Gongyo Makes Our Lives Blossom!

Do you have any idea what this is? 

If you look closely, you can see that this is a flower blooming from an artichoke! I found this in Ojai. 
Now, who would ever think that inside an artichoke - which is already beautiful and unusual - that there is a purple flower waiting to burst forth if properly tended? I bet you can see where I'm going with this...

Our Buddha nature is just like this. It is already part of our life...we are already Buddhas, and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo gives us the exact tools and prescription to bring it out and let it bloom. 

As Daisaku Ikeda writes in 
The Heart of the Lotus Sutra: 

"In general, every time we do gongyo 
and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, 
we praise the Buddha nature in our own lives. 
We also praise the Buddha nature 
in the lives of all others, 
and we commune 
with the Buddha nature of the universe. 
What a solemn ceremony this is! 
How fortunate we are 
to live according to the principle 
that faith expresses itself in daily life."

And we perform this sacred ceremony twice a day...every day. We are so incredibly fortunate to have encountered this amazing tool. 

I like the line above that says "faith expresses itself in daily life." To me, this means that when we exert ourselves in faith...when we chant twice a day, and continually work to improve our practice. When we study, encourage others, go to SGI meetings and do shakubuku we WILL, without fail, see the positive effects of this practice in our lives. 

I am in the LA airport about to board a plane to return to Chicago. And I am thinking about all of you. Every moment of this trip to California was amazing. EVERY DAY I felt the effects of this practice as I was entirely protected, lovingly welcomed, and greeting each moment as a benefit. 

I have a recommendation to make, 
one more time, 
from my heart. 
And that recommendation 
is to do Gongyo, 
twice a day, 
every day. 

If you set a goal to do this for 100 days I promise you, that the things that are looming as problems in your life will look very different VERY soon! 

Go ahead and make your list of what you want. 
Challenge yourself to do Gongyo twice a day, 
and YOUR LIFE WILL RESPOND. Just like this flower that bloomed from an artichoke ~ Your life will respond in a very positive way! 

Write me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com

Time to board the plane! 

Everything is a Benefit! Everything!

Hello from Venice Beach! 

When we are practicing correctly ~

• Chanting at least an hour a day - or as much as we can - and connecting our own goals to the greater good - Kosen rufu - world peace (while we are chanting we are thinking LIFE! I MUST WIN! I must use my life as a shining example that this practice works. I must achieve _______so that I can encourage others to chant)

• Studying Nichiren Daishonin and Daisaku Ikeda's Writings to understand and feel the human expression of our own selves as Buddhas of the mystic law
• Going to SGI Meetings Soka Gakkai - see the link at the right
• Encouraging others
• Seeking out Encouragement
• Doing shakubuku - telling others about chanting and helping them learn. We can do this right now - 

We cannot lose!
When we are in this state of life we realize that everything is advancement and nothing is retreat. Every single thing we are doing at every moment is creating value for our lives. And we see it. We realize there is no room or reason for complaint. Even minor irritations (losing your keys etc.) turn into benefits. 

We see the greater picture! 
We don't complain. 
Everything is a benefit!!! 

A Great Shakubuku Experience~

Yesterday at Venice Beach, Hal (Kate's husband) and I were having lunch and we had this wonderful young girl as our waitress. We were having fun with her through the whole meal and we were laughing together. Towards the end of the meal I brought out my Nam-myoho-renge-kyo card and asked her if she'd ever heard of it. Her mouth opened when I gave her the card...and she knelt down by where I was sitting and took my hands. Tears welled in her eyes.  She said her mother had chanted. And her mother had died when she was 14 years old. She said there was a person she worked with who was inviting her to SGI meetings, and she was thinking of returning to her practice, and because of us - she was going to go! I asked her to email me how things go for her so we can keep in touch. Throughout the rest of the meal she continued to thank us profusely. 

Woohoo!!! 
Shakubuku is fun! 

Soka World Youth Media Summit is this week! We need your Daimoku today!

A special note from our dear friend Kate:

You Can Help the International Youth Media Summit being held at 

Soka University this week. 

You can be a part of it! Sponsor a delegate through this link and send your Daimoku! 

http://www.iyms-usa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=156

Much of the wisdom you read at chantforhappiness.com can be owed to my dearest friend Kate Randolph. She introduced me to this practice almost 30 years ago, and I have shared her thoughts and essays with you over the years. She has been involved in a great movement for youth. Here is a letter to you from her. This year's Youth Media Summit will take place at Soka University in California. Please contribute what you can! This is not a official SGI function, but it does fit into what we are all about! 

A note to you from Kate Randolph:

I have traveled to Serbia the past 3 summers to support the INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MEDIA SUMMIT and its mission to bring young people together to dialogue about, and find solutions for, some of the world's most urgent social issues.  Then they choose an issue they would like to focus on and in small teams they make short films about each of the Summit issues: violence, discrimination, poverty, health the environment, women's rights and youth empowerment. They also make declarations of actions that they will take on these issues upon their return to their country. 

This summer, for the first time since the Summit was born, it is coming back to the USA, to be held on the gorgeous campus of Soka University!  But the difficulty with that is that it is nearly impossible for many young people to travel here because of the huge expense.  

Right now we need your Daimoku to help one youth get out of Afganistan and 3 youths out of Pakistan to come to the summit! They have their flights and Visas but live in troubled areas. These youth need to attend! 

Please chant for them! 

(We already have applicants from Liberia, Algeria, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, Palestine, Israel, Iran and Afghanistan and about 12 more countries! )  

Do what you can, or feel comfortable with.  But take a minute to click on the link and see what the Summit is all about! Even just posting a comment of support helps us move further up to the front of the website!

Thank you for helping the youth of the world Unite. We are all fulfilling Daisaku Ikeda's most heartfelt determination for the youth of this world. 

Here's to a fantastic Summit next week at Soka University! 

Kate Randolph

http://igg.me/at/IYMS2014

Why Do I Chant? Why do We Chant?

Enjoying every moment in Ojai, and Venture. 

Here's Etjen, my friend of 30+ years (who lives in Seattle) and me at the beach in Ventura. 

Why do I chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo? 

Why do we chant? 

I am speaking for myself when I say 
I chant because it works. 
I chant to make my dreams come true. 
I chant to continue to bring forth all the creative, 
beautiful universe that lies within me, 
and within everyone. 
I chant for all those who are still suffering like I was, 
before I found the tool of chanting. 

I chant for the end of suffering ~ everywhere 
I chant for all to realize their dreams.
I chant for us all to be happy, and live in a world of respect. Kosen-rufu, as we call it.   

I chant, as Nichiren Daishonin and Daisaku Ikeda say 

"To discard the transient and reveal the true."

What does that mean? 
What is the transient? 
The transient is self doubt
The transient is fear
The transient is any part of me that doesn't see the vast potential of my life. 
The transient is any part of my identity that lingers from any painful experience I have ever felt. 
The transient is any part of me that believes that the impossible is impossible. 

What is the true? 
The true is strength of spirit
the wisdom to make the best decisions for my life
and to be able to act upon them
as I write, direct and act in the beautiful story that is the life of Jamie Lee Silver, 
who sought and found the Mystic Law, 
the Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that is the deepest rhythm, 
my heart, any heart, has ever know. 

And now, because I chant, 
because I encourage 
and am encouraged 
by my wonderful friends in the Soka Gakkai, 
and wonderful friends all over, 
I have the pleasure of living my life 
sharing this incredible law, 
sharing Daisaku Ikeda's heart, 
and making friends all around the world. 

If you want to connect email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com 

Demand Your Results! Tell Your Life What You want. PowerPrayer to Say Enough is Enough!

Sometimes we have to get mad when we chant! 

Lions ROAR! Lions ROAR! 

When we are chanting we are chanting to our own life, and sometimes we have to chant with the feeling

 "Life! Enough is enough! I am changing this karma NOW."

I hear from many of you who are in bad situations where you are feeling hopeless and controlled by others. RISE UP to your life in front of the Gohonzon and DEMAND results now. 

We are all noble Boddhisatvas of the earth. In The Heart of the Lotus Sutra, Daisaku Ikeda writes:
When we do gongyo "we are in effect vowing to advance kosen-rufu in accord with the spirit of the original Buddha. Every day we pledge to the Daishonin, "Without fail, I will believe in and spread the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin and help lead all people to enlightenment." page 150

And to fulfill this vow, we have to win in our lives. 
  
Each of us has some negative tendency that happens over and over, don't we? For me, I struggled for years with a feeling that would just overcome me, and wash over me like a wave. Out of nowhere I would feel unloved, unlovable and hopeless. The voices in my head were penetrating and awful!
And when I got this feeling sometimes I would think it was real...that I really was unloved and hopeless, and then I'd pick up the phone to call Kate (my dear friend in faith) and she would remind me that this was my fundamental darkness arising once again. This feeling was a function of the fundamental darkness within my life and within all of life, and this was AGAIN my time to summon up the power of my faith. 

That's why I say be FUELED BY YOUR OBSTACLES, not FOOLED BY THEM! 

"Get MAD at the shoten zenjin!" Kate would say. Shoten Zenjin are the protective forces that counterbalance fundamental darkness. We use our practice to increase the shoten zenjin and banish fundamental darkness. 
And I would generate some angry energy, roar like a lion and use this PowerPrayer inspired by Kate:

PowerPrayer to say, 

"No More! Enough is enough!”

I am chanting with 

absolute conviction in the power of my life to declare and demand:

No more of this karma 

of feeling insecure and doubting myself.

No more of this karma 

of being abused or disrespected by anyone or any thing!

No more doubting my own Buddha Nature!

No more living in fear!

No more feeling unloved or hopeless.

No more ________________ (you fill in the blank.)

I don't CARE how many times I have to chant about this. I don't CARE how many times you try to bring me down. 

I MUST Win because I am a votary of the Lotus Sutra. I am living my life to prove that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo works and to help others become happy. 

I will win!!!

I am the Buddha.

I am roaring with power in my life!

I now determine with all the power vested in me that I will___________________________.

Practicing Buddhism = Banishing Fear

Embracing Buddhism gives us access to living a fearless life. 
I can personally say that chanting the name of the mystic law - Nam-myoho-renge-kyo has been my key to tapping into the vital life resources that have sprung my depression and unhappiness into a life of never-ending wonder and happiness. 

As Daisaku Ikeda writes in Faith into Action, page 110:(available through the SGI website - see the link to the right) 

People who have strong faith are fearless,
they can overcome anything. 
There is no obstacle or adversity 
that they cannot surmount. 
In the very depths of their lives, 
no matter what happens 
they lead lives of "the greatest of all joys." (6/10/96) 

When I first started this blog - almost 5 years ago, I was frequently crushingly depressed. There were days I had to just put one foot in front of the other and struggle not to cry all day. 
I began writing this blog with the determination to practice harder than I ever had before and to prove through my efforts and results - through my life itself that ANYTHING was possible. If I could free myself from the depression I'd had my whole life, and that my mother also experienced...I would show that the impossible is possible, and be able to inspire countless others. Now the depression is gone and close to 35,000 people see this blog every month! 

Thank you so much for passing the chantforhappiness.com link to your friends. Countless people have joined or reconnected to the SGI through this humble portal! chantforhappiness.com
Many have accessed the SGI thorough the SGI link to the right: sgi-usa.org

And now, I will soon enter my 30th year of practice and I see this fearlessness blooming in my life like never before. 

We talk about conspicuous and inconspicuous benefits. We can SEE conspicuous benefits. They are all around us. We get the job, we make the money, we fall in love, etc. But inconspicuous benefits are the treasures of the heart we build day after day after day as we sit in front of the Gohonzon (the scroll that is the mirror of our lives) and chant to bring forth our Buddha nature, chant to do our human revolution, chant to strengthen our lives. 

THAT is where the true fortune lies. For what is a new house, a new car, a new job or a new relationship when we are cowering in fear...we are afraid it is ephemeral...we're afraid we'll lose it, we're afraid of death, of life, of rejection etc. 

This practice gives us the keys to the inner kingdom where the real treasure lies. 
Strength
Security
Faith
Fresh Determination

This week I received some interesting news. I went to a doctor and was referred to a surgeon, and just took a test early this morning to find out more. And I remain relentlessly cheerful, happy and unafraid. I am a new Jamie that I barely recognize. I haven't cried or been sad. I just feel in my life "I summoned this storm! Bring it on! I know through this adventure that I will be stronger and healthier and happier than ever before!" Because that is what I have been chanting for. I am at the midpoint of this precious life and I am determined to bring 100x more vigor, more enthusiasm, more power to help other people and more results into my life! 
So if some type of medical procedure has to come first, well then it is a stepping stone to achieving all my goals...not an obstacle that stands in the way of achieving them. 

I need to be well to travel the world and meet all of my readers and fellow members!  

Today, and every day is a day of great benefits! Ben starts a new job! Thank you for all your Daimoku! And tomorrow I fly to California and meet my dear friend Etjen at LAX and drive to visit her sister in beautiful Ojai! On Wednesday I go to LA to see Kate, my mentor and friend. Who knows what the future will bring. 

Every day on this trip I will be chanting to open my life to new possibilities and to discover in myself new capabilities for experiencing love, light and happiness. I will be bringing my computer and continuing to blog ~ and I'll post some pictures for you. 

Whatever is troubling you, 
whatever you are desiring, 
whatever you do 
KEEP CHANTING every day twice a day, 
KEEP STUDYING Daisaku Ikeda and the Gosho 
with your life!
KEEP CONNECTED TO YOUR SGI FRIENDS IN FAITH
and ATTENDING SGI MEETINGS 
KEEP ENCOURAGING OTHERS and
DOING SHAKUBUKU 
and your life will unfold 
into a beautiful chapter you have written...
with every tear...with every smile...and with every effort you've made to sit down, face your life and chant!

11 Tips for Terrific Tosos (How to Chant Joyfully for Longer Times)

Sometimes SGI Buddhists like to chant for longer times. No one has to do this, or is expected to chant a toso. But sometimes we just want to! No one will ever judge you if you don't want to join in, but we will support you if you do. 
A group of us are gathering at my house to chant from 5:00 until 8:00 tomorrow evening. Wonderful! 

When I first began chanting a leader told me our lives and our karma can be compared to a glass with dirt at the bottom. The dirt represents the karma that exists inside our lives. She said when you start to chant you stir up that dirt and see it swirling around...and if you want to really dig deep and clear it out, you might want to chant a Daimoku Toso (chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for an hour or longer) and to set a goal with specific time targets to chant per day...to do a Million Daimoku Campaign we call it. 

A reader requested I share some ideas about chanting joyfully, and with concentration - especially since so many of you are challenging yourselves to chant for longer periods of time. Thank you for asking.

Please do not copy and paste the 11 Powerful Tips. Please share by sending the chantforhappiness.com url or using the share buttons at the bottom of the post. Thank you! Jamie

11 Powerful tips:
How to Joyfully Chant for Longer Times.
Toso Power! 
From Chantforhappiness.com by Jamie Lee Silver

1. Realize that what you are about to do...chanting longer than usual ~ doing a Daimoku Toso (The word "Toso" is usually used for chanting periods of one hour or longer)  - has profound significance for your life. Give yourself credit for this worthy goal.  

2. Write your goal or goals. (Some of these goals may occur to you naturally as you're chanting) Write yourself a Power Prayer (fresh determination) connected to the greater good...to the real difference you want to make in the world. 

Remember that you are a precious votary of the Lotus Sutra and when you break through, the energy is forever changed. You are paving the way for others to break through ~ Your Happiness is IMPORTANT! 

So address that in your goals and in your chanting For example: 

"I am determined to have the most beautiful, loving relationship so that I can totally inspire other people that great relationships are possible ...I can show actual proof with my life, and be able to introduce others to this practice!" 

President Ikeda's guidance says you can chant to have 10,000 times more power in your prayer. So I usually dedicate some time to chanting to increase the power of my daimoku by 10,000 times! 

3. Have your favorite drinks close by...tea...water...soft drinks...whatever you like. 

4. DEMAND your results! YOU are the Buddha! Do not beg favors from a 'higher power." Remember the Gohonzon cannot get down off the scroll and do the Buddha's work in the world. YOU actually are the Gohonzon; it is inside your life. The scroll is a reflection of the highest life condition that exists within your own life. So when you are chanting CLAIM what is yours! Yes, the Gohonzon consists of the functions in the universe that are in our lives. Tell your life what you want. 

5. All change comes from within. Take responsibility for your life...not blame. Realize whatever you are going through, whatever is causing you to chant...it's your karma..not your FAULT. Chant to reach the very core of that karma and root it out forever. THEN your life circumstances and environment will change to reflect it. You don't have to figure out the deeper cause, don't worry about getting it right. Chanting is experiential, not an intellectual exercise.  

6. Keep your favorite study material close by...whatever touches your heart when you read it. And if you find yourself losing focus open it up to any page you want. I have "For Today and Tomorrow" next to me right now. I just opened it for you right now...I read "When we chant sonorous daimoku, the sun rises in our hearts. We are filled with power. Compassion wells forth. Our lives are lit with joy. Our wisdom shines. All Buddhas and Buddhist deities throughout the universe go to work on our behalf. Life becomes exhilarating." Read your passage and get right back to chanting!!!

7. Invite others to chant with you!

8. Have pen and paper handy. You'll want to write down those brilliant ideas that come into your mind while you're chanting. You'll also want to write down some of those pesky thoughts and reminders that keep coming back...things like "remember to buy dog food." Just write it down and eject it from your brain so you can focus on what really matters.

9. Put your telephone away. Tell people you are busy. 

10. After you chant write in your journal. Write to me too. I love to hear your successes and your challenges. I will only share your victories with your permission! Write me at Chantforhappiness.@gmail.com. 

11. Some obstacles might arise after your toso. And just say "Hello obstacles! I was expecting you!" When you take on the mission to change your karma for yourself and others you can compare it to turning your speedboat to HIGH. The faster you go, the more resistance you feel. 

Above all - Don't give up! You CAN change your problems into benefits. You ARE the Buddha! 

I am chanting for you to accomplish your goals and shine with happiness. 

If you are using the PowerPrayers please let me know how they are working for you! Email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com

I'd love to hear from those of you who have connected to the SGI through my blog!
I am sharing your stories with Daisaku Ikeda, Sensei.

Email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com