Welcome Dr. Akemi Bailey Haynie! "Illness Has Been My Greatest Benefit."

Dr. Akemi Bailey Haynie is the new 

SGI-USA National Women's Division Leader. 

On Sunday, October 6th, 2013 those of us who attended the World Peace Prayer Meeting in Chicago were treated to an historic changing of the guard where our beloved Linda Johnson passed on her title as National Women's Division leader to Dr. Akemi Bailey-Haynie. Central Territory is so fortunate. Linda Johnson will remain our Women's Division Territory Leader as well as being National Women's Division Advisor. 

It was an emotional and exciting moment for Chicago. I attempted to write down every word said, but of course I missed quite a few! I can share some of them with you, but I want to let you kow these are not official or formal notes, they are my best attempt to capture what resonated with me. 

Dr. Akemi Bailey Haynie came from a poor, and difficult family. Her mother is a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and she just wrote and published her mother's memoirs in a book entitled "Winter Always Turns To Spring". This passage is taken from the Friesen Press Website: 

Sachiko Takata (Dr. Bailey Haynie's mother) was 14 years-old when an atomic bomb dropped on her hometown of Hiroshima, Japan. In an instant her world was changed. Her mother died shortly after Japan’s surrender. The devastation of war and the loss of her mother awakened in Sachiko’s heart a deep resolve to devote her life to building a world of peace where the dignity of all human beings is respected and the peril and haunting specter of nuclear war is nonexistent.

Given her experience with war, it was ironic that she would marry an American soldier, LeRoy Bailey. It was in the United States that she was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism and credits her practice of Buddhism, as well as her mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, with saving and transforming her life. Through his example, she was able to learn how to tap the innate power of her spirit to weather life’s storms; to change poison into medicine; to win over all obstacles, and to turn winter into spring.

Because of her growth and understanding of life, Sachiko Takata Bailey now thinks of August 6, 1945, as Victory Day, because the victorious and optimistic person she became emerged from the ashes and ruins of Hiroshima.

Dr. Bailey Haynie started chanting at the age of 9. She immediately became able to respond without shame when her teachers called on her. She said she has always taken President Ikeda's guidance into her life...and to be FEARLESS no matter what happens! She was a YWD leader for 18 years anda Women's Division leader for 19 years. 

She battled cancer 4 times and had 22 surgeries. Many days she chanted 3 to 10 hours a day through her illnesses. She said President Ikeda says that:
ILLNESS is not a sign of misfortune. Suffering is the fuel of wisdom - through suffering you gain insight into the meaning of life. Illness gives rise to the way. She said "Illness has been the greatest benefit of my life!"

Her life shines with victory. She lives with a dancing spirit. Dr. Akemi Bailey Haynie has her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D....all paid for by her employers, more than $300,000 in education so far. She is a trainer in the field of education who introduces President Ikeda and his educational theories on the first day of every training. She has introduced 162 people to this practice and is determined to be a winner, not a victim in all areas of her life. She's been happily married for more than 20 years to her partner for kosen-rufu and has raised two wonderful young men who both practice. 

Dr. Akemi Bailey Haynie says that our relationship with our mentor helps us perceive our own weaknesses and confront them with courage. 

How encouraging! What an historic time! 
I'll tell you, when Dr. Bailey-Haynie said "Illness has been the greatest benefit of my life" it really hit me. It put all I have been going though in new and refreshing perspective. 

Here we are, 40 days away from November 18th...it is crunch time for all of us all over the world. Let's all ring in November 18th with incredible victory. We have the tool to accomplish worldwide kosen-rufu (peace and happiness in a world with respect for all!) and to accomplish our dreams and create our own happiness. We have Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, our mentor and the SGI. 
We can do it. All we have to do is the hardest and most important thing of all...win over ourselves! How do we do that? Put our practice first, put shakubuku first, study, chant, move for kosen-rufu. I hope you all are joining with your fellow members and creating golden memories you will NEVER forget!!! 

We ARE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo - We can Become Happy Without Fail

The following is a passage from "Lectures on On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime" by Daisaku Ikeda (p. 48-49)

If you want to share this passage please email a link to chantforhappiness.com, or share chantforhappiness.com on facebook. The links are at the botton of the post. Thanks! 

"Our daily lives are filled 
with an endless succession of problems. 
But with the firm belief 
that our lives are Myoho-renge-kyo 
we should strive 
to boldly challenge everything 
with the unwavering conviction 
that we can overcome all hardships 
and become happy without fail. 
When we maintain deep faith 
based on the foundation that "I am Myoho-renge-kyo" 
we can take on any problem with courage.

The key to victory in life 
lies in whether we can bring forth courage. 
Not a shrinking timidity 
but a challenging courage - 
that is what we need to have. 

Irrespective of the obstacles we may encounter 
in the course of our practice, 
we must not retreat even a single step. 
We must not be alarmed or startled by them. 
The power of the Mystic Law (Myoho-renge-kyo) 
can triumph over anything. 
It is important to be deeply confident of this. 

...The Daishonin says: "Nichiren's disciples 
cannot accomplish anything if they are cowardly." 
(WND-I, pg 481) 
In accord with these words, 
let us cast aside cowardice 
and make courage our foremost attribute." 

Daisaku Ikeda

Changing Financial Karma May Not Be What It Seems

This is a reprint from the facebook page The Power of Nam myoho renge kyo. I think Greg Martin is so matter of fact and down to earth. 

Excerpt from a lecture given by SGI-USA Vice General Director Greg Martin at the Seattle Culture Centre on June 9, 1995

A man came to see me recently and told me that he needed help with his "financial karma." He went on to explain how deep and profound his "financial karma" was. He hadn't been able to fix it in his ten years of practice. My first question to him was, "What kind of work do you do?" He said he was out of work. I asked him why. He said he quit his job six months before. I asked him why. He said he got into a disagreement with his boss and felt that he had to quit.

I asked about the job he had before that. He said that he got fired because he got angry with his boss. He told me he quit the job before that one. This person, in his ten years of practice, had eight jobs and lost them. I asked him how he expected to have financial fortune if he didn't have a job. There is no magic in Buddhism; it is unreasonable to think that one can acquire financial fortune without having a job.

He then said that his real question to me was, "Why do I have the karma to have authoritarian bosses?"

Most of us think that the bad things that happen to us are our karma. We think that our karma exists outside of us, but this is not correct. We are not the only ones that bad things are happening to. Bad things happen to everyone. Then what is karma?

Karma is our inability to deal with the "stuff." We don't know how to handle the stuff when it hits us, and we end up doing the wrong thing. We end up creating more "stuff" for ourselves.

In any case, I pointed out to this person his tendency to get angry with his bosses. There was a clear pattern. It was very difficult for this person to realise that his problem was anger. Buddhism says that if you have anger, you have the poison of arrogance. I told this person that until he was able to control his arrogant mind and his anger, he wouldn't be able to keep a job. He was actually a very talented person at his job, but this lead to him thinking he could do as he wished at his workplace and treat others badly.

I told him that since he needed a way to stop losing jobs, he needed to deal with his karma. I told him to not let his anger defeat him and to sincerely pray for the wisdom to respond to situations in a way other than with anger. To date, he has been employed for three years and has just bought a house.

What is the greater benefit: another job (which he would probably lose), or wisdom to see the root cause of his problem and never have to repeat it? People would pay millions of dollars for wisdom about the true nature of their suffering.

Of course, as we change, our environment reflects this change, and we experience benefit. However, if we try to seek out only the benefit without going through the inner process, eventually nothing will happen. The Gohonzon has almost no power to transform your environment. The Gohonzon does have power to transform you. When you use the Gohonzon to transform you, then you transform your environment. There's a big difference. We should determine in front of the Gohonzon that we will solve our problem or that we will overcome our suffering.

When you pray to the Gohonzon with that prayer, you will be amazed to find out what you see about yourself and what you need to fix in your life. Buddhism is about the inner reformation, not about the external reformation. Of course, benefits in the outside environment do come, but really that's not the point at all. It's really about inner change.

It all Comes Down to Us

Chant for What YOU Want. Exactly what you want.

I get letters frequently from readers who are wondering why their prayer is not being answered as fast as they would like it to be, and asking me if they should switch to some other prayer. This is a great question. 

My answer is always the same. 
Chant for what you want. 
Chant for exactly what you want. 
Only YOU can have your desires. 
Write them down. 
Clarify them for yourself.

I am familiar with relationship problems, as many of you know. And the pain of wanting someone who does not want you runs deep. I know. I know. And beneath that prayer you have a deeper prayer. You have a prayer for the deepest fulfillment in love. It is FINE to chant specifically for one person to become yours. I did it for a long time. And my prayer was answered. It was answered long enough for me to see that even beyond that person I wanted more for my life...a complete union in happiness. And I've written every word of what that means for me. And I chant for it. I am totally at peace about the process, and the whole realm of dating is changing for me. There's just no suffering involved. Wow.

Underneath all our prayers there is the deeper prayer of how we want to feel and what we want to experience. Chanting works no matter what. Chant just for what you want. Just for what you want. What would really make you happy?

You deserve the best and most exquisite happiness in THIS lifetime. CHANT to be HAPPY! Chant to be fulfilled! Chant for your most radiant self to shine through.

And as President

Ikeda says, chant naturally what is in your heart. If you are hurt or troubled...chant naturally. There is no need for pretext in front of the Gohonzon. you are the Gohonzon and the Gohonzon is YOU.

Don't give up on your dreams!!! Keep chanting, going to meetings, doing shakubuku, studying and encouraging others...what a wonderful formula for complete success!

Faith is Like the Sun

You can Overcome ALL Your Problems! Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo WORKS!

I know I say it over and over, and Daisaku Ikeda, and all of us KNOW that we are the Buddha...but how often do we chant in the sublime recongnition of being the Buddha and seeing through the Buddha's eyes? 

In our daily lives sometimes it seems there is just so much to chant for that we don't know where to start. Whenever I feel this way it is a signal to me to chant to see through the eyes of the Buddha and realize I am the Buddha at every moment. I also focus on chanting for others, kosen-rufu and elevating my life condition. 
If we have this perspectice on our lives it puts all of our problems into perspective. 

When I first began chanting almost 30 years ago in San Francisco I would ask my leaders "I am chanting every day, I am doing shakubuku with every breath I take, and I just bought a car so I can drive my beloved YWD to meetings...WHY am I having these personal problems?" 

And some of you have written me with similar questions. 

I was given this answer: "You are a leader for kosen-rufu...(world peace) one day, your members will come to you with problems just like you have now, and you will REALLY know how they feel, and you will know exactly how to encourage people." And they also told me that whatever I was going through, I was expiating karma for my life, and for my children's lives as well...seven generations back, and seven generations in the future. I learned to focus on the big picture...not just on all my problems, but on chanting for kosen-rufu and the happiness of my district members and all members...and not just members, but the whole world. Every day I would ask in my prayers while chanting "What is my mission in life? What is my mission in life?" and I knew the answer even as I was chanting...I knew I wanted to help people who were suffering like I was before I began chanting, and to help them find out about this practice and try it. 
Whoever you are - reading these words right now ~ I want you to know you HAVE found the solution, and you can use this practice to overcome suffering of ANY kind. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, practicing with the SGI, studying and introducing others to this practice is the formula for incredible happiness and strength. One day, you will look back on the hard times and realize they were golden moments that strengthened your life and your practice! 

My life proves it. 
Your life will prove it too. 
We Soka Gakkai members are proving the power of the law with our lives. 
As many of you know I've faced a tremendous challenge with the illness of one of my children. And every day I have used this practice to remain strong and to persevere and to WIN. I have chanted to be a better person, and to bring out my inner wisdom, and to work together with the health professionals to bring him back to wellness. Sometimes I have had to say difficult things. But every morning, with my focused prayer, I have set the course for a day filled with wisdom and power. I am steering the ship...even if I can't control everything, I can control myself and set goals. 

Now I have some peace! 
All week I've been side-by-side with my son who was recently released from the hospital and I've been cherishing every minute, every laugh, every experience.  The joy I feel in my heart just to be with him is immense. Every daimoku right now is filled with gratitude. I feel I have already won!