Power Prayer to Mend a Broken Heart

How do we mend a broken heart? 

Break ups are painful. Heart~ache actually hurts. 

Some feel it in their bellies...others feel it in their hearts. Some people can't eat...others want to eat all the time. Some can't think...and find it hard to do anything. Some have a hard time breathing and/or can't sleep at night.

We find ourselves asking "why...Why...WHY?" But we know, that even if we knew why...it wouldn't matter, it wouldn't help, it would still hurt.

So what can I tell you about practicing Buddhism and getting over a broken heart? A lot.

Do any of you remember why I first began this blog? Yes. Heart Break. I was very aware that this heart break was tapping into sadness that I had carried with me into this life...an underlying sadness that was always with me in some form or other, and had bloomed and blossomed with my broken heart. 

My heart break was also filled with regret. I was constantly thinking "If only I hadn't...if only I could turn back time." So I was mad at myself, full of regret, and suffering...a perfect opportunity to turn poison into medicine. 

Sensei says: 
"The key to victory in our lives lies in how hard we struggle when we are in winter, how wisely we use that time, and how meaningfully we live each day confident that spring will definitely come."
from The Hope Filled Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. p. 107

I decided to chant two hours a day to permanently release my life from this torment once and for all. I determined that NEVER AGAIN would these feelings overcome me. and that this Daimoku campaign would change my life forever. 

And it HAS. I am not the same person I was when I made this determination. I am stronger...I have peace of mind...I am on to bigger and better stuff. I am freed to actually live my true purpose in life - writing and encouraging people throughout the world. You see, this pain propelled me! 

And I have to say ~  I appreciate my heart ache now. It was the catalyst for the Daimoku Campaign which ended up changing my life in so many positive ways. Poison into Medicine. THAT is the promise of the practice if we have the faith to ROAR like the lions we are! 

Power Prayer to Mend a Broken Heart:

Life! I am determination to change this karma forever...I will be happy no matter what. I am tearing this sadness out by the roots. With every Daimoku I chant, I am strengthening my life at the core, so that NO MATTER WHAT I will be happy. 
Happiness is my birthright. 
I CLAIM my birthright and will get over this pain. I chant to replace my thoughts of this person with thoughts of appreciation for all the love I DO have in this life! 
I chant for peace of mind. 
I chant to transform all of this pain into positive energy for my life. And with this renewed energy, and positive proof of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ~ I will be able to inspire others. 

Remember, it's not important to know all the WHYS. It is only important to make the determination to become happy in the depths of our beings. We are Buddhas revealing the depths of our own Buddhahood.  
We must all realize that right now...at this moment when we are chanting...that we have the ultimate tool to make our lives happy forever. No Matter WHAT!!! 

Sensei also instructs us to "...transform the moment-to-moment focus of our minds." (IBID)p. 68. 

To change your focus you might want to:

Make a list of ALL THE THINGS YOU WILL NOT MISS about the person, and the situation. Keep it handy and read it often. And every time you find yourself thinking "Why me?" read the list. 
I posted bulletin boards close to my altar with pictures of all of the people I love and who love me. It reminded me of all the love I DO have in my life. It still makes me happy just to look at it.
I also changed all the songs on my ipod that reminded me of my sadness and found new ones that made me dance in happiness. 
When I really felt that I needed to express my heart I wrote in my journal about what I was feeling. That helped too. 

This time of sadness will pass. 

As Daisaku Ikeda says:
"Seen from the prespective of faith and Buddhism, everything has profound meaning. THere is no need whatsoever for us to vaccillate between elation and despair at each turn of the events. There is no such thing as a storm that will continue blowing and wreaking havoc without end. In the same way, there is no hardship that will continue forever....With the passage of time, it will definitely becomeclear that everything has unfolded in the best possible manner." (IBID p. 277) 

Strengthen your faith more than ever. 

And stay busy. 

Do any of you have stories to share? Write me at chantforhappiness.com

Chanting is a Grand and Noble Rite

In the early 1990s Daisaku Ikeda wrote a series of incredible articles that perfectly explain the profundity of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. 


I'd like to share a few quotes with you today. 


I will never forget the first time I read the essay called 
"Gongyo is a Grand and Noble Rite." It was written when Daisaku Ikeda was in Calabasas, California on February 19, 1990. 


The word "Gongyo" refers to our twice daily recitation of the lotus sutra, and chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. The best place to learn to recite Gongyo is in your local SGI meeting. And I plan on releasing a video and audio helping you to learn. It's fun to recite once you know it. It's like singing. Learning it can be a little challenging, but I have a way of teaching it that makes it easy. If you are only chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo at this point, you can still feel that this essay is for you, because chanting Daimoku is a grand and noble rite too!


"Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism teaches that our existence is identical to the universe as a whole, and the universe as a whole is identical to our existence. Each individual human life is a microcosm."


"The practice of gongyo is a grand and noble rite to achieve the vital communication of the microcosm of each person's existence with the universe, based on the Gohonzon."
 (The Gohonzon is the scroll that we focus on when we chant...I will write more about the Gohonzon later)


This part is really cool:


"The correspondence of each part of our bodies to parts of the universe is proof that our existence is a microcosm. Our heads are round like the heavens above us, and our eyes are like the sun and the moon. We close them and open them, like day and night. our hair shines like the sparkling stars. Our eyebrows are like the seven stars of the big dipper. Our breath is the wind, and the quiet breathing from our nostrils is like the still air of the valleys and dales. There are some 360 joints in the human body, and they stand for the days of the year. The twelve months. The warm, front side of our body  - our abdomen and stomach - is spring and summer. The cold, hard back is fall and winter. Our blood vessels and arteries are streams and rivers. When we suffer a cerebral hemorrhage, it is if a dam or dike has burst. Our bones are stones, and our skin and muscle are like the earth. Our body hair is a forest."


He goes on to further elucidate the correspondences of each part of the universe and how they are all governed under one law ~


"A slight change int he heat of the sun will enormously affect not only the earth but all the other planets. If the Earth's rotation were to stop for the briefest instant, or if its axis were to tilt to the slightest degree, all living things would be threatened with extinction. That is how subtle the natural order is. Furthermore an irrevocable Law of the Universe exists. This hold true for the microcosm as well...
"Nichiren Daishonin discovered and awoke to the great law of all existence that underlies all the partial laws governing spiritual and physical phenomena, and it was he who revealed the Law to humanity as Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. This Mystic Law applies equally to the universe as a whole and to each and every individual human existence. The universe and the individual are one in the mystic law."


"When we practice Gongyo and chant Daimoku (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo before the Gohonzon, our individual existence is perfectly harmonized with the universe."


"Through this practice we can acquire wisdom and good fortune and glow with the energy to overcome any obstacle throughout the four seasons, 365 days a year, we can enter the way to eternal happiness and attain eternity, joy, true self and purity."


"Gongyo is a grand and noble rite that calls forth and activates the infinite power that the microcosm inherently possesses. It transforms your fate, breaks through any apparent dead end and converts suffering into happiness. It creates transformation, a revolution of the microcosm. It is a diagram of Kosen Rufu (World Peace) in our lives."


"The Kosen Rufu that is our aim is a movement to transform the universe, the earth and human society into a world of peace, comfort and harmony in accord with the rhythm of the Mystic Law."


However, he also stresses that the actions we take for ourselves and others is very important. If all we do is sit and chant and do nothing to help others, and take no action to improve our lives our practice will not have the full effect. 


He ends with this message:


"Our faith is that every day, every instant begins from time without beginning. 
We re always setting out, full of hope, from today to the future, from this moment to eternal happiness. We are always young, always beginning. My message to you is that you must be absolutely certain of this and live your wonderful lives without regret, with joy and brightness, always moving forward."


Thank you President Ikeda. Thank you. 

The Universal Prayer for Peace

That's what I'm calling it...maybe someone else already called it that too. 


but now is the time I am totally devoting my prayer to the oneness of mentor and disciple. 


As I chant I am picturing Daisaku Ikeda with his hands together chanting...I am imagining what is in his mind and praying to share his feelings...share his heart...share his vision...to feel his deep, deep determination for all the people of this planet....I am chanting this way sincerely, and deeply, and watching our blue blue planet spin in my mind. 


Yesterday in the morning I was chanting this way and picked up my phone to read a headline and found out that the Occupy movement was now taking place in 952 cities all over the world.
I couldn't help but let my tears of joy and relief flow....


It is happening. 


Kosen Rufu is at hand. 


The people are rising up and saying No, not anymore my friend. 


Many of us remember when Al Gore was campaigning and he kept telling us about the richest 1%, and many of us knew what he was talking about... but all of us have felt stuck and uncertain about what to do. 


And now we see it happening. I don't know how all this will turn out. I don't have a crystal ball. 


I do know that for his entire life Daisaku Ikeda has been talking about the people....about how no one is more powerful or more important than the people...and that ultimately...they cannot be stopped. 


I am returning to the Gohonzon right now to pray for the people....for all of us...for all of them...for the 99% for the 1% for us all on our beautiful, dear planet!

How do you know when you're chanting enough?

This is a great question.

How DO you know when you are chanting enough Daimoku?

(Nam Myoho Renge Kyo)

Well, I'll tell you...when I am chanting enough, it feels as if I am walking on a pillow of daimoku.

When I am "walking on a pillow of Daimoku, I just know, that at every moment, my life is expressing itself with wisdom, compassion, love and energy. I can feel the power of the universe shining from within me. When I'm in this state I rarely say something I regret. I don't take the wrong turn. I choose the right line, or, if I choose the line that takes longer, I make a new friend in that line, or I laugh to myself about it and don't feel frustrated. I feel as if I'm in the right place at the right time. I take action that prevents me from a snag in the future. I'm smiling and happy. I bring smiles to other's faces. I am in rhythm.

And this feeling isn't always related to how LONG I chant...but it is related to how deeply I connect with my own life WHILE chanting, how much Buddhist studying I am doing, and how many people I am telling about the joy of this practice and encouraging. Aaaahhh. That's where it all comes together. This is also why it's important to attend SGI Buddhist discussion meetings. (Go to sgi-usa.com to find meetings in your area). This is essential for deepening your faith and increasing your happiness!

When you chant, whether it's for 5 minutes, or whether it's for longer...summon appreciation for your life...summon the conviction that Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is YOUR LIFE ITSELF...feel the realization that YOU ARE THE BUDDHA. And focus on what you want.

Lately, I am chanting for composure, for wisdom, and to open my life to learn all that I can in my new job. I am chanting for every reader of this blog, and for all the people I still haven't reached. I am chanting for every person who is suffering, and looking for this very practical practice to FIND IT. I am chanting for opportunities to have this blog spread wider and wider and help more people. I am chanting for all who are suffering. I am chanting to show actual proof with my life of how amazing this simple (yet not always easy) practice is.

There is a line from the Lotus Sutra that we recite every day in Gongyo. We recite the actual words of the Lotus Sutra when we say (translation) "I think every moment, how can I quickly cause all people to end their suffering and attain the body of the Buddha".

One of the members of our District in Downers Grove (which has the most rocking Buddhist meetings every Wednesday night) has been chanting only a short while. She says that her dreams have turned from nightmares into a peaceful, peaceful state. Her face has changed as well. Her depression is lifting. This is what I am talking about. This, and more is possible through chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and tapping into the very life-force that it your birthright!!!!!