Wisdom For Our TIme ~ Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

News from Our Kate  

Hi, 
Thank you for writing to me. Thank you for telling me how much these posts mean to you. I am beginning to blog again. Remember you can always look through the archives for PowerPrayers and inspiration.  

I am about to return to St. Pete from a trip to see Aaron in Phoenix and Kate Randolph in LA. Kate is now a year and a half into her brain tumor diagnosis and she is doing great! Three hours of daimoku a day really is helping her life-condition and her health. I wrote the following blog post last year, but I promise I will write again soon!


Kate's 40 year anniversary of practicing was last August. She has reached many of her personal goals, producing and staring in many plays, creating a sought-after arts program within the Los Angeles County school district, and having a wonderful relationship with her husband Hal, (who is a brilliant teacher)  and daughter Sarah, who recently graduated from Soka University of America.  

Kate's life condition is sky high and she has this wisdom for you. 

Kate says: "NOW is the time to wake up to joy. Now, more than ever, SGI members need to summon joy, forget complaining about anything, and wear a radiant smile on our faces. She says our smiles must radiate so brightly that light comes out of our fingertips and we glow as beacons so people can learn of the mystic law, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo from us, and be moved to happiness just by being in our presence.
 She says we must have joy to show the possibilities of life...JOY is a REQUIREMENT, not an afterthought, and it comes from our determination to summon it from within our lives and express it in our smiles, the pep in our step, and our lives themselves. We can do this! We can do this for ourselves, and by doing this we change the world." 

Kate echoed something I've said for years,  "Our smile is a cause, not an effect." we can't sit around waiting for joy to come into our lives. We must be joyful, and invite more. That's how it works! 

She said: "Joy's the leading edge. Wake up and be joyful, smile at the person next to you in bed, smile at the person next to you at the store, in the elevator, and at other drivers. BE Kosen-rufu in action!" 

"It's gotta be real, but you can also fake it till you make it. Put that smile on your face and you will spark your happiness. Try to be sad with a huge grin. It doesn't work so well!

Kate said "We have to go deeper into our own lives, and into the Buddha we are every day. We've gotta do this NOW. This is it. This is our time. We're ALIVE! whether we are 17 or 95. Grab the moment for all it's got and say "I am creating the deepest value that's ever been created. NOW. Right this moment. There's no other moment. here's no other person. How are we influencing the person next to us...it is our SMILE...beaming with joy...Joy!"

She said: "Stop complaining. NOW. It must be replaced, even if it's phony at first. It may feel phony but it will cause a shift inside your life.  And we have to keep going deeper and deeper into joy. There can't be a place at which we stop. we need constant movement...constantly going deeper." 

President Ikeda says:

"The relationships we have with people are a direct reflection of our inner state of life. To extend and deepen our human relationships is to expand our state of life."

Daisaku Ikeda, from Ikedaquotes.org, under Relationships

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THIS Daimoku is changing my karma NOW!

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What kind of daimoku (the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo)
changes our lives? 
The answer is ALL kinds of daimoku - 
the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the mystic law, changes our lives and changes our karma...

But I have a question. Do you sometimes chant with all the best intentions while thinking "I don't know why I'm doing this...it's just one more time to chant but I don't feel it, and really, I'm feeling kind of hopeless?" 

And the first thing I'll say is "Congratulations for keeping your promise to yourself and showing up to chant. THAT in itself will change your life. 

So, I've been thinking about the quality of my own chanting and I have something I want to share with you. (As you know, I do not represent the Soka Gakkai, I belong to it, but this is not a Gakkai publication. I love the organization and have been a member since 1985. And I started this blog in 2009 to overcome my own heartache, and to show, through my own example, that anything is possible when we base our lives on the Gohonzon.( 

And lately my daimoku has been very strong, 
because as I chant I am thinking:

NOW! With THIS Daimoku I am changing my karma. 
Now this very Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is THE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that is changing_____________________________on the inside of my life. 
Whatever you want to change...have the conviction that:
THIS Daimoku!
THIS Daimoku!
THIS Daimoku!
Is the one that does it! 

Here's to YOU and your happiness and success! 
Go Buddha GO! 

The Buddhist Concept of Wisdom

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We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo  ~  which means 

"I fuse my life 

with the mystic law of cause and effect 

through sound vibration." 

We pray for exactly what we want. This is the one form of Buddhism that says we can keep our desires, and make the world a happier place through achieving them. 

We pray for our lives to blossom forth with happiness, so that others can see an example of a truly happy life (no matter what obstacles we may face! We turn all poison into medicine) with the end goal of "kosen-rufu" a world of peace and respect for all living beings. 

Wisdom is a natural outcome of this prayer.  

Through creating our own happiness we are transforming the world. This is the essence of the Soka Gakkai (SGI). You can click on the link to the right to find out more. What follows is a passage on the Buddhist view of Wisdom. Enjoy! 

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Buddhist Concepts – Wisdom....

A Buddha is characterized as a person of profound wisdom. The idea of wisdom is core to Buddhism.  But wisdom can be a vague and elusive concept, hard to define and harder to find.  How does one become wise?  Is wisdom something that we can actively develop, or must we merely wait to grow wiser as we grow older?  Perhaps it is because wisdom is such an indistinct concept that it has lost value as a relevant ideal in modern society, which has instead come to place great store in information and the attainment of knowledge.

Josei Toda, second president of the Soka Gakkai, characterized the confusion between knowledge and wisdom as one of the major failings of modern society.

His critique is starkly demonstrated in the astonishing progress of technology in the last century. While scientific and technological development has shown only a mixed record of alleviating human suffering, it has triumphed remarkably in its ability and efficiency in unleashing death and destruction.

Toda likened the relationship between knowledge and wisdom to that between a pump and water. A pump that does not bring forth water (knowledge without wisdom) is of little use.

This is not to deny the importance of knowledge. But knowledge can be utilized to generate both extreme destructiveness and profound good.

Wisdom is that which directs knowledge toward good--toward the creation of value.

Buddhist teachings, such as the concept of the five kinds of wisdom, describe and analyze in detail the dynamics of wisdom and how it manifests at different levels of our consciousness.

When wisdom is functioning in our life, it has the effect of enabling us to overcome the ingrained perspectives of our habitual thinking and arrive at a fresh and holistic view of a given situation. We are able to make a broad assessment of facts, perceive the essence of an issue and steer a sure course toward happiness.

Buddhism also likens wisdom to a clear mirror that perfectly reflects reality as it is. What is reflected in this mirror of wisdom is the interrelatedness and interdependence of our life with all other life. This wisdom dispels our delusions of separateness and awakens in us a sense of empathetic equality with all living things.

The term "Buddha" describes a person who freely manifests this inherent wisdom. And what causes this wisdom to well forth in our lives is compassion.

Buddhism sees the universe, and life itself, as an embodiment of compassion--the interweaving of the "threads" of interdependent phenomena, giving rise to and nurturing life in all its wonderful and varied manifestations.

It teaches that the purpose of human life is to be an active participant in the compassionate workings of the universe, enriching and enhancing life's creative dynamism.
Therefore, it is when we act with compassion that our life is brought into accord with the universal life force and we manifest our inherent wisdom. The action of encouraging and sharing hope with others awakens us to a larger, freer identity beyond the narrow confines of our ego. Wisdom and compassion are thus inseparable.
Central to Buddhist practice is self-mastery, the effort to "become the master of one's mind.  "This idea implies that the more profoundly we strive to develop an altruistic spirit, the more the wisdom of the Buddha is aroused within us and the more powerfully we can, in turn, direct all things--our knowledge, our talents and the unique particularities of our character--to the end of creating happiness for ourselves and others.

Speaking at Tribhuvan University in Nepal in 1995, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda commented, "To be master of one's mind means to cultivate the wisdom that resides in the inner recesses of our lives, and which wells forth in inexhaustible profusion only when we are moved by a compassionate determination to serve humankind, to serve people."
If human history is to change and be redirected from division and conflict toward peace and an underlying ethic of respect for the sanctity of all life, it is human beings themselves who must change. The Buddhist understanding of compassionate wisdom can serve as a powerful basis for such a transformation.

[ Courtesy January 2003 SGI Quarterly]

A Great Question for Today~

Meg, Aaron and Me right after my speech on Tuesday

The speech on Tuesday (Called Goddesses are Ageless) 

was absolutely a blast! There is almost nothing I like better in the world than standing in front of a group of people, connecting with them heart-to-heart while telling them new research and ideas that can help them change their lives. I paved the way for this by chanting for every single person to leave this speech permanently inspired and uplifted.

And it was extra special because my son Aaron and his wonderful girlfriend Meg came. They just finished their third year of medical school (Loyola, Stritch School of Medicine) Meg's family owns the Groom Wineries. At the end of every speech, I give away a bottle of Colby Red wine. Colby Red is named after Meg's brother Colby who had several heart surgeries at a young age. Every penny from the sale of this great red wine goes to heart research. They've raised almost a million dollars through the sales of Colby Red ($9.99-12.99) at every Walgreens in the states. Isn't that cool? 

Here's more great information from my speech: 

Did you know "aging" is greatly related to non-movement? The latest research says we should move for 10 minutes for every hour we sit. Can you imagine if we actually did that? I'm so fortunate that I spend a lot of my day moving from place to place and meeting new people. And now, whenever I do sit for a task I move my body every hour for ten minutes. Christiane Northrup M.D also introduced me to HIT, High Intensity Training - it's so cool. For 20 seconds, you dance all out and move with joy. Rest for ten seconds, dance for 20...I do this as long as I want. Some people set goals of multiple repetition, but I just stop when I am done. It's fun! I feel better! Give it a shot. 

You know, I used to hear the phrase all the time "Everything is Buddhism," ~ meaining life at every moment is an expression of our Buddha nature. How can we love ourselves more each day? How can we be better to ourselves? How can we advance in energy, vitality, and happiness each day?

There's a new term I also learned and introduced called "Functional Fitness." It's defined as "Being able to do anything you want each day - plus one emergency." And I experienced this the other day when we went to the Ravinia concert. We had to walk up-hill carrying tons of things (chairs, cooler, tables, blankets) for several blocks each way - unexpectedly. The main parking lot was closed. I was so appreciative to my body for being able to do this without injury or complaint! I know I chant better when my body is hydrated and healthy!

How can we just become happier and healthier every day? Little changes! Moving along! 

Question for today:

How can you be kinder to yourself today than you were yesterday? 

Let's watch our own thoughts and be nicer to ourselves every single day!

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!