4 Keys to Starting a Gratitude Journal for Absolute Happiness

Studies are showing that summoning and expressing feelings of Gratitude leads to Happiness. Gratitude is a MUSCLE we can all exercise. We exercise the muscle of faith by chanting, and we exercise the muscle of Gratitude by focusing on it! 

I have a challenge for you. 

Start a gratitude journal and share with others on this blog how it feels and how it has changed your life. (Email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com to submit your writings)

And express gratitude more and more each day. 
How can you express gratitude to today? 

3 Tips for Starting a Gratitude Journal - A Rampage of Appreciation! 

Tip #1 ~ 
Fill your heart with gratitude while you are chanting. Before you start chanting, sit with your hand over your heart and focus on gratitude. Fill your heart with this feeling. And chant from this place. If it's difficult to summon gratitude, think "What COULD I feel grateful for?" and build your feeling of gratitude from that place. 

Tip #2 ~

Start a "Rampage of Appreciation Journal" 

for everything in your life. 

Take a journal or spiral notebook 
and put headings on the top: 

Your body ~ 
Write a list of all you appreciate, and usually take for granted...everything from the five senses to whatever you can think of...go slowly, throughout your whole body starting from the top and write what you appreciate:

Sample journal entry:
I appreciate that I can see colors, I appreciate that I can see 3D, I appreciate that I can remember, that I can sing, that I can laugh. 

Little details add up. We are wondrous in so many ways. Gratitude draws more thing to be grateful for! And keep going ~ you get the picture. See if you can fill a whole page. 

Your Family ~ what do you appreciate? What could you appreciate?

Your friends ~ what do you appreciate in the past and the present about your friends. 

Your Beloved ~ if you don't have a beloved at the moment fill this page with things you have loved about past loves in your life...only the positive things.

Your practice and the SGI ~ What brings you joy? Our daily practice, our living mentor, the Gosho, our SGI friends, meetings, laughter, songs...

Your Work/Career ~ what do you appreciate, what can you appreciate? 

Your home: you get the idea

Our wonderful planet:

Your Country: 

Your possessions: 
Car...clothes...furniture...this is a RAMPAGE of appreciation...keep going!

Other Categories? What would you add? 

Tip #3
Write in this Gratitude Journal Frequently. One friend said he began a gratitude journal last year and writes every day. He has had the best year of his life. If you focus on the good - well, it focuses back to you! 

Tip # 4
Express this gratitude every day! Who can you express gratitude to today? I now carry thank you notes wherever I go. My goal is to give out one a day. 

Email me your stories to share!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today as I sat down to chant, and go into dialogue with my own life, I thought "What do I want to chant for?" and gratitude came flooding into my thoughts...

I am full of Gratitude that I live an absolutely fearless life ~

Because I chant ~

I am confident that I will always have everything I need. I am not worried or afraid of anything. I do not live in fear of anything. I know the resources for ALL I need are within my own life, within my own Daimoku. I am the Mystic Law...and so are YOU!

I am not worried about whether or not my dreams will come true - as long as I keep steadily advancing, I know that everything I dream will be possible.
I am grateful for having time and a great space to chant!
I am grateful that I have the opportunity to do public speaking and inspire people. Today I addressing a women's group and they will be starting their own gratitude journals. 
I am grateful for my health, and that I look so much younger and healthier than I did ten years ago...aaaahhh the youthening power of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (and eating well, exercising and drinking LOTS of water!)

I am grateful for the committee putting on Ben's Memorial Mile. Their commitment, their swift action, and the beautiful way this event is coming together is mystic. Ben is eternal, and Ben's Memorial Mile will deepen people's friendships, and create community while it raises funds for mental illness awareness. 

I am grateful for this practice, and for my friends in faith. I always know where to turn when I am seeking encouragement.
I am grateful to YOU, my readers, who send me encouragment, appreciation, insights, questions, experiences and guestblogs. 

Email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com.  

Share your experiences of faith Please keep your journals if you can, and write brilliant perspectives on your victories. The world awaits your words of wisdom. Let me share them for you with the 55,000 readers of this blog.
I am also grateful for YOU for sending links to this blog and sharing it with others. I write it from my heart to share what I have learned with others, and to connect us all together.
I am grateful for Kate, and Georgine and the SGI
I am grateful for my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda. 
Enjoy and have a great day ~ Jamie 

10 Powerful Quotes on Prayer by Daisaku Ikeda

Daisaku Ikeda's 
10 Powerful Quotes on Prayer 

(You can subscribe to this blog by putting your email in the box to the right)
~ 1 ~

Prayer entails an intense challenge 
to believe in yourself 
and stop diminishing yourself. 
To belittle yourself 
is to disparage Buddhism 
and the Buddha within your life.

~ 2 ~

Prayer is the way to destroy all fear. 
It is the way to banish sorrow, 
the way to light a torch of hope. 
It is the revolution 
that rewrites the scenario of our destiny.

~ 3 ~

Prayers are invisible, 
but if we pray steadfastly 
They will definitely effect clear results in our lives 
and surroundings over time. 
This is the principle of the true entity of all phenomena. Faith means having confidence in this invisible realm.

~ 4 ~

Prayer is not a feeble consolation; 
it is a powerful, unyielding conviction. 
And prayer must become manifest in action. 
To put it another way, 
if our prayers are in earnest, 
they will definitely give rise to action. 

~ 5 ~

Prayer is the courage to persevere. 
It is the struggle to overcome our own weakness 
and lack of confidence in ourselves. 
It is the act of impressing 
in the very depths of our being 
the conviction that we can change the situation 
without fail. 

~ 6 ~

Prayer is an attempt 
to merge the inner workings of our life 
with the rhythm of the universe. 
When we pray in such a way, 
all the workings of the universe 
will function to protect us 
and the endless cycle of painful reality 
will be transformed 
into a cycle of victory and happiness. 
Prayer is the key to open the door 
to unleash 
that infinite human potential within our lives. 

~ 7 ~

The important thing 
is to firmly fix our gaze 
on our own weaknesses, 
not run away from them, 
but to battle them head-on 
and establish a solid self that nothing can sway. Hardships forge and polish our lives, 
so that eventually 
they shine with brilliant fortune and benefit. 
If left in its raw, unpolished form, 
even the most magnificent gem will not sparkle. 
The same applies to our lives. 

~ 8 ~

Prayer is not of the realm of logic or intellect. 
It transcends these. 

~ 9 ~

Prayer is an act 
of which we give expression 
to the pressing and powerful wishes 
in the depths of our being 
and yearn for their fulfillment. 

~ 10 ~ 

"What kind of future do I envision for myself? 
What kind of self and I trying to develop? 
What do I want to accomplish in my life?" 
The thing is to paint this vision of your life in your heart 
as specifically as possible. 
That "painting" itself becomes the design of your future. The power of the heart 
enables us to actually create with our lives 
a wonderful masterpiece 
in accordance with that design. 

It is not about others. 
It is about you winning, 
and winning over yourself. 
By doing so, you will provide inspiration 
and encouragement to all around you. 

From Ikedaquotes.org

Problems are Like Push Ups ~ They strengthen our Muscle of Faith!

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Problems, once embraced and challenged, are the "weights" that build our muscle of faith. 

How do we accomplish this? How do we embrace our problems? We embrace our problems every single time we sit down to chant. We embrace our problems every time we are not defeated. We embrace our problems every time we say "Heck NO! I've got a Gohonzon - this suffering ends NOW!" 

And we do this day after day after day. That's what makes us winners. We activate our highest potential through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. We access our wisdom, take the right action and power through when the going gets tough. 

How do we do this? For one thing, we focus on others we wish to help. Today, and every day, I wake up with the conviction that again, this day, I will win. I will win to show actual proof that YES! Chanting nam-myoho-renge-kyo works! The Mystic Law (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) when chanted, activates our innate power, helps us to break through any dead ends, and enables us to forever change our karma. 

But it's not easy, is it? It takes courage to sit down one more time to chant...it takes courage to face our lives. And the more we face our lives, the stronger our muscle of faith grows. And when we have a strong muscle of faith we can sit down with absolutely no doubt and know that YES, this daimoku, this VERY DAY, is changing my karma forever! That's a strong muscle of faith! 

Every time we chant we have the opportunity to life the weights of our faith. RRRRRRR! We can do it. 

When we chant we strengthen our mind of faith!

How strong is our mind while sitting in front of our Gohonzon? How focused are we? How certain are we that WE are the Buddha commanding our life? 
Every time we overcome our resistance to chanting. Every time we ring that bell we win!

We are all winning together. 
You inspire me and countless others every day! 

Deepening Our Faith....from Kate Randolph. Best. Guidance. EVER!

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Faith is Envisioning the outcome exactly as you want it to be and then challenging the doubt in your mind with your Daimoku. Envision the outcome as though there were no obstacles, eliminating all the obstacles and then sending Daimoku like arrows through each obstacle, shooting them down as they arrive in your mind. 

You have to expect doubts to arrive in your mind and now is the time to realize they are not real...they are only thoughts in your mind. They are not reality. They are just thoughts and you just pop them with your prayer with your eye on the outcome with your prayer 

Many of us are from the generation when we were chanting for stuff. But there's no one there. This is not an ask. There's nobody there...nobody there to give it to you...Stand up and demand it and then do battle with your mind. 
That's the whole thing
That's what deepening your faith is: 
Envision the outcome...and wait for the obstacles to arrive in your mind (they are only in your mind) and you have to have confidence and in front of the Gohonzon do battle in your mind and say No No No that is not my reality, that is not reality, that will not be my reality. These obstacles are NOT my reality, these negative thoughts are NOT my reality. Envision your outcome and say YES YES YES YES each Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And tell the Shoten Zenjin YOU will get my back...you have my back  
what I envision...my perfect outcome...THAT is my reality and then you add to it: For the sake of all people. 

Demand the complete and total protection of the universe to do battle with your mind. 

THAT is deepening Your Faith!!! 

Go for it! Let me know what you achieve~ !!

"Hope Is Life's Magic Wand" by Daisaku Ikeda

When we possess the treasure of hope, 
it gives rise to other treasures, too. 
Hope draws forth our inner potential and strength. 
Hope is a magic weapon 
that enables us to make our dreams come true.

“Hope,” Beethoven cried, 
“you forge the heart into steel.” 
Hope is confidence. 
Hope is determination. 
Hope is courage. 
And faith is the ultimate expression of hope. 
Belief fortifies the heart.

Hope transforms pessimism into optimism. 
Hope is invincible. 
Hope changes everything. 
It changes winter into summer, 
darkness into dawn, 
descent into ascent, 
barrenness into creativity, 
agony into joy.
Hope is the sun. 
It is light. 
It is passion. 
It is the fundamental force for life’s blossoming.

No matter what kind of difficult situation 
one may find oneself in, 
some opening, some opportunity to fight one’s way out, 
can always be found. 
What’s most important is to hold fast to hope, 
to face the future with courage.
No matter how hopeless or bleak things appear, 
the moment always comes 
when suddenly our spirit revives, and hope is reborn. 
That is why we must never give up.

By Daisaku Ikeda, from Ikedaquotes.org. 

Today I write this for you and for me. 
Yesterday my speech was fantastic. Everyone was uplifted. I will write more of the content for you soon. 
And I visited my son in the hospital. 
I can't give up hope no matter what. I, like you, and a precious votary of the Lotus Sutra! None of us can give up home! 

Appreciation for the Protective Forces of the Universe

The protective forces within all life. 
We call them Shoten Zenjin. I love them, no matter what they are called. Yesterday they helped my son Ben one more time. And he is back in the hospital again.

This morning my friend Georgine is coming over to chant, my own personal shoten zenjin. My view is shoten zenjin manifest in many forms at any time. One of the people who helped Ben yesterday overheard me use the word "myoho." He said "I don't often hear people speaking Japanese." Of course, I told him I was a 30 year practicing Buddhist. He told me he'd been chanting in the SGI since the age of 12. Myoho indeed. Shoten zenjin indeed. 

Once more I sit down to chant in deep gratitude for Ben's life, for my life, for my family, for the members, for you, and for his shoten zenjin yesterday. I am more determined than ever to change my own karma so that my environment will change. 

"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a lion. What sickness could therefore be an obstacle." 
Nichiren Daishonin