If You're Struggling ...

Please remember what Nichiren Daishonin says:


"Winter Always Turns to Spring"


And sometimes the saying "It's always darkest before the dawn" is all too true. 


You WILL break through. You WILL be happy. You will probably remember this time as the time you REALLY changed your life. Problems and challenges are FUEL for your growth and happiness. But sometimes it does not feel that way, does it? 


I know!


Believe in the power of your own prayer. 


Believe in the power in your own Life! 


And keep chanting! DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!!


Chant for the type of benefit that will strengthen your faith. 


Chant to strengthen your faith and your life!!!!


Keep chanting!


Keep introducing others to the practice and telling people about Nam Myoho Renge Kyo! It doesn't matter if they decide to start chanting today. I have many friends who started chanting after I'd known them for 20 years! When you tell people about the practice you are planting a seed in their lives, and changing your OWN karma. 


I carry Nam Myoho Renge Kyo cards with me everywhere I go.  And I give them to people who help me in stores, and people I encounter casually. I just say "This is the secret to happiness and bringing out your highest potential. You can chant for anything you want."


Have a great day!!

From Daisaku Ikeda to all of us

"Seen from the perspective of faith and Buddhism,

everything has profound meaning.

There is no need whatsoever

for us to vacillate between elation and despair

at each turn of events.

There is no such thing

as a storm

that will continue blowing and wreaking havoc without end.

In the same way,

there is no hardship that will continue forever.

There are clear days and there are rainy days.

If we are swayed by our environment,

rejoicing one moment and despairing the next

amid ever-changing circumstances,

then we will not be able to accomplish

a true revolution

in our state of life.

The important thing is to always believe in the Mystic Law and to enter the powerful orbit of faith, practice and study. Entering this orbit--the orbit of human revolution and of changing our karma --is the way to construct a life of good fortune and happiness that will endure throughout eternity. No matter what happens, we will enjoy the unerring protection of the Gohonzon. Instead of drawing conclusions about the world of faith from a superficial viewpoint, we need to calmly discern the true reality and significance of things and keep pressing forward.

With the passage of time, it will definitely become clear that everything has unfolded in the best possible manner."

From The Hope Filled Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 277, from his essay on the Gosho "A Warning Against Begrudging One's Fief."

Great Quote from Daisaku Ikeda

“People who love

with the most all-consuming fervor

are those

who live life

to the fullest,

regardless

of how long

the physical existence lasts.

To invest

one’s heart and soul

in caring for others,

to burn with passionate love for humanity,

is what Buddhists call

the Boddhisatva Way.”

I believe

this kind of perfect life

constitutes the way

to optimal health

and true longevity.”

Daisaku Ikeda

A New Friend and Buddhist

This Saturday...the view from my patio...

Here I was looking at the clouds and feeling appreciative. I was loving the fact that I could just sit here, on a Saturday night, all by myself, enjoying my own company and not longing to be anywhere else or with anyone else. I wasn't longing for ANYTHING! I felt totally at peace and happy. 

A woman was walking on the walkway in front of my patio. She stopped for a moment and we smiled at each other. I said "Aren't the clouds amazing? What a beautiful evening!" The next thing I knew she was sitting next to me with tears flowing from her eyes. She was in the exact same emotional  state of longing and heart break that I have experienced in the past. Longing...pain... both emotional and physical. The more we talked the more our similar situations were revealed. But I was on the other side of this pain and able to give her hope. 

"I know! I know!" I told her. "I felt exactly the same way! And I chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and used that pain as a springboard for creating happiness in my life. I know it's hard to believe, but one day you may thank this man in your heart...because this pain has led you to discover the way to be happy, and you have encountered this incredible practice for the first time!"

 I invited her in to chant. We chanted three Daimoku and I gave her the gong for the bell. I told her when she was finished chanting she could ring it and we would stop.  We chanted for about 15 minutes. She felt better immediately...but was still raw from her recent heart break. Then on Sunday she came to the Chicago Buddhist Center with me to hear Linda Johnson speak. 

Then last night she joined me and a fellow member and chanted almost a full hour of Daimoku...really surprising herself! She told me that today, because of chanting this weekend, she was able to focus at work, be productive and she had a good day! Wonderful! She is on her way to healing! 

I am chanting for her to have a lifetime of happiness now that she has encountered this practice. I KNOW she can get over her broken heart and create a deeper level of happiness not based on anyone or anybody. 

There are no coincidences!!!! There is nothing, truly, that makes me happier than introducing someone to the mystic law. I know my new friend will never be the same. She WILL become happy, and she will be able to fulfill her own mission of helping others! Doing Shakubuku is such a joy!

Aaron's First Day of Medical School!

Aaron and me last night. Paul took the artsy/crooked photo!

Aaron posted on Facebook yesterday: 

"Tomorrow I begin the first day of 17th Grade!" 

Today is his first day at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola. 

We are all so proud and happy.

What a wonderful coincidence that this is happening on the exact day that I began this blog three years ago. 

What tremendous actual proof!!

And last night we went over 7,000 readers for the month! 

Thank YOU for spreading the word! 

If you want to be a guest writer let me know!

Have a great Monday!

Happy Three Year Anniversary of this blog! Here is a reprint from 7/30/09:

Join me!
I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (pronounced Nahm Meeyoho Raingay Kyo)
It means - I fuse my life with the law of cause and effect through sound vibration, or I am one with the flow of life, or I am the Buddha myself! Chanting these words has a profound and practical impact on my life....and it can on anyone's life.
When you chant these words you tap into the eternal universe that's already inside you...the one you know is there, that you've always known is there. Chanting these words allows you to tap the great power you have always had.
On October 20th of 2009 I will have been chanting these words every day...twice a day for 25 years! Between now and October 20th I will be chanting two hours every single day. By October 20th I will have chanted a million daimoku (pron: diemoku, and it means chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo over and over) with a goal to accomplish many dreams: (As you know I continued chanting and continued blogging after October 20th 2009)
Here are my determinations: (from 2009, July 30th)
I wish to inspire others through sharing my heart, my struggles and my successes.
I wish to share the heart of my mentor Daisaku Ikeda (President of the Soka Gakkai International) with the world.
I will release my life from the underlying sadness I have always felt...the sadness that has no name and no real cause. I believe I was born with this sadness, and that it is my mission in this life to free myself from it.
I will have a body that is pain free! I will be able to move in any way I want. For several years I have been battling with a painful right leg. I believe it is arthritis, but I keep thinking I can solve the pain through some other means than surgery. I have never had surgery and never want to have it! (As many of you know I DID have the surgery - it was the only solution - and I have been happily pain free for 2 years. I shared my story with my Dad and he is pain free and walking more than ever after HIS surgery!)
I will be on the way to losing the rest of the weight I've been challenged with my entire life. (I've already lost 50 pounds).


I will naturally attract opportunities that delight me!


I will make lots of new friends and connections!


I will become a published author!


7/29/12 As you know, I have been living pain free and I have released my life from the deep sadness. I am happy and writing my first book for you! This blog is now up to 7,000 readers a month! Thank you so much for copying the URL of your favorite posts and sending them on to your friends! It is because of YOU that this blog has grown!

How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?

This is a question that is on many of our minds. 
How do we mend a broken heart? How do we move on and attract that one person who is right for us...that one person we will choose to be with for this journey called life? Who will be our partner for Kosen Rufu (World Peace)?


Let's start by talking about what I'm hearing from you, and what I know from experiences of my own.


Break ups are painful. Heart ache actually hurts. I feel it in my belly...others feel it in the center of their body. Some people can't eat...others want to eat all the time. Some of us can't think...and can't even function. Some people have a hard time breathing and/or can't sleep at night.


We find ourselves asking "why...Why...WHY!" But we know, that even if we knew why...it wouldn't matter, it wouldn't help, it would still hurt.


So what can I tell you about practicing Buddhism and getting over a broken heart? A lot.


Do any of you remember why I first began this blog? Yup. Heart Break. I was very aware that this heart break was tapping into sadness that I had carried with me into this life...an underlying sadness that was always with me in some form or other, and had bloomed and blossomed with my broken heart.


So I started with making a determination to change this karma forever...I chanted to be happy no matter what. I chanted to tear this sadness out by the roots. Remember, it's not important to know all the WHYS. It is only important to make the determination to become happy in the depths of your being. We are Buddhas revealing the depths of our own Buddhahood.  This is a good start for getting over a broken heart...
We must all realize that right now...at this moment when we are chanting...that we have the ultimate tool to make our lives happy forever. No Matter WHAT!!! 


A few other tips for getting over a broken heart:


Make a list of ALL THE THINGS YOU WILL NOT MISS about the person, and the situation. Keep it handy and read it often. And every time you find yourself thinking "Why me?" Think "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo! and NEXT" 


Strengthen your faith more than ever! 


And stay BUSY!!! 


Do any of you have stories to share?