It's Sunday Morning Here in Chicago

And we have another spectacular day!

I'm just about to sit down and chant for all of you. 

I am chanting for each of you to become so happy that you can't NOT introduce others to this practice. I'm chanting that your lives are overflowing with benefit and that you feel the power of this practice with every cell in your body. 

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo is like the Roar of a Lion! What Sickness can therefore be an obstacle? 

In this case, "sickness" can be anything. It can be any suffering we are still encountering...everything from a broken heart to an actual physical sickness. This week was filled with obstacles for me. I woke up unable to move because of pain in my back (that was a first, and hopefully a last) and my windshield broke for no reason while just sitting in a parking lot. Those were annoying obstacles, but I kept going on and I kept chanting. 

On Friday I attended an all day workshop about providing blog readers with really cool benefits...I'll let you know as soon as I have some things up and running. 

In the meantime, please tell me what you want! What can I do for you? Are there subjects you want me to write about? Are there questions you have about chanting? Questions about life? Please write me! 

Keep Your Spirits High

Chanting always works. 

Even if you don't believe it works.

That's part of the beauty of chanting. 

AS LONG AS YOU KEEP CHANTING! 

Here are some of the things I do to bolster my mood and keep moving forward:

I have a saying that I've embedded in my mind, and I say it to myself whenever I feel myself losing a little energy, or getting a bit discouraged...I say 

"ALL THE BEST IS COMING TO ME NOW!" and "ALL GOOD THINGS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO ME!" 

I have posted these signs for myself and I really use them and appreciate them! 

And the best part is...they are true! All the best IS coming to me now! All GOOD THINGS are on their way to me! I joyfully receive them! I am open to receiving all kinds of wonderful people into my life, wonderful experiences, love and laughter and fun!

The first thing I think when I open my eyes in the morning is "All the best is coming to me today!" Then I list at least ten things I am grateful for in my life before I even get out of bed. This helps to set the tone for the entire rest of the day. 

Then I get up and chant in an attitude of gratitude for my wonderful life. Chanting in gratitude is such a joy. See if you can generate this for yourself! 

I am chanting for you every day! 

How to Chant for the First Time!

How to Chant. Please share with anyone interested in becoming happy!

How to be Happy! How to Chant for the first time. 

A great post to share with first time chanters.  Please forward this on!

(I had a request from a reader to teach her how to chant - this is my response, and part of the book I'm writing. Please forward this to anyone you'd like to introduce to this amazing practice!)

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!

Obstacles are SUPPOSED to Happen

Last night I was reading from one of my favorite books "The Hope Filled Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. SGI President Ikeda's lecture series in order to prepare for the Wednesday night meeting at my house. 
I read the Dragon Gate Gosho on page 113. It talks about the difficulty of obtaining Buddhahood and how easy it is to give in to our obstacles...unless we make a great vow and fight alongside our mentor. And it reminded me that obstacles are supposed to happen. They are a necessary part of our practice. Oh Yes, right! I know, I know, but sometimes it is good to be reminded. 
I have been chanting to share President Ikeda's heart and prayer for world peace. I have been chanting alongside my district members for them to overcome their problems. It is only natural that I should experience some obstacles of my own! 

Please do not let your problems defeat you! 
Remember that the Gosho 
"The Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering" 
says 
"Doesn't a fire burn more brightly when more logs are added?" 

Our problems, challenges and obstacles are exactly the logs that we need to fuel the fire that ultimately creates our happiness...even if it doesn't really look like it, or feel like it at the time. As long as we do not give up, ans we stay in the circle of faith...WE WILL ALL WIN!!! 
Have a great day!

More positive Self Talk! Affirmation Suggestions for you!

Did you like Etjen's experience from yesterday? 

Etjen and I have been friends since the early 80's. 

She has always been a vivacious and wonderful woman. 

I love how she talks about positive self-talk, and I think it's really important! 

This weekend I developed a few phrases and posted them all around my dressing room. 
I suggest doing your version of this. 

Each of us can benefit from positive words. 

Our words frame the thoughts in our minds...our thoughts and the words we speak predict our future outcomes. 

Here are some of the phrases I am posting and saying every day:

All the Best is Coming to Me Now!

I am grateful for me ever-increasing health - wealth and beauty!

All the best is coming to me now! And I deserve the best!

It is fall, and time to spiff up my wardrobe so I posted on my closet: 

All the BEST clothes are coming to me now! I always look and feel my best!!!

I also have one for drawing an excellent, incredible man into my life. 

And, like Etjen, I also look in the mirror and say:

"You're beautiful! Look at you!"

And I smile at myself. Loving ourselves in where it all starts. Recognizing my own Buddhahood....recognizing your won Buddhahood...that's what it's all about! 

My Friend Etjen's Love Experience!

It’s been a year and a half since I got out of a relationship with a pathological narcissist.  I can now start looking at the profiles on Plenty of Fish (an online dating site) without feeling of dread and repulsion in the pit of my stomach that was there when I started looking several months ago.

When I first got out of that near-death experience (jobless, spiritually and emotionally devastated, physically drained), I began a long journey for some serious self reflection.  How could I, a person who has done an amazing amount of self development work and chanting find myself at 50-something looking back at her relationship track record, finding that ALL of her romantic relationships have been unhealthy in some form.  I had them all, the whole range: – the physically abusive, the emotionally distant, the addict, the mentally ill and the personality disordered.  The realization was devastating.  I had wasted all this time struggling in dramatic love connections.  

I brought this discovery to my chanting and chanted to know what the lesson is here. The clarity came to me: This is great news!  I have so much street education about unhealthy relationships now – that I have so much to teach and help other people plus – there is no way I will ever find myself involved in a situation like this again! I now have a mission and a new powerful way to live emerged. Previously, I had a drive to be in a romantic relationship, always in a desperate search.  This time, I proceeded to do what everyone knows and that is to focus on myself and learn to truly love myself.   I declared a vacation  from all romantic endeavors for a year (something I have never ever done). We’ve all heard that before – “you gotta love yourself before you can love someone else”.  I thought I had already learned this one but this past year, I took it on like a real practice and got that lesson deeply  I’d look in the mirror and into my eyes with love and say out loud things like – “I love you”, “You’re great”, “You are really sexy”.  I’d do healthy things like eat well, chant, exercise, write, spend fun time with my kids, my girlfriends.  I paid more attention to  all the people in my life who love me, appreciate the great city I live in, kept my home cleaner, got rid of clutter.  I’d ask great questions of myself like “If I was my own best friend, how would I talk to myself”?  My self talk shifted – I found myself saying things to myself like : “wow, look how happy people are around you”, “You bring laughter and joy to people”, “It’s okay, don’t be so hard on yourself”, “you are really smart” and lots more.  These practices have really helped me cultivate a higher self esteem and sense of joy for myself and my own life.

Back to the "Plenty of Fish"dating web site!  Part of my mission is to create a great, healthy relationship.  After a couple of failed coffee dates, I chanted to meet that man who will fit with my newly re-established  life and stronger sense of self.  I met him a couple of days later.  Our first date was a Full Moon Hike a couple of months ago.  This is the first man I have been with who I describe as “sweet” (among other things).  When he said to me: “you are a beautiful person”, it felt like a vibration resonating with that love I had cultivated for myself, rather than something for me to argue with.  In that moment, I knew why that “loving yourself” thing is so highly recommended.

We have been dating for a couple of months now and there is still the crazy up and down “new relationship” experience at play.  Now however, it is in a context of balance and peace.  This self love that I have is the foundation and I am centered in a place that I have a deep sense of knowing that I am fine no matter what happens here.  If he went away, I would be okay – I would be left with a sense of gratitude for what we have shared thus far.  There is no more “needing a man to make me whole”.  A great saying I heard is “the man is not the cake, he is the icing.  Your life is the cake”.  

The Soka Gakkai is for all of US!

What is this Blog About? 

And what is the Soka Gakkai? 

Literally Soka Gakkai means Value Creating Society, and that's exactly what it is! There are Soka Gakkai members in 192 countries, all doing Gongyo (reciting from the Lotus Sutra) and Daimoku (Chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo over and over) twice a day every day. We meet in people's homes and form family-like districts of people who love and support each other. There are no temples and there is no clergy, although we do have community centers in most major cities where members gather. 

There is a network for support for the District leaders and members. Each of these supporting leaders has a burning passion to help people become happy through chanting these words...and we all have a boatload of benefits to PROVE that chanting works! I am a District leader in Oakbrook Terrace, IL and my district meets every single Wednesday all year. On Sunday seven members of our district gathered together to chant for two hours for one of our members who is in Dublin now because her beloved mother just died. I am sure our friend Pamela felt the waves of support coming her way. 

You can find your local members by going to sgi.org. The members will welcome you with open arms! 

What is this Buddhist Practice? 
How is it different from other forms of Buddhism? 

In the Soka Gakkai, we practice Nichiren Buddhism (also called Practical Buddhism). It's called Practical Buddhism because each person experiences RESULTS from chanting. 

In this practice we are ALL Buddhas...all equal Buddhas tapping into the rich resources of our life itself and the entire universe by chanting the words Nam Myoho Renge Ko. 

Chanting these words enables us to bring forth all we desire and manifest it in this lifetime, it also brings us the resources to change what we need to change in our own characters, and in our lives, to accomplish and build lasting happiness for ourselves and others.  

We belong to the Soka Gakkai International, an organization dedicated to Peace, Culture and Education, founded by educators with vision and passion. It was founded in 1930 by Tunesaburo Makiguchi who died while imprisoned by the Japanese government for refusing to give in to their war efforts during WWII. 
His disciple, Josei Toda went to prison with him, and lived to be released, to devote the rest of his life to laying the groundwork for world wide peace (Kosen Rufu). 
His disciple, Daisaku Ikeda has been living his life with no other thought but peace, culture and education ever since he was 19 years old and met Josei Toda for the first time. 
He fought alongside his mentor tirelessly day after day, even though he was sick with tuberculosis and not expected to live a long life. 

Daisaku Ikeda has founded countless educational institutions based on Soka Education. It's main tenet is that each person should learn how to create a life of VALUE and HAPPINESS through education. There are Soka schools all over the world. Soka University in America sits on a majestic hill in Aliso Viejo, California and my friend Kate's daughter is currently spending the semester in Lima Peru while attending Soka University. It is Daisaku Ikeda's belief that only education can truly change the world and its inequities and build the culture we all desire...one where peace, life, fairness and happiness can flourish. 

Daisaku Ikeda is now 84 and living in japan. His accomplishments are too numerous to mention here. You can find his quotes at Ikedaquotes.org and more information about him on SGI-USA.org. he has over 300 honorary doctorates from universities all over the world. These schools recognize him for creating cultural and educational exchanges among the people of the world. When people share bonds of friendship, peace can truly exist. Ikeda lived through WWII. He has a fierce determination that war is not any solution for anything, and that dialogue between people builds bridges of peace. 

Every day I chant that my heart shares his wisdom, determination and courage. He is an ordinary man; I am an ordinary woman. What sets him apart is his determination to make the world a better place, and the energy He has been expending his whole life in that effort. Through using his example, studying his words and chanting to feel and understand his determination, we can all become strong towers of wisdom, courage and determination...helping others to forge lives of happiness and strength! 

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!