Inspiring Quotes from Daisaku Ikeda

These quotes are from Ikedaquotes.org, 

The Power of the Heart by Daisaku Ikeda:

When the doors of your heart are shut

and you feel dark and isolated, 

look up to the sky and greet the clouds. 

Let the blue expanse open wide 

the window to your heart 

and let in beauty and light. 

Climb upon the clouds and 

let your heart soar freely in the open air!

The human spirit is as expansive as the cosmos. This is why it is so tragic to belittle yourself or to question your worth. No matter what happens, continue to push back the boundaries of your inner life. The confidence to prevail over any problem, the strength to overcome adversity and unbounded hope—all reside within you.

My mentor would often tell me, “So much about a person can be learned from their voice.” Treasure your voice. It is a powerful force that can give courage and comfort to others. That is why we should strengthen and refine the inner core of our lives from which our voice emanates.

To lead a life in which we are inspired and can inspire others, our hearts have to be alive; they have to be filled with passion and enthusiasm. To achieve that, we need the courage to live true to ourselves. Rather than borrowing from or imitating others, we need the conviction to be able to think for ourselves and to take action out of our own sense of responsibility.

PowerPrayer to Boost Your Practice and Your Results

From the essay Buddhism is the Clear Mirror to Reflect Our Lives, in To My American Friends, by Daisaku Ikeda, Page 99.

"When people worship the Gohonzon, all Buddhas and bodhisattvas in the entire universe immediately respond to their prayers by lending their protection. If they slander the Gohonzon the affect will be exactly the opposite. 

For this reason one's mind of faith is extremely important. The mind of faith has a subtle and far-reaching influence. 

There may be times, for instance, when you feel reluctant to do gongyo or take part in activities. That state of mind is precisely reflected on the entire universe, as if on the surface of a clear mirror. The heavenly deities will then also feel reluctant to play their part, and they will naturally fail to exert their full power of protection. 

On the other hand, when you joyfully do gongyo and carry out activities with the determination to accumulate more good fortune in your life. the heavenly deities will be delighted and will valiantly perform their duty. If you must take some action anyway, it is to your advantage that you do so spontaneously and with a feeling of joy. If you practice reluctantly with a sense that it's a waste of time, disbelief and complaints will erode your good fortune. If you continue to practice in this way, you will not experience remarkable benefits, and this will only serve to convince you that your practice is in vain. This is a vicious circle. 
If you practice while doubting the effects, you will get results that are, at best, unsatisfactory. This is the reflection of your own weak faith on the mirror of the cosmos. 
On the other hand, when you stand up with strong confidence, you will receive limitless blessings. While controlling your mind, which is at once extremely subtle and solemnly profound, you should elevate your faith with freshness and vigor. When you do so both your life and surroundings will open wide before you, and every action you take will become a source of benefit. Understanding the subtle workings of one's mind is the key to faith and to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime. 

PowerPrayer 
for Strengthening Your Mind of Faith. 
PowerPrayers are suggested ways to focus your mind while chanting. They are not to be chanted themselves. While chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo let your mind focus on some aspect of this PowerPrayer if you wish...for added strength and focus. If you like this PowerPrayer and want to share it, feel free to share it on Facebook or email a link using the links at the bottom. Thanks! 

Life! 

I love this practice! 

I love my life! 

I am determined to chant every morning and every evening no matter what. 

I  no longer allow anything to stop me! 

I establish an unshakable practice at the core of my life. 

And I see the results immediately! 

I keep this promise 

to myself 

first and foremost 

and the rest of my life flows effortlessly!

With every Daimoku I chant - 

I love my life more and more. 

Every Nam-myoho-renge-kyo strengthens my life! 

With every Nam-myoho-renge-kyo I feel Buddhahood Rising! 

I am overflowing with wisdom, compassion and love for mySELF and others! 

The more I chant, the more I want to chant. 

I look forward to my chanting time 

dialoguing with my own life

and discovering who I really am. 

I feel the connection more deeply every time I chant. 

Every day I see positive changes! 

I feel myself becoming stronger in these ways: 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am determined to enjoy my time chanting and being with my fellow Gakkai members. I chant to bring my full self to every meeting, and to participate with joy. 

If there is something I don’t like about my meetings, I make a fresh determination to do my Human Revolution so I can cheerfully make a difference in my own district! 

I am chanting specifically for these people and these results: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I am deepening my understanding of what I study with every Daimoku I chant. 

My eyes are opening. 

My depth of understanding is growing! 

I love to study! 

I read the Gosho and President Ikeda’s Guidance every day, and chant to understand it with my life! 

Whenever I study I see the inner working of my life, and my prayer becomes deeper, and deeper and deeper! 

I am Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!

It's the Holiday Season Here!

It has been a busy last few days! 

Here's a picture from the 5K race Aaron ran yesterday. He came in second - Aaron is on the right. The whole town of Downers Grove, Illinois turns out for this. Over 6,200 people walked or ran. The money for registration in the race is collected in the name of a great teacher who died too soon, and it's distributed to selected High School Seniors in the form of $1,000 scholarship checks for college. We have participated in this race since it began 10 years ago, and Aaron was a Bonfield scholarship recipient when he was a High School senior. 

In America the "Holiday Season" has officially begun. 

It is a time that starts around Thanksgiving and goes through the first of the year. For many of us the highlight is Christmas on December 25th. Even though it is a Christian holiday, many Americans celebrate culturally with Christmas trees, presents, and family get togethers. We also watch cherished Christmas movies and sing Christmas Carols. Many help the needy. It is a time of year that we can bear the cold, and twinkling lights are everywhere... wrapped around outdoor trees, and strung from buildings. 

I love being in the Midwest during this time of year. I lived in California for 15 years and returned home to the Midwest every Christmas season so we could experience a good snow...a warm fire...and that unmistakable holiday feeling. 

I am interested in holidays all over the world. Can you help me learn about your holidays?  Diwali recently happened and I wasn't prepared for it at all! I would love to celebrate alongside all my friends in the world, (YOU!) and I need some advance notice, some education about the holiday, and some holiday preparation. By the time Diwali came it was too late for me to find specialty stores and get lanterns! If you want to send me holiday traditions from your country I would love that! 

My address is 
Jamie Silver 
17W702 Butterfield #104, 
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181. 

I love real mail and packages! I want to celebrate with you. Several years ago I became a celebrant so I could learn how to perform weddings, funerals and celebrations of all sorts. I believe it is important for us to take time to honor important moments! 

So I am writing this to say that I haven't written a blog post in two days because I've been so busy shopping, cooking and hanging out with my two boys, Aaron and Ben. Aaron is, as many of you know, in his second year of Medical School at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, about 20 minutes from me. Long time readers of this blog know that his choice of school is an example of real Buddhist FORTUNE in my life, and his. Of ALL the medical schools all over the country he chose the closest school to me, and it has been perfect for him. THAT is fortune. Money cannot buy that! 
As you can imagine, he's a busy guy, so when he is available I spring into action! Ben lives back at home for a while and we get to see each other more often. It's so great having him close! I have soooo much fortune in my life! So.....Aaron, Ben and I spent Wednesday at the Mall shopping for blue jeans for them. What else? So much fun! 

And yesterday was a holiday called Thanksgiving in America.  Thanksgiving is a time to cook traditional foods, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes and pies. Most people go into a bit of a sleepy stupor after the meal...happily! For some families watching American football is a tradition. Others may play games. And yesterday, Jewish families they got to celebrate Hannakuh and Thanksgiving at the same time. 

I have been smiling and laughing for two days straight! I am so grateful for this practice for keeping me in such a high life condition. Some people get sad around the holidays, whistfully thinking about holidays past when all their loved ones were alive. Keeping a high life-condition allows me to lovingly remember them, but still be happy. 

Aaron and Ben are here this morning. Aaron is studying, and Ben will awaken shortly and I will make a special breakfast of French Toast. I dip thick bread into a mixture of eggs, vanilla and cinnamon, heat some real butter, brown it on both sides, and they eat it with maple syrup on top. 

Okay that's enough food for now. Thanks for writing me to wonder if I'm okay! 

You are all a treasure to me! Write me anytime at chantforhappiness@gmail.com and remember 
Winter ALWAYS turns to Spring! No matter what you are facing - it will pass and you will win...as long as you don't give up! Sending love ~

3 Powerful Questions to Ask While Chanting

Many of us have read Daisaku Ikeda's essay "Buddhism is the Clear Mirror that Reflects our Lives."

Here is the link to the "Clear Mirror Guidance" that asserts "The Gohonzon (scroll we face while chanting) is the clearest of all mirrors that reflects the entire universe exactly as it is. When you chant to the Gohonzon, you can perceive the true aspect of your life and tap the inexhaustible life force of Buddhahood." 

Read the entire guidance through this link:

http://www.sgi-usa.org/memberresources/womensdivision/docs/2010/WT_Clear%20Mirror.pdf

I've been doing some soul-searching lately. Maybe you have too. November 18th has come and gone. We have achieved some of our goals, and some of them we are still working on. 

We know that we have to maintain hope and we know we will succeed, and we turn to the words of Daisaku Ikeda and Nichiren Daishonin for encouragement.  It is a great time for some self-reflection. We know that change in our environment and achieving our goals comes from Human Revolution ~  inner change in the core of our lives triggering corresponding change in our environment.  We know this intellectually, but how can we deepen our understanding and leveraging of this great truth?  

Sensei has said that our ability to bring our own wisdom to the surface through chanting is the key. How can we expand our ability to do exactly that? 

3 Important Questions to ask our lives while Chanting:

1. Life! Illuminate what I need to change...what I need to see and how I can improve. 
2. Life! What can I reveal to myself about the inner workings of my mind, my life, my actions and words that will free me from the blocks that still exist for me? 
3. Life! What actions do I need to take so that I can affect real, lasting, positive change in my life?

See what these questions reveal for you. This kind of inquiry takes concentration and courage. 

I get many emails from readers who are living in situations where they have difficulty expressing themselves and are experiencing hopelessness. My goal is to explore and challenge true and respectful expression in my own life, so that I can deepen my wisdom to help others. I am dialoguing in prayer. For today, I slowed the speed of my Daimoku. I put my phone in the other room for this hour of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. 

Putting the phone away is key...the world is always calling isn't it? Emails...texting...calls...it goes on and on. As Buddhas we must be able to put the world aside and focus, and that, for some of us, involves putting the phone in another room. 

As I sat down to write for you today I opened "My Dear American Friends" and turned to the essay "The Age of Soft Power" that Daisaku Ikeda delivered at Harvard University on September 26th of 1991. In it he states: 

"One of the important Buddhist concepts, dependent origination holds that all beings and phenomena exist or occur in relation to other beings or phenomena.  All things are linked in an intricate web of causation and connection, and nothing, whether in the realm of human affairs or natural phenomenon, can exist or occur solely of its own accord. 
...It is the fusion of the self and others. At the same time it is the expansion of the limited, ego-shackled self toward a greater self whose scale is as limitless and unbounded as the universe...In practical terms, the most important question for us as individuals is how to activate the inner sources sof energy and wisdom existing within our lives...
...Our society today urgently needs the kind of inwardly directed spirituality to strengthen self-control and restraint. It is a quality that deepens our respect for the dignity of life. In a world where interpersonal relationships are becoming increasingly tenuous, greater self-control and discipline would also help restore and rejuvenate endangered feelings, including friendship, trust, and love, for without them there can be no meaningful bonds between people."

We have the capacity to use our Buddhist practice to gain self-control, express ourselves clearly, with composure, forethought, and mutual respect to strengthen our relationships, and build our environments into worlds of absolute happiness and fulfillment. 

This is a worthwhile endeavor, don't you think?

I offer you some additional quotes from
"For Today Onward" by Daisaku Ikeda:

"Why is it that sometimes our prayer seems not to be answered? This is a manifestation of the Buddha's wisdom - so that we can deepen our prayers, become stronger people, live more profound lives and secure deeper, more lasting good fortune. If our slightest prayer were answered immediately, we'd become lazy and degenerate. And we couldn't hope to build a life of great dignity and substance."  Page 89. 

"There may be times when life seems gloomy and dull. When we feel stuck in some situation or other, when we are negative toward everything, when we feel lost and bewildered, not sure which way to turn ~ at such times we must transform our passive mind-set and determine "I will proceed along this path," "I will pursue my mission today." When we do so a genuine springtime arrives in our hearts, and flowers start to blossom."
Page 88. 

And:
"Viewing events and situations in a positive light is important. The strength, wisdom and cheerfulness that accompany such an attitude lead to happiness. To regard everything in a positive light or with a spirit of goodwill, however, does not mean being foolishly gullible and allowing people to take advantage of our good nature. It means having the wisdom and perception to actually move things in a positive direction by seeing things in their best light, while all the time keeping our eyes firmly focused on reality."
Page 29.

As always, thank you so much for passing along the url to this blog to others, and for sending me your comments, questions and victories at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. I answer every email.

The Great Buddha Is Reading this Blog Right Now!

The great Buddha is now reading this blog - YOU!  

Did you read the long essay from Dr. Obo I posted a few days ago?  It suggested to think to yourself "The Great Buddha just drank her coffee"...or "The Great Buddha just wrote an email"...you get the picture ~  you are the Great Buddha as you are going about your day. 

You are the Great Buddha, we are all the Great Buddha. Try this if you want. And let me know what you think. 

It is simple after all. This practice just makes so much sense. We chant the name of the rhythm of life itself..."Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" (meaning "I fuse (devote) my life to the Mystic Law of Cause and Effect through sound vibration, or teaching) while we infuse our thoughts with our prayers for our lives and the lives of others...for the happiness of all living beings. 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a law. It doesn't matter if we believe it will work or not. It is the law of cause and effect.

We ARE Buddhas; we are absolutely Buddhas...we are awakened ones to the law of the universe. We are the mocrocosm of the universe. We know this. But how do we live this? 

Sometimes it is hard for us to realize this truth. Our daily practice of chanting washes away our ignorance, and helps us to realize our true selves as Buddhas. It sounds simple, but we all know it is difficult to chant every single day, twice a day and to continue chanting, especially when some changes take a long time coming. That's why we have each other. That is why we practice in the SGI alongside our good friends in faith. (Click on the SGI portal to find a local meeting by you - there is never a cost to chant)

In America we have our study exam coming up. Studying is exactly what we need to "hone our saw" to get more benefits. Our understanding of this Buddhism helps us create real results when we chant. We call this Practical Buddhism because we see results in our lives. And the more we study, the more we see results. That's just the way it works!
I wholeheartedly encourage you to take the test, and study for it with others even if you've already taken it. 

Today the Great Buddha is watching it snow here in Chicago. We are having a deep freeze. A "cold front" as they call it. It is the Monday before our national holiday called Thanksgiving where most people eat Turkey and gather with their loved ones. I am hosting the holiday this year. 

Do you have some holiday traditions you would like to share? 

This year is a special ones for my Jewish friends. Hannakuh and Thanskgiving are coinciding. One of my friends is calling it Thanksgivingkah. I guess it's okay to be snowing this early, but I am really looking forward to be traveling in sunny and warm places this time of year in the future. 

During this week of Thanksgiving here are a few quotes to help light your way:

From Ikedaquotes.org, by Daisaku Ikeda:

None of us can exist in isolation. Our lives and existence are supported by others in seen and unseen ways, be it by parents, mentors or society at large. To be aware of these connections, to feel appreciation for them, and to strive to give something back to society in a spirit of gratitude is the proper way for human beings to live.

Those who always have a sense of appreciation and gratitude never reach an impasse in life.

People whose hearts are full of gratitude and appreciation are truly beautiful. A humble heart is the wellspring of great growth and development.

The ungrateful feel that it is below them to show any kind of appreciation. They are under the delusion that showing gratitude to others diminishes their own worth. But it is this sense of appreciation that elevates, enriches and expands the human spirit. A lack of gratitude is actually a sign of arrogance.

Have a great day. Write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com and I will do my best to answer you. Send your victories, your questions, anything you wish. 

PowerPrayer for Believing In the Greatness of Your Life!

My dear friend Morag in the UK wrote this PowerPrayer based on the guidance I posted a few days ago by Dr. Obo. Thank you Morag! Read this before chanting and infude your Daimoku with this power-full resolve!

PowerPrayer 

for Believing 

in the Greatness of Your Life

From this moment on, 
no matter what, 
I believe in the greatness of my life!

I rejoice in my life; 
delight in my proof and benefits,

I want my life to shine and encourage others! 

I summon my faith and strengthen my practice.

I uproot hunger and fear OUT of my life 
and replace it with great seeds of bodhisattva

I offer gratitude and appreciation to those who brought this practice to me and those

who support and inspire me now.

I PRIASE MY LIFE!  NMRK,NMRK,NMRK!

Don't Get Discouraged! Don't Give Up on Your Goals!

Some of us achieved total breakthrough by November 18th. Today I am helping my co District Leader move into her new apartment. 
She has achieved total victory!

Some of us are still working on our goals. We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the name of the rhythm of life itself. If we persist, all of our prayers will be answered. If we give up...well...we give up. Please don't! Go to your friends in faith in the SGI, read President Ikeda's Guidance. The link to the SGI Portal is to the right. You owe it to yourself to stay inspired and not give up! 

How can we stay encouraged? 

Here are some sage words from my dear friend in faith, Kate Randolph:

On Setting Deadlines for Results:

We set deadlines to motivate OURSELVES into action. A deadline is not for the universe to respond to us. We chant. We take action. The deadline comes. We either win or we don't. If we don't get the result by the deadline we pick ourselves right up again and redetermine. The goal is to never be defeated. Sensei always says "To win in life is to never be defeated." That does not mean that we will never fail. 

It's our spirit that matters. 

The battle we fight is not with the universe. It's with our inner demons...the ones that say things like "obviously chanting doesn't work because I did not get my dream by my deadline...or...maybe I should have a different goal...maybe I wasn't MEANT to have that thing!....or what am I doing wrong? Maybe I wasn't chanting the RIGHT way!" 

It is at that juncture that we must recognize the opportunity to deepen our faith and our understanding of the profundity of Buddhism. ANYTHING that DRAINS OUR LIFE FORCE is the negative function. Any inner voice that causes us doubt and hopelessness IS the negative function. 

Once we decide we will win no matter what ~ we need only to continue. We've already won. The battle is with the negative function within. 

Ultimately, deadlines are irrelevant. 

Set them if you need them to motivate yourself. 

But decide from the onset that you will win no matter what. 

And hold YOURSELF accountable. Not the universe. 

If it is a crucial moment and you are in a dire predicament, financially, or health-wise, it is time to DEMAND the protection of the Shoten Zenjin. No prayer of a votary of the Lotus Sutra will go unanswered. If your prayer is going unanswered find out what it means to be a votary of the Lotus Sutra. STUDY. And as you are chanting DEMAND the result that you want through your prayer. Awaken to your mission and realize that all your suffering is your opportunity to encourage other people. That is what is meant by turning Karma into Mission."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Kate! To me, being a Votary of the Lotus Sutra means that for every goal I set, I chant to be able to achieve that goal and show actual proof so that I can inspire others into achieveing their own happiness. My goal is to show actual proof in all I do. That is what being a votary means to me! 

Write me your victories and challenges at chantforhappiness.com. 

I'm so glad many of you liked yesterday's post. I know it was long, but it was so meaty!