Unique Buddhism! Some Facts about Practical (SGI) Buddhism to Share

Why do we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and what makes this practice different than any other form of Buddhism? 

Click on the SGI Portal to the right to find out more about our organization. 

You have happened upon a practice that is very unique indeed. Some of the ways this practice is different include these points:

~ People do not have to “convert” to Buddhism to chant. Anyone can chant. It's like meditation, or yoga..it's a practice. 

~ The goal of this practice is RESULTS, also called actual proof, or benefits. In other words - you get what you chant for- or something better - as long as you do not give up. 

~ In this practice, each person is a Buddha, and possesses the entire power of the universe within their own lives. This is the awakening that the original Buddha experienced under the Bodhi tree. 

We all possess the potential for bringing forth our own Buddhahood (happiness and strength) through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, right now, in this lifetime  ~ without having to focus on making other changes in our lives. 
~ We have a Living Mentor ~ 
Daisaku Ikeda is the President of the Soka Gakkai International. I write about him often. Several of the posts last week were on the mentor and disciple relationship. Daisaku Ikeda is an extraordinary human being that we connect  with through his writings, his speeches, his actions and through our own hearts. 

~There are no lifestyle, diet or rules of behavior and no “paths” to memorize or carefully trod. There is the keen awareness that life operates under the strict law of cause and effect, and at each moment WE are creating our lives, but most of us knew that already! FInally, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we have the MEANS to steer our life-craft in the direction we want it to go...not only in the direction the wind is going...

~ Desire is not the enemy. As I always say - the more desires you have the BETTER. Your desires lead you to chant...when you chant you change your karma. Each person chants for their desires from their heart. Alleviation of desire is NOT the goal of this practice.  

~ There are no clergy, no robes and no temples. YOU have direct access to the power of the universe, your own Buddha power within. No intermediaries are needed. We SGI members practice together because we grow and learn together. There are SGI (Soka Gakkai - Value Creating Organization) community centers, and many smaller meetings are held in people’s homes. We are all normal people in the world living extraordinarily happy lives.  

~ We are changing our karma every time we chant. We can change our karma. Karma is not immutable. Suffering is not "Noble", but it is part of life. The goal of chanting is HAPPINESS, not to learn to be better sufferers. 

~ We do not chant “to” anything outside of us. There is no Higher Power in this practice. When we are chanting we access our own wisdom and power as a the Buddha, or awakened one. We are chanting to our own lives. 

~The main practice is reciting the words Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over and over. Everyone on earth recites the same phrase. It means: "I fuse my life with the mystic (unfathomable) law of cause and effect through sound vibration"

~There are no lifestyle rules of any kind. All people...ALL people are welcome. 

~ There is no guilt, there is only the awareness of the law of cause and effect. 

And it's easy to start chanting. When I began I chanted 5 minutes in the morning and 5 in the evening, and I immediately saw results. If you click on the SGI Portal link to the right you can find members in your area. You can also email me with any questions at chantforhappiness@gmail.com

Confident Chanting = Confident Life !

Chanting with confidence? What does this even mean?

It means chanting and KNOWING that at the exact moment you are chanting - your result is assured. 
As you go about your day you trust your prayer. 

I'll give you an example from my own life this week. 

This week has been one of he most challenging weeks of my entire life. 

From the Buddhist perspective I know I "summoned this storm" to strengthen my life. I am so grateful to be able to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and access my own strength!  I base every moment of my day on my daimoku and strong prayer. My practice is solidly at the center of my life, and I am USING this challenge to strengthen my prayer, strengthen my confidence and strengthen my life. 

My son is in the hospital, and there are decisions to be made about his care. On Friday there was a big decision to be made. I woke up and the first thing I did...the FIRST thing I did... was chant a solid hour, a SOLID hour of daimoku that he get the best possible care and that the shoten zenjin (protective forces within all life) rise up and protect him in every possible way. 

I chanted like Nichiren Daishonin when he addressed the statue of Hachiman before being taken off to be beheaded at Tatsunokuchi beach. I chanted that I am the Votary of the Lotus Sutra (just like you are too!) and that the protective forces HAVE to arise from within my life!!!! (As you know, Nichiren was NOT beheaded because an orb came out of the sky and frightened the people who were going to kill him) 

That hour of chanting flew by. It felt like five minutes. As I was chanting I was totally connected to the power of my own life...totally connected to the feeling, the KNOWING, that this cause was creating the effect. And as we went through the day the decision went back and forth and back and forth .... and finally...right when it came down to the wire, a professional called me back and told me exactly what I needed to hear to absolutely make the decision and know that it was the right one. Her call to me was precisely times to impact the situation at the crucial moment. And since I had chanted that solid hour of daimoku and I TRUSTED MY LIFE and made the decision. 

That is what I mean by Confident Chanting = Confident Life! 

What is Chanting All About?

The following is a Passage from Julia Landis' and Jamie Lee Silver's upcoming book, 

The BuddhaZone, 
PowerPrayers for Chanting Your Way to 
Absolute Happiness:

"As Nichiren (SGI) Buddhists we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to summon up our fathomless wisdom while steering our life-craft in the direction of our innermost desires. We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over and over again. We call this chanting Daimoku 

(Die-MOH-Koo). Daimoku means title and the title of the Lotus Sutra is  Myoho-Renge-Kyo.  The founder of this practice, Nichiren Daishonin, added to Myoho-renge-kyo  the syllable Nam which means “I devote my life to.” 

So, a brief translation of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is, 

“I devote my life to the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration,” or, “I am one with the very rhythm of life.”

“Myoho-renge-kyo is the name of the ultimate mystic truth, and Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo  is the name of the life state of Buddhas who embody and reveal this truth.” 

p.28 On Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

It actually becomes very natural over time to focus on a personal PowerPrayer while chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.  It is nothing more than putting your deepest fundamental wish into action. By chanting and focusing on our most cherished desire, we come to steer our lives with confidence in the direction of Buddhahood. Our lives become lives of immense creativity, wisdom and value, and most of all Love. For as we chant, rhythmically and powerfully, we exude into our environment a music that evokes our deepest, innermost  capacity and transforms any manner of poison (problem) into a medicine (benefit), and further, into a nectar (deep and absolute happiness). 

Love's Got to do with it

A PowerPrayer is infused with love. That's the source of its power. When we chant for what we really want it comes from a real love for ourselves. All love begins with self love. However, you don't have to come to this practice in a state of self-love. This practice will take you there. Chanting Daimoku will itself bring about this state in your life. As the well known writer in the personal growth movement, Louise Hay, has said at the age eighty-two, “self love is the most important thing of all.” When you love yourself, everything in your environment loves you back. Your environment is a reflection of your own state of life and connection to the source of all happiness. 

Sadly, in general, Human beings tend to project this source outside of themselves. In fact, we are most comfortable, it seems in today's spiritual culture, when we project both the source of our mystical power and, also, its recipient outside of our lives. (Everyone seems to be praying to a power outside of themselves for a person who isn't them!) A great majority of souls, and you, yourself, we imagine, have prayed with love in your heart for the happiness of someone else, invoking a power that you have come to believe is “higher” than your own life. It has become commonplace.

But how often have you prayed with immense love...

for your own life, 

for your own happiness, 

for your own well-being? 

And more importantly, how often have you prayed...

from your own life

to your own life 

for the very best things 

and experiences for you

in short, for your own happiness?

We have found that, as it has been written, if we intone our voice with Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can summon up great love, the kind of love that is required of us if we want to awaken to our true potential. And that is another name for Buddhas: Beings who have realized their infinitely positive wise and loving potentials.

It is our PowerPrayer that as you are reading, these words are activating within you the curiosity and courage it will take to sustain you on this journey. For the Lotus won't give its seed if one's hand is not open. It is our prayer that you open your hand in such a way that you open your mind, heart, and Life, as well. And you chant! 

Listen to the secret we whisper into your ear:

You are the Buddha of Infinite Potential. Yes, YOU are the Buddha. Your life story is one of awakening. Through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you will be able to solve your problems and awaken to your own Buddhahood that has always been your birthright." 

The above passage is part of the preface to the book Julia and I wrote for you. I'm in the process of figuring out how to best publish it for you and offer it for sale right here. It is packed with PowerPrayers to strengthen your life and your practice. 

On this blog I have written many posts for people who are interested in chanting, and I invite your questions and comments. You may email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. 

Polishing our Character

Create Some Hope!

The Driving Source for Being Ever Victorious - The Mentor Disciple Relationship

The following passage is from the October 2013 edition of Living Buddhism magazine, from a passage from the New Human REvolution, Volume 25, Chapter 4, installments 14-28. Some of you have written me that you are interested in really engraving the master disciple relationships in your hearts, and in deepening your understanding of this important concept. I offer you these words in your quest towards the deepening of your faith and happiness: 

Together with me, they (the members) have refreshed their commitment ot kosen-rufu and are striving their hardest. THis is what it means to have an inner dialogue with one's mentor every day. 
The same is true of me and Mr. Toda. I talk with Mr. Toda in my heart every single day as I carry on with my struggles. He is always in my heart. 
My standards are Nichiren Daishonin's writings and Mr. Toda., who read Nichiren Daishonin's writings and put them into practice with his entire being. 
I am always asking myself, "What would Mr. Toda do in this situation?' 'Were my actions today in line with Mr. Toda's spirit?''Would Mr. Toda be happy or sad if he could see me right now?"
I've always inspired myself by striving to win and bring joy to Mr. Toda. That's the source of my courage. It's the driving force for being ever-victorious



The oneness of mentor and disciple starts from living life with the same spirit as one's mentor and always keeping the mentor firmly in one's heart. It is easy to talk about the way of mentor and disciple, but if our mentor isn't in our heart we aren't genuinely practicing Buddhism. 
By thinking that the mentor exists outside oneself, he mentor's actions and guidance no longer serve as a spiritual compass. In that case, when the mentor's external evaluation of oneself becomes the standards for one's actions, one will strive hard when the mentor is strictly watching, but when the mentor isn't looking, one may become calculating and stop trying one's best. The faith of such a person will not deepen, and they won't be able to achieve their human revolution. 
If leaders fall prey to this tendency, they will extinguish the true spirit of Buddhism, and the pure realm of faith will become a realm of worldly affairs ruled by personal advantage and  calculation.  
Only by firmly establishing the great way of the oneness of mentor and disciple in one's own heart can one further the eternal perpetuation of the law. 

Be BOLD and DARING!