Chanting for Your Desires To Come True!

OK, so I spent all last week chanting at full strength, 2-3 hours every day. 


I had in mind exactly what I wanted....I prayed so hard for this desire to come true...

And guess what happened?

I got something better! WAY BETTER!!!

Let this be a lesson to you!!! It is true.

You can chant for what you really want.

Don't hold back.

Pour your whole heart, breath, body, mind 
into your prayer. 
Pray that you should have this for Kosen Rufu (World Peace) and that this thing you want (whatever it is) is YOUR BIRTHRIGHT! 


You deserve it! 
You want it in order to show proof of this practice. When you pray tell your life it is time...and that you want it by a certain date.

And wham!!!

Don't give up and watch what happens!

Do any of you have a similar story for me?

Write me!

Learning Gongyo

Hello!

I spent the afternoon teaching Gongyo. Gongyo is the recitation of the Lotus Sutra (just two of the chapters) that we recite every morning and evening at our altars.

It is a very deep cause we make for our lives. It is a recitation of the actual words of the Lotus Sutra...the words of the Buddha (and remember, he didn't start expounding the Lotus Sutra until he was 72 years old...that is SO inspiring to me!)

When you recite Gongyo you are speaking the words of the Buddha. I like to think of it as a renewed declaration that you know you ARE in fact, The BUDDHA!

When we recite Gongyo it has absolutely precise pronunciation and rhythm. Once you master it, you can do Gongyo with anyone, anywhere in the world...but the most important thing I can tell you is this:

Learn Gongyo correctly!!! Make a determination to absolutely master it so that you can teach anyone, and you can master your own life. It is one of the very first things to do when you begin your practice, and I promise it will make a difference in your life. I will always be grateful to Terri Wong, my District leader in San Francisco. At one point she led the way and all of us took every syllable and got it absolutely right. That is the reason I can be such a good teacher today. I can lead Gongyo anytime anywhere and feel totally confident...because early in my practice I sat down with a pencil and the gongyo book and learned it. I treated it like learning music and circled the parts I found difficult, and wrote the phonetic spelling of anything I found tricky. And it is tricky!

Gongyo is a sacred rite. When you do Gongyo and chant Daimoku (Nam Myoho Renge Kyo over and over) you are joining the microcosm of your life with the macrocosm of the universe. It is a sacred rite, and honor, NOT a duty! When you view it in that manner, living itself becomes a sacred rite...and your problems melt away. You see them instead as part of your mission, not your burden. These are important distinctions.

And the point of this blog is THIS:

It is easier to learn Gongyo correctly the FIRST time, then it is to RELEARN what you've gotten wrong. Learn it perfectly and you won't be sorry. make it a determination for your own happiness and watch your life so beautifully unfold!!!!

Your Prayers!

Remember!!!

You are not asking anyone or any thing or any god for ANYTHING when you chant.

you are summoning up the power of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo which has ALWAYS BEEN within your life.

Chant for ANYTHING!!! Chant to be an example that chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo Works!!!!!! You are invincible. There is no problem too big for Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!! The Law of the universe within you, expressed by you can rise up in your life...bring you deep everlasting happiness!!!

Don't wait! If you're not already chanting try it now. "

Nam myoho Renge Kyo is Like the roar of a lion! What sickness can therefore be an obstacle?" Nichiren Daishonin

In this case "sickness" can be any challenge...health...love sickness...a broken heart...finding a job...money...you name it. ROAR like the lion you are!!! Demand results from inside your life. YOU ARE THE BUDDHA!! Go YOU!!!!

Wow!!! Four comments on the last blog post!!!

Thank you for your comments!!! I love hearing from you!!!

And to answer your questions:

No, you do not need to wait until you have a Gohonzon to start chanting, but you will want to get one as soon as you can. The only way to do that is to go to meetings of your local Soka Gakkai district. It's easy to get connected. All you have to do is go to SGI-USA.org and look up the community center closest to you (search on the nearest big city) and give them a call. If you have any problem at all getting connected send me a comment and I will do all i can to help you! It's important to connect with the people close to you who chant...they will become like family to you...just wait! It's awesome.

~And to start chanting without a Gohonzon you can still set up an altar or your sacred space. Pick a place in your home that you feel comfortable, that doesn't have too much traffic and is not in front of a window. Decide what you are going to sit in, chairs are fine...I like a really comfy one! And hang a picture on your wall that has a focal point.

When I first started chanting I had a picture of Mono Lake with a beautiful moon over it and a beautiful blue sky. I put the picture a little higher than my line of vision and focused on the moon.

I chanted that way for about two months...and was overjoyed when I got my Gohonzon!!!! Think of your altar as your "home base". Treat it just like YOU want to be treated. Keep it clean, put food on it...some put fruit, or something you like to eat. One of our new members puts her favorite candy! I like to burn candles on my altar. Some burn incense, but it makes me sneeze! Then you're ready to chant away! Chant away!

And the question about where I got my Butsudan...I got it at my local Community Center but I have my eye on another one I'll tell you about soon!

I have been chanting so much Daimoku...about 5 hours over the last two days. Good thing too....the challenges at my new job keep coming...but finally I feel more composed and better able to take them on. And both of my sons have had a string of challenges so I am chanting so hard for them. A matter of the heart has gotten me all fired up and I feel as if I can chant all day and all night! I love it when the fire burns!

You can have a Beautiful Altar in your Home too

Let's Chant!

Do I get everything I want Right Away? Where's My Benefit!

The real thrill about being a Practical Buddhist and chanting Nam Myoho REnge Kyo every day is this:

Even when I don't get what I want...I get what I want. When I keep chanting, and keep focused...what I want is always on its way. The challenge is to not let my own doubt and negativity overshadow things.

Right now I am chanting with appreciation for my life, for being able to chant and for knowing, that NO MATTER WHAT I will be victorious is all areas of my life. I base my life on reading Daisaku Ikeda's writings, encouraging my fellow members and the readers of my blog. My entire life is tied to helping others be happy, and living as an example that NO MATTER WHAT, I will win in all aspects of my life.

Has everything "finished" in my life? No! And it never will! Am I enjoying the process along the way? YES! When you base your life on the mystic law it is possible to even enjoy your own sadness...because you see it for what it is...fuel for the fire of your Daimoku (chanting).

And because you can always turn poison into medicine...NOTHING will ever stop you.

I had a friend in Japan who always used to say "I love it when I get BIG PROBLEMS! Because I know that a BIG BENEFIT is on its way!"

He is so right! As long as you keep chanting, keep reading President Ikeda's guidance, and keep encouraging people...you can't lose.

And if you are at the beginning stage of chanting...just face the Gohonzon and pray about what you want. You deserve to be happy. Don't ever listen to the people who tell you that you don't deserve to be happy....you know you deserve happiness and you have ALWAYS known this. Tap into your life force of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Be fearless. Make your glorious life overflow with benefits!

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo! The power is within you!

This is such an awesome practice because it makes so much sense.

From My Favorite Gosho, the writings of Nichiren Daishonin:

On Attaining Buddhahood:

"If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured through eternity and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, you must awaken to the mystic truth which has always been within your life. This truth is Myoho Renge Kyo. Chanting Myoho Renge Kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you. Myoho Renge Kyo is the king of sutras, flawless in both letter and principle. Its words are the reality of life and the reality of life is the mystic law (myoho). It is called the mystic law because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and ALL phenomenon.

Life at each moment encompasses both body and spirit and both self and environment of all sentient beings in every condition of life, as well as insentient beings~ plants, sky and earth, on down to the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena. One awakened to this truth himself embodies this relationship. However, even though you chant and believe in Myoho Renge Kyo, if you think the law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching...

when you chant the mystic law and recite the Lotus Sutra you must summon up deep conviction that Myoho Renge Kyo is your life itself."

In other words...you ARE the mystic law...your very life essense is the same as the power of the entire universe.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo means: I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration.

When you chant these words and think about what you want you get it...and furthermore...you keep getting to a deeper and deeper realization of what you really want in life...as as you do this, if you are chanting, your CONVICTION that you are this law, and that you DESERVE to be happy will grow and grow and grow. And that's also where the real power lives. Because once you experience this you will feel the need within you to tell other people about it...and your benefits will continue to flow and flow and flow!