Chanting for the Shoten Zenjin to come out in full force

Chanting for the Shoten Zenjin ~ Protective Functions in the Universe ~ to Surround the nuclear reactors and all of japan and all of this planet!

Look! We were Published in the local epaper today!!!

This article was entitled:

Chant for happiness

The words “nam-myoho-renge-kyo” pass their lips more often perhaps than any other words during the course of a day.

Jamie Silver and Kathy Fisher, both of Downers Grove, are part of the faithful followers of Nichiren Buddhism. In addition to their own chanting, which they both do individually for hours every day, they lead a local group or district, the members of which meet weekly at Silver’s house.

Chanting the words “nam-myoho-renge-kyo"—which translates to the title of the Lotus Sutra—“taps your highest life’s potential," Silver said. "That’s the key to this practice. Everyone has this potential. There’s not anyone who doesn’t.”

Both self-proclaimed seekers, Silver and Fisher discovered Nichiren Buddhism during the 1970s. Silver said she always “knew that there had to be something out there. That if I put my energy into something, it would come back channeled in the direction I wanted it to.”

She researched different types of Buddhism. “But they all said essentially that you had to let go of your attachment to your desires. Most forms of Buddhism say that," Silver said. "I thought to myself, ‘maybe next lifetime I’d like to give up my desires, but this lifetime, I want to keep them.”

Eventually, she found Nichiren Buddhism. “It says that your desires are enlightenment and will lead you to happiness. It will lead you to chant which changes your karma and makes you happy,” she said.

Chanting is “vibrational,” Silver said. “It’s as if you knew the name of the rhythm of life itself. Some people call that God. We call it nam-myoho-renge-kyo. We say it over and over again. It’s like hooking your life up to an electric current. And the interesting thing is that it doesn’t matter if you believe that it’s going to work or not. It’s the law of cause and effect. Chanting is making the cause and you will get the affect. It’s an extremely powerful cause that you make for your life.”

When chanting, Silver sits in front of the altar that she’s erected off of the living room in her home. “Every Buddhist has an altar in their home," she said. "It’s the place where we go every day to bring out our truest and best self. There’s a box with a scroll inside of it. The scroll is the depiction of the highest possible life condition. We keep candles, fruit and incense there.”

There are no rules to dictate how long people chant. Silver said that she typically does so twice daily for an hour or so at a time. “Some chant fifteen minutes a day, some chant hours. When I first started it was for five minutes and I saw huge changes in my life. I had been very depressed, and the minute I started, I started feeling more like myself,” she said.

Fisher said that people chant for changes, direction and wisdom. “The most incredible things happen when you chant. Everyone has things that they want to change. That becomes the focal point for you.

"I don’t know a single person who doesn’t have something that they’d like to change,” she said. “Chanting about a problem or situation that you want to change helps you to know which direction to go. In chanting, you’re fusing with the universe and you develop the wisdom to know what action to take. Prayer and action. It’s important that they go hand in hand.”

“I chant for wisdom to know how to tackle my situations. And I also chant for other peoples’ happiness," Fisher said. "This is a practice for oneself and for other people. I want to see everyone the happiest that they can become in their lives."

About three years ago, Fisher started the district that meets at Silver’s home. “We had a district in Naperville and it became so large that we split. That’s what happens, “she said. Weekly district meetings include sharing stories and support, and group chanting. Each meeting draws approximately a dozen people, of all ages, faiths and ethnicities.

“We have people from all over the world too—from India, China, Japan, Indonesia, and then people who are from around here. It’s a very multicultural group,” said Silver.

Chanting together in a group multiplies the amount of energy, she said. “The rhythm is so strong and you’re so focused.” Congregating gives them the “opportunity to chant for each other," Silver said. "We celebrate each others’ successes and chant for each other in times of need. And we’re an open family. We love more than anything to welcome new members.”

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Dear Vidhu and all Readers! Great Breakthrough!!!!

I got the Job!!!

And now I'm celebrating!

First of all, I got exactly the job I wanted...I was able to raise their offer by almost 5 thousand dollars and today they informed me that I would be getting the three weeks of vacation that I requested!

I start on the 28th of March!

Yaaaayyy!! Daimoku Works! It really Does!!!

AND to really celebrate, I'm doing the thing I love the absolute best in the world...I'm going on a cruise!!!

Woohoo!!!!

And, get this, I'm going ALONE!!! No more sighing because I have no one to go with! Of course none of my friends could go on this short notice.

I feel very brave, I'll tell you! Brave, bold, strong and VICTORIOUS!!!

That's what this practice is all about .... WINNING!

I VOWED that I would win...and I did.

I chanted fiercely that I would achieve this victory through my prayer because I AM A VOTARY OF THE LOTUS SUTRA and I MUST PROVE THE POWER OF THIS PRACTICE!!

Now I'm taking myself on a victory cruise!

I leave from Miami on Saturday, for very little money, and get back on Thursday. I will have sun, music, and more sun!!!

I wish all of you could come with me! Wouldn't that be fun? I'm going to ask the cruise director if I can teach classes in chanting. I ought to meet some interesting people that way! I'm not sure what they will say, but it never hurts to ask!

Thank you for chanting for me!!!

Thank you for reading my blog!!

Good News and Bad News

Good News! I got the Job

Bad News: 8.9 Earthquake, and Tsunami warnings all over.

I'm going to chant right now

for all of the people affected,

and who may be affected in the future!

Six Years Ago Today....

Beautiful Marla

Beautiful heart

Laughing spirit

Intelligent soul....

all you had to offer...

to your gorgeous children

your patients

Your friends

What a healer you were...

How strong and determined...

rising from the poorest Bronx projects...

where you told us everyone was like family...

Meeting Gary when you were still a child...

and keeping him in your heart

until he was ready to become fully yours.

And you traveled to California

and made a beautiful family...

including me, your loving sister in law.

All the great times we shared...

laughing with our adorable babies...

through camping trips in the snow...

to camping in the mud...

...and laughing...always laughing...

Beautiful Marla.

I think of you every day...

twice a day during gongyo's silent prayers

and I raise a grateful prayer

for having known you

and become your sister

and loved you

and

love

you

so.

What does Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Mean?

So glad you asked!

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo means:
"I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration".
I like to think of it as "I am one with the flow of life" because that's what it does...it puts you right in rhythm with your own life and everything around you.

It's a law. It works whether you believe in it or not.

People all over the world chant this phrase with the Sokka Gakkai International. The Website link is sgi-usa.org. I've posted it next to the copy of this blog. I encourage you to go there. Call the center nearest you and get the name of someone who practices near you. It doesn't cost anything...you don't have to "do" anything to chant. Just try!

It's truly a practice for anyone...no rules...no dues...no eating restrictions...just chant!
And practice. Chant every morning and evening...then you'll be writing me to tell me your results! Remember...dream big...go for the impossible!

I'll be chanting a lot today! Join Me!

Hello!

Here I am waiting to hear about the job.

It's a sunny day here in Chicago.

I'm going to spend a lot of time chanting today.

I'm determined to get the best job for Kosen Rufu!

And I'm determined to move my brilliant, sparkling life forward!

Join me!