An Experience from my New friend in Australia! So inspiring!

This is from my new friend Nathan. Read it and be inspired by HOW FAST chanting Daimoku can impact your life. And remember, sometimes we go through the lows so that they can bring us to a much more incredible HIGH!!!

I discovered Daishonin Buddhsim through my councillor, I had a problem problems with my life, anger, addiction, hurting the ones I love most emotionally, mentally. About four weeks ago, my beautiful, loving, caring, wonderful wife left me because of these problems I had, all she wanted is for me to respect her, treat her with the love and care she has always showed me. But I just blew it off all the time, saying that I can fix myself, I don't need a councillor or any help, OMG was I wrong!!! What I didn't realize was that I did need help, and bad, so about three days ago I went to see my councillor, my wife came along to support me, to make a long story short, the things she said to the councillor about the way she feels and that she was happier in the past few weeks then when she was with me shocked my system drastically, I had been extremely depressed over the past few weeks from my wife leaving me but those few things she pointed out to the councillor hurt me more then any pain I ever felt, it was like a knife to the heart. My wife left the session early, and I stayed behind, let me add I'm South African and my wife is Australian, so I was here on a sponsorship from my wife, when she left mr, she withdrew her sponsorship and that gave me twenty eight days to stay in the country. So because of thy my councillor suggested I try Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism out, I thought to myself heck what so I have to lose, I've lost everything already. So we started to practice chanting, (Nam- myoho-renge-kyo) after the first five minutes I started to get the hang of it, after ten minutes I felt this amazing warmth insid of me, I felt relaxed, like the sadness had left my mind, I felt energized, peaceful. That afternoon I was walking through Melbourne city, and the thought popped in my head. So I stopped at the best florist in the city, and bought my gorgeous wife here favorite flowers (Lillie's) I went passed her parents place and I ran the bell, no answer, I rang again, no answer, so I rang a friend that lives in the complex, to my surprise he was home, and trust me he's never home. He opened and I sat on the stairs in front of her place, about 30 min she came down the stairs as two lovely ladies were entering the stairwell, she was surprised as heck, I gave her the flowers and a card, she offered me a lift on the way to one of her dancing classes she teaches at, we got to talking and when I left her on my way to the train station she hugged me, kissed me and told me she loves me. Gosh I felt amazing!! For the first time in weeks. I felt something other then pain and heart ache. 

So that night I got home, had dinner and went to my room, I started chanting loud and proud with all my heart thinking how much I would love my wife to give me another chance so that I could show her that I can change and I can be that man she fell in love with, I won't make another empty promise to her again, I did this for the next day aswell morning and evening, then this morning 13/08/2011 I went to work and I waited outside my office for 2 hours waiting for my boss to arrive, while I was waiting I started chanting in the work van, again loud and proud, for about thirty minutes. By then I realized my boss wasn't coming so I thought let me go take a walk in the city, I got near my parents inlaw's place, I decided To ask my wonderful mother inlaw if she'd like to go for coffee with me, she came down and told me that they were cleaning the carpets, so we sat down and had a long talk ( about an hour and a half) then my wife arrived from teaching, I asked her if she wanted to grab a coffee or something, she said YES!! so we went into the city and had a coffee, we ended up spending the entire day together, holding hands, kissing, hugging, you know.... What I'm trying to say is that even after three days of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-kyo my life started to change, I've started to feel hope again happiness, compassion, I feel fantastic!!! All I can say is that I believe and I'm no where near gonna give up, Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism is in me and is here to stay. I wanna thank you for your blog it has inspired me to never give up on my happiness, on my wife, on my life. Thank you with my heart of hearts thank you to you and my new mentor Nichiren Daishonin for giving me this wonderful and joyful gift of faith and enlightenment. THANK YOU

What do you chant about...when you are really happy?

This can be a real challenge...no kidding. How do you chant when you are blissfully happy. 
Well, I'll tell you this is one good place to be in.


 Congratulations on being blissfully happy!!!!


And the answer is amazingly simple and obvious...of course....CHANT IN APPRECIATION!!! Say thank you UNIVERSE! Thank you life itself! Thank you MY LIFE! Thank you soooo much. Thank you Daisaku Ikeda...and sincerely, really, thank yourself. Your benefits and happiness have come about because of all the good causes you have made in chanting, in shakubuku and in life. 


Praise your life! Honor your Life! Enjoy every single Nam Myoho Renge Kyo you chant. Your happiness will bring even more happiness! Chant to experience a deeper, richer, higher level of happiness than you ever have before! What a worthy prayer ~ you Buddha YOU!!!! Enjoy! 

Paul McCartney last night ~ absolutely AGELESS!!!

I went to see Paul McCartney last night. He gave an amazing performance.  


You know 69 is not old any longer! Remember when the song "When I'm 64" came out? Oh my goodness...at that time 64 sounded absolutely ancient. And now...we have Paul McCartney having the time of his life performing three hour shows in stadiums...and looking and sounding great at 69!


I'm relaxing tonight after a string of exciting and fun days and nights, and I put on the movie "You can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay. Louise says "I just entered my 8th decade and I've decided that this will be my best decade EVER! Whatever decade you are in - declare it to be your best EVER!" OK Louise, you amazing and smart and wonderful woman. I declare this decade to be my best ever!!!! I KNOW I look younger than I did ten years ago! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo works!!!!

Dearest Friends and Brothers

Here are my boys Aaron and Ben. This is a golden moment in a wonderful time. Aaron is completing applications for Med School, and Ben is about to enter his first year at Miami of Ohio on a scholarship for running. Aaron and Ben are closer than any brothers I have ever seen. 


When they were little Buddha boys, and even before they were born, I made the determination that there would be no fighting in my house EVER. And I have a vivid memory of a time just after we moved from San Francisco to Chicago in 1999. Ben was 5, Aaron was 8. And I heard a scuffle in the other room. It wasn't severe by most people's standards but it was enough for me to put my Buddha foot down! 
I called them both in front of the Gohonzon and said we are going to chant for 5 minutes. We will chant to love our brother and never fight again. "Okay Mommy" they said and we all chanted together. 
They never fought again. 
Such is the power of the mystic law. 
It is that deep. 
They are incredibly close. 
I had one other rule. "Stop Means Stop." When someone is doing something the other doesn't like...they only have to say stop one time. This actually worked. Seriously. 
And I have heard other mothers say wistfully "If only I had a moment during the day when my boys weren't fighting." and I have seen little boys hurt each other on purpose while in stores or on the street with their mother....and the mother lets it happen because she doesn't think she can stop it. And my heart swells with appreciation for this practice. 
How wonderful to have a practice that solves real life problems!!!!
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!! 

About Setting Deadlines for results...

I received a note from a reader about deadlines. They were wondering what to do when the deadline has passed, but the result has not happened. What does this mean...and what do you do next.

Since Kate is here I am going to ask her to address this:

We set deadlines to motivate OURSELVES into action. A deadline is not for the universe to respond to us. We chant. We take action. The deadline comes. We either win or we don't. If we don't we pick ourselves right up again and redetermine. The goal is to never be defeated. Sensei always says "To win in life is to never be defeated." That does not mean that we will never fail. It's our spirit that matters. The battle we fight is not with the universe. It's with our inner demons...the ones that say things like "obviously chanting doesn't work because I did not get my dream by my deadline...or...maybe I should have a different goal...maybe I wasn't MEANT to have that thing!....or what am I doing wrong? Maybe I wasn't chanting the RIGHT way!" It is at that juncture that we must recognize the opportunity to deepen our faith and our understanding of the profundity of Buddhism. ANYTHING that DRAINS OUR LIFE FORCE is the negative function. Any inner voice that causes us doubt and hopelessness IS the negative function. Once we decide we will win no matter what ~ we need only to continue. We've already won. The battle is with the negative function within. 
Ultimately, deadlines are irrelevant. Set them if you need them to motivate yourself. But decide from the onset that you will win no matter what. And hold YOURSELF accountable. Not the universe. If it is a crucial moment and you are in a dire predicament, financially, or health-wise, it is time to DEMAND the protection of the Shoten Zenjin. No prayer of a votary of the Lotus Sutra will go unanswered. If your prayer is going unanswered find out what it means to be a votary of the Lotus Sutra. And as you are chanting DEMAND the result that you want through your prayer. Awaken to your mission and realize that all your suffering is your opportunity to encourage other people. That is what is meant by turning Karma into Mission."

Enjoying Chicago in the days leading up to our presentation

Here i am with my dear friend Kate Randolph. 

We went out on an evening boat ride off of Navy Pier on Sunday with Aaron and Ben.

Kate's Here!

This is our big week! 


Kate, my dear friend in faith is here from Los Angeles. She introduced me to this practice in 1985 when we were both volunteering for "The Great Peace March Across America" 
It was a grand vision we were a part of....hundreds of people were going to walk across America with support from various businesses and Hollywood stars. No one was going to have to carry their belongings...tents would arrive at your daily destination and be set up when you got there...food would be made by volunteers in the various cities. In the end...it was not a success...a small group did end up completing the walk on their own with no support, but most people gave up when the walkers got stranded in Barstow, California. The desert. And they realized the support was gone. 
Something about the vision, and the times, awakened a burning hope for peace in many people's hearts, and two of my life-long friendships were born at this time. I met Kate, and I met my dear friend Joan who lives in Emeryville, California...and who is brilliant and wonderful and insightful. 


Kate told me story after story about how her practice of Buddhism had changed her life. One of them really impressed me. She was already an actress at the time, and had met many famous people. She wasn't the type to be "star struck"...until she met Paul Newman. He had gotten behind the fundraising efforts for the walk, and she had some practical things to talk to him about as part of her volunteer role. She said she got in front of him, looked into those baby blues and her mind just melted. She couldn't communicate or think. She went home that night and chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for an hour...and from then on she was composed and could carry on a conversation with him. "WOW" I thought. Maybe I have found the thing I have been searching for...the practice that was PRACTICAL...where I could pick whatever problem I was having....focus my intentions in a direct way...and SOLVE those problems. I had been LOOKING for this solution for many years. I KNEW it had to exist. I looked for it everywhere...but had only uncovered the types of practices that truly annoyed me...ones where you had to be "initiated" or chosen, and ones that said your desires were the cause of your suffering. Kate told me that in THIS practice, your desires will lead you to happiness because they will make you chant and when you chant you change your karma. I started chanting and became a life-long Buddhist. 
Fast forward to today. Kate and I are giving a symposium on Friday at the American Alliance of Theater Educators Conference in Chicago. Our seminar is called "Reawakening the poetic Spirit" and is based on three things: Daisaku Ikeda's essay "The Poetic Spirit", The play "The Belle of Amherst" in which Kate BECOMES Emily Dickenson, and the book "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink. This book is about how right brainers...those who see connections, can speak creatively and see the whole picture...those who didn't necessarily do well on their SATs...that their day has come...they are more needed and valuable than ever...and have a bright future. It's an amazing book. 


On Friday Kate will be presenting part of the play, and we'll bring the essay to life, and have people do exercises that reawaken their poetic spirits. 

We've been chanting about this for many months, and planning and writing and studying. On Friday it will all come together. 
Please send Daimoku for all the lives we can touch that day. We don't know the size of our audience....but we have been chanting to touch each and every one of them with our poetic spirits, and be by example, the essence and the spirit of Kosen Rufu in action.