Today's Post

I'm running out to catch a train! I am enjoying my life so much! I wish you all a fabulous day and will post tomorrow. If my dreams can come true so can yours! 

It all Begins With Gongyo

A recent Sunset here in the Chicago Area...

Sometimes Gongyo (our morning and evening chanting of the Lotus Sutra) can become just another routine in our lives. We might not notice it at first. We may return a text, or answer a call, or get distracted. Then, we return to Daisaku Ikeda's words and we begin afresh with the spirit of "Hon nim myo" (meaning "from this moment forth"). 

After I read this guidance below I decided to tune up my own Gongyo and increase my concentration. From now on I turn my phone off. Yes. Off. And if I am interrupted, I begin again, so I can do a complete Gongyo. And I am concentrating on not doing anything...not leaving my seat, not looking away from the Gohonzon, until I have finished the prayers at the end. I am putting 100% of my effort into the solemn ceremony I perform twice a day. It feels wonderful. 

This Guidance came to me through my good friend in faith Amos Snell. 

It is based on SGI Vice President Mr. Matsushita's guidance given at FNCC to the Arts Division:

Sensei said: 

I always focus on the here and on the now. 

I strive to see this very moment. 

It's the only one I have. 

I put 100% of my life, my effort, 

into changing that moment. 

Anyone who lives their life this way 

will have tremendous fortune. 

Everything begins with Gongyo. 

Who will I present to the Gohonzon? 

WIll I present someone without confidence...

someone who questions if he deserves his benefits 

and is begging the Gohonzon to save him? 

Or will I present my true eternal self. 

If I chant with 

Optimism, 

Concrete Goals, 

Courage, 

Wisdom 

and Compassion 

I will generate the conviction that 

"I will make this happen 

based on the power of the Buddha Inside. 

When we chant our life fuses with the Mystic Law. 

Our life is as expansive as the whole universe  - 

it expands beyond our skin 

into the far reaches of the universe. 

Our life, 

powered with Daimoku 

can move anything in the universe. 

Thank you all for contacting me. I really enjoy hearing from you and receiving your feedback. I'm working on a post about attracting our soulmate. Do any of you have something you would like to offer the readers? Do you have victories to share? Or questions? Email chantforhappiness@gmail.com

How do we Love Ourselves, Really LOVE Ourselves?

A reader asked me to write about developing love for ourselves. What a wonderful request. Thank you so much! 

As the great woman sage of our time, Louise Hay says, loving ourselves is the most important thing we can do. All our happiness is ultimately based on this. And as Buddhists we innately understand that the love we feel for ourselves is reflected back at us every moment in the mirror that is our life. 

And Daisaku Ikeda has the key in this quote...facing our weaknesses is the real source of developing self love and mastery: 

The important thing is to firmly fix our gaze on our own weaknesses, not run away from them, but to battle them head-on and establish a solid self that nothing can sway. Hardships forge and polish our lives, so that eventually they shine with brilliant fortune and benefit. If left in its raw, unpolished form, even the most magnificent gem will not sparkle. The same applies to our lives.
From Ikedaquotes.org

For me, learning to love myself has been a life-long endeavor. From earliest memory I experienced shame and depression. I don't know where it came from...it was my karma. It was what I chose to come into this world with...so I could change it and be a Bodhisattva for everyone who is suffering. My motto has always been "If I can do it, I can encourage others."

Of course I knew self-love was one of the most important keys to unlocking this door, but wondered how do I achieve this? How do I turn it from a good idea to reality? How can I experience loving my own self? 

I have used many, many ways to build self-love. I find the solution in my Daimoku and in my body. When I began doing a form of Yoga I released energy that was holding me back. That was a turning point for me. part of the Yoga training I received required us to say to ourselves every night and every morning "I love you _____" to ourselves (Fill in your name here) That was not easy! I did it as faithfully as I could, and it made me realize I still had a lot to change to really believe this.  

Through study of Nichiren Daishonin's Gosho, Daisaku Ikeda's writings, and through my dear SGI friends in faith I embedded in my daimoku the continual prayer to experience life as the Buddha I am...to see myself as the Buddha I am...to love and respect myself as the Buddha I am..to be humble and open to changing in any way to be more aware of my Buddhahood...and to be the most inspiring, glowing Buddha I can be. We are all Buddhahood Rising! I've chanted to strengthen my inner core and to feel the glowing essence of the diamond I am within my life. I do these things so I can help YOU to realize these things within your life. 

We are the Buddha. We are the Diamond. We are strength itself. We are awakening in love for ourselves and love for others...even the difficult ones. They need our prayers. If they were not suffering, they would not make others suffer. We are all walking paths of such honor and respect...chanting for people on our paths...chanting for kosen-rufu, a world of respect for all beings. We are the magnificent Bodhisattvas of the Earth. We have arisen. We can love ourselves JUST AS WE ARE...and continually strive to be better people, to love ourselves and others more. That is our chosen path. It is such an honor to walk it along with you. 

Have wisdom to offer the other 35,000 readers of this blog? Share ways you have come to love and honor yourself please write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. You can also email me questions or comments. 

Beating the Holiday Blues with Daimoku

It is the holidays here in the states and in many places around the world. Sometimes during this time we really miss a loved one who has died. Daisaku Ikeda offers us these wise words: 

"The experience of losing a loved one impels us toward a deeper understanding of life. Everyone fears and is saddened by death. That is natural. But by struggling to overcome the pain and sadness that accompanies death, we become sharply aware of the dignity and preciousness of life and develop the compassion to share the sufferings of others as our own."
Daisaku Ikeda Ikedaquotes.org

Four years ago my Mom died right before the holidays in November. Some of you have been reading this blog since that time. And, at least in the case of my Mom, it is true that time and my daimoku has healed most of the wounds. 

To heal the wounds I had to challenge my own negativity. I had a recurrent thought that would wake me up in the middle of the night. I thought "What if we could have done more to keep her alive? What if we gave up too soon?" And then I talk to my sister or another family member and they recount her last days and I am reassured, once again, that we did the right thing. And I recognize that the voice asking those questions is my own inner darkness, tailor-made to bring me down. 

That's the thing about our fundamental darkness - it knows our weaknesses - it knows just how to get us. And that's why, sometimes we don't even see it for what it it - fundamental darkness - and we just think we are somehow BAD. Thank goodness we can chant every day and be returned to the Buddha we are. That's our opportunity every single day...we can be restored as Buddhas...and build our own awareness of our Buddha Nature. I often recommend we chant to raise our life condition. With a raised life condition our problems seem small...are small...and are easier for us to conquer. 

If we are complaining, not smiling, and feeling down we know our life condition is low. And what's often happens is the environment, of course, zings us just at this time because it is a reflection of our life condition. 

But we have the solution to any problem. All we have to do is recognize once again that we are capable of generating resilience and strength through our own Daimoku. When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we are having a dialogue with our own lives. The question is "Who is BOSS?" is it your fundamental darkness or is it US? We can SHOW our life condition who is boss when we chant. We can tell our life to wake up! We are so fortunate. We can chant every day like this. 

Write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com with any questions or comments. I'm thinking of you all this holiday season. 

Developing Appreciation ~ Inspiring Quote from Daisaku Ikeda

Appreciation

I sit here today watching the beautiful, fluffy snowfall in Chicago...basking in the glow of my life, celebrating my incredible good fortune. This is more guidance from the Arts Division FNCC Conference. Enjoy!

Appreciation is what makes people truly human.... 

Having a spirit of appreciation for someone from whose actions we benefit,  
a sense that 
'This is the, rarest and noblest thing," 
produces in our hearts 
a feeling of pride and self-esteem: 
"I am worthy of receiving such goodness." 
It provides us with spiritual support to go on living 

Because of these people, 
I am able to express my art. 
When we chant to develop appreciation, 
it opens closed parts of our life 
to new ways of seeing 
that we can't do without appreciation.

The path of the Bodhisattva 
lies in supremely humane action. 
When we pray, 
speak out 
and take action 
for the happiness of a friend, 
the eternal life of the universe 
manifests through our thoughts, 
words and deeds. 

Daisaku Ikeda, Dialogue on the Lotus Sutra, Living Buddhism, January 1998, p.42

Guidance from Sensei on Becoming the most Capable and Valuable Person in Your Profession

Guidance from Vice President Hasagawa at the FNCC Arts Division Conference May 13, 2000.

Becoming a Capable and Valuable Person in your Profession

In Japan,high school baseball is more popular than professional baseball. Everyone follows it. During the school year, there are many tournaments and at the end of the year

there is a national tournament between the top high school teams from throughout Japan. This occurs in Tokyo's major sports arena. Everyone in Japan knows the teams and the players and follows very closely. Ten years ago, the Soka High School team made it to this final tournament in Tokyo.

They lost in the first game, but it was still a great victory since only the best of the best make it that far.

On this team, the best player was a left-handed pitcher. He was graduating from Soka High School and was the #l draft pick of a professional baseball team, so he would not be back the next year. The coach of the team reported to Sensei, "Our ace pitcher was drafted and is gone. We are not as strong as we were; I believe our capability is lower, but we will chant and become a greater and more capable team."

Sensei said, "You are wrong. You should have enough capability to win without having to go back and chant. Become capable and then your daimoku will be a wind behind your capability. If you are relying on daimoku to make it happen rather than on your own capability then you are just using faith like a superstition. You should practice and, therefore, become capable.

The team which becomes most capable will be the one which practices and works the hardest and has the most perseverance. Capability is very important because it requires constant courage and training, but if your capability counts only 50% and then you base the other 50% on daimoku to the Gohonzon to bring it about "somehow," then your religion has become a crutch for you. Religion is not there to hide your shortcomings, but to strengthen you as human beings."

In the Lotus Sutra, reference is made many times to "drums and trumpets," which accompany other actions. What it means is that the drums and trumpets are supportive of the other actions, or are the encouragement of the actions. For our purpose, the "drums and trumpets'' represent the encouragement, which comes from within our life to reinforce our life condition. In other words our "drums and trumpets" is our daimoku in this effort. It is like a breeze, which pushes us forward. For example, the capability or talent, which you wish to develop, is like your constructing a magnificent sailing ship, a tall-masted schooner with many sails. 

You have to construct the best ship in the world, with the most solid framework, the strongest masts and the fullest sails. When you have constructed this sailing ship, your daimoku becomes the strong wind, which propels your sailing ship forward.

If I can Change My Karma So Can YOU!

Chicago at Night

All of us singing Christmas Carols at the Bean in Millenium Park

The domed Pool I've always loved!

The photos above are from last night...capping a magical week in which I got a wonderful job, met a wonderful man, and made many friends. The picture of the pool above is significant. This pool has always represented a dream of the "unattainable"...the way "other people live" and the glamorous life. I've been looking at this pool since I was a little girl and we would drive by it on our way from Oak Park to Evanston. Well...I have changed my karma and I feel that everything is possible...because I am a different person. I am so happy and full of gratitude. I have broken through my lesser self...I am experiencing life as the Buddha...something that is available to ALL of us through this practice. Last night I was at a party in this gorgeous high rise, and I've been asked to spend four days after Christmas housesitting in my new friend's gorgeous apartment overlooking all of Chicago...what a benefit! This apartment is walking distance to the theater district and perfectly situated on the magical lakefront.

I have seriously changed my karma! And as the title of this post says, "If I can do it so can you." There is no Buddha that is superior to another. I am awakened to the infinite potential in my life, and so are you. And if you don't give up...all YOUR dreams will come true too. Keep Going! Go Buddha Go! 

What is the key to absolute happiness? BUILDING the happiness from within through doing shakubuku, encouraging members, and winning over our own negativity. All of these benefits, the apartment, the job, etc. would have no real meaning if I didn't feel so different INSIDE. I am already happy. These "things" are a reflection of the changes I have achieved INSIDE. 

What did I change on the inside of my life?  I changed the fundamental tendency to be ashamed of my life. I changed the feeling  of being "un-loved." I always "knew" that I had to change this tendency to not love myself, and to somehow love myself. I KNEW that once I did this I would attract and recognize the deepest kind of love in my life. I knew this would draw my soulmate to me, but thinking about it and wishing for it was not the key to accomplishing it. No. I changed it by using Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to fight my own negativity, and by helping others to become absolutely happy. 

I think back to the days before November 18th when I was chanting to shakubuku a suffering youth. I chanted more than 10 hours in the few days before November 18th..."Let me find ONE youth that I can bring to get his/her Gohonzon...and this youth can find faith and encourage others...and on and on." And after that 10 hours I received a call from a young man whom I brought to get Gohonzon the next day. Somehow in those hours in front if the Gohonzon I realized the Gohonzon within my life...not with my mind..but IN my life. 

And here I am. In love with myself and all of life. I am sending you Daimoku on this day...going off to have another marvelous day, and thinking of you, all my friends all over the world, and saying Don't Give Up!!! Don't Give Up! 

Write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com.