New Determinations from YOU! And news about my Buddha Boy Aaron

I am hearing from so many readers! Thank you so much. I love knowing that my words are making a difference. I just finished three hours of Daimoku this morning to be able to reply in this blog with as much wisdom as possible. 


First of all, to those of you who written to say that you are upping your daimoku instead of quitting chanting I say BRAVO!!!!If you quit you will never know what a glorious life you can have if you keep chanting. And yes, I know, chanting can make you feel all sorts of emotions that you've been tamping down by various methods. It makes sense doesn't it? Whenever you are really at the brink of changing your life forever... negative forces will rise up to get you to stop. Now, I don't say this to get you scared...it is just a fact of life that when a boat moves quickly the wind resistance increases. It's the same with faith...but the POWER, the real POWER in your life arises when you TURN UP THAT MOTOR and defy that negative wind. Happiness is your birthright. Claim it now. It does not come without struggle. It does not come without struggle. Persevere! As the Gosho says "Suffer what there is to suffer and enjoy what there is to enjoy, and continue chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo no matter what happens." Keep going and don't give up whatever you do! 


I was reading Discussions with Youth last night. Check this out. 
Daisaku Ikeda states " If the power of your faith and practice is a force of 10,000, then it will elicit that degree of corresponding power." (page 299) So I decided to chant this morning to increase the power of my faith 10,000 times!!! It was wonderful to chant this way. It was so easy to chant for three hours. I chanted for YOUR prayers to increase in power by 10,000 x and for everyone who is chanting to increase their faith by 10,000 x. Why not? ! It felt so good! 


He also said, " If you summon your courage to challenge something you'll never be left with regret. How sad it is to spend your life wishing , "If only I'd had a little more courage." Whatever the outcome may be, it is important to take a step forward on the path you believe is right. There is no need to worry about what others may think. Be true to yourself. It's your life after all."
That passage brought tears to my eyes. This morning I was chanting for courage! 


I have so many things to share with you. First of all last week my son Aaron was awarded the Campus Community Engagement Award from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana for the leadership program he started at Edison Middle School. The reception was lovely, and Aaron gave a great speech. The mayor and the chancellor were both there to present him his award. He received a beautiful etched glass standing plaque and $1500. He was the only student winner. The coolest thing is that he has also trained his replacement to keep the program running long into the future. That is the sign of a real leader...building things that last. 


And yesterday. Aaaahhh yesterday. There was a victory meeting for youth at the Chicago Buddhist Center and Aaron and I went. You might remember that he's a senior in college, and he's known as a fortune baby...meaning a child whose parents chanted for him before he was even born. He has chanted his entire life...and he recently realized that he is his truest, most happiest self when he is chanting. 
He stood on the stage in front of hundreds of people and announced that it had taken him 21 years to fully embrace his Buddhist faith. He said he'd been accepted to med school and was going to be devoting the rest of his time at college  to helping the youth devision in Champaign. 


Is there anything that could possibly make me happier? Isn't that the greatest news? And he's going to Loyola Medical School right here in town, very close by...so he'll be a part of my district and chant with the youth in our district. 


How wonderful!

Lots of your comments coming in...

Thank you all for writing. It seems my last post really struck a chord. Many people have experienced various forms of physical and emotional release when they first started chanting. One person wrote me about having anxiety attacks after starting chanting. They said they had about 6 attacks. At first the attacks were emotional, then faded and faded in intensity and finally disappeared. 


Sometime during my first few years of chanting I felt that I was stirring a lot of issues up in my life, but I felt like they weren't really resolving. I went for guidance with a senior leader...and her guidance really changed my life. She said that when you first start chanting your life is like a big glass of dirty water. When you chant you stir that up...and you feel the effects of everything moving around. But there is still a layer on the bottom that hasn't been reached. She said that's what tozos and fresh determination are about. She said I might think about chanting one day for a long period of time with a specific goal...and I took her advice pretty seriously. I decided to take the issue I was most concerned about, make a vow to totally change the karma I was experiencing in this area and chant for 10 hours about it. I tell you this story because I experienced it, not because anyone is ever expected to chant for such a long period of time...please don't worry that you won't get results in your life if you don't do this. Your daily practice WILL give you results if you don't give up!


So I sat down on this gorgeous sunny day in San Francisco with my water, my journal and my vow to overcome this suffering. During the course of the day I stopped every hour to stretch. I watched very interesting things come up as I chanted....and the first thing I chanted for was to get through the ten hours. My dear friend Delores Hepburn taught me that. I also called my District leader and he came over and chanted the last hour with me. Thank you Jon Doskow! 


During the day the time really flew. I thought about all the things I had ever done that I regretted and I forgave myself. I chanted for my list of all the things I wanted. I chanted to introduce everyone who was suffering to this practice. I chanted to love my life. And I chanted about my job karma, and the karma I had always had  - I always had problems in my relationships with other people. 


And something did change that day. I don't know if I saw it immediately afterwards. I remember it being really hard to chant for at least a few days. But I've changed so many things over the course of my chanting...changed them forever. I don't have problems connecting with people anymore. On the contrary I always have endless invitations to really cool things with really wonderful people. My life overflows with love. From all areas. I can let it in...in ways I always longed for, and never knew WHY I couldn't. I never had to figure out WHY, I just chanted to change the karma and it worked!
I feel tremendous satisfaction in my work life, and even when I have challenges I know exactly what to do about them. 


For those of you who wrote me that some things are moving slowly I have two words of advice. 


Don't GIVE UP! 
And make a VOW deep in your life to be happy in every single area of your life so that you can be a shining example that this practice works...and in front of the Gohonzon DEMAND the results that you want. You are a Buddha!!! You deserve for all your prayers to come true! Don't give up!!!

Crying and feeling emotional while Chanting?

One reader said she was new to chanting and everything was going along just fine and one day she broke down crying while chanting. 


This is wonderful, and was part of the process of becoming happier, at least for me. I'm not sure if everyone goes through this...but when I started chanting I cried while chanting quite a bit. I think chanting touched a part of me and brought me to a feeling of tremendous relief. I had been looking for the key to my own and other's happiness....and from the moment I started chanting I knew this was it. It was like my body and my heart and my mind all sighed in happiness together. 
And I also cried because chanting touched the deep well of sadness that had always been within my life. I've written about this before. I started this blog because of that sadness deep in my life somewhere. Chanting touches it and helps release it. I think of the tears I shed while chanting as tears toward my golden beautiful karma. I feel they are all creating a happiness that is so wonderful I can't even imagine it now! You will get beyond whatever is troubling you. Suffering may be part of life, but in this practice it is not the GOAL! You will move beyond it. Happiness is the reason we all chant, and we all move closer to it every day...and experience it more and more every moment!


So if you are crying when you chant I say CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Let it out sweet soul! Welcome the feeling of release and the touching of your pain. It's all good! It is all for your good and your happiness. It is part of the process that will release you and make you the happiest person!


Don't think you are doing something wrong. We are all beautiful human beings with feelings. 
Chant to really appreciate your life, your SELF, your own being! Chant to praise your life. Remember when you praise your life, your environment responds and the things that you are really wishing for...the things we all long for...love, recognition...appreciation all come into our lives in brilliant and new ways. Do not give up. Experience and appreciate your emotions and your SELF!!!!!

Breakthrough!

You know, when you chant the way I was talking about in the last post...with such determination and resolve...you do get results quickly.

I spent yesterday in a high life condition experiencing wisdom in my communications. And the result was immediate. I was reassured and validated and some changes were made that I feel happy about.

My karma attack is over already....and I am looking at having a great weekend with my son at home, then going off to Champaign to see my other son receive his citizen's engagement award. I'll write more about that later.

And remember, when faced with a tough communication chant to have a high life ocndition and to be able to have the wisdom to know what to say. It really works!

Having a Karma Attack?

OK, first of all, the phrase "karma attack" is not an official Buddhist phrase. I have to admit, I made it up! Sometimes, it's the only way to explain what it feels like when part of your world is spinning in what looks like a downward spiral. Right now I'm having an experience like this in a certain area of my professional life. 
Have you ever felt this way? Like something very familiar (and not positive) is happening...a repeat of something that has happened to you before, and it's rearing its ugly head yet again? What are some examples? How about when you seem to be having the same relationship problems over and over...only with different people. Or the same job problems in different jobs. 


So what do you do? How do you chant when it seems that the same problem (each time a little less severe, because you ARE changing your karma) has come up. 


First of all, don't let your own inner darkness defeat you. It is all too easy to say "this chanting doesn't work anyway...why even try." It is all too easy to let doubt take over. But don't surrender! That is truly the voice of your inner darkness, not your Buddha self.  And, sometimes it becomes agonizingly hard to chant. Has that ever happened to you? It does to me! And I start hearing negative thoughts all day as I'm working. This is a karma attack! 


What do I do? What can you do? 


First of all, I contact my Buddhist friends and let them know I need some daimoku. I chant for many people, and sometimes I need a boost from my friends too! And I call the people who inspire me most and get some words of wisdom and guidance. I MAKE myself chant even when it's so hard. I know I am busting through something life changing. I study and chant as much as I can, and I take the time to encourage other people who are struggling. I listen carefully to the advice I give others such as: you know you are going to have a big breakthrough and a big benefit when you have a big problem. 


I once had a friend from Japan who said "Really big problems make me really happy...I KNOW a really big benefit is on the way!" I'll tell you, THAT'S the attitude to have, isn't it? 


I also chant to have an incredibly high life condition....so that no matter what happens I am focused, I say and do the right things, and I can generate the wisdom to make the right decisions. 


And I take the opportunity to really connect with the Gohonzon. Suffering can be the cause to deepen your prayer so that you get the results you want to get! Sometimes it is the best thing for your practice (and I do not mean to say that suffering is the way of the Buddhist. It is NOT. Happiness is the way of the Buddhist...and forging our lives through suffering is a means of strengthening our lives. But the goal is happiness!) 


And I sit in front of the Gohonzon and VOW to be happy...and VOW to show actual proof of the Gohonzon. I tell the Buddhist gods (the functions within my own life) that I MUST win. I am the votary of the Lotus Sutra. I HAVE to inspire my district, my friends and family and my beloved blog readers! That's how I am chanting right now. If you have challenges JOIN ME!!! You can have the same prayer. You are all votaries of the Lotus Sutra! Write me and share your stories with the other readers of this blog! Be strong and break through your karma as I am determined to break through mine!!! 

On the Beach!

Miami Beach this weekend....What an interesting place...
And I'll you one thing I had to relearn this weekend...that if you take a "vacation" from chanting WHILE you're one vacation...well...you might be in for a few surprises! 


I really didn't want to do much chanting on this trip for various reasons. And it was a pretty great trip...only I nearly missed my flight on the way back. And that wasn't really the worst part. It was my emotional reaction to almost missing the flight that was the really hard part...and that proved to me yet again that the greatest fortune is having a high life condition. If you have a high life condition it really doesn't matter what happens. A high life condition comes from chanting enough daimoku! With a high life  condition everything is a snap. No problem really gets you down. If I'd had a higher life condition I would have been less emotional at the airport!


May you always chant enough daimoku that YOU have a high life condition!


Just  a few words of wisdom for a sunny day in March in Chicago. 

Two kinds of benefits

I got an email from someone who recently started chanting 15 minutes a day. They said the first few months they saw lots of changes...it felt like miracles were happening...but now, the benefits have slowed down for a time and they don't see any changes. 


My first response is to keep going and do not give up. My second is to say fight even harder for your life!


When you are not seeing huge benefits coming forth you are still getting results from your practice. I'll explain how it works. 


There are two kinds of benefits, the kind you see right away, Conspicuous benefits, and the kind that go deep into your life creating fortune just when you need it, called Inconspicuous benefits. You are getting both kinds every time you chant. It can be frustrating to think "I'm chanting and nothing is happening" but that is really not the case. Seasoned buddhists know exactly what I'm talking about. The fortune from chanting is building a daimoku bank for you. Those inconspicuous benefits will emerge from your life just when you need them...at a crucial moment!


I remember in the early days of my practice...in the first year or two. I spoke to a senior leader (one who'd been chanting much longer than myself) about an aspect of my life I was challenging through my prayer. I think it was job related. She compared my life to a glass of water that had dirt in it. She said we easily stir up the dirt at the top when we first begin chanting, but to get to the dirt (karma - things we want to change) on the bottom we had to really dig deeper. That was the day I sat down on a bright and beautiful day and determined to chant 10 hours to change this suffering. 


Believe me...I saw changes right away after that. I felt like I was walking on air for days.


The person who wrote me the email said they'd been chanting 15 minutes a day for some time. I think 15 minutes a day is great, and your life will tell you when you're ready to chant for longer periods of time. Perhaps that is what this person should do...increase their level of daimoku. And study! And go to as many meetings as possible, and encourage others to chant. If your benefits slow down...that is the time to dig deeper, go further, be even more determined than ever you show proof of the power of this practice, and don't give up!!!!