Faith Like Flowing Water

With Ben on our Carribean Cruise in 2012

Thanks for all the feedback on my recent posts. 

Tomorrow I go to Cape Cod with my son Aaron, his girlfriend Meg, and my "Wusband," Paul, for a week. We'll be staying with Paul's brother and sister-in-law - who will always be my family too, even though I'm no longer married to Paul.

This vacation is another example of the power of the law - "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." When we decided to get divorced I made a determination to have the kind of divorce no one would even believe...where each member of the family was better off than before...something truly remarkable...and we've achieved it. We've had friends begin their Buddhist practice after seeing us together! 

Lately I've been thinking a lot about having 
Faith Like Flowing Water ~ as opposed to faith like fire.  
To me, faith like flowing water means faith that does not stop, it continually flows over whatever rocks are in its way. It is undaunted. It stops at nothing. It may seem like having faith like flowing water is difficult, but I believe having faith like fire is much harder. Every time the fire goes out it needs to be rekindled from scratch. Difficult! 

Last night it was really difficult to chant, but I knew I wanted to, and I knew I HAD to...because it was Wednesday and tomorrow was going to be Thursday. Ben started his next journey on a Thursday, and each Thursday is really hard for me. This Thursday it is eight weeks. It feels like no time at all and it feels like an eternity. 

And as I was "trying" to chant last night, I just sat there and kept trying, and at a certain point it kicked in. Faith like flowing water...faith like flowing water...never giving in and always winning. This morning's daimoku was powerful - I never wanted to stop! 

Here are some quotes on having Faith Like Flowing Water: 

FAITH THAT IS LIKE CLEAR, PURE , FLOWING WATER.

"Today there are people who have faith in the Lotus Sutra. The belief of some is like fire while that of others is like water. When the former listen to the teachings, their passion flares up like fire, but as time goes on, they tend to discard their faith. To have faith like water means to believe continuously without ever regressing."

The Two Kinds of Faith - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 89

Sensei Ikeda has explained the meaning of the above gosho passage through the following excerpt, in which he explains the difference between having faith that is like water and faith that is like fire.

"Faith that is like fire,” he said, “resembles a flame that leaps up and burns brightly for a short time. We experience this when we have a burst of enthusiasm and decide to chant or share Nichiren Buddhism more seriously. Just like a flame, however, this kind of faith tends not to last.

In contrast, faith that is like flowing water resembles a stream firmly and steadfastly running its course. It is the faith of a person who, though their actions may not be showy or extraordinary, has an invincible determination and sense of mission, and continues to challenge themselves in faith, practice, and study throughout their life.

It’s important that we maintain faith that is like flowing water. But how do we do that? By practicing Nichiren Buddhism together with the Gakkai organization. When human beings, ordinary people, are all on their own, they aren’t as strong. They can easily lapse into self-centered, arbitrary views and stop making efforts to grow.”

Not being part of an organization might seem more free and enjoyable, but true growth in faith is nurtured through the process of fellow members, “good friends” in the realm of Buddhist practice, encouraging and inspiring one another, and spurring each other on. Sensei went on to say that Gakkai meetings play an important role in helping us maintain faith that is like clear, pure, flowing water.

Excerpt - "The Banner of the Law", NHR , Vol 26

The Physics of Chanting

The Physics of Chanting
by Emily Maroutian
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When I first heard about the SGI practice of chanting, “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” I was skeptical and doubtful that it would actually “cause” anything to happen. After all, what could repeating a few words do anyway? However, I was open-minded enough to try it.
I sat on my bed, closed my eyes and began to chant. I chanted for about five minutes and I immediately began to feel my body vibrate from the sound my vocal cords were making. I experienced a tingling sensation in the palm of my hands and the rhythm of the chant made my body rock back and forth. My body’s physical reaction to the chanting frightened me and so I stopped. Does this really work? I thought. But how can it? 
Then it suddenly hit me! Physics!
Physics’ current theory of everything, String Theory, dictates that the entire universe is made up of tiny vibrating strings. The underlining fundamental make-up of all things, including you and I, are minuscule invisible strings. Much like the strings on a guitar, they vibrate and play notes. Moreover, since sound is a vibration, not only is the entire universe vibrating but it is also playing a symphony.
So how does chanting work? 
When an opera singer hits a high note, she can break glass from across the room without ever touching anything. In physics, this is called resonance. Her vocal note and the glass’s vibrational note resonate and that causes the shattering effect.
You and I are constantly vibrating through our being. 
We attract (law of attraction) into our lives whatever it is that harmonizes with our note (law of harmonic vibrations). This is why you can meet someone and feel as though you have known them forever; both of you are harmonizing. They resonate with you and you resonate with them.
We can also repel opposing vibrations (law of repulsion) and keep away situations and people that are vibrating on opposite levels. This is why people who have been in our lives for a long time can suddenly decide they want to move on. Our shift has repelled them because our vibrations don’t harmonize.
If this is the case, then let them go and have faith that it’s all for the best. If you are shifting positively and people are dropping out of your life, let them go. You can’t hold back growth and transformation by holding onto someone who “needs” to leave. Holding on might require that you have to shift into a level that is unhealthy or negative. It may take time, but they will return once they can harmonize with you once again.

When we chant something as powerful and beneficial as “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” we shift something within our being, which then alters what we attract into our lives. We alter the level in which we are vibrating on and that attracts a different level of people, things and situations.

In the same way, when we are depressed and carrying around self-pity, we vibrate on a level that attracts things that keep us feeling depressed. It also attracts more reasons, situations and issues that make us continue to pity ourselves. It is the Karma that we create and recreate over and over again.
If we were to chant, “I hate my life.” repeatedly, we would attract and harmonize with people and situations that reinforce that statement. We also reinforce it with our thoughts, emotions and our whole being.
Our environment will support our being regardless of how positive or negative we are. 

So we must not only chant “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” but we must become it as well. Our being must vibrate on the level of “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.” Our lives must align with it in order for its true power to be unleashed in our lives and our environment.

Who we are is the biggest cause in our lives. 

Anyone at anytime can change their note. 

It begins with “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.” 

When we shift, our environment shifts. Every member of SGI knows this through experience, now there is a physical explanation of how it works.
Resonance, String Theory and the laws of attraction and harmony are what come into play when we devote ourselves to the mystical law of cause and effect through sound and vibration. Nichiren understood this hundreds of years before science discovered it. Now I understand it as well. Through this understanding, we can have faith that when we chant we are aligning ourselves with the highest good in the universe.
My experience with chanting was very positive and life changing. Even though I chanted for only about five minutes, it only took a matter of four hours for my environment to respond to my request. After that experience, I began chanting everyday and continued to receive the same level of response from my environment.
We chant because it begins with our words and moves through our thoughts, feelings, actions and being. Then it resonates in our environment and then the world. But it begins within us. The more we gather and the more we chant, the more energy we feed into our goal of a peaceful loving world. So never forget fellow Buddhas that the universe is playing a beautiful symphony in which you and I are notes. And when we all gather, we make beautiful music together.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Win in the Morning and You Win in Life! Keys to Releasing Emotions!

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"No matter what happens, 

you must carry out the practice of gongyo 

and chant daimoku everyday. 

Doing gongyo and chanting daimoku 

give rise to a bright and vibrant life-force from the depths of your life, 

giving you the power to resolve life difficulties. 

Therefore, you should never neglect gongyo 

on account of being too busy or too tired. 

Never "pull the plug" of your faith."

Daisaku Ikeda, Ikedaquotes.org

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I love hearing from all of you at chantforhappiness@gmail.com. Lately some of you have said it's just too hard to chant, and you can't seem to get back to where you were in your practice. 

This post might be able to help you release the emotions that can keep you from chanting. 

I have started incorporating a process called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) "Tapping" into my life. 

EFT does not replace chanting, and it does not mean I am employing any other strategy besides the Lotus Sutra. I base my life on my chanting...my every morning and every evening, and every morning and every evening practice. I base my LIFE on this. And l believe chanting has brought other modalities for health and healing into my life, such as essential oils (yes I am a Young Living distributor, email me and I can tell you more about the oils), Yoga, and now EFT Tapping. 

I know how hard it can be to chant. I know emotions well up in us that seem just overwhelming. I know turning to face ourselves and face our life when we chant can be daunting. The Gohonzon is the mirror of our inner life...sometimes it is hard to see it! And I know the benefits of breaking through and creating a consistent practice are far beyond any happiness we have ever experienced. It's worth it! 

I also know that some of the most important things we need to chant about...some of the core issues...well, sometimes we just can't chant about them at all. They seem too painful to even chant about. 

So we need a release for that pain and anger and sadness. We need a valve to just let it out. Tapping has been working as a release valve for me. And I think it has been making my chanting even more focused, and helping me with my grief. 

To learn EFT, I took several courses from Nick and Jessica Ortner over the internet. And I learned the totally easy - impossible to do wrong - method of tapping on meridian points on my head, hand, and collar bone while releasing the emotion. 

Now I'm using "Faster EFT"  to release emotions. I really ought to just demonstrate for you in a video. I'll look into doing this for you, and you can search on Youtube and find a ton of videos under EFT and tapping. 

You tap...focus on the emotion you want to release...speak words of release "I release this sadness, I release this pain, I release this sorrow."  I feel the emotion in my body...and experience the release. 

And then, you can sit down to chant and really focus. 

I'm not saying this is for everyone...or making any kind of prescription for any of us. I am just saying this has been working for me for quite some time. I think it helped me to have the level head I needed to complete the divorce, and it is helping me come through this current wall of pain. 

Have a great day! 

Deepening Our Faith....from Kate Randolph. Best. Guidance. EVER!

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Faith is Envisioning the outcome exactly as you want it to be and then challenging the doubt in your mind with your Daimoku. Envision the outcome as though there were no obstacles, eliminating all the obstacles and then sending Daimoku like arrows through each obstacle, shooting them down as they arrive in your mind. 

You have to expect doubts to arrive in your mind and now is the time to realize they are not real...they are only thoughts in your mind. They are not reality. They are just thoughts and you just pop them with your prayer with your eye on the outcome with your prayer 

Many of us are from the generation when we were chanting for stuff. But there's no one there. This is not an ask. There's nobody there...nobody there to give it to you...Stand up and demand it and then do battle with your mind. 
That's the whole thing
That's what deepening your faith is: 
Envision the outcome...and wait for the obstacles to arrive in your mind (they are only in your mind) and you have to have confidence and in front of the Gohonzon do battle in your mind and say No No No that is not my reality, that is not reality, that will not be my reality. These obstacles are NOT my reality, these negative thoughts are NOT my reality. Envision your outcome and say YES YES YES YES each Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And tell the Shoten Zenjin YOU will get my back...you have my back  
what I envision...my perfect outcome...THAT is my reality and then you add to it: For the sake of all people. 

Demand the complete and total protection of the universe to do battle with your mind. 

THAT is deepening Your Faith!!! 

Go for it! Let me know what you achieve~ !!

Inspiring Guest Blog Post from Simran Kalsi

Hello fellow comrades!! 
For me chanting twice daily was a big challenge. I am in this wonderful practice from past almost four years now. Initially I would just chant for 5 minutes twice a day, daily. But then as faith deepened i challenged myself and today i can easily chant for 1 hour daily. Yes sometimes we feel that the circumstances are harsh but hey! We do not stop taking our meals and drinking water when we are in hot water..do we? So why faith should suffer? In fact difficulties are like the fuel which  propel us to move forward.
The more sugar we put in our coffee, the sweeter it becomes. Similarly the more effort we put in deepening our faith by chanting more and more, the greater are the benefits that follow.
Whenever i feel lazy, i tell myself..NO! These devilish forces (which is our own lesser state of life) cannot stop me from changing my karma. I am the master! I am the director of my movie(my life) and the crowd watching the movie being shot can yell as much as they like or they may try to distract me from making this beautiful movie. I will NOT stop! I will not pay heed to these voices as this is my own fundamental darkness. I will win!!! I am the Sun!!
No suffering, be it death (i lost my dearest mom to cancer last month) can discourage me or stop me from achieving my goal!! If these are the challenges which i need to face to come out shining like a diamond then" LIFE!! BRING IT ON!!" I am the master!!
Once you speak to yourself like this every time you feel lazy or low then you will surely know what to do next. And that is sit and speak to your life for one hour..twice..daily. !
As they say "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." You need to do this to feel it yourself!! Go lions!!! Roar!!
Nam myoho renge kyo

- simran kalsi(New Delhi, india)

3 Benefits of Consistent Practice and 4 Ways to Achieve it

I've been receiving emails from readers who have many challenges, and are not chanting consistently, and I think "If only they knew what a joy it is to practice consistently...many problems just fade away!"

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"Living in the saha world, it is impossible to stop the winds of suffering from blowing. Our only alternative is to become strong. 
Daisaku Ikeda, August Living Buddhism, page 50

"The Japanese word for fellow member, or comrad (doshi) can also be read as "shared resolve," or commitment. The SGI is a gathering of fellow members, comrades in faith, who share the same resolve and purpose. 
..."SGI members, dedicated to the earnest resolve of helping all people, are the treasures of the world. SGI members, with the resolve to realize peace, are the treasures of humanity. The expansion of our network of shared resolve will change the planet into a beautiful treasure realm." 
Daisaku Ikeda, September 2015 Living Buddhism, page 39

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Always remember how noble and important you are!

How do we become strong? By strengthening our resolve, and our practice. 

When we do our practice every morning and evening our problems get smaller because we raise our life condition. 

We can each picture our problems as a big wall in front of us. When we practice consistently our life condition rises, just as if we are a big balloon rising to the sky. What looked like an insurmountable wall is now a tiny little ridge - way below us. We can step right over it. 

How can we establish and maintain a consistent practice? 

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

3 benefits of consistent practice 
(Doing morning and evening gongyo and chanting daimoku consistently) 

1. 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. 

2. Benefits flow more consistently, 

3. It WORKS! You change your karma, embrace your challenges and win over any challenge you face. You get what you want and so much more. 

4 Dynamic ways 
to establish a consistent practice

1. Determine that you want to use this practice to the best of your ability! Chanting consistently means winning the battle over your lesser self. Make your list of determinations and goals.  What have you decided is impossible in your life? We chant to make the impossible possible. Go for it. 

2. Embrace your friends in the SGI. (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.) 

3. Establish a "Chanting Buddy" to chant with you.
Our friends in the SGI are our friends in faith. When I was first chanting 28 years ago my mentor came to my house every morning for a few weeks to help me generate Activation Energy for my practice.

4. Establish a Tele-Toso Chanting Buddy
If you can't chant together in person you can do it by telephone, or by text. Just establish a time and contact each other before and after. If you want, you can keep the telephone connection while you chant. (It's better if one person turns the volume down.) Or you can just call or text before and after. 

An Experience in Chanting Consistently: 

Chanting consistently must be experienced to be understood. 
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! 

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. 

PowerPrayer to Send Love to YourSELF

As soon as I started chanting this morning tears welled up in my eyes and I had to stop for a few moments to release the sadness. It's just going to be like that for awhile. As I began to chant again I thought "I need to send myself some love." 

And for much of the rest of my daimoku I sent waves of love to myself. 

I know we chant for others. I know we chant for circumstances to change in our lives. I know we chant to change ourselves so that our environments can change and we can do shakubuku and kosen rufu...and sometimes we need to focus on our hearts - we need love too. That's where it all starts.  

As I was chanting, my Daimoku was so delicious I want to share it with you in the form of this PowerPrayer. 

PowerPrayers are fresh determinations to read before chanting to refresh our hearts and power our Daimoku. 

I wish you all a day of love!

So for today, here is a 
PowerPrayer to Send Love to YourSELF
By Jamie Lee Silver of Chantforhappiness.com

Life, 
AS I am chanting I am feeling waves of Daimoku

Nam myoho renge kyo

flowing through my body
waves of love for my own self
waves of love for my precious body
waves of love for my heart. 
Life, 
Open my life to the love all around me today.
Life, 
Let me receive and experience the love and the good all around me today. 
Today, and every day, 
may I bask in the love I generate
the love I share, 
the love I am

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"Whatever your circumstances, whatever your past, the forces that determine your future are nowhere but within your own heart and mind. It is here that the star of your destiny shines." Daisaku Ikeda, Ikedaquotes.org

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