How to Chant to be Happy

This post is great for newcomers, and may have some fresh tips for those already practicing.

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life!

Here you will learn how to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!

First of all make a list of what you really want in life. Take a new look at your desires and write them down.  Dream big. What do you really want? What do you want for yourself? What do you want for others? What do you want for the world? Make a list. There is no such thing as a “bad” desire as long as you wish no harm on others. Many Buddhists began chanting with desires that later turned into other desires. Don’t worry about it. Chant for what is really in your heart. Be true to yourself. 

I suggest having some sort of journal to write in. Writing in a journal helps you become aware of your progress and benefits.

Choose a place to chant comfortably. You’ll want to sit in a comfortable chair. Where would you feel most at ease chanting out loud? It is helpful to have something on the wall to focus on. It's helpful to rest your eyes on something slightly above eye level. It can be anything. When I first started chanting in my little two room apartment in San Francisco, I sat on the mattress on the floor and gazed up at the moon in a poster of Mono Lake. Choose something soothing to rest your eyes on. I find it helpful to have a table nearby for my tea, and other things I like to have close when I chant. You may want to put a little table up as an altar, but you don’t need that to begin. 

Write the words Nam Myoho Renge Kyo on a piece of paper (or use the card enclosed in this book). The words are pronounced as follows: 

Nahm, rhymes with Mom, 

meeyohoh, with three long vowels, 

rain gay, 

key oh. 

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. 

Nahm Meeyohoh Rain Gay Key Oh

Hold your hands with the palms facing in and touching each other in front of your heart. Sit with your back as straight as possible and say the words over and over and over again. 

You do not have to concentrate about what is in your mind at first. Just say the words. Breathe whenever you have to for as long as you like. See if you can chant for a few minutes, then a few minutes more. Chant for as long as you can!  

The rhythm should sound like a train moving, or horses running. There should be some energy to it. You can chant as fast or as slow as you wish. Speed of chanting is up to you. 

If you want to hear how it sounds you can go to the top left corner of this blog and chant with me. I begin slowly and speed up with more energy. 

See how it makes you feel. Can you chant for a little longer? Maybe even a little longer than that. Can you get to the point where you don’t have to think about the words, but can actually think about what you want? It may take a little time. Naturally you will begin to chant for what you want. You’ll see. 

When you are finished chanting you can write in your journal.

Start by writing an assessment of your life right now. What’s going well, what you’d like to improve on. Then write how you felt before chanting and after chanting. In your journal set a goal for how much you want to chant every day.  When I started, I could only chant five minutes a day in the morning and five minutes in the evening. I had a timer next to me and I’m sure there were times I stopped before I’d even reached five minutes! You will build up momentum! Commit to chant twice a day every day. Keep your goals in mind and you’ll remember your reasons for chanting! 

These words and this vibration go deep into the heart of your life itself. They summon forth your highest wisdom, vitality and sense of purpose. They also uproot the karma that is making you suffer, and give you the opportunity to change this karma forever. You will still have challenges and problems in life when you chant...but eventually you will see them as the opportunities they are. Problems are the FUEL you need to catapult your life into a life of happiness and joy. You have begun a journey to uncover the true happiness that exists in your shining Buddha life. Congratulations!
Also - make sure to search on Soka Gakkai followed by whatever country you live in. This site will help you to connect with people who will be happy to help you learn to chant, overcome your problems, and reveal your brilliant, wonderful self!  Fellow Soka Gakka members love to help each other. 
and go to IKEDAQUOTES.org to read Daisaku Ikeda's words. He is lighting the way for us all...and for YOU!

What is the blog about? Happiness!

This blog is about chanting the words "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" to access your highest potential in life and bring about true and everlasting happiness that is unshakable in any circumstances. 


I write this blog so that you can see the possibility and determine to create this kind of happiness for yourself. Every day I am determined to live my life as a shining example that this practice works for every single problem, and to show that living a life of undaunted happiness is possible - so that I can encourage others! 


What is happiness? Does it mean that I am never ever unhappy? No. I experience times of unhappiness, but they are less frequent and less deep than they ever were...and they last a far shorter time. The key is that I know, with absolute confidence that I am improving in all areas of my life. And there is never a problem I cannot solve. In fact, my problems are the fuel for my growth and help me to build this unshakable confidence in my own life. I have proven the validity of this practice, this law of life, over and over and over. 


Right now I've been chanting more than half the time I've been alive. Every day, twice a day!


Since I discovered chanting (and I had to move to California to find it - which is why I write this blog for you, and why I am writing my books about chanting) ~


I have rooted the deep, deep hopelessness and depression out of my life. I no longer have anxiety, or asthma, and I have lost 70 pounds. 
I was lonely for the first half of my life. Now I have friends; many sincere friends, and I make new friends every day. 


I have achieved business success in many areas, and I look forward to every day. 
I am fully expressing myself in every way. I'm a public speaker, a poet, a writer and I love to encourage others. 
I'm writing books and audio books to further encourage you. 
I have had the most marvelous time raising my two happy and successful children in this faith. They started overcoming their problems when they were tiny little guys with bad dreams. A few Nam Myoho Renge Kyos later and Boom, no more bad dreams. They solved problems of bullying, studying, and much more through chanting. As many of you know, Aaron is about to start medical school next Monday, and Ben is a Sophomore in college. I still have areas that I am working on...and I am determined to win in all areas of my life, so that I can encourage you! 


I am a District Leader in the Soka Gakkai organization, which is led by normal people just like me who have dedicated their lives to happiness for themselves and happiness for others. I have many mentors I speak with every day, and many friends who chant alongside me. And I have been lucky enough to be born during the lifetime of Daisaku Ikeda who has dedicated his life to the happiness of all of us since he was 19 years old and is now 83. He is the President of the Soka Gakkai (Value Creating organization - dedicated to Peace, Education and Culture) and I read his words every day. 


You can find his quotes at Ikedaquotes.org, and the organization's website is sgi-usa.org, or search on SGI International to find members in your area. People who chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo with the SGI are in almost every country. 
We chant together to magnify our results and encourage ourselves and others. Nothing makes us happier than meeting new people who are interested in chanting! Never be afraid to call and attend a meeting. you will be welcomed with open arms. 


I host meetings every Wednesday at 7pm in the Western Suburbs of the Chicago area, and there are meetings everywhere in the world. The SGI websites can help you connect. 


YOU are integral to the success of this blog and I chant for you, my readers every single day. I appreciate every single email I receive at silversunsinger@gmail.com, and I respond to every single one. I love hearing your successes and sharing your successes with the other blog readers. Please continue to write to me and post comments on this blog. And THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for sending this blog to your friends and those you want to encourage. All you do is send an email with chantforhappiness.com in the message. 


THANK YOU! Have a great day! 

Encouragement for a Monday Morning

Hello,

Happy Monday. 


Some days I just wake up feeling a little it down...does that ever happen to you? 


I am just so grateful I have my own laboratory to create happiness in my life. 


Every day I sit down in front of my beautiful Gohonzon and feel any heaviness in my heart lifting. 


Chanting brings back light-heartedness and hope. Only a few minutes of chanting lightens my mood considerably. 


It helps to tell the truth when you start chanting each morning. Melissa Bradford says just pour out your heart, empty it of everything troubling you in honesty. You are speaking to your own life after all. Then I recommend you fill your heart with all your hopes and dreams. Fill your heart with dreams, and fill it with hopes for this very day. 


Some of you have asked me, "Do you actually THINK these prayers while chanting or do you think them before chanting?" And the answer is a resounding YES! I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, look at the Gohonzon (scroll on my wall that represents the entire universe that is within ME - and YOU!) and I think thoughts of determination to create the kind of life that encourages others to be happy. I must be happy so I can inspire others! You can chant this way too!


Tell your life "I praise my breath! I praise my health! I praise my determination to be happy, and to help those around me be happy! I praise my life!" 


Chanting for others always brings me joy from within. So many of you have touched my heart with your stories, and I chant for each one of you. You can write me at silversunsinger@gmail.com and I will always reply with the best I can give you. 


As Nichiren Daishonin says, the only one who can really make the determination and become happy is you, but encouragement is absolutely essential. 


My prayers are no more powerful than yours. I am not some special Buddha who is any more important than you are. My aim is to help YOU fire your own Daimoku and be the brilliant, shining example that this practice works. I want you to overflow with happiness and hope! My hope is that you are encouraging other to chant-to the best of your ability. 


You do not have to have a perfect life to encourage others, but having a spirit of hopefulness and the determination to show actual proof through your own life is the best way to start. 


I always chant for the people who are looking for this practice to cross my path. And that they will embrace this practice when I mention it to them.

I just mention my blog, or a Buddhist meeting as part of the conversation, and wait to see if they are interested in learning more. Many of these people have now entirely changed their lives for the better because they started chanting, and continue to chant. 


When you tell others about chanting you are planting a seed in their lives...and firing up your own happiness!


 It doesn't matter if they start chanting right away or not...the seed has been planted. But I'll tell you one thing...nothing makes me a happier person than hearing the positive results of someone I've introduced to this practice, or whom I've encouraged. Nothing makes me happier! I love hearing your stories!! Make a strong determination to be happier than you ever dreamed possible! 


Have a great and victorious week!

The Gosho Lecture today was Incredible!

I hope you were able to go to this month's Gosho Study in your area. Ours was wonderful! It is always so great to be with other SGI members...so bright...so victorious! 


As I mentioned in the last few posts...we are the Treasure Tower. Our lives possess so much power. And it's available for us to tap into. All we need to do is chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and join the noble fellowship of the SGI. 


Why is it so hard for us to believe in our own brightness...out own worthiness...our own powerful universe inside us?  


I suspect the answer lies in having been born into a culture that has "original sin" embedded in it. Buddhism doesn't believe we have original sin. Yes, everyone has fundamental darkness that surfaces from time to time, but that's not the same as original sin. In Buddhism we have "original Buddhahood" and we strive to remember and bring back to life our own truly bright, authentic sparkling self. 


Please chant about this! 


Chant to PRAISE YOUR LIFE! Chant to bring forth your own Buddhahood. It is there! It is in everyone! Realize that you are an incredibly precious Buddha! 


And make your dreams come true!!!!

Noble Practitioners ~ Many in Body- One in Mind!

In this week's World Tribune ther is an essay by Daisaku Ikeda called "Fostering Young 'Tokimitzus' of a new era". On page E of the insert is a passage I want to share with you. 


I'd actually like to post all of Daisaku Ikeda's words, essays, photographs on this blog every day! His words are so important. You can find quotes at the great website Ikedaquotes.org, and you can read the World Tribune and Living Buddhism online or on paper when you subscribe by calling 800-835-4558, or by going to www.SGIsubs.org. There are publications in every county. This is the information for America's publications. For other countries you could start at the Website SGI.org.


In this essay President Ikeda is talking about how difficult it is to maintain a Buddhist practice in the Latter Day of the Law. That's the age that we are living in. 


It's a time of darkness where the land is defiled by fundamental darkness. Greed, anger and stupidity run amok. I'm sure you'll agree with that! 
He compares each practitioner to the carps from the ancient Chinese tale of the Dragon Gate. He compares all of us to the carps that are trying to swim up to the top of the waterfall, going against the tide of the times to become powerful dragons. Fierce currents assail us, fishermen, animals and birds of prey seek to stop us on our journey. Our own fundamental darkness (manifesting as the voices in our head that tell  us that chanting won't work, and in people who seek to discourage us) can be overwhelming sometimes. 


But if we persevere we become the strong shining souls I talk about in this blog. In other words, we Attain Buddhahood. 


Daisaku Ikeda states: 


"Precisely because it is so difficult to carry out faith in the Mystic Law in such an age, the bond of mentor and disciple in Buddhism takes on decisive importance. Likewise a harmonious community of fellow practitioners solidly united in purpose - in what Nichiren Daishonin terms "the spirit of many in body, one in mind" - is also indispensable. 
The Soka Gakkai possesses the bond of mentor and disciple that is strong enough to withstand any adversity. 
And its members - noble ordinary people who are polishing their lives by striving in faith with the same commitment as their mentor - are allied together in solid unity. Moreover, countless members, like magnificent dragons born through the the triumphant ascent of the waterfall, are leading lives of profound dignity and confidence forged through continually challenging themselves in their faith and self-development." 


No - it is not easy!!! But you can do it. We can all do it together. Please make sure to join with your fellow members in every country. We are so fortunate. The foundation has been forged by Daisaku Ikeda and the members who came before us. All we have to do is make sure that we are in the flow of the water by joining our local SGI members and chanting with the heart of Daisaku Ikeda. When we join our hearts with our great mentor we can accomplish ANYTHING! We can achieve our own happiness and the happiness of all those around us. Don't give up - you are not alone! Persevere towards your own happiness! 

Happiness Based on Your Own True Self!

I found this encouraging guidance from my mentor Kate, and would like to share it with you. 


This applies to whatever you are currently facing - no matter what your struggle:




Every single one of us - every single one, is standing at a door and 100,000 people are behind us waiting for us to open that door. 


We need to choose to open the door and move forward. 


One person moving forward moves the entire web of life forward. 


We want our true happiness to be built on stronger shores than just what is in our hearts and my minds. We want our happiness to be built on the core of our lives in the deepest core...our life force itself - the law of cause and effect deep in our lives. Our true...unshakable identity. 
We have seen the transience of our minds, our hearts and our emotions. We don't want to build our happiness on that. 
Following our hearts means following our instincts. We don't want our happiness to be built on moment-to-moment instincts. We want to build it on our real true selves. 


We must chant to have the kind of unshakable happiness that is based on who we really are inside. We must chant to build a SOLID, UNSHAKABLE SELF...We can chant to be the Buddha of absolute freedom. 


These are power prayers for sure!


I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! 

You are the Universe...You are the Buddha...and so are we all!

This month's Living Buddhism Magazine is as amazing as always! 
 Please make sure you have your copy. Instructions for getting your subscription is at the bottom of this post. 


One of the most exciting aspects of chanting is the steady realization of how everything that is NOT BUDDHA about you is all illusion. 


When you chant to reveal - every day - the beautiful crystal clear and pure self inside,  then your life begins to shine more brightly. 


When your inner self shines more brightly your outer environment changes to reflect it. 


We call this the process of "Doing Human Revolution". There are many times when I didn't know what to chant...so I just focused my prayer on "doing my human revolution and raising my life condition." When you chant with this in mind your life will move forward...even if you don't know what to chant about. 


I know it must sound confusing. On the one hand I am always advising you to be as specific as possible in your prayer, and to write and rewrite your determinations. On the other hand I tell you that you can chant a general prayer like "raise my life condition." And truthfully, there is a place for both of these kinds of prayers. Sometimes we just don't know what we want. In the early years of my practice I chanted hours and hours to know what my mission in life was...why was I born...what am I here to do." Well, as you can tell, I did get the answer to my prayer! My life is moving forward in so many amazing ways! 
I hope yours is too!


To get your own publications:


Living Buddhism is published in America and available by calling 800-835-4558 or going to SGI-USA.org and subscribing on line. It is a beautiful monthly magazine filled with experiences and study material that will touch your heart and add fire to your prayers. The bi-monthly World Tribune comes along with your subscription. It is an essential part of practice to study these wonderful publications. I highly recommend them!