Lighting the Lamp of Hope ~ From Florida!

Hello my friends. Yes, I am here in St. Pete proving the power of the Gohonzon -  the power of my own life.

Our POWER is LIMITLESS. We are life itself...more and more we are knowing and experiencing this great truth. 

I have been reading "On Attaining Buddhahood," by Nichiren Daishonin, the reformist monk, who founded this practice and realized that chanting "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra, is the key to life, happiness, strength and fulfillment. I have been reading his words for 32 years, and "On Attaining Buddhahood" is one of my favorites. 

"If you wish to free yourself 
from the sufferings of birth and death 
you have endured through eternity 
and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, 
you must awaken 
to the mystic truth which has always been 
within your life. 
This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. 
Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo 
will therefore enable you 
to grasp the mystic truth within you. 
Its words are the reality of life 
and the reality of life is the Mystic Law (myoho). 
It is called the Mystic Law because 
it explains the mutually inclusive 
relationship of life and all phenomena. 
That is why this sutra is the wisdom of all Buddhas.

"Life at each moment 
encompasses both body and spirit 
and both self and environment 
of all sentient beings 
in every condition of life, 
as well as insentient beings - 
plants. sky and earth, 
on down to the most minute particles of dust. 
Life at each moment permeates the universe 
and is revealed in all aspects of phenomena. 
One awakened to this truth embodies this relationship. However, 
even if you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, 
if you think the law is outside yourself, 
you are embracing not the mystic law, 
but some inferior teaching." 
From The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Volume 1, page 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I like to read the Gosho by inscribing its words upon my heart...and repeating them over and over. The LAW IS WITHIN US. It's our birthright. And chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is our key to realizing and tapping into that truth. We are true microcosms of the universe. We are Buddhas. 

We are deep into the planning stages of the second annual Ben's Memorial Mile. As I've mentioned, last year we 
(a small committee consisting of family and friends) raised $22,000 for Schizophrenia research and mental illness  This year Ben's Memorial Mile will be June 17th in Downers Grove, Illinois, and more exciting than ever. 

Check out BensMemorialMile.com to take a look at what we are doing. (I don't mention this as a solicitation, only as some insight into my life, and what I have been doing to honor Ben's legacy to turn poison into medicine.) It's a pretty cool website with some of Ben's videos (He was a singer/songwriter) and pictures of last year's event. 

I hope this post finds you well - and happy. And no matter what - persevering! 

THIS Daimoku is changing my karma NOW!

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What kind of daimoku (the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo)
changes our lives? 
The answer is ALL kinds of daimoku - 
the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the mystic law, changes our lives and changes our karma...

But I have a question. Do you sometimes chant with all the best intentions while thinking "I don't know why I'm doing this...it's just one more time to chant but I don't feel it, and really, I'm feeling kind of hopeless?" 

And the first thing I'll say is "Congratulations for keeping your promise to yourself and showing up to chant. THAT in itself will change your life. 

So, I've been thinking about the quality of my own chanting and I have something I want to share with you. (As you know, I do not represent the Soka Gakkai, I belong to it, but this is not a Gakkai publication. I love the organization and have been a member since 1985. And I started this blog in 2009 to overcome my own heartache, and to show, through my own example, that anything is possible when we base our lives on the Gohonzon.( 

And lately my daimoku has been very strong, 
because as I chant I am thinking:

NOW! With THIS Daimoku I am changing my karma. 
Now this very Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is THE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that is changing_____________________________on the inside of my life. 
Whatever you want to change...have the conviction that:
THIS Daimoku!
THIS Daimoku!
THIS Daimoku!
Is the one that does it! 

Here's to YOU and your happiness and success! 
Go Buddha GO! 

Career Experience from Natasha Gondi! Great Job!

(Thank you for sending this in Natasha! GO Buddha GO! 

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Good morning all . . . . .

My Name is Natasha Gondi, Practicing this philosophy from 

past 10 years. I was introduced by my Uncle in India.

I came to USA (New Jersey) for my Masters in January 2014

and graduated in May of 2015.

Once international students graduate in USA, they need to 

apply for their work permit which usually takes 90 days to 

process, which I did. 

Meanwhile in that 90 days period had loads of fun, 

my parents were here too 

And the struggle begins, on the 90^th day I just went online 

on USCIS website to check the status of my work permit,

and was so shocked to see, it says “Your work permit is 

denied, you will get to know the reason in a week”, was 

completely blank and I didn't know what to do that entire 

week without even knowing the reason behind my denial 

status.

In USA if your work permit is denied for a genuine 

reason then they should get back to their home country 

(India) which I didn't want at any cost as I had to pay back 

my loan of 20 lakhs which I took for my studies or else they

 have to join for second masters again which also I didn't 

want as it wasn’t affordable for me and my family.

I rushed to Gohonzon, cried, chanting with full of tears in

my eyes and somehow managed to do my gongyo with lots 

of pain inside.

I took guidance from SGI-USA East territory YWD leader 

Mitsuko Ogawa O’Malley. She came all the way just to 

meet me and give guidance, one of the most wonderful 

guidance of my life – she says sensei’s words – “whatever, 

however, 

wherever let anything happen, just chant as much as 

possible about it without thinking about how it’s going to 

work out, put your heart into it, and then tell me if your 

prayer is not answered, I will give my LIFE”.

And this gave me a boost, started chanting from then and 

there with her 5 hours that day. Everyday 5 hours I chanted 

with full of gratitude.

Then I found Jamie’s Blog: 

http://chantforhappiness.blogspot.com/  , Read all the 

Posts!

And a week later I got the reason saying I have made very 

silly mistake while filling up the form and asked me to re-

apply. 

Thanks to Gohonzon with a big smile  on my face and 

thanked everyone who supported me.

I reapplied and now it was so tough to wait for another 90 

days. Another chapter YWD leader “Greicy Goto” came to 

visit me suddenly without even me asking her, and told me 

to chant that I should get the permit within 50 days and 

not more than that, I asked her – “but how can it happen, 

it's 

USA government rule and it’s been followed from so long 

that processing time will take 90 days”. She just said 

“Chant for what your heart wants because heart is what 

matters and everything else comes later, this is the time to 

test the power of this mystic law, to aim for something 

impossible and see the miracle that occurs by Gohonzon”.

 Which encouraged me so much.

I kept on chanting for 5 hours a day. 

Sensei says with respect to Diamoku 

“Quality matters over Quantity but if 

you add quantity to the quality, you can change the world”.

 So I did a focused diamoku of 5 hours every day, did lots of 

activities, took 15 shifts of byakuren that month and 

worked so joyfully, took care of members, did 2 shakubukus

 and also did alliance diamoku with Rakhi Debnath – Thank 

You so much Rakhi, she sent me inspiring quotes from 

youthful diary every day.

One sudden day I get an email from my college saying “My 

work permit has come and asked me to come and collect”, I

didn't know what to do, I thought I got this email by 

mistake,

 I opened the calendar and saw it was just 30

^th day. I called up college and asked if I got that email by 

mistake, I told her to read the name on it properly, she is 

reading my name, I was so happy, was not able to express 

the happiness.

Chanted for 15 minutes and went to collect.

And I am the only amongst 6 students who reapplied and 

got it next time, the other 5 students got denied again.

All my friends had started to work already and I was just 

starting to search for my kosenrufu job.

I continued to chant with all other activities, gave 

interviews 

for almost 50 days and on November 3^rd 2015 was my first 

day at work.

Now I'm working at “New York Power Authority” as a

 “Microsoft SharePoint Developer” 

in New York City.

I got the job which I wanted, in the field I wanted with a 

very big office and New York skyline view from my work 

location window and very good people around in the team.

I am working like a Buddha, like a byakuren, taking care of 

my team as bodhisattva member, creating the joy in 

everyone. 

“Prayer – is the revolution that rewrites the scenario of our

 destiny” Daisaku Ikeda.

My small article was published in July 2016 Living Buddhism 

here: https://www.worldtribune.org/2016/07/my-victory-

is-guaranteed/

Here are my joyous pics from work location New York:

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11 Keys to Chanting Joyfully for Longer Times (Tosos!) Please Share

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First a special thank you: 

Thank you to all my readers through all these years. 

Thank you for sharing this wonderful journey of changing your karma and becoming absolutely happy in this wonderful SGI organization. 

Thank you for letting me know when my posts have touched your hearts and inspired you to keep on chanting every day...and to push on for that last 5 minutes one more time! 

Thank you for understanding that I am a normal person, a Buddha just like you. I'm imperfect. I'm human. And I'm a Buddha, who long ago, in 2009 to be exact, decided that I was going to change my life-long karma of sadness and depression by chanting two hours a day. And in the first hour of that determination I decided to take the rest of the world along with me, and started this blog - because of my deep love of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and wanting to introduce this practice to others. 

And over and over I have mentioned that I do not represent our beloved SGI organization, and that I speak for myself alone. My goal is to show actual proof through my own life that anything is possible.

Thank you my friends!

Thank you for sharing the extreme poison I turned into medicine when my son got sick...and three years later, when he died at the age of 22, you sent me cards and letters and emails, and I felt your daimoku. You have been my companions on this journey...and I treasure you. 

There have been almost 2,000,000 views since the blog began, and almost 2,000 posts. 

Two of the most popular posts have been "My Dear Readers, About My Ben" from July 5th of 2015, my message to you when I was so concerned that you would become discouraged when my sweet Ben died. 
And the next most popular post was My experience of August 24th, 2016, when I shared Ben and my writings and the book I published called "Our Forever Ben, One Mom's letters to her son in spirit and his poetic replies." 

Chantforhappiness.com readers are all over the world...in the US, in India, in the UK, Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia, the Ukraine and Africa...and more. My goal is to continue sharing my determinations, hearing about yours, and forging the path for Kosen Rufu in this world. 

THANK YOU for telling me this blog introduced you to chanting and got you connected to the SGI. Thank you for telling me this blog got you RECONNECTED to the SGI. Thank you for your support and love all these years. My love and support goes right back at you! You know you can always reach me at chantforhappiness@gmail.com, but if I don't respond immediately please email me again. 

I thought I'd share a sweet note I got from a reader, posted today, on a blog post she was reading from three years ago: 

"Dear Jamie, at this point, your post is over three years old. As I sit here on my sofa, crying over my broken heart, I want you to know that your message is still being heard by people that need it. Thank you for helping me feel that I'm not alone."  
Comment for the post "Healing a Broken Heart"

Today, 3/14/17, I chanted 8 hours of daimoku...to dig deeper...to change more karma...to continue to use my life as a brilliant beacon of hope. Here is a reprint of one of my most popular posts. Please feel free to share it, but put my Chantforhappiness.com and Jamie Lee Silver on anything you share, okay? Thanks! 

11 Tips for Chanting Joyfully 

for Longer Times:

From Chantforhappiness.com by Jamie Lee Silver - 

When I first began chanting in 1985, a leader told me our lives and 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). 

Note: No one ever HAS to chant a long toso. Please don't think you are not a "good" Buddhist if you don't want to, or can't chant for long periods of time. There is no prescription for chanting. We just do our best! I do tosos when I have huge challenges, or to join the SGI when we are having big movements. The longest toso I ever chanted was 12 hours before the 2010 Rock the Era events for the youth division. Four youth division joined my district in the following month!

As always, these are my insights. I'm an enthusiastic SGI member, but I don't represent the SGI in an official capacity in this blog. 

1. Give Yourself Some Credit! Go YOU! 
Realize that what you are about to do...chanting longer than usual ~ doing a Daimoku Toso 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) You may want to write yourself a fresh determination, also called PowerPrayer and connect your desire 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! 

Example of a goal/determination/PowerPrayer:

"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. Remember YOU are the Buddha! 
Do not beg favors from a 'higher power." You are the higher power. Remember, the Gohonzon cannot get down off the wall and do the Buddha's work in the world. YOU are the Gohonzon; it is inside your life. The Gohonzon is a reflection of the highest life condition that exists within your own life. So when you are chanting CLAIM what is yours! Tell your life what you want. And know that all real change comes from within. 
Chant to do your own Human Revolution.
When we change, our environment changes. 
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 root of that karma and pull it out of your life. 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. Just chant to change it! 

5. Put Your Phone AWAY or turn it off. Yes OFF! 

6. Keep Your Favorite Buddhist 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" by Daisaku Ikeda 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. Take care of your body 
You may want to get up and stretch at the end of every hour. Keep fruit or a snack at hand for an hourly break. Put your electronics away. You are dedicating this time. It takes energy not to dilute it, and it is so important to stay focused! 

10. After you chant, write in your journal.

11. Welcome Obstacles!
Bear in mind, 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. But your prayers are the most important! 

I'd love to hear from those of you who have connected to the SGI through my blog! And send me your experiences. Every once in a while I will share an experience on the blog

I can be reached at chantforhappiness@gmail.com 

Wake Up to Joy! From Kate Randolph ~ Please share!

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Chantforhappiness.com and JamieLeeSilver.com, thanks! 

News from Our Kate  

Kate recently found out she has a brain tumor...and she's chanting three hours a day. 

Kate's 40 year anniversary of practicing is this August. She has reached many of her personal goals, producing and staring in many plays, creating a sought after arts program within the Los Angeles County school district, and having a wonderful relationship with her husband Hal, (who is a brilliant teacher)  and daughter Sarah, who recently graduated from Soka University of America.  

Kate's life condition is sky high and she has this wisdom for you. 

Kate says: "NOW is the time to wake up to joy. Now, more than ever, SGI members need to summon joy, forget complaining about anything, and wear a radiant smile on our faces. She says our smiles must radiate so brightly that light comes out of our fingertips and we glow as beacons so people can learn of the mystic law, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo from us, and be moved to happiness just by being in our presence.
 She says we must have joy to show the possibilities of life...JOY is a REQUIREMENT, not an afterthought, and it comes from our determination to summon it from within our lives and express it in our smiles, the pep in our step, and our lives themselves. We can do this! We can do this for ourselves, and by doing this we change the world." 

Kate echoed something I've said for years,  "Our smile is a cause, not an effect." we can't sit around waiting for joy to come into our lives. We must be joyful, and invite more. That's how it works! 

She said: "Joy's the leading edge. Wake up and be joyful, smile at the person next to you in bed, smile at the person next to you at the store, in the elevator, and at other drivers. BE Kosen rufu in action!" 

"It's gotta be real, but you can also fake it till you make it. Put that smile on your face and and you will spark your happiness. Try to be sad with a huge grin. It doesn't work so well!

Kate said "We have to go deeper into our own lives, and into the Buddha we are every day. We've gotta do this NOW. This is it. This is our time. We're ALIVE! whether we are 17 or 95. Grab the moment for all it's got and say "I am creating the deepest value that's ever been created. NOW. Right this moment. There's no other moment. here's no other person. How are we influencing the person next to us...it is our SMILE...beaming with joy...Joy!"

She said: "Stop complaining. NOW. It must be replaced, even if it's phony at first. It may feel phony but it will cause a shift inside your life.  And we have to keep going deeper and deeper into joy. There can't be a place at which we stop. we need constant movement...constantly going deeper." 

President Ikeda says:

"The relationships we have with people are a direct reflection of our inner state of life. To extend and deepen our human relationships is to expand our state of life."

Daisaku Ikeda, from Ikedaquotes.org, under Relationships

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