My New View! Look! Actual Proof Right Here!

Here is the view from my new apartment's PATIO! Yes, you heard me correctly ~ PATIO!!!
I have been longing for a patio for so long! Here is the pond I look out on~it has a family or two of ducks, a visiting egret, fish, and at least one huge frog that greeted me one evening when I was walking in! And my apartment is so clean and so sweet...it's just perfect for me. And the best part of all...my life is no longer on HOLD. I knew that I was going to transition to a new life....and here it IS!!!
Every day I am chanting in appreciation and living in an Apartment Community called (Get this~) Versailles. 
I have successfully made the move from a marriage that was unhappy to a life that is bringing happiness to the whole family. My boys are happy and love their new resort with a pool, hot tub and work out room, and Paul, my soon-to-be ex-husband is also happy. The boys are here a lot, and Paul's been over a few times to hang at the pool or have dinner here. How is it possible to be happily making this change?
 It all comes from Daimoku, Daimoku, Daimoku, and taking continual action for Kosen Rufu and for my own happiness. 
I chanted to make the type of internal change that would cause a change on the outside. All real change comes from within. I know it's a cliche, but it is also true. We are microcosms of the universe...and have access to all the power within our own life (i.e. the life of the UNIVERSE!)
I was terrified of living on my own...but here I am...just fine! And soooo happy. Will I be here forever? Who knows, who cares...this is such a nice new step! 
Believe in your right to be happy. Believe in your bright and creative life. KNOW that the universe is yours to command...chant with conviction and appreciation and LOVE YOUR LIFE!!! I Love YOU!

Don't give up!!!!

I've gotten several comments from people experiencing hardship...and I have to tell you right now that you MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!! 


Chant through the tears...chant through the disbelief...chant through the anger 


and you can experience what I am experiencing in my life right now...I am seeing how it has all come together....All the changes...all the prayers I have been chanting have come to pass. Do not give up!!! Do not give up. 


This week was incredibly exciting...with my Dad in town I had plans every single day and night and enjoyed EVERY moment...I loved each moment at work....I loved each moment at play. I made a million (almost) new friends at networking events. I inspired people...I laughed...I looked my best...I cheered myself up when I got tired....I am living the life of my dreams. Right now. This very minute. You can too if you DON"T GIVE UP!! 


Remember that  your challenges, hardships, sadness are like logs on the fire....they ARE THE FUEL YOU NEED to get ride of your old karma and live the life that you want. Use them to chant as if your life depended on it! It DOES!!!


Let my results inspire you:
If I could rise out of my deep, deep depression, (the one I brought into this world)....you can accomplish your own happiness. If I could lose 70 pounds you could make your wildest  dreams come true (that was an impossible dream for me and I DID it!) If I could end a marriage happily and create a happy situation for my whole family and live in paradise...you can do ANYTHING. 


CHANT AS IF YOU ARE PULLING THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE FROM BEHIND YOU TO IN FRONT OF YOU. PULL YOUR HAPPINESS RIGHT THROUGH YOUR BODY! YOU ARE THAT POWERFUL. VOW to your life.  COMMAND YOUR LIFE. MAKE IT HAPPEN. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN!!!


I Love you, 
Jamie
p.s. Think of me tomorrow night...on a boat in Lake Michigan enjoying the company of a wonderful man and all his friends....truly living the life I was born to live! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo !!!! Join me in chanting for great weather!! Thank you!

About a Broken Heart

Dear readers, 
I received a comment from a woman with a broken heart. She's been chanting for five months and the man that she was in love with left her and has gone away. I wish to address her here:
Dear Broken Hearted, 
Please do not give up. I can truly understand. The reason I began this blog almost two years ago was my broken heart. I was longing for a man who went away. Every morning I would wake up with his face in my mind...and I felt a constant physical ache in my belly....constant...real pain. It was hard to breathe sometimes. I felt like I was living in a nightmare of hell. 
Because of the suffering I went through then...and my fierce determination to change my life from the INSIDE so that I would never ever experience this intense pain again...this blog was born, and so was my incredibly beautiful life that I have now. 
The broken heart spurred me to chant 2 hours a day and sit in front of the Gohonzon chanting from the bottom of my soul to CHANGE MY KARMA FOREVER....to CHANGE WHATEVER WAS IN MY LIFE THAT ATTRACTED THIS HEARTACHE....AND to LOVE MYSELF SO MUCH....that this kind of pain would go away forever. 
Of course I spent a lot of time chanting to get him back too...because I believe that chanting sincerely for what you really want is the fuel that fires all your results in life. So I chanted to have him back...and gradually, over time, found other prayers that became more important to me. 
I embraced my district and chanted for each person every day. I chanted to change the heartache in my life for the sake of every woman who ever suffered in this way. 
I really know how you feel. 
If you can sit in front of your Gohonzon and chant resonant NAM MYOHO RENGE KYO for exactly what you desire...you will win. Don't worry if your desire is "correct"...ALL your desires are correct. They are yours. Chant from the bottom of your heart. USE THIS PAIN TO FUEL YOUR BEAUTIFUL FUTURE!
Here I am two years later, almost out of a marriage that was long over...I have my own sweet, beautiful little apartment in a gorgeous area with a pond, a pool and a health club. I have a miraculous new job where I am able to really have an impact on the lives of young people. I have so many friends, and even a new boyfriend who loves to make me happy, not sad. And my happiness doesn't depend on him or anything else. My focus is on doing my own human revolution, knowing that any real change happens within my life and is reflected on the outside in everything and everyone. 
That is the real key in life. Follow President Ikeda's Guidance. Chant for those you love...and those you don't love...and you WILL free yourself  from this pain. 
I promise. 

Danielle's Description of the Practice

What follows is from Danielle Canaris in Cloverdale California. SHe is my beloved shakubuku who helped me raise my two amazing Buddha Boys. 

Danielle is an inspiration herself...and has now, after many years come to practice. 

She brings all her wisdom, all her determination, all her love to this practice. 

After not even a year, she presents us all with this awesome piece. Enjoy!

The workings of the universe are an expression of a single principle or Law, expressed as Nam-myho-renge-kyo.

Chanting Nam-myho-renge-kyo enables all people to understand this law in there own lives and come into rhythm with it.  By putting your life in harmony with this law, you can unlock your hidden potential and achieve harmony with the universe.

Nam-myho-renge-kyo literally means;

Nam- Devotion

Myoho- Mystic Law

Renge- Lotus Flower, represents the simultineity of cause and effect.

Kyo- Sound Vibration

The invocation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, was established by Nichiren Daishonin on April 28,1253.  After studying  widely among the the Buddhist sutras, Nichiren concluded that the Lotus Sutra contains the ultimate truth of Buddhism: that everyone without exception, has the potential to attain Buddhahood!

The three fundamentals of Nichiren Buddhism are faith, practice, and study: Faith is based on experience.  It begins as an expectation that something will happen.  If we are willing to try the practice and anticipate some result, we will then develop our faith brick by brick as examples of actual proof accrue.

Practice:  To develop faith, we must take action.  We strengthen our wisdom and vital life force by actualizing our Buddha hood each day in a very concrete way.  Practice consists of two parts; practice for ourselves, and practice for others.  We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each morning and evening along with reciting Gongyo (two chapters of the Lotus Sutra).  Practice for others is taking compassionate action to help give people the means to make fundamental improvements in their lives.  President Ikeda describes Gongyo as a ceremony in which we bring the primordial sun of Buddha hood to rise brightly in the vast skies of our lives each day!  When chanting Nam-myho-renge-kyo, we are tapping into the underlying pulse of life and it's limitless potential.

Study; We study to gain deeper understanding.  Nichiren Daishonin instructed followers in the correct way to practice.  His writings give  people valuable insight into how this practice will benefit their lives.

The Gohonzon, which was inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin  on October 12, 1279 is the focal point of our practice.  In the center are the characters Nam-myho-renge-kyo.  It reflects Nichiren's life state of Buddha hood, and is the link between the Buddha state within our lives and the environment.

The Soka Gakkai International was founded in 1930.  It has expanded to 192 countries and territories.  The SGI seeks to promote peace, culture, and education.  The practice of Nichiren Buddhism exists for the happiness of each individual and the fostering of world peace.

JULIA's incredible Experience....read this to be inspired!

Julia Landis...Musician...Healer....Yoga Master...
and now....Nichiren Buddhist!!!
What follows is Julia's experience, written by her. I'll throw in a few annotations as well. Just let me say to begin, that Julia was a special radiant and wonderful friend from the moment we met many years ago. Her Yoga classes transported me. No other teacher compares. Since she is already so incredibly spiritual, once she decided to embrace this practice she "GOT" it in a way that is always teaching me...and we have been growing and evolving and creating our wonderful lives ever since! I learn so much from her!

Kelly's Island Ohio...where this story takes place...

Dear readers (from Julia),

some of you may have read Jamie's post about me last summer. After 13 years of contemplating chanting NMHRK I finally took the big plunge last fall after I realized I had nothing left to lose. After visiting with Jamie on Kelley's Island in Ohio and seeing the transformation of her relationship with her husband and experiencing their warm friendship in the midst of their impending separation I was truly amazed. There was simply an ease and happiness I could feel in being with them, which was a relief to me for many reasons, but most acutely, because I was really suffering: I was experiencing severe challenges to my health, far worse than anything I could have imagined. I had MRSA type wounds on my foot that refused to heal. It was a nightmare in the humid midwestern summer to try and enjoy being a tourist while the band-aids and ointment repeatedly slid off and I was left in searing pain and fear of further infection. I also had developed chronic giardiasis and related intestinal syndromes. Let's say I was not a "happy camper." Please scroll down...

I remember not talking with Julia much about chanting at the beginning of the visit. I let my life speak for me. Julia could see the physical transformation I'd had since I last saw her ...with the loss of 70 pounds and the new outlook on life...I look much younger. Outside at the lake I remember telling her something about my relationship with Paul, and she said "I want to try it."

I asked Jamie if she would chant with me one afternoon while we were alone at a picnic area overlooking Lake Eerie. I was so weak I asked if I could chant lying down on the picnic table. Jamie gently recommended that I at least try sitting up, to feel the energy in my body... 

Although my husband was opposed to the practice--and had been for over a decade-- I was determined this time not to let anything stand in my way. I'll never forget the first time I chanted with Jamie for more than a few minutes, staring out at the calm surface of Lake Eerie-- my first Gohonzon!--from beneath a picnic shelter accompanied by the chatter of newly hatched swallows nesting above us. I was blown away, so to speak, when Jamie's son Ben, a top athelete, stood behind us and joined us in chanting. I got the goose bumps as I felt the generations of Buddhas voices like a soft wind under my broken wings, lifting me towards the light.

 Here are the birds Julia's talking about

After I returned home, many obstacles arose to my practicing, but I let nothing stop me. At first I only chanted a couple of minutes a day and got out of breath and hoarse. (Julia was incredibly weak and sick when she started chanting - her transformation has been amazing) I created an altar and began to thirst for the experience of chanting. Jamie expressed so much support, making herself available in ways no other friend or helper would ever have been able to... I now realize that she was excited for me and knew about the benefits that lay in store for me. I read the copy of "On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime" she had given me as a gift and began to hear Daisaku Ikeda's loving and powerful words reverberating in me when I chanted. I believe at this point I began to connect with the spirit of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of our age who first chanted Nam Myoho Renge kyo and unlocked the mysteries of the Lotus sutra for all of us living in this age. Nichiren wrote... "With this teaching  all the teachings advocated by [earlier Buddhist teachers] will be like stars after sunrise..." I began to feel joy in my chanting and worked my way up to chanting an hour a day. At this point I discovered (through amazing synchronicities involving my husband and public radio) the herbs I needed to treat the MRSA. It took months and several approaches, but by now you've guessed it: the wounds have closed and are healing

nicely. 

With each passing week the benefits mounted. A doctor who'd been treating me in a half hearted always busy way began to take a real interest in me and began really helping me. Through his increased vigillance I was able to get an MRI which has led me, again through synchronicities to the most wonderful physical therpist I could have ever imagined. I am getting full physical healing including pilates and cranio-sacral therapy now and... it's all covered by my insurance. I also have begun receiving lucid dreams guiding me further along in my healing and I began my own blog about my experience. As Jamie has put it, I've gone from an experience of dying to an experience of really LIVING. Of feeling alive and cherishing each moment of my life, no matter what it brings.

It has been so exciting to share each benefit and each new challenge with Jamie, knowing that she fully understands both the nature of suffering and the emergence of strength and capacity that come with this practice and can stand beside me in either kind of state. With her encouragement, I was able to overcome many obstacles and learn to chant Gongyo; this year on New Year's day I received my Gohonzon, the mandala Nichiren Daishonin personally inscribed for his disciples (us!) some seven hundered years ago.

Having practiced many forms of meditation and yoga over the past twenty years, I was amazed to experience the blessing of chanting NMHRK with my eyes open and fixed on the character which means "MYO" on the Gohonzon. Minutes slip away in states of happiness, peace, transcendance that are worthy of MYO's immeasurable meanings chiefly characterized by the simple definitions, "to open" to "rejuvenate" and "fully endow."

I made a determination, on the eve of receiving my Gohonzon that each time I would look upon it I would be filled with reverence for it and for my life, of which it is a mirror. And I am. I can never adequately thank Jamie for sticking with me for the 12 or so years it took me to "open" up my life to my full potential and cultivate the capacity and the bravery to live fully and embrace my innate Buddhahood. I am learning the exquisite feeling of deep worthiness, worthiness of love, healing and real joy. I am beginning to praise my life.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

Julia has changed in so many ways since she began chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. Her voice...her health...her bright eyes...and most of all...Julia knows...beyond a shadow of a doubt...that she can accomplish every happiness she desires. She knows with a knowing that is beyond intellectual, that the ONLY way to accomplish her desires is to wholeheartedly EMBRACE them!  She knows YOU MUST chant for what your heart desires...you Can't tamp it down. And you will either get what you are chanting for...or something better...or your desires will change and so will your suffering. She is a living Buddha...inspiring people with her incredible life! We've only just begun! So much more to create...chant for...embrace...appreciate!!! She knows she has found the key to every happiness...and what could be better than that!!!! I love you Julia! I love you readers! May each of you be soooo inspired by beautiful Julia!!!!

Tomorrow is the Big Day

Versailles On the Lakes!
Tomorrow I get my keys
to my first real apartment...right there...on the Lakes of Versailles...and step BOLDLY into the next chapter of my life.
I stand in absolute awe of the power of chanting
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
I have no regrets. For the last 30 years I have lived with a great person who is the father of our two wonderful children.
And now it is time to move on...taking a stand for my own happiness, while chanting to have this transition be one that is INSPIRING TO ALL!
Through this change, ALL of our lives will be made better. That has been my determination from the beginning...and at least one amazing person started chanting after seeing how nicely we are making this transition. My children are happy and inspired. My soon-to-be ex husband is ready for this move to happen.
My life is brimming with faith...strength and Appreciation!!!
Woohoo!!
You Can have it all...
don't let anyone tell you anything different!!!

Chanting in Appreciation

Today's morning two hours will be from a heart overflowing with appreciation. My voice may be a bit tired from cheering at the top of my lungs yesterday for Ben and the warriors of the 4x8 race....but I am so happy and so grateful for all the benefits overflowing in my life. I get keys to my new apartment that has been being totally rehabbed for me on Wednesday...I start a new chapter of my life...I'm really enjoying my new job...and I have some other new and exciting things that I will share with you when the time is right. Thank you life! Thank you to the power within me welling forth in strength and courage! Thank you Jamie for your fierce determination to be happy...and your fierce determination for others to be happy too!!!