Happy Saturday!

Hello! 
I have been chanting about my challenges, and I have also been having a lot of fun! 
As I mentioned in an earlier blog I am so rich with friendships and love. 
I look around my life and am really astonished by the depths at which I have changed my karma regarding relationships. I have more girlfriends than I can count, and the group who knows each other is growing all the time. All these friends are bright, positive, happy, creative women! And I meet more every day. Yesterday one of my dearest friends stopped by and we read Maya Angelou's poem "I Rise" together. What a masterpiece from a true goddess of our lifetime. 
Another friend invited me over to introduce her 9 year old nephew to chanting. I went over and gave him his own beads, a few copies of "friends for peace" and we chanted the magic words that would get rid of his nightmares and immediately made him very happy! Children are so open. And a few moments of chanting begins to open up their world! 


And on the subject of  friendships...
 I can't help thinking back to kindergarden when I was 5 years old and a little girl and I were sitting next to each other in a large circle and she got up and moved to a different part of the circle because she didn't want to sit next to me. That began a long pattern in my life that lasted many years. I had a few friends here and there, and I am so grateful for them...but I was an outsider with few friends for all of my school years. In college I had the fortune to meet my new friend Jenny on the very first day and we roomed together for the rest of college and had a blast...but I still felt like an outsider most of the time. 


Once I became a Buddhist I chanted for friendships. I chanted to change whatever I needed to change in myself to have friends. And now...I really have what I chanted about...constant fun invitations with people I adore being with...celebrations...and friends who know each other. 
I also chanted a lot about my love life and I am very happy in that area too. Busy! Happy! Enjoying life! I feel so fulfilled!
Remember you can change ANY karma through chanting!!!! If I can have a circle of friends...If I can make the impossible happen...so can YOU!!!
It did not happen overnight for me. You WILL change some things overnight. You will see some immediate results, but some karma is tougher than others. It is different for every person. 
Remember "karma" is not the same as "fault". Please realize you are not to blame for whatever you are experiencing...but you are at CAUSE for making whatever changes you want in your life!!! 


You make the most profound cause by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo consistently to make that change. President Ikeda says (and I'm paraphrasing here): "The important thing is the KEEP CHANTING until you do get the benefit!" Of course! Don't give up!
This morning I will sit down and chant another tozo on your behalf, on all of our behalf...on the whole world's behalf. 
Join me! Happy Saturday!

Incredible SGI Buddhist Meeting Tonight! Introducing others to this practice!

My home was filled with energy tonight! We had 15 people here for the SGI planning meeting! I swear, the place is still buzzing.


There is nothing like an SGI meeting! We coe together to share successes, challenges, study Buddhism and become so close we're almost like family.


Find your local meeting by going to SGI-USA.org and finding the culture center closest to your home. Call them and ask for a meeting in your area. There are meetings everywhere!!!


You will make a room full of good friends!


And there is a "secret" to having a good Buddhist meeting and a secret to introducing others to this practice! Chant about it!


Downers Grove District in Illinois has incredible and lively meetings. Why? For many years we have been chanting that everyone who comes to a meeting be enlivened, lifted up, encouraged and given new hope at EVERY meeting! That is why the room is filled with excited and happy people getting results.


You know how much I love to introduce people to this practice, and then watch as their lives blossom! It is the happiest way to live! And the fastest way to change your karma!


I always chant to meet people who want to know about this practice...and the room is always filled with people I've introduced. It's easy. It all starts with Daimoku...and as I said, I chant to encounter people who are thirsting for this practice, and who want to chant. Then I tell just about everyone I meet about chanting. I mention it in the course of our conversation. Our two newest members were here tonight because my iphone had a problem and I went to the apple store. I told the peson who was helping me that I had to have the phone working because I'm a Buddhist leader, and I told her about the blog and readers all over the world. She was so psyched! She has now been chanting for 4 months and has already introduced her dear friend. They will probably both get their Gohonzons on May third! Introducing people to this practice is so easy! Just have a glowing life condition, be receiving benefits galore...and tell everyone ! I always carry Nam Myoho Renge Kyo cards on me. ALWAYS!!


I hope you are having a great week and continuing to shine with the brilliant light of Daimoku!
Don't give up! You are the Buddha!!

Courageous and Determined Blog Readers!

Many of you are challenging yourselves to chant more Daimoku than ever! Many of you are doing long Tozos. (Chanting for many hours) 


I am looking forward to hearing your stories of victory!!!


And I have one important reminder:


Remember that when a ship increases its speed, the wind force it encounters is stronger! You are speeding your life up when you chant so strongly. You are revving up the motor of your life!!!


After your tozo....don't be alarmed if those negative thoughts come right back into your mind with a vengeance. you know the ones I mean! The ones that say "Oh, this is hopeless! I will never accomplish my dreams!" The thoughts may say to you: "I chanted so many hours yesterday, why don't I feel great today?" THOSE THOUGHTS!


They are normal! They are part of the process. If they come into your brain say "Hello Negative thoughts! Jamie warned me about you! No taking up residence in my brain!!! Negative thoughts be gone!!" 


And don't worry. YOU ARE CHANGING YOUR KARMA....YOU ARE MAKING DEEP CAUSES IN YOUR LIFE! You WILL be victorious!!!!


I am chanting for you all! Let's have an amazing week!!!!

I have one hour left of a tozo I am chanting for you!

Chant with me!
I am chanting for you to be able to chant with joy and realize all your dreams!!!

Have Faith it will all work out!!!

It's just so amazing how things come together in a "myoho" way! 


Today it seems like everything I've ever feared is just an illusion (as it really is - only sometimes it feels real!)


For weeks I've been looking forward to these next few days with apprehension because it seems I was presented with an undoable task at work...with a due date of tomorrow. I fretted. I complained (no, I'm not proud of that!) I worried and lost sleep and I chanted, chanted, chanted...made causes and did my best to keep smiling and keep encouraging everyone around me. I also focused on the part of my job that makes me shine like the sun, and brings happiness to all those around me! 


And we get to the deadline week and I discover that no one in the country who has a similar job has achieved results in the area I thought was impossible...and the one area I really thought was going to go well - the computer system broke down for three days and we had to postpone the event anyway. So I am totally off the hook!


Honestly ...it feels like "Deus ex machina". You english majors should recognize that phrase. It's used to describe novels where suddenly everything magically resolves itself...literally "God from a machine...or God from a box." That's how I feel. Of course I know it has nothing to do with magic. It is all a result from my chanting and my good causes. Last night I even took the Buddhist exam here in Chicago. Many of us are taking that this month. 


And next week I have a huge success in the area of my career that I love. I've brought all three of my campuses in Chicago to participate in one big event that is going to be spectacular...a real service to the community and very great for the students! 


Another fantastic thing came about today too. I'm taking Aaron and Ben, my two Buddha boys, to California in May. (They were both born is San Francisco and we still have dear friends there) I'm calling it Aaron's victory lap for graduating at the top of his class at U of I and starting Medical school at Loyola (close to me!!) next year. We found out earlier this week that our favorite community race of all time is 3 days BEFORE we were scheduled to arrive in California. Darn, I thought...so close! And today I found out Ben has to take a course during the summer and needs to return earlier than our planned date...so I'm moving the trip up a few days and the three of us will do the infamous BAY TO BREAKERS race in San Francisco!!!! Thousands and thousands of people walk from the Bay all the way to the Ocean (You know San Francisco is only 7 square miles...and it's a peninsula, right?) So the boys will run and I'm about to call my Bay Area friends and find out who wants to walk. It's a crazy time. People dress in all kinds of costumes. We did it with the boys every year when they were little. They dressed as superheros. I really do think it's the reason we ended up with two star runners in the family!


So the next time you're thinking "Oh my goodness is this ever going to break through?" or "Why me?" just keep chanting keep chanting keep chanting and one day the clouds will open the results will appear and you will spend the next few days...weeks...months...chanting in appreciation! 


Don't give up whatever you do! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!!

For those of you doing tozos (longer chanting sessions)...how is it going?

In case you don't know, a tozo is chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for an extended time with a certain purpose in mind...a goal and a determination. 


How are your tozos going? Remember that you probably will not see the result the next day, but you HAVE MADE THE CAUSE and you definitely will get the result. There are two kinds of benefits, conspicuous and inconspicuous. Of course we all like to see the results right away, but inconspicuous benefits go into our lives and helps us build the fortune...real fortune...like health and prosperity. So do not despair if a tozo doesn't show a result in two minutes. Remain confident and keep chanting every day twice a day!

A tozo can be one hour, 2 hours, 3 etc. The longest I've ever chanted was 12 hours in a row. I did it right before Rock the Era in 2010 and I chanted for youth in the SGI. I chanted for them to find out about the SGI, to join, and for all of them to realize their dreams and tell their friends about the practice.   


It was easy for me to do this tozo for two reasons. First of all, I wasn't alone. I did it at the Illinois Activity Center with many people. And I remember people came and went throughout the day, but me and one other woman...we stayed the whole time only taking a break to eat or drink or just step outside for a second to get some air. 


At that time my district didn't have any youth in it. Within a few months we had four...and of course, the Rock the Era festival was a huge success at the University of Illinois Pavilion and my two sons and two of their friends were able to attend. 


The second reason it was easy for me to do this tozo is how much I suffered as a youth. I lived in a constant state of hunger for just about everything...friends...grades...a release from the deep sadness I brought into this world that had no right to come with me. I know it was my karma, I'm clear about that, but my family was wonderful and I didn't have to suffer in the way so many children do in challenging situations. No, I was surrounded with love from everyone but myself! So I always have a determination for youth to find this practice. I remember myself as a high schooler...always in love with the boy who didn't care about me...always LOOKING for the spiritual practice I could use to end my suffering. 


That's right, I was born knowing this practice had to exist, I KNEW there had to be a practice I could put my energy into and somehow channel my energy into positive changes in my life and for others. But every time I looked into Buddhism I found the same things: I was told that the CAUSE of my sufferings is desire and if I could alleviate my attachments to desires I could be happy. I rejected that for two reasons. One, it was totally theoretical. It offered no practice, and two, even more importantly, I didn't want to give up my desires. I felt they were a part of who I was. 


So I kept looking until I found the ONE practice that not only allows you to keep your desires, but actually tells you that your desires will lead you to enlightenment. 


THIS is why I am always doing shakubuku. (Introducing people to Nam Myoho Renge Kyo). THIS is why I write this blog and tell people about this practice every day. Happiness is attainable right here right now. I am living proof. 


You too can achieve all your dreams. Just remember that you must keep traveling on the road no matter how many inner "demons" you have to face. Because, after all, isn't it the voices of doubt in our own head the hardest things to overcome? Those voices say "Oh this works for other people but not for me", or "This practice is just too hard, and why do I still have problems?" And of course, you will always have challenges. They are the fuel that builds your strong faith, but only if YOU DO NOT GIVE UP!!! There is a happy life for you. Please persevere and help others too. Please pass along this blog url to people. chantforhappiness.com, so we can both help more people. 
Much love!
Jamie

More on Friendships, and a great quote on the Buddha of Limitless Joy

One of the wonderful readers of this blog wrote me yesterday that she had read the last blog I posted and been amazed because she is going though the exact same karma I did regarding friends. She also watches Sex in the City and wonders where her true friends are, and what she can do to have friends.


 (In the last blog I talked about how rich I am in friendships and how all my friends are actual proof that this practice works) 


Thank you for writing and please don't give up. To have more friendships I chanted to change whatever I needed to change in my own life to have more friends. I chanted to praise my life, and to make friends. I chanted to be open. One by one I made friends, then I set dates to introduce them to each other. I also determined to become closer to my SGI district friends and I'm sure that helped. So now I have several groups of friends. All my friends are very positive energy people of course! 
If I can change my karma so can you! And as I mentioned, I never really figured our WHY I didn't have enough friends, and the answer to that question is, I firmly believe, unimportant. Just chant to have friends and be open to meeting people. Listen more than you talk, and before you know it.....you'll have the benefit too!


I have a great quote from Daisaku Ikeda to share with you. It's from the study material for the test we'll be taking later this week. From the essay "Practicing the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law" I found his description of being a 


BUDDHA OF LIMITLESS JOY!


Boy, do I like the sound of that!
Here's the quote: 

"Nichiren Daishonin embodied a profound state of enlightenment referred to as "the Buddha of limitless joy." This same magnanimous life-condition resides in us all." President Ikeda describes the life-condition as "absolute freedom, bright and unfettered." He continues: 


"It abounds with compassion toward all living beings and with sympathy for those who are suffering. It surges with inexhaustible wisdom and spiritual energy, and overflows with infinite life force, good fortune and benefit. And it burns with the courage to battle the negative tendencies in oneself and others, afraid of nothing." (May 2002 Living Buddhism, p.44)


This life-condition is what we will ALL attain if we don't give up...if we treat all obstacles as benefits...introduce as many people as we can to this practice and keep chanting, no matter what!!