Time to move ahead

I am chanting every day to cherish, praise, elevate my life and do my human revolution.
I have a huge challenge now. My son is graduating from High School and it is time to complete the formal part of the division of property and paperwork that goes along with ending a marriage that has been part of my life for almost 30 years (from when we met in 1982).

SOOOOO I am chanting to honor my life. I am chanting for my soon-to-be-ex-spouse's happiness. I am chanting for the happiness of my boys.

The boys are great...they totally understand the divorce. I am so proud of who they are...they are dedicated...they work hard...and they enjoy their lives too. Aaron is busy applying to Medical School. He'll live in Champaign this summer working in the medical research lab. Ben will be preparing for his first year at Miami of Ohio University. Such excitement.

And I will be starting a new life, in a new place, with my new job, and some other new things that are making me very happy indeed.

So it is all working. Daimoku works. Years ago, I wanted to have this situation unfold...but I did not want to divorce until the kids had both graduated High School (coincidentally - that's the way my parents planned their divorce). And we have come to the crucial moment. Because I have the Gohonzon, and I can sit in front of it and elevate my life...I am finally prepared for this great transition.
I can meet my fears, chant about them...and persevere. I have a new job...plenty of friends...YOU readers and my own determination to get me through this.


Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!!!! 

On Attaining Buddhahood - HOW TO REALLY CHANGE YOUR KARMA!!!

On Saturday night at the Chicago Buddhist Center, Linda Johnson gave an amazing lecture on the Gosho "On Attaining Buddhahood." 


It is a gosho I have studied many times, and I've read and reread the book written by Daisaku Ikeda, and Linda, in her brilliance, has truly inspired a change in the focus of my prayer. That's the reason we study Buddhism by the way...because the more we study, the better we are able to understand and operate the gears of our Buddhahood ~~ and that equals more results and more happiness. Yayyy!


The crux of Linda's talk is that everything we experience, see, feel, hear...every person we interact with, every car we drive, every boss or coworker we have is a direct REFLECTION of the causes we have made and are continuing to make at each moment...a direct reflection of our life itself. We look to the outer world...our husbands, our children our coworkers etc. to get them to change...when if we really focus our prayer on our OWN SELVES...that is the way to operate those gears and affect real and lasting change in our circumstances. 


Linda said if we grumble and complain about our lives and think our sadness is someone else's fault...then we will NEVER be able to make lasting change. We must chant to change whatever it is WITHIN OURSELVES that keeps attracting the thing we don't like. We need to chant to change the karma to attract what we don't like, and to be able to see the causal interaction within our own lives. 


I realized during her talk that I am currently making causes to manifest WHAT I DON'T WANT...because I couldn't quite see it clearly...but my eyes are now opened. I will explain:


For instance, I am right now working on changing my karma as it regards to love. Many of you know this, many of you have communicated to me that you are chanting for love as well. My pattern (karma) has always been that I am not loved enough. In grade school I had few friends and experienced being very unpopular. In High School I was shunned by boys...in college the same. Deep insecurity and unworthiness took root within my life. I have always known this. This isn't a new realization. The NEW realization is THIS. I recently met a man who is intriguing, worthy and seems to like me. And I can hear my "evil twin" inside me talking me out of it all the time. "Oh, he'll just disappear like all the others...oh this is just a dream to go poof in the end...oh, I know I will blow it like I always do." Oh STOP IT EVIL TWIN!!!!


I am getting that voice out of my head by chanting to PRAISE MY LIFE WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING! I am chanting to realize in a way that I've never realized before that I AM DESERVING of love. I am chanting to rid my life of doubt. And when I chant like this...I connect to the Gohonzon with incredible power...and I KNOW I will change this karma. I KNOW I will be able to accept love in my life in a different way...the way I have been chanting for. I don't have to chant for a man to love me. I have to chant to be in love with myself in a way that is unchangeable...in a way that goes deeper than outside circumstances...in a way that inspires others that they can do the same. 


And YOU can do the same thing! That's why I write this blog. 
When we chant this way EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE! Go YOU!

Full of Appreciation!!!

Daimoku Absolutely Works!!

Ben is so much better. He mananged to find a new chiropractor who totally helped him yesterday!!!
Thank you all for your daimoku.

I'll write more later...my computer is in the shop having music transfered from the PC to the MAC.

In grateful appreciation!

Love, Jamie

My Ben

Ben Silver

OK it's time to put the pedal to the metal again and chant really hard for my very own Ben...my Benjamino. 


He's such a great and determined warrior of a kid. 


He's 18 and finishing off his senior year of High School. He's a runner, who is passionate about running, one of the top ten in the state of Illinois (which is the top running state in the nation). 


Right now he can't run. He has a hip that is so painful that he can barely walk...and it comes from training too hard...pushing himself too hard...it comes from being so determined. And it's frustrating and sad for him to not be able to run this track season. He's also got a sinus infection so he is just feeling so down. 
He chants a fair amount, but I think he has yet to really prove the power of this Gohonzon with his life. Of course I can't push him to chant.
 But I can chant with the determination that my prayer will absolutely penetrate his sadness...that there will be medicine springing from this practice...and that MY Daimoku is enough for both of us. 
It is interesting that this comes about just as Mother's Day approaches. Really interesting. I will pour so much prayer into him, and chant really strongly. I know we can somehow turn this around. There is nothing more important in a mother's life then for her children to be happy. 
Please join me in my prayer for my Ben...and thank you soooo much!

Happy May 3rd!!! Soka Gakkai Day!!!

Happy Day of Master and Disciple!!


Happy Day to once again renew your faith...set your determinations and together with Daisaku Ikeda and all the members of the Soka Gakkai, work together towards Kosen Rufu (World Peace). 


What is the significance of this day you ask? 


May Third is when Josei Today, second President of the Soka Gakkai took on the mantle of Kosen Rufu by accepting responsibility for this organization. He was already in a weakened state from having been in prison for refusing to give in to the Japanese Government by not supporting the war effort in WWII. He devoted the rest of his life to teaching and lecturing and leading people to happiness one by one. And later, his disciple, Daisaku Ikeda also took the reigns of Worldwide Kosen Rufu on this date. 


It is a significant time for all of us to say "YES! I will do my OWN Human Revolution. I will chant with even more strength and regularity (EVERY morning and evening!!!) I will chant more daimoku. I will redetermine to win in every aspect of my life!!!" 


I started this day with strong prayers of appreciation towards my mentor Daisaku Ikeda, and Josei Toda and Tunesaburo Makiguchi. Without them dedicating their ENTIRE lives to this practice, I would never have encountered this teaching, and I would still be suffering...knowing SOMEHOW there must be a practice I can use to build my own happiness...and continuing to look for it. 


I mean, when you really think about it, the facts just blow you away. Ever since Daisaku Ikeda first encountered Josei Toda, at the age of 19, he has devoted every waking second to ensuring the propagation of this law...so that all of us could have the tools to create our own happiness and build this world into a world that respects life itself. It is truly something to appreciate. 


Thank you Daisaku Ikeda. I will do everything in my power to help people find out about this great practice, and to teach people to practice correctly so that their lives will be OVERFLOWING with happiness...like mine is! Like all the members of my District! The purpose of this blog is to reach the people who sit at their computers every day and think "The secret to happiness in life must be in here somewhere!" And it is! Chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo! Join the Soka Gakkai and make the best friends you have ever had in your life!!! VOW with all your heart to create the happiest of lives so that you can be an example for other people...and it shall be so!!!!
Write out your vision of your life...write out your dreams in narrative form...and make them come true!!!

Happiness...true...authentic...unshakable Happiness!

Happiness
by Daisaku Ikeda

The purpose of life is to attain happiness.
Happiness is something you have to feel inside.
It is something you have to build for yourself.
It is something that lives within you.
That is why the state of your inner realm, your life,
is so crucial to your being happy.
Happiness is not in some far off place.
Happiness exists within your own life.
It is within a single thought in your mind.
You, yourself are the most precious of all.
You have no need to be envious of anyone
or to long for things far away.
Faith and one's single minded desire
to achieve Kosen Rufu (world peace)
are what makes this self of yours shine its brightest
and develop its highest potential;
they are what fill you with good fortune,
satisfaction and eternal joy.
This is the essence of true happiness,
A palace exists within your own life.
When you open that palace
you can be happy wherever you are.

Thanks for the comments!

I hear you all - not giving up~!!


That's what I'm talking about! 


You will all be victorious!


For those who asked, my email is silversunsinger@gmail.com