Daily Guidance by Daisaku Ikeda

Thank you to Nalini Prakash who sends me daily guidance every day! 

IN the world of faith, 

having a sincere and faithful mind 

enable you 

to keep yourself in tune with the rhythm of the Mystic Law; then you will quickly receive benefit and your good fortune will increase.


IT is only natural 

that the energy you acquire 

through the practice of gongyo for yourself 

will be channeled back into your activities for others, 

for kosen-rufu. 

The fact is that the practice of gongyo 

and your actions in service of kosen-rufu 

will become one, 

and together they will unlock 

the infinite power of the Mystic Law for your life.


AN earnest struggle, 

just like a river crashing loudly over rocks, 

will inevitably encounter obstacles and devilish functions. 

If you keep pressing forward, 

not allowing yourself to be defeated in your struggle, 

you will surge forward with increased impetus 

and achieve great results – 

just as a river flows with increasing momentum 

each time it crashes against rocks, 

racing on with great vigor.


THE determination to accomplish kosen-rufu 

gives momentum to the determination 

to accomplish one’s human revolution. 

Human revolution is like a planet’s rotation on its axis, while kosen-rufu 

is like the planet’s revolution around the sun. 

Rotation and revolution are the foundation 

of all motion in the universe. 

It would run counter to the laws of the universe 

if a planet did not revolve around the sun.


PLEASE read the Gosho each day, 

even if only a single paragraph or sentence. 

Mr Josei Toda used to say, 

“When you are tired, 

that is when you should study the Gosho.” 

The Gosho blazes 

with the brilliant life of Nichiren Daishonin. 

When we expose ourselves to the Gosho, 

our life changes 

and wisdom, courage and confidence well forth.

Hi everyone, I'm a bit behind on answering emails - I will do my best to catch up soon! 

 

Happy 5th Anniversary ChantforHappiness.com!

Happy 

5th Anniversary 

Chantforhappiness.com! 

Here I am - my hernia surgery was a week ago, August is here, and this week is the 5th year anniversary of Chantforhappiness.com! 

I feel like popping open a bottle of champagne and toasting to all of you! 
At first, I had no readers, I only had the memory of myself combing the bookstores and libraries to find this practice...looking for it for YEARS and finally finding it when I met Kate Randolph in San Francisco in 1985 when I was already 25 years old. Right away I wanted to share my new tool for happiness - the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo within the SGI with everyone! 

In the past five years, the readership of Chantforhappiness.com has grown to 36,000 people a month ~ all over the world. This humble site has received more than 600,000 hits. Many of you are from the US, Australia, India, Singapore, Canada, Europe, Africa, South America, and many other places too. 

Where do YOU live? Write to me at Chantforhappiness@gmail.com and you may be in my next book. I'm collecting the emails I receive about how this blog has been a lifeline in places where there is no SGI, or how it has helped at times to give you that extra burst of energy to continue advancing fearlessly...(or to continue advancing with fear, but with strong determination too!)
My goal has been to help you connect with the Soka Gakkai International (which is full of people helping others become happy), and to the heart of our living mentor Daisaku Ikeda. I am so grateful to have raised my life from one of extreme depression, friendlessness, and sadness to one of strength and happiness that flows through me at every moment. I ride the wave of every challenge I face, and turn it into a benefit. And if I can do it so can YOU!

It's very mystic that I had surgery for a Hernia. When I consulted Louise Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life" (one of my favorites ~ I always keep this book close to me) about the real meaning of a hernia, it said "Ruptured Relationships, Strain..." and I had to laugh. Hmmm, WHICH ruptured relationship? All of them? A particular one? My entire "ruptured relationship karma"? 
And I thought back to 5 years ago when I began this blog. It was born from the ashes of a ruptured relationship. I was missing someone so badly I could literally FEEL the pain in the exact area where my hernia operation took place. Heartache actually hurts. I know. I've felt it. I know how all of you who write to me about heartache feel. 
I also knew at the time that the pain I felt was INSIDE my life. Yes, it was triggered by the relationship, but it was within me, and therefore, I could forever root the cause of the karma of this pain and depression out of my life through this practice. So I began chanting two hours a day to get rid of this pain FOREVER...to Root it out of my family karma. And I began writing this blog so that I could show actual proof through my life and take the whole world along. And of course, it worked. I followed the Soka Gakkai's prescription for happiness. Now I have permanently turned a corner...raised my life condition...changed forever this state of suffering. Forever. Changed. No more depression. Ever. 

And here we are! 

During the life of this blog so many things have happened...including: 

My sweet Mommy died...
I had major hip replacement surgery... 
My son got into Medical School and just passed his boards with flying colors...
I wrote the book PowerPrayers for Chanting Your Way to Absolute Happiness and Success (soon to be released)... 
I went through the biggest challenge of my life when my son became sick this year and he is now much better... 
and now I am mystically recovering from surgery in the exact part of my body that triggered the blog in the first place. And you, my friends, have accompanied me on every leg of this journey as I've proven the power of the Mystic Law with my life...and as YOU'VE proved the power with your own lives! 

I have answered hundreds and hundreds of emails. I have shared laughter with you, and I've shared your tears. In some cases I've been able to answer a few seconds after you wrote; others of you have had to wait longer, or have had to write me again when times were busy. Many mornings I have woken up to 5, 6, 7 emails from you...and sometimes...just when I needed it most...your emails were full of appreciation that brought tears to my eyes...just at the right time! 

Many of you have connected with the SGI through this blog. Others have reconnected. Many of you have broken through...some are still fighting, but are not alone! 
And yes, some of you found out about this practice for the first time through Chantforhappiness.com. I want to hear all your stories, and share them if you'll let me. Don't worry though, I never share anything unless you give me permission, so whatever you write is in confidence. You know the email: chantforhappiness@gmail.com

I can tell you with more confidence than ever that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo IS the answer to every single one of your questions and the exact prescription for all of the success and happiness you were born to experience. I write this blog to show through my own life experience, my own ups and downs, that anything is possible. And it IS! If I can overcome my heartache and lifelong depression so can you. So can anyone. If I can lose the weight that my mother carried...that all the women in my life have carried...then ANYTHING is possible, because THAT was clearly impossible...
I write this blog to show you the impossible is possible and to share our glorious mission in life together! 

I salute YOU my dear friends! I salute YOU! 

Incredible Buddhist Quotes for Overcoming Illness - Please share

Inspiring Quotes for Overcoming Illness

(The person who originally compiled these quotes was able to use the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo  - meaning: I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration and modern medicine to overcome breast cancer completely. She now lives in total health!) 

To learn more about the practice of Practical Buddhism you can click on the SGI link to the right. There are practitioners in 193 countries who would love to help you! 

From Jamie Lee Silver from ChantforHappiness.com

Quotes from President Ikeda's Lecture series "The Hope-filled Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin: On Prolonging One's Life Span - Faith for Leading a Long and healthy Life" in the July-August 08 Living Buddhism. 

“Suffering from illness is a means by which you can eradicate your negative karma.”  

President Toda, as quoted by President Ikeda. - pg 70 

“To see illness as an opportunity to transform our karma – this strong spirit and resolve can break through all obstacles and devilish functions and open wide the path to happiness. Like a rocket blasting out of the earth’s atmosphere, the passionate conviction of faith that comes from viewing illness as an opportunity to transform our karma can become a powerful engine propelling us forward not only in this existence but throughout eternity, enabling us to freely savor everlasting happiness.”  Pg 74

“Becoming ill in itself is certainly not a sign of defeat.  Even the Buddha, who is said to have ‘few ills and few worries’ (LS, 214), struggles with sickness from time to time.  Accordingly, there will be times when we are confronted with illness.  The important point above all is not to be defeated mentally or emotionally by the prospect of being ill.  Faith is the source of the fighting spirit to stand up to illness.  Therefore, as we noted earlier, Nichiren Daishonin first of all talks about the ‘treasure of faith’.  Pg 77

“As Nichiren says, ‘Illness gives rise to the resolve to attain the way’ (The Good Medicine for All Ills, WND-1, 937).  If a practitioner who upholds faith in the Mystic Law becomes ill, it definitely has some profound meaning.  It could be said that confronting illness is one route to awakening to the eternity of life.  President Toda often said, ‘A person who has overcome a major illness knows how to deeply savor life.’” Pg78

From Matilda Buck’s guidance, World Tribune 4/27/01 pg 10 “When We Face Disappointment” – regarding SGI leaders who overcame cancer and chanted this way:  

Through this experience, 
I will become someone 
who does not doubt the Gohonzon (my life), 
no matter what happens.

As a Bodhisattva of the Earth, 
I have the mission to experience this, 
and as a Bodhisattva of the Earth, 
I have the mission to create a victory.

I will share the power of Buddhism with others, 
even as I grapple with this experience.

I won’t let my spirits stay down.  
I won’t make a place in my life for negativity to settle!

From The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra Volume 6:  “Praying with doubt is like trying to keep water in a bathtub with the plug pulled.  Our good fortune and benefit will drain away.  A passage from the ‘Perceiver of the World’s Sounds’ chapter reads, ‘from thought to thought never entertaining doubt!’  A confident prayer will reverberate powerfully throughout the entire universe.”  Pg 88

From Buddhism Day by Day:

“Buddhism views illness as an opportunity to attain a higher, nobler state of life.  It teaches that, instead of agonizing over a serious disease, or despairing of ever overcoming it, we should use illness as a means to build a strong, compassionate self, which in turn will make it possible for us to be truly victorious.”  pg 300

“No matter what the circumstances, 
you should never concede defeat.  
Never conclude that you’ve reached a dead end, 
that everything is finished.  
You possess a glorious future.  
And precisely because of that, 
you must persevere and study.  
Life is eternal.  
We need to focus on the two existences 
of the present and the future 
and not get caught up in the past.  
We must always have the spirit to begin anew 
‘from this moment,’ 
to initiate a new struggle each day.” Pg. 315

“The air around us 
is filled with radio waves of various frequencies.  
While these are invisible, 
a television set can collect them 
and turn them into visible images.  
The practice of chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo 
aligns the rhythm of our own lives with the world of Buddhahood in the universe.  
it ‘tunes’ our lives, so to speak, 
so that we can manifest 
the power of Buddhahood in our very beings.”  Pg 314

From For Today and Tomorrow Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda:

Sept 20 pg. 288:  

When your determination changes, 
everything else will begin to move 
in the direction you desire.  
The moment you resolve to be victorious, 
every nerve and fiber in your being 
will immediately orient itself toward your success.  
On the other hand, 
if you think 
“This is never going to work out,” 
then at that instant 
every cell in your being will be deflated 
and give up the fight, 
and then everything really will 
move in the direction of failure.

Aug 15 pg. 249:  

The first thing is to pray.  
From the moment we begin to pray, 
things start moving.  
The darker the night, 
the closer the dawn.  
From the moment we chant daimoku 
with a deep and powerful resolve, 
the sun begins to rise in our hearts.  
Hope – prayer is the sun of hope.  
To chant daimoku each time we face a problem, overcoming it 
and elevating our life-condition as a result – 
this is the path of 
“changing earthly desires into enlightenment,” 
taught in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism.

Thank you so much my friends. Thank you for your emails and your Daimoku! I am here having a quiet week as I heal from my hernia surgery. I am determined that from this moment forth I am more healthy, more vibrant, more energetic and focused than ever before. But for today...I am slow...I am quiet...I am in the process of healing. 
I plan on writing a series of posts to commemorate this blog's 5th anniversary. (This week) Would you like to contribute? I'd like to have a section from readers about how something you read at chanforhappiness.com led you to take action in your practice or your life...email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com as always. 

4 Ways to Strengthen our Practice and our Lives

Flowers in Gratitude for you!

Thank you so much. I am healing very nicely, and just basking in the glow of all the Daimoku you are chanting for me. No surgery is really fun, but I feel like I will heal in no time because of you. Here I share with you a popular post from a few months ago: 

"First you must be strong. There is no hope of winning in this chaotic world if you are weak. No matter what others do or say, it is important to develop your ability and put that ability to use. Strong faith, of course, is the best means for drawing out one's inner strength. You each have a very important mission and I hope you will awaken to it and take pride in that mission." 

Daisaku Ikeda, Faith in Action, page 139

I received a letters from a reader recently. She wrote that she chants consistently for one week, and then stops chanting for a week and her anxiety and depression immediately comes back. Every other week she forces herself to chant again, and then stops. She said she was struggling and not overcoming her problems. 

Chanting inconsistently is a very difficult way to practice. It is much easier to establish a twice a day practice and stick with it. But how do we do this? 

How can we reinforce our determination to practice twice a day every day, strengthen our lives and create unshakable benefit? 

The benefits of consistent practice are many. 
For one, it's easier. Once you establish the practice you just greet your life twice a day in front of the Gohonzon without having to force yourself to do it. It just becomes part of your life. With consistent practice we strengthen our lives and raise our life conditions. 

With consistent practice chanting is easier, life is easier, benefits flow more consistently, and we change our karma, embrace our challenges and win over any challenge we face. With consistent practice we change our lives for the better. This is the way it works. 

Positive Psychologists talk about something called "Activation Energy." 
It is the energy to get something new up and running. 

We can compare the launching our consistent practice to an airplane taking off. Each airplane has to advance down the runway with engines firing. Once the plane gets in the air it switches to a steady maintenance energy, but it HAS to fire those rockets to get off the ground. 

How do you fire your own rockets? 

Three ways to Strengthen Your Practice:

1. Be active in the SGI

Being a part of the SGI, attending meetings and practicing with your friends in faith is essential. (You can click on the SGI Portal to the right to find your local SGI, if you're not connected yet. Remember there are no dues or rules or priests. The SGI is an organization of people working together for their own happiness and the sake of others.) 

The friends you make in the SGI are friends who will help you get those engines firing and help you lift into the air. And the beautiful thing is, as another is helping YOU, they are also helping themselves. That is just the way it works. And you can be this friend for others and help them chant too. TO join, use the link at the right or go to SGI-USA.org


"The mind of faith is invisible. Those who advance together with the organization dedicated to Kosen-rufu will evolve the correct mind of faith that matches the time. With this mind of faith, you can fill the canvas of your lives with portraits of happiness in which all your wishes are fulfilled."
Daisaku Ikeda, Faith in Action, Page. 138

2. Chant as often as possible 
with your Friends in Faith

When I was first chanting my SGI friend and mentor came to my house every morning for a few weeks to help me generate "activation energy" for my practice, and establish a consistent practice. I liked the feeling of doing gongyo consistently, and was able to keep my plane in the air after that. 

Only those who practice twice a day know how great it is ~ 
My dear "Baby Buddha" (the nickname she chose for herself) heard me tell her for two years to chant every morning and evening, and she replied that she doesn't do ANYTHING consistently and wasn't going to do this. No way. I kept chanting for her and inviting her to chant. And one day, she just made the decision to try chanting twice a day to see how it felt. She couldn't believe how different she felt. She also realized a deep desire and began to chant for it to happen. Now she lives in Colorado - she got what she was chanting for! THIS is why we practice. Our desires are worth chanting for! 

3. Chant with Others Even if You're Not Together

When I began this blog and my two-hour a day chanting campaign, my friend Melissa and I would text each other twice a day when we began chanting. She lived far away so we only chanted together about once a week, but just knowing we were chanting at the same time really helped. Sometimes we would call each other before we chanted and tell each other what we were focusing on for that hour so we could chant specifically for each other's desires. 

5. Chant to Strengthen your Practice and Your Life!
Having a strong prayer to strengthen your practice will really help!

You may have other ways of creating and maintaining your consistent practice. Please share them with me and I'll share them with the other readers of this blog. Email me at chantforhappiness.com with your ideas, questions, suggestions, victories and challenges. 

10 Positivity Essentials!

We all have them! Many challenges!
Here are ten of my favorite tips for sailing through difficult times!

As so many of you know, this blog is based on a practice that is new to this country and new to the world. The practice of ordinary people chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo  - and thus tapping into the universe within themselves with no intermediary - has its origins as the Title of the Buddha's highest teaching, The Lotus Sutra. But most people did not begin the chanting of this title until the Soka Gakkai SGI was founded by the educator Tsunesaburu Makiguchi in war-time Japan in 1930. He later died in prison for refusing to support the war efforts of Japan. His follower, Josei Toda accompanied him to prison, and lived to be released to lay the great foundation for kosen-rufu (world peace). Our living mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, was Josei Toda's disciple, and has dedicated his entire life to us, and to the many future generations who will look back upon this historical time in respect and wonder. These three men, and all of us chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo today, are ALL pioneers of a great movement for peace. We chant for our desires, we chant for other people's desires, we chant for wisdom for ourselves and for the world. 
I highly recommend the new book "Waking the Buddha" by Clark Strand, available on Amazon.com for a really enlightening chronicle of our revolutionary new form of Buddhism.

What follows is a blog post going out to the 35,000 readers of Chantforhappiness.com. I invite you to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this post. I am looking for a web guru who can help me convert this blog into a more flexible format...probably wordpress. Would you like to help? Please email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com if you'd like to submit your ideas and/or expertise. As always, I do not officially represent the SGI although I am an enthusiastic member in the Chicago area, and owe my strong practice to ALL my wonderful mentors who have helped me along the way, including many readers!

10 Positivity Essentials!

1. Realize you are a Boddhisatva of the earth. You are important. You deserve every happiness.

2. Make a list of what you want, or write out a narrative of how your life could be. I write my narrative in the present tense, and rewrite it whenever I feel like I need a refresher.

3. Assemble your team of friends in faith. Chant to break through in deepening your relationships with fellow members. We are all the most wonderful family. We need to appreciate each other! 

4. Assemble your team of inspiring people who do mot practice. Some of my friends are healers, poets, writers who do not practice but with whom I still share a great bond. 

5. Establish the strongest practice EVER!
Set a minumum level of daimoku a day - I chant at least an hour. When people ask me how can I do that the answer is simple. I HAVE to do it because my happiness is important to me and everyone I touch. Being in rhythm makes me happy. Helping others become happier is my raison d'etre - (reason to be alive!) There are days I chant more than an hour a day - as often as I can. Are there days I chant less? Yes, occasionally, but I get back on the hour a day as soon as I can because I can feel the difference. I tend to go to bed early and wake up three hours before I need to leave the house so I can chant an hour, write for you for an hour and get ready for the day.

6. Chant with people often!

7. Study, study, study the works of Daisaku Ikeda and the Gosho. Get your local SGI publication

8. Watch your mind. Guard against negativity.

9. Watch Your WORDS. Oh so important!

10. Always be learning

I'm here on my patio and it's a lovely morning. I just have to assume my surgery went well, and that I am healing correctly. I'm in a lot of pain, but only when I move. My son Aaron is here with me. And I'm writing to you. 
Good morning, and once again, thank you with all my heart for your emails and daimoku!

At Home Resting ~ Let the Healing Begin

Sending love!
I'm sitting on my patio enjoying the nice evening.
I can feel all your Daimoku!

Surgery Today ~ Thank you for Chanting!

I will be brief, because I want to chant for an hour before I go to Elmhurst Hospital for surgery to repair a tear in my abdominal wall that is not causing me any trouble, but the experts say could get worse if I do not fix it. 

All day yesterday I heard from you. And my appreciation is boundless. Knowing you are chanting for me, and hearing about how my words ~ my heart ~ has touched your lives is warming my soul. One day, I hope to write the story of this blog, (which is about to celebrate its 5th year!) and include YOU because you are why I write. I am saving all your letters and emails and one day you may be in it, my friends. 

It is 6:10am ~ my sister picks me up at 7:10 and the surgery should be around 9:00 if all goes well. Then, they sew me up and send me home.  

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a lion, what sickness could therefore be an obstacle? 

Going off to roar now!

You can email me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com, or at Jamie Lee Silver 17W702 Butterfield Rd, #104, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 USA