Deepening our Missions

Living the Dream! 

That's the name of my friend's boat 

I spent the day on yesterday. 

And I met so many "Dock friends" yesterday. 

One of them told me about her brother who died when he was 32 years old. Her mother never recovered from her brother's death. Even though her mother had grandchildren, and many children who were alive, she never recovered.  

I thought "Wow - my mission is so deep!" I must recover completely from my wonderful son's death. I must live a life of vibrant happiness because he died, not in spite of it. 

I am a Soka Gakkai Buddhist. I know how to turn karma into mission. I MUST turn karma into mission. There is no other way! Even through my tears.

I continue to chant to learn how to encourage people from the depths of my heart. 

This is from the Lecture by Daisaku Ikeda from the Letter to Horen in the June Living Buddhism: 

"The Daishonin says that each of the 510 characters of the verse section of the "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, from "ji ga toku burrai" (Since I first attained Buddhahood) (LSOC, 270) to "soku joju bushin" (quickly attain the body of a Buddha) (LSOC, 273), changes into a sun and then into a Buddha. It emits great beams of light that pervade every corner of the universe, finding Kyoshin's father wherever he might be and illuminating him (see WND-1, 517-18)

In other words, each character of the verse section of the "Life Span" chapter recited by Kyoshin becomes the Buddha, shining with the brilliant light of compassion that reaches his deceased father in whatever state of being he may reside, relieving him of his suffering and guiding him to enlightenment."

I am chanting for Ben and I KNOW it is reaching his life. 
I am chanting for all of you! 

We Change EVERY Negative into a Positive...every single one!

(Special note: to the person who is writing me from pujita912  -  your email is bouncing back to me and I can't get through. Please create another email so we can communicate. Thanks.) 

From the August Living Buddhism, page 58 Guidance Series 10.4 
All Karma Has Profound Meaning by Daisaku Ikeda:

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"Accordingly, defeat for a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism lies not in encountering difficulties but rather in not challenging them. Difficulties only become our destiny if we run away from them. We must fight as long as we live...
To practice Nichiren Buddhism is to live with the unshakable conviction that the most painful and trying times are opportunities for changing karma, for carrying out our human revolution and that, no matter how difficult the situation, we can ultimately and without fail transform them into something positive." Daisaku Ikeda

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That's right, of course, that's right. We have to keep moving no matter what, we have to keep challenging our situation no matter what...no matter HOW difficult the situation! 

As many of you know, it has been six weeks since my 22 year-old son Ben died, and every day is different. 

Some days I let my sadness freely flow, because I believe holding it in is unhealthy and has no merit, and some days I have a heart full of appreciation and happiness for the 22 years we had together, the knowledge that we are still together, and always will be, and a hopefulness for my future that is truly exhilarating. Yesterday was one of those happy days where I danced in the sun. 

Today is another beautiful sunny, summer day here in Chicago and I'm looking forward to an easy Saturday. Business has been booming. All of the efforts I've been putting into it are paying off. My days are sailing by quickly, filled with beautiful people. 

And I'm centering my daimoku on getting rid of Ben's negative karma so he can be reborn with every happiness, every wonderful passion, skill, interest and love he had in this life, without the disease...without the negative karma. 

And somehow, I'm going back to happy memories with him, but without the sadness from time to time. I'm picturing us on that cruise ship laughing and laughing, dancing and playing guitar, and enjoying being together. I can picture those moments and feel happy. 

I know I am human, and this loss is devastating. But I also know that I am a disciple of Nichiren Daishonin, my mentor is Daisaku Ikeda, and I am a Soka Gakkai Buddhist. I chant the name of the Mystic law of the Universe - Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, my life itself. I have immense power! And so do you. 

I feel my mission even more deeply than before. If I can live through this, turn poison into medicine, develop even more ways to help others, and really enjoy my life. Well then, anything truly is possible. 

Not just for me, but for you! 

As always the key is changing twice a day, perfecting gongyo, studying the Gosho and Daisaku Ikeda's writings, going to meetings and doing shakukubuku and encouraging others. With this combination it is impossible to fail! 
Have a wonderful Saturday! 

From Poverty to A Private Plane ~ Inspiring Financial Experience

Living the most contributive life -
Luis Nieves   

I was so poor when I received the gohonzon in aug 1968 that it seems almost unimaginable today today. I regularly hitch-hiked 50 miles to youth activities, sometimes taking all night to get home.i couldn’t seem to hold a job for more than a week or two- either I would get fired or was too depressed to shop up.
One day my landlord kicked me out of the apartment for failing to pay rent and took away everything except the alter, in lieu of rent. I spent many nights sleeping on the floor, as I tried to work to payback the rent while struggling to attend some days of school. Late night my friend Randy, who had also begun chanting nam myoho renge kyo, would stand guard at the laundrymat, while I huddled behind the machines waiting for my one set of clothing to dry.
I continued to do SGI activities because they gave my life meaning. I remember hitch hiking 35 miles north of Napa California to deliver a gohonzon to a new member. After walking for 10 miles with my thumb out, no one stopped. My clothing was thin, threadbare and then it began to snow.i arrived at the member’s house late next morning , helped enshrine the gohonzon, then hitched a ride back in time for a discussion meeting.
During these years my friend Linda and I did many youth activities together, along with her sister Becky, and my friend Randy. Linda had received the Gohonzon the same day as my mother.
Even though many people in small our town derided us when we shared Buddhism with them, our hearts were filled with joy. We would huddle together in the cold, sometimes very late into the night, reading SGI President Ikeda’s guidance, proud students of Ikeda University. Prez Ikeda’s guidance was so real, so tangible, it gave us inspiration and hope.
Linda eventually got a steady job and bought a very old car which we used mercilessly for youth activities at home and in san Francisco.
Linda and I came to understand that our problems were not revelations of our misery or failure, as people in the town were swift to point out to us. We chose this life to demonstrate the greatness of Nicheren’s Buddhism, the truth of prez Ikeda’s Guidance and the potential innate in ordinary people to become true victors in life.
With the spirit to transform poison to medicine through our Buddhist Practice, our determinations were these-
Because we are so desperately poor, we must become wealthy.
Because we have to walk , hitch hike and drive such battered cars, we must become people who can drive any car we wish
Because school is impossible for us to attend, we must become educational advocates for many young people like us. In other words, we viewed our Karma as our mission for Kosen Rufu/ world peace.
This gets to the heart of why we never ever missed any  opportunity to contribute to the SGI, including  making Financial Contributions. Don’t ask me how we did it- we were so desperately poor. We chanted a whole lot not to miss any opportunity to contribute and do more than we thought we could. When we had no money, which was the norm, we ‘d find working extra jobs, collect old bottles- anything to make a cause for our happiness.
Linda and I were always of the same mind. We made every financial cause selflessly and without expectations, because doing so made us happy. After about 10 years of friendship, and as comrades in faith, we married, realizing how deeply in love we were.
As we continued to live a Cause-oriented practice, our environment reflected the changes that occurred within ourselves. Over time, we got better jobs, better timings and better bosses.
We had beautiful children, and, in 1990, I started an automobile insurance company from our spare bedroom. With quick and sincere service- traits we had learnt and developed through doing SGI activities in my youth- our business grew. Recently, my company completed construction on a new headquarters in Napa, California.
 
This year Linda and I celebrated our 30^th wedding anniv. We now live in a large beautiful jewel of a home we have built in our own vineyards, complete with an observatory. Our home is always open for SGI members and for faith related activities. We now have 4 holiday homes, including one overlooking the bay and across the ocean in Miami.
Linda’s old car has now changed to a custom-made powerful Italian sculpture on wheels.
Our commitment to kosen- rufu remains the same. In order to get home in time for meetings and activities we now fly on our family jet plane. We are privileged now to do everything we can behind the scene to financially support and further president Ikeda’s vision for Soka University of America, a school fostering the next generation of world leaders and peacemakers
Linda and I are more deeply in love and have more fun together than we could have ever imagined. Most importantly, we feel like we have only begun to fulfill our mission for contributing to the growth of the SGI Peace Movement together with prez Ikeda. The best is ahead, and we determine never to give up, no matter what.

Our Altar Represents Our Life - Some Observations on Placement

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Yesterday's post on altars had some interesting responses. 

One reader emailed that her altar was in her basement - could that be the reason her life was so dark? Interesting, right? 

I can relay to you my personal experiences and observations from 30 years of enshrining and re-enshrining altars - both mine and fellow members. As always, I write from my heart, not as an official SGI representative. 

I can state very clearly that EVERY TIME I have improved my altar, either by moving it, clearing it, dusting it, and lighting it better, there has been a positive impact in my life. 

I have visited people and made suggestions about placement, and they have reported positive consequences that come out of changing locations. 

Here are a few: 

When I first started chanting I was in a tiny apartment in San Francisco. It was essentially a studio with glass doors between the "bedroom" and the living room. The ONLY place for my Gohonzon was in the bedroom. It was here I chanted for a home to raise my children, start my life, and host incredible Buddhist meetings. We moved to a beautiful home on a hill overlooking all of San Francisco and I placed my altar right in the middle of the main wall of the living room. Our lives were very happy there! I had both my children while living in my kosen-rufu home before I decided to move back to the Chicago area to be with my Mom who needed my help. The Gohonzon "my life" was at the center of my life!

When I first moved to the apartment I'm in now, I placed my altar closer to the window and the television at the center of the room. That did not last long! I quickly realized I needed to switch the two and it made a difference in my mood, my spirits, and my environment. 

I had a member whose Gohonzon was very dark, and in a corner. You could barely see it. I suggested a light like the kind I use (from Home Depot) and she was able to quickly make a major life change she'd been chanting about for years. 

I visited a young woman whose altar was on her dresser in front of a window. It felt unprotected and exposed. She was struggling with direction in her life. We moved the dresser against the wall so the butsudan would be more protected. She enrolled in college and is on her way to being a teacher. 

Just think about it. If your altar represents your life, because the Gohonzon IS the mirror for your life...where would the perfect place be for it? Where would you like your brilliant and sparkling life to be? And wouldn't you want it to be lit up! 

If you don't like where it is - chant about it! Make a determination! 

Share your stories with me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com! 

Sparkling Altar = Sparkling Life!

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As Nichiren Buddhists, we chant at the altars in our homes. They consist of a box holding the scroll we focus on when we chant, along with a table with fruit, a bell, and various other things. We do  not all have to have the same set-up. Some prefer incense; others don't. Most have either real or fake candles. Some have plants. Today's post isn't about what we put on our altar; it's about how we treat it and where we have it. 

Our altars represent our lives. The better we take care of our altars, the better our environment treats us. It's simply cause and effect. 

Just think about it. Our altar is the place we go to connect with our own lives, our Buddha nature. If it's dusty, or cluttered, our life is dusty and cluttered. I have often found that the fastest way to have immediate change is to change something about my altar. 

At one time, my butsudan (box that holds the Gohonzon, or scroll) was inside a bookcase. I felt stuck in my life at the time. I wanted to break through. Kate suggested I change my altar set up. The minute I moved the box out of the bookcase and affixed it securely onto the wall my life moved forward in a positive direction. I felt free. 

Lately, my house has gotten crowded with mementos, pictures, photo albums, and all kinds of things that came into my house last month. I thought "I need a change!" 

So I looked at my altar, moved the huge fruit basket and was shocked to discover there was fruit residue all over the wood table and a dead peach in the pile of fruit. Awesome opportunity for change! I brought out my wood polish and shined it up, and took the huge fruit bowl away and replaced it with a small bowl of new fruit. 

And I decided to remove one of the plants so there was more space - more open space on my altar table. I moved this plant to another place, looked at my shiny wooden table and thought: "THIS is going to cause a change in my living space and in my life!" Whenever we clear our space we make room for more good to come into our lives. 

That night I woke up in the middle of the night (as I often do) and started straightening everything up in my apartment. It just felt easy. I sorted, I moved things and my space feels much more open. Much better! 

Every change we make to our altar makes a difference. 

The more secure we have our altar, the more secure our life. Is your butsudan safely away from a window? Is it bolted to a wall or does it tip easily? Think of it as your life. How do you want it? Secure...or easily tipped? 

You might want to take a fresh look at your altar space right now. Is it in the center of your house? Is YOUR LIFE in the center of YOUR LIFE? Is it in a dark corner? How is it lit? I have a bright light so I can see my life (my Gohonzon). 

Do you have fresh fruit? Take a new look!

And if you change something and see it's effect send me a note at chantforhappiness@gmail.com! 

Happiness

Happiness doesn’t exist 

on the far side of distant mountains. 

It is within you, yourself.

Not you, however, sitting in idle passivity.

It is to be found in the vibrant dynamism 

of your own life as you struggle to challenge and overcome

one obstacle after another, 

as you clamber up a perilous ridge

in pursuit of that which lies beyond.  

-Daisaku Ikeda

10 Secrets for Beginning to Chant - Please share with friends!

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Whether you are new to chanting, or revitalizing your practice - this post is for you. You can use the points you like, and share the others with someone brand new to chanting. 

It is true that: 
By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you can transform all of your sufferings into benefits, and crystallize every desire into a blooming flower in our lives. You can become happier than you ever imagined...happier, more resourceful and more couraBygeous in taking action. 

AND, you will make a difference in the lives of all you touch.  

We can change anything through chanting because we tap into our inner realm of unlimited possibility when we chant. You are a Buddha of infinite potential. 

When we chant the Mystic law we see changes in our life - whether we believe they will happen or not. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo means "I fuse my life with the mystic law of cause and effect through sound vibration" or, as some say "I tune my life to the rhythm of all life." Saying these words is a great cause that breaks through all suffering and creates a life of happiness. It works! 

"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a Lion." What sickness could therefore be an obstacle? 
Nichiren Daishonin 

10 Secrets for Beginning to Chant
By Jamie Lee Silver from Chantforhappiness.com

1. Make a Promise to YOURSELF. Decide to try this practice, to really do it, for at least 100 days. You can start small, by chanting 5 minutes a day in the morning and in the evening, and really DO it! Part of this decision involves finding your local Soka Gakkai meeting (see the link to the right. There are meetings everywhere. Call the center closest to you and they will help you connect. Check out the SGI-USA website, there are resources for beginners that are really helpful! 

2. Make a list of what you really want in life. Take a fresh look at your desires and write them down.  Dream big. What do you really want? What do you want for yourself? What do you want for others? What do you want for the world? Make a list. Write it down and put the date on it. 

Many people began chanting with desires that later transformed into other desires. So don't worry about whether your desires are "right" desires to have. Chanting is progressive, both you and your desires will evolve. I know people who began a very rewarding practice chanting for things that were important at the time, but later changed into other desires. 

One of my friends chanted for a month to prove to his wife that this practice doesn't work. Well, he found out it DID work and more than 40 years later he is still practicing. In Nichiren Buddhism your desires ARE enlightenment. It is okay to desire whatever you desire, whether it's money, the happiness of someone else, a relationship, a job, or peace of mind and contentment. With continued practice you will see that your dreams for yourself actually become tied to the dreams of happiness for all. 

Chant for what is really in your heart. 

3. This is a great time to start a Journal.  It's not essential, but I think it's a great idea. Writing in a journal helps you become aware of your progress and benefits.

4. Revitalize your altar if you have one. Make it clean, shiny, uncluttered and make sure there's fresh fruit on it! 

If you are new to chanting: 
Choose a place to chant comfortably. Find your "home" with your home, where you can feel comfortable chanting out loud, having a dialogue with your life itself.  Sit comfortably. (Did I say this enough times?! ~ I like to be comfortable!)

5. If you are creating your sacred space choose a focus point on the wall. Some people start by facing a blank wall; I chanted to a moon in a picture. Choose a focal point slightly above eye level. 

6. You may wish to have a small table nearby for tea or your journal. 

7. Write the words Nam Myoho Renge Kyo 
on a piece of paper. 

The words are pronounced as follows: 

Nam ~    Nahm, rhymes with Mom, 
Myoho ~ meeyohoh,  
Renge ~  rain gay, 
Kyo ~     kee oh. 
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. 
Nahm Meeyohoh Rain Gay Kee Oh
(Phonetic spelling) 

8. Begin to chant. Hold your hands with the palms facing in and touching each other in front of your heart. And say Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over and over again with your eyes OPEN looking at the wall. 

9. At first, you will probably only be able to concentrate on the words themselves, and that's fine.  Once you've got the chant down you can think about what you want and chant at the same time. 

10. Join fellow practitioners as soon as you can. The SGI Portal to the right will help you locate a center near you, and you can call that center to connect to your local meeting house. 

Chant twice a day every day. Get in rhythm! Establishing a twice a day rhythm to your chanting is important. It gets the wheels of your life moving. 

Keep your goals in mind and you’ll remember your reasons for chanting! 

These words and this vibration go deep into the heart of your life itself. They summon forth your highest wisdom, vitality and sense of purpose. They also uproot the karma that is making you suffer, and give you the opportunity to change this karma forever. 

When you chant you are entering into a dialogue with your life itself. You are not chanting to any god or asking for favors. Instead, you are connecting with the rhythm of the universe itself. 

As Nichiren Daishonin says in the famous writing (Gosho) "On Attaining Buddhahood" :

"If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth innate in all life...It is called the mystic truth because it explains the mutually inclusive relationship of life and all phenomena. 
"Life at each moment encompasses the body and mind and the self and environment of all sentient beings in the ten worlds, as well as all insentient beings in the three thousand realms, including plants, sky and earth, and even the most minute particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the universe and is revealed in all phenomena. One awakened to this principle himself embodies this relationship. However, even though you chant and believe in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the mystic law but some inferior teaching."
From Lectures on Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime by Daisaku Ikeda, 2007