Universal PowerPrayer for Victory in Our Lives and the Happiness of ALL!

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As Nichiren Buddhists, we are the Buddha  ~  
as we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo summoning our fathomless wisdom while steering our life in the direction of our innermost desires...both for ourselves and for others. 

We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over and over again. We call this "chanting Daimoku"(Die-MOH-Koo). Daimoku means title. The title of the Lotus Sutra (Shakyamuni Buddha’s self-proclaimed highest teaching) is  Myoho-Renge-Kyo.  

Nichiren Daishonin added "Nam" (devotion - focusing) before Myoho-renge-kyo to make the phrase mean “I devote my life to the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration,” or, “I am one with the very rhythm of life.”

“Myoho-renge-kyo is the name of the ultimate mystic truth, and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo  is the name of the life state of Buddhas who embody and reveal this truth.” 

p.28 Lectures on “On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime”, Daisaku Ikeda

Yesterday I wrote about chanting for my own problems and encompassing all who are suffering into my vow for victory. 

What follows is a Universal PowerPrayer to tap into our desire for happiness for all beings...the real vow we all make as Buddhas! 

Universal PowerPrayer 
for the Happiness for ALL

By Jamie Lee Silver of Chantforhappiness.com

Every Daimoku I chant 
remakes my VOW as a Buddha 
for Victory in my own life 
so that all others can achieve VICTORY in theirs! 

reaches every other person who is chanting. 
I see everyone chanting...
tapping into the deepest prayer they have ever felt ~

At this moment 
I deepen the power of my prayer by 10,000 times
Just like my mentor describes ~

so that all who are chanting can also deepen their faith, 
and bring forth the results they desire 
as we 
spread the word of this great teaching 

to those still suffering

we all become absolutely happy

and create a happy and peaceful world!

I chant that every single person who is chanting 

feels the full power 

sees the full power

experiences the full power

of this faith in their lives. 

I chant for all members to have faith

receive incredible 

benefits

and to know, and feel 

within every cell in their body

the power welling forth 
with each Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!!

Together we create kosen-rufu
the total energy shift of our planet! 

3 Ways to Tap Into Our Noble Missions

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"...When an individual 
who has been suffering from illness 
or financial hardship becomes happy, 
this opens a sure way to happiness 
for all others experiencing similar painful suffering." 

Living Buddhism, June 2015, page 27. From learning From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin: "Letter to Horen." Daisaku Ikeda

We all know this is true, and we have seen it and felt it. One of the women in my district met a wonderful man while she was visiting Central America. Over the course of the last two years, they lived apart as he worked on getting his visa to come to America. He learned gongyo, chanted daimoku, and this Wednesday at the study meeting we met him for the first time. This experience inspired everyone that true love is possible. 

Every time you break through something you inspire all those around you, and I believe, energetically and vibrationally we influence the fiber of the universe. We are microcosms of the universe...everything we do, everything we achieve, affects everything else. 

Here are three ways to realize how important YOU are and realize your noble mission:

1. While chanting for your desire bring to mind all others around the world who are suffering from the same desire and realize your chanting at this moment has an impact on them too. 
As I chant for Ben, my son who is suffering from mental illness, I am chanting on behalf of all mothers who have ever seen their children suffer, and who wish, with all their hearts to lift that suffering. I am chanting for all mothers, all fathers and all suffering children. Yes, I am chanting for Ben, and to change my karma to have mental illness in my environment, and I am chanting for everyone else too. 

2. Praise your life as the Buddha you are. Throughout the day, see yourself as "The Great Buddha." Think to yourself "The Great Buddha arises this morning. The Great Buddha is entering her place of work. The Great Buddha is eating lunch." You are the Great Buddha. We are all the Great Buddha. 

3. Study. The Gosho this month is incredible. There is so much I want to say about it, and will write more when I have more time. It reinforces the nobility of every single character of the Lotus Sutra we chant every single day. Study and see even more of your Great Buddha-ness! 

We are the Buddhas - Guest Blog from Simran Kalsi

We who are practicing this wonderful philosophy are the Buddhas. But we live in this saha world and as we know the latter day (which is today's world) is full of sufferings but our practice teaches us to take them as challenges and this is exactly what we do!! 

We don't give up, instead, whenever the going gets tough, we sit as erect as we can, in front of the Gohonzon and chant with full focus. Just like a child goes to his/her mother, we go to the Gohonzon to open our heart in front of it. 

There are times when we get too harsh on ourselves and start feeling as though we are "not good enough" to deserve something, but the best way forward in such a situation is to sit and chant for yourself for the first 15 minutes. 

And in these 15 minutes- Praise yourself for whatever efforts you have made!! Even if they are not big enough according to you because- Hey!! Big or Small.. Efforts are Efforts. Love yourself and tell yourself in those 15 minutes that "(fill your name) you have been fantastic, you can do it, you are the Buddha!!" 

Daimoku should be like a free flowing water. Soothing your mind with every Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. We may want a thousand things, but it is not correct to always make a list out of it and try very hard to remember each and every item of that list while chanting. 

Daimoku where your mind is not focusing,  but is busy remembering all the things you need to have, will only exhaust you and you will feel tired after doing it. Many members face this. They say that after chanting they don't feel refreshed. And we tell them that this is because you haven't really chanted, you have just cross checked your list while seeming to focus on Gohonzon.  
 
Of course you can pray for whatever you want but after writing down what you wish to see happening to you, you should keep that page aside and trust your daimoku and Gohonzon. Keep out all the panic! And then only shoten zenjin will become a magnet. 

All the buddhas and bodhisattvas shall then surround you to Make It Happen!!! Nothing will be able to stop you from having all that you ever wished for and even more. You will be surprised to see how wonderfully the things will work out for you. 

So lets all today take a pledge that we will sit twice a day daily and see for ourselves the actual proof of this beautiful practice which we have encountered. 
- Simran Kalsi
New Delhi, India

PowerPrayer for Rising Above Our Worries

"When you chant you should 

take a vacation from your troubles." 

And today while I was chanting that's exactly what I did. I chanted to lift my life condition so I could see over and above my troubles...and to experience this day in a state of elevation through Daimoku. 

I chant to release all feelings of having to be in control at every single moment, because, as we all know, control at every moment is impossible anyway! 

Sometimes we may think "I'm a Buddha so I should be able to command every single moment of every single day. I'm a Buddha, right?" But I don't think that's exactly how it works, 

The only things we can really be in control of are our reactions to what's going on. That's not to say that we can't change our lives through chanting. WE CAN. But the process of doing so doesn't always go as quickly as we'd want it to. We are not like Samantha on the TV show Bewitched. We can't just wiggle our noses and make everything change. 

PowerPrayer 

for Rising Above Our Troubles:

by Jamie Lee Silver of Chantforhappiness.com

Life! 

Gohonzon! 

Today while chanting 

I am seeing my life and my spirits 

rising above my worries. 

As I am chanting I am seeing my life rise above. 

Once again I Know that I am the Great Buddha! 

I am focusing on joining the ceremony in the air. 

I am joining with all the Buddhas on the Gohonzon, 

and knowing that 

YES! 

This is the life I chose for Kosen-rufu, 

I am Fulfilling my Vow. 

I will achieve victory in all areas for kosen rufu!

and I will keep my life condition HIGH no matter what. 

I see through the eyes of the Buddha. 

I shine for all those around me as a beacon of hope. 

I am the Buddha at every moment today...

fully aware and focusing on all that is right in my world! 

I am going to float above my worries and chant in the world of gratitude and appreciation. 

I am so grateful for:__________________________

And I release this day to my prayers! 

100 Day Gongyo Challenge! Join Us - Start anytime!

WOW is all I can say. 

This 100-day challenge is so powerful! 

We already know that the minute we make a determination our fundamental darkness will have a heyday, right? 

It will try to stop us and discourage us in every way. But once we put our foot down, fundamental darkness has NO POWER over us. 

How do we put our foot down? We do an amazing gongyo and daimoku TWICE everyday. We don't let anything stop us. 

We improve our practice! There are so many ways we can step it up. We can study, do shakubuku, encourage others and increase our concentration during our twice daily sacred rite of gongyo. 

We can also take better care of ourselves. (My 100-day challenge involves walking 20 minutes a day too.) 

As I mentioned this morning, these last few days have been tough. A few months ago I gave notice that I was leaving my apartment as of June 30th, (mostly because I wanted a two bedroom so Ben can live with me when he gets better) then with all the things happening these last few weeks -  I just did not look for a new place at all. This weekend I was all firmished (this is a word of my mother's - I'm not sure of its origin and I've never heard anyone else say it. It means upset, confused...that sort of thing.) 

I looked at a bunch of apartments and started really appreciating my current apartment, even though it's expensive. My apartment is sweet, I feel safe here, it has a pool and a gym and I have the afternoon sun on my patio. 

But last week my apartment managers told me they'd sold my apartment to someone else and I had to leave. 

So last night I really gave myself a talking to. After chanting, I did some EFT tapping about the fear I was feeling, and I read one of my Doreen Virtue books. 

And I said to myself "Jamie You're the Great Buddha! No one can stop your suffering but YOU! Time to really, really improve your gongyo and step up your practice - and your life!!" 

So this morning, I decided I'm not moving, and I chanted to stay here. I pulled myself as close to the Gohonzon as I can get, and I had an intimate dialogue with my life. I said "Life! I've had way worse challenges than this! This is an easy one. I'm not leaving this apartment!" 

Mid-day I got a call from my apartment management company saying that the person who'd bought my apartment didn't have to move in until August - and I think I'll be able to totally work things out to stay here. 

Of COURSE! Because I'm the Buddha! And so are YOU!

What do YOU want in the next hundred days and what are you willing to do to accomplish this? Here are a couple of my commitments I am willing to make: 

1. Absolutely no interruptions during gongyo. And I will complete the silent prayers before I get up to do anything. (I almost always chant an hour in the morning, so I usually get up once to refresh my tea.) No looking at my phone or answering texts - and moving closer (as I'd mentioned). 

FULL Concentration. 

2. I will do evening gongyo immediately when I get home. No eating. No web surfing. I'll change into chanting clothes and do gongyo immediately with no interruptions. 

I did gongyo that way tonight. First thing. Boom. Then I went to the hospital to visit Ben. He's still in the hospital. We don't know where he will go next. 

I brought him the book of poetry my aunt made us many years before computers...she typed out every one of our favorite poems. And Ben and I read poetry and played cards during our visiting time. It was tender. Gentle. And sad. Each poem brought up his regrets. They mirrored his state of life. 

But I have hope even if he doesn't. I have enough hope for both him and me. I came home tonight and opened some of your emails at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. Thank you so much for your words. You inspire me as much as I inspire you.  

Together - lets make this next hundred days the best hundred days of our lives! Lets really break through our karma once and for all!

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100 Day Gongyo Challenge! Let's Do It Together!

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Myo Means "to Revive"

"Myo (wonderful or mystic) means to revive, that is, return to life."

...Though everyone else may have given up on someone, the Lotus Sutra does not. 
By embracing the Mystic Law, 
all people, without exception, 
can attain the life-state of Buddhahood. 
This is a brilliant light of hope 
that can fundamentally 
transform the destiny of humankind. 
The revitalizing power of the Mystic law 
is the energy source 
for transforming our lives 
from the depths of suffering 
into lives filled with the joy of value creation."  

Mr. Toda said:

"The power of the Gohonzon 
can only be described as myo - unfathomable. 
Benefit can absolutely be gained 
through faith in the Gohonzon. 
There's no way that your prayers will go unanswered. 

Use every spare moment to chant daimoku!" 
From the May 2015 Living Buddhism pages 34 and 35 by Daisaku Ikeda from the essay "on The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. 

It seems to me (Jamie Lee Silver, votary of the Lotus Sutra, practitioner of SGI Buddhism who strives to live her life as an example of what is possible - but not an official SGI spokesperson) that many of us are int he constant state of reviving our lives. 

I know it's true for me. I'm still recovering from what happened two weeks ago yesterday with my son Ben. He is still in the hospital and we are searching for answers for him. I am following my guidance as well. 

Last week I launched the 100 day Gongyo Campaign. I made a commitment (and invited you along) to pledge to do the most perfect Gongyo possible every single morning and evening. And what happened right away?
Well sometimes I feel when we are having our Buddhist meetings, the fundamental darkness is also having a meeting...plotting against us. I just emerged from a few days of real struggle and sadness. 

Today I walked for 20 minutes (which is just what I need to feel vibrant and alive) and I did perfect morning gongyo. I sat up really close to the Gohonzon, I kept my phone in the other room and I stayed glued to the Gohonzon for the whole hour. 
Tonight I will do the same.

So this 100 days is all about perfecting our practice as much as possible. I know we will get push-back from our lives...that's what happens. 
But I'm going to do it anyway. 
Join me on this adventure. This is why we call it a "practice"...over and over we have the chance to improve our practice and improve our lives from deep within! 

11 Quotes for Overcoming Difficulties by Daisaku Ikeda

Rather than becoming discouraged, know that encountering a wall is proof of the progress that you have made so far.

Anyone can hit a wall. The anguish felt then is proof of one’s desire to move forward. But all is for naught if you falter at that moment. Action—that is the key to breaking through an impasse.

There is a saying that the earth upon which we fall is the same ground which enables us to push ourselves up again. There’s another which maintains that barley grows better after it has been trampled on. It is up to us to decide to live a life free from self-doubt and despair in spite of our failures. Indeed, it is during our most humbling moments that we should show greatest poise and grace.

When facing adversity, we may think we’ve reached our limit, but actually the more trying the circumstances, the closer we are to making a breakthrough. The darker the night, the nearer the dawn. Victory in life is decided by that last concentrated burst of energy filled with the resolve to win.

We are not defeated by adversity but by the loss of the will to strive. However devastated you may feel, so long as you have the will to fight on, you can surely triumph.

Just as physical training can bring forth the unseen capacities of our bodies and intellectual training develops our minds, our hearts can be trained and strengthened. Through the process of overcoming grief, for example, it is possible for us to see beyond our own suffering to develop a more expansive and robust sense of self. This experience can inspire us to care for others who feel the same pain.

Just as the pure white lotus flower blooms unsoiled in muddy water, our lives, which are supremely noble, can continue to shine even amid life’s harshest realities.

Reality is harsh. It can be cruel and ugly. Yet no matter how much we grieve over our environment and circumstances nothing will change. What is important is not to be defeated, to forge ahead bravely. If we do this, a path will open before us.

Suffering only gets worse when we try to run from it rather than facing it.

A person’s true nature is revealed at times of the greatest adversity.

It’s important to have the courage to ask yourself what it is that you should be doing now, at this very moment.

All quotes are from Ikedaquotes.org 

And from Jamie: 
Let's not give up! No matter what! My life is filled with challenges, just like yours. But every time we bravely face our own lives...every time we open that Butsudan (box that houses our Gohonzons), every time we look at the Gohonzon and Chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we are making a step forward. We are making a profound cause. We are facing our own troubles and finding our way around those walls! 
And when we do this twice a day our lives get "on a roll!" Join me in our 100-day challenge to chant every morning and every evening....Gongyo and Daimoku. 
Start now! Strengthen that muscle of faith!