posts delivered to your email by putting your email in the box to the right
In preparation for this speech I chanted the same way I do for every SGI meeting, using my 3 Keys below:
3 Daimoku KEYS
for Incredibly Inspiring Meetings:
by Jamie Lee Silver at Chantforhappiness.com
1. Chant for every single person to be so inspired by this meeting that their life will never be the same.
2. Chant that somehow...THIS meeting ~ each person hears exactly what they need to hear to change their lives forever, inspire them beyond all measure, and help them to live lives of victory inspiring others.
3. Chant in Great Joy!
In The Heart of the Lotus Sutra, by Daisaku Ikeda, (page 195) he states: "President Toda went so far as to say that unless great joy wells forth while praying to the Gohonzon then one's faith is not correct. When we experience such joy, a great flower of benefit blossoms in our lives." He goes on to tell us how to build our own joyful spirit: "Faith is taking spirited action. When we do so earnestly, our hearts become light and filled with momentum. Pessimism is alien to Buddhism. Taking action on the side of justice brings joy. Let us cheerfully, joyfully and brightly advance along the path of our conviction."
Yes. I chanted with these 3 keys in mind during the weeks leading up to the speech. Afterwards, people said it felt like we were all sitting in a living room together. Many participated by sharing their thoughts. It was like a lively Buddhist discussion meeting, For the rest of the day, many thanked me for my words, with glowing and happy faces.
In the speech itself, I spoke about the research that proves that life gets better as we get older. The brain actually improves. We can collectively switch our focus to all that is going RIGHT as we get older, and away from what could go wrong. We get what we focus on.
The latest research proves, scientifically, that our mindset/our focus can add 7.5 years of satisfaction to our lives.
I told stories about the studies of Ellen Langer, Becca Levy and others who have proven that "positive age stereotyping" makes a difference. People who do not buy into the current "mysery myth" of aging, and instead choose to see aging as a time of flowering, of new hope, of advancing, are more likely to take better care of themselves, eat better, move their bodies, join clubs, live in healthy, satisfying ways. What we think, and how we express ourselves makes a huge difference!
I presented Buddhism in non-Buddhist terms. Our positive causes create positive reactions. We can go into our later years with strength, vigor, excitement and continue to live dynamic and fulfilling lives. Growing older happens, declining is optional.
And I talk about the importance of consciously choosing our words. Our words express our thoughts and become our reality. We have choices. We can either be "overwhelmed" ~ or ~ "In demand" it is up to us. By saying we are overwhelmed, we become a victim of our circumstances. By saying we are in demand, we are important, and we get to choose where we give the gift of our time and energy. It's up to us. Our words don't just describe our lives, they predict our lives. We choose our lives when we choose our words.
For an entire hour, I held that room in the palm of my hand. They participated; they joined me and contributed their ideas. At the end, they cheered! Magnificent!
We can all have this impact in our lives, in our environment, in every place we go.
I am more inspired than ever to use my words to uplift and en-courage! Just like all of us can do...every single day!
