Become a Person of Unlimited Self Esteem

….How to become Men/Women of Unlimited Self Esteem….
By Danny Nagashima, SGI General Director (USA)

You can analyze your situation all you want. You have to get to the root of why “I don’t believe in the greatness of my life”. You have to grab it by the roots and yank it out of your life. The answer is probably so simple, but we tend to over-analyze, it gets complicated and the solution seems far away. Your mission as a Buddhist is to become happy – not to master suffering. We have the negative and positive sides of us – one says, “who are you kidding”, the other, “you can do it”. You have to fight to not to give in to your negativity. This is not about being a writer, an artist, an actor, etc. It is about becoming the man or woman that you always wanted to become, a man or woman who really values his/her life.

The obstacles you face are the answer to your prayer.

Those feelings of self-doubt, those feelings that “I am a failure” – those are the feelings that you have to face and to address. How you feel about yourself, that feeling of self-loathing, of not being good enough, of being a sham. Those are the feelings you have to face. Your talent is not being questioned; it is about how you feel about yourself. That is the karma. You have to value your own life, to appreciate that it has nothing to do with anybody else validating you. Follow your heart; follow your Buddhahood and the effect from that, the benefit from that will be massive.

You need to follow your heart, truly treasure your life. When Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon, he was already chanting daimoku out of the greatness of his life, his Buddhahood, his enlightened state; he inscribed the Gohonzon for all humanity so that everyone could relieve his or her suffering. When you sit in front of the Gohonzon and chant, you have to have the most reverence for your life, the same as the Daishonin’s; therefore your life deserves that kind of reverence.

If you chant for two weeks to really be a person of unlimited self-esteem and to really, truly appreciate your life including your flaws, your accomplishments, your defeats and your losses, your victories, all that you have created and to truly appreciate your talent as XYZ for two weeks, everything will change.

Forget about the past garbage. Put it away. That will only make you feel impotent. From today on, really chant about being that man/woman of unlimited self-esteem. Really appreciate everything about your life; all the things that make you incredibly unique and wonderful. All your sufferings, problems, heartaches, will be the stuff you need, in order to share your experience, to encourage and to inspire others. Focus on really, truly awakening to your greatness. This is the opportunity (sufferings, obstacles, lack of self-esteem) you needed to go through in order to become outrageously successful – so you can fulfill your dream. If you focus on this – really valuing your life now, then everything will fall into place in a much bigger way. This is something no one can give you; the universe is showing you what you need to tackle. When you first chant this way, a lot of garbage may come out of your life, a lot of negativity, awful feelings may surface. We always bring into our lives what matches our life condition. So chant to feel incredible joy about your worth and you will feel and know self worth and greatness.

You not being able to do whatever you determine is a manifestation deep down of your feeling of fear, that you are not good enough, that you do not have it in you. You must get yourself to a place where there is the greatness of your life, then everything will be transformed. We have to believe in our Buddhahood. When we face the Gohonzon, we should say, “I am going to praise my wonderful life”. It is important to awaken to your own greatness. Your life is the Gohonzon. Now is the time for you to start over.

When you pray to a deity, your prayer becomes passive. Our voice is the Mystic Law. This law is not outside of you. When you get a benefit, it was you who created it. You must awaken to your greatness, appreciate and value your own life. It is no different to the enlightened life of Nichiren Daishonin, embodied in the Gohonzon.

Just as a beautiful piece of art elicits a response, or a great book touches your life in a certain way, we must elicit the Buddha nature from our own lives. It is right here, and the Gohonzon is the perfect vehicle to bring out that strength, joy and vibrant life condition; then you take that to the world and change the environment. 

We are not necessarily chanting for the house, the car, the job, the relationship, but we are chanting to elevate our life condition to attract that happiness. The results that we see in our lives are a reflection of our life condition. 

Every day as you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo consciously call forth your Buddhahood to manifest itself consistently. 

Chant to rise above your basic tendency of disbelief, or continually thinking that you are a common mortal who does not deserve good fortune in this life. Do not negate your life when you sit in front of the Gohonzon. Do not beg. Do not scream. Do not berate the Gohonzon. Believe in the greatness of your life; manifest the extraordinary side of you. The Gohonzon is the tool we need to bring out our Buddhahood. "My life is the Gohonzon." Do not slander your life. The doubt is necessary to prove to myself that “I am a Buddha. I will fulfill every one of my dreams for myself”.

We already possess something incredible – our Buddha nature, the Gohonzon. But we do not believe that the good fortune, the “million dollars” is truly mine. I will not be able to get it, or to enjoy it. Trust that the Gohonzon, your prayer, is the absolute means for you to transform your life. Trust and faith are the key words.

Chant with the expectation that every one of your wildest dreams will be fulfilled beyond your wildest imagination. Chant to believe in your Buddhahood. Trust in the greatness of your life. 

In “On Attaining Buddhahood”, Nichiren Daishonin made a primary point: to free ourselves from the suffering of birth and death which we have endured in lifetime after lifetime, and to attain absolute happiness, we need to awaken to the mystic truth that has always been within our lives. That truth is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That truth is “I am a Buddha”. Trust that you have everything you need for your happiness.

TEN POINTS TO BECOME A PERSON OF UNLIMITED SELF-ESTEEM

1. Chant to become a person of unlimited self-esteem
2. Chant to awaken to your own greatness
3. Chant to appreciate your life, including flaws, accomplishments, defeats, losses, and victories and truly appreciate all that makes you a unique and wonderful person
4. Chant to make the impossible possible
5. Chant to consistently manifest your Buddha nature and rise above your basic tendencies and overcome your inherent negativities in your life
6. Believe that you are a Buddha and create all the benefits for yourself
7. Believe you are the Gohonzon
8. Trust that in the Gohonzon, (your life itself) you have the means to fulfill each and every desire to become extraordinarily happy
9. Chant to display your Buddhahood and to bring forth that strength, joy, vibrant life condition
10. And then take it to the world and change the environment.

Friendship from Daisaku Ikeda

Your Words Create Your Life

Choose Your Words carefully. 

Speak positive words

 to yourself and others

 and you will see the difference 

your positive  words make. 

What you focus on increases. 

Do you want to focus on the 

negative in your life or the positive? 

What you focus on increases...which would you rather have...more things you don't want or more things you do? 

It's up to you! 

Our Lives are Our Own - Power Prayer for Increasing Confidence

How do we gain confidence in the power of our own lives? 
On what do we base our decisions? 

Practicing Buddhism is a process that enables us to better know our desires and continue to refine them day after day after day. Our continual process helps us to hone who we really are and instills in us the confidence that we CAN HAVE what we truly desire. 

President Ikeda says in Faith and Action (in the Self-Reliance section), page 65:

"Our Lives are our own. 
It is not for someone else to dictate to us 
how we should live. 
All that awaits those who allow themselves to be continually swayed by what other people say or do 
is unhappiness. 
We simply need to have the self-belief to be able to say: This is right. 
This is the path I will follow. 
I am content." 
Happiness is born from such inner fortitude. 
Moreover, those who earnestly devote themselves in accord with the mystic law 
cannot fail to realize lives of total fulfillment." 

How do we develop this core of self belief? 
We can chant for it:

Power Prayer for Increasing Confidence:

Life! I am determined to increase my confidence in my own life. I am determined to tap into the core and essence of my life itself, and bring the full wisdom and power of my life into everything I do. I am determined to know exactly what I want and chant to fulfill it. I am a votary of the Lotus Sutra and I will make my life shine like the sun! I am determined to use every breath of my life as a beacon for good, and to be a light for others along the path of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
  

What is Success in Life?

Daisaku Ikeda states:

"Just what is success? 
The English thinker Walter Pater (1839-94) wrote: 

"To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life." 

The person who lives like fully, 
glowing with life's energy, 
is the person who lives a successful life." 

From Faith in Action, page 68. 

Power Prayer for Overcoming Depression and Hopelessness

Those of us who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 
are the lights of our families, 
our neighborhoods 
and our countries. 
We are able to tap into the vast source of life itself every single day, every morning, and every evening. And if we can continue to have hope and continue to draw on our higher nature...continue to see ourselves as the Buddhas we are and not give in to feelings of hopelessness and despair...we can make the impossible possible in our lives...there is nothing we can't do. 

"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a lion, what sickness can therefore be an obstacle?"
Nichiren Daishonin, Letter to Niike. 

But......
"A sword is useless in the hands of a coward."
Nichiren Daishonin, Reply to Kyo'o

So we must be brave and forge ahead, even when we feel darkness in our hearts. 

My goal is to inspire you with my life, and for you to actively seek out Daisaku Ikeda and Nichiren Daishonin's heart, and for all of you to make good friends in the SGI, the organization full of regular people awakened to their Buddhahood who are dedicating their lives to helping others become happy through this practice.  

It is because of my mentors, and the heart-to-heart guidance I have received from my friends in the Soka Gakkai - my "good friends in faith," that I have been able to vanquish depression and anxiety from my life. 
And I am telling you this for sure - if I can do it so can you. My depression was a deep-seated karmic depression. My mother had it and it runs deep within her side of the family.  I'd wake up in the morning encased on a veil of sadness. I knew the moment my eyes opened that it was back. And every day, in my morning Gongyo I learned to face it down and chase it out of my life. 

My friend-in-faith Kate got rid of her own depression and counseled me to chant with fierce determination in my heart and to create this power prayer:

Power Prayer for Vanquishing Depression

While chanting, have this determination:

"I don't CARE how many times you rear your ugly head depression. I WILL defeat you! I will defeat you to show actual proof for kosen-rufu, so I can encourage others.  I will come back and chant time and time again until you are gone from my life forever. You are no match for me hopelessness and depression! I reveal my life state as the life of the Buddha. I embrace my mission to encourage others. I will win!" 

And I won. It's over. I no longer feel depressed. I no longer wake up into darkness for no reason. 

Prayer and action are the key. Because of my prayer I stopped trying to escape into bad habits that just made the depression worse. I began working out vigorously 20 minutes each morning. I also changed my eating habits and lost weight. Earnest prayer gives rise to positive action. 

Aaron Leaves for Bolivia Today

Aaron Silver and Meg Groom

It's a big day here at the Silver household.

Aaron and Meg, his wonderful new friend, 

are taking off to do medical duties 

in Bolivia through a program at their medical school. 

They really don't know exactly what the trip will hold, 

only that it is a grand adventure.  

It is at times like this that I am especially grateful to be able to be at home chanting for Aaron and Meg. 

I will take every fear, and all of my love and happiness and put it into my Daimoku 

for the next month for them both, 

and for the whole group. 

Oh heart, that hold us all together, I send my prayer today

For happiness, protection and all good fortune. 

May all their timing be perfect. may their flights be uneventful and easy, and may they work hard, laugh hard and appreciate every moment, even the difficult ones. 

May they create memories 

of golden moments and cherished friends. 

May their hearts be even further opened 

and their missions give them vision, 

purpose, enthusiasm and hope. 

May they be absolutely inspired by the beauty that exists inside each and every human heart. 

May their lives shine like the sun.