Happy New Year - Hon Nim Myo!

Happy New Year!

What a great opportunity to change our lives. 

On New Years we celebrate with "Hon Nim Myo" spirit. "Hon Nim Myo" means "from this moment forth." This moment is the only moment that counts. Anything we did in the past, and anything we WILL do in the future mean nothing next to "Hon Nim Myo." We can access the power of this exact moment. You have it. I have it. We all access it any time we chant. 

There is a Gosho called "The New Year's Gosho written by Nichiren Daishonin. I quote from the Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Volume One, 1985. 

     "A person who celebrates this day will gain virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually, moving from west to east, and the sun shines more brightly traveling from west to east. 
      First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground and another sutra states that the Buddha is in the west. However closer examination reveals that both exist on our five-foot body. The reason I think so is that hell is in the heart of of a man who despises his father and disregards his mother, just like the lotus seed, which contains both flower and fruit at the same time. In the same way, the Buddha dwells inside our hearts. For example, flint can produce fire and gems possess value in themselves. We common mortals can see neither our eyebrows, which are so close, nor heaven in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts."

Many years ago, 1987 to be exact, I attended a Gosho lecture by a brilliant SGI leader called Pete Cranock. Here's what he told us that touched my heart:

He said that if making up our minds could have changed our lives, it would have already changed them. In many cases we can't make things happen by changing our minds alone because there is karma. Karma is created by lifetimes of causes we have made, and causes we are still making. Every thought, every action is a cause. These causes create momentum that make it hard to reverse the motion of our lives. Our habits are hard to change. That is why we practice Buddhism. We chant to change the momentum of our habits, and we chant to make the changes that we haven't been able to make by changing our minds alone. That is why we chant. 
By chanting we access the power to change our karma. And we CAN do it. Starting right now. We don't have to wait. He said that our prayer on New Year's Day is deeper because we make it so. We can use the momentum of New Year's Day to deepen our prayer and really CHANGE what we want to change. Now is the time to take the opportunity. He said it is good to plan out our prayer for New year's Day. It's good to make our lists and take a long, hard look at our lives. We all know that sometimes looking at our lives is painful. But we have the greatest tool, chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, and we have the Gosho and Daisaku Ikeda and our friends in the SGI to support us.

He said: 
"If you feel stale, chant for the type of actual proof that will really help you to be excited abou this practice." 

He stressed that knowledge about Buddhism isn't enough. Yes, we all KNOW that Buddhahood is within our lives, but it is only through daily concentrated practice that we can actually experience this state of life within ourselves.

It is difficult to chant. It is difficult to chant every day. 

We might as well have the attitude "I am going to make the most of this practice. I am going to give it all I've got." You have to jump in all the way if you want the best results. Practicing with enthusiasm is important. Think of it like ringing the bell. If you ring the bell softly you will get a soft sound. If you ring it with harder with conviction you can feel its sound echoing through your body. Chant to ring the bell with conviction.

When you go to an activity, think "I am here to get the MOST out of this activity." You gain benefit when you are doing something with joy. 
Refresh our practice. Deepen our sincerity and live lives of joy and appreciation. 
And as I always say: "Tell your life what you want. Do not pray to anyone or anything - except your life itself. 

Happy, Happy New Year. May this be the year that we ALL make our dreams come true, and show our friends and families the way to happiness. 

Walk with the Dreamers

Power Prayers - Determinations for the New Year

I am working on my determinations for the New Year. 
They are not done yet, but when they are I will share them with you. I know for sure that there are aspects of my current life situation that I am determined not to take into the new year, and other things I want to create.  

I also know that there are so many things I have to appreciate about my life and my progress so far. 

As some of you know, for the past year and a half I have lived in my first apartment. This is a great feat for me - one I felt was almost impossible a few years ago. I am learning how to take care of myself in all areas of my life. I am financially responsible. I have totally changed to a healthy plant-based whole food way of life that has alleviated many of the health problems I experienced my whole life. My health is continuing to improve. 

I'm planning on having a session with myself where I write down all my accomplishments from the past year....everything I can appreciate from the last year. Then I will set about creating new determinations for every area. 

Determinations are different from goals, although they are goal oriented. 

A sample determination - or Power Prayer would be:

I am determined to increase health and happiness in all areas of my life. All the resources and people I need to achieve this goal flow seamlessly into my life. All I need is provided for right away. Every day I feel healthier, more awake and more vibrant than ever. I am determined to show actual proof of this practice by radiating health, happiness and peace of mind.

That's one sample Power Prayer - 
Would you like to share yours with the other readers? 
Send your power prayers to me at silversunsinger@gmail.com.

I can publish with your name or anonymously. Your choice.  

When it's Hard to Chant...

Sometimes it is difficult to chant. 
It happens to me too. Sometimes I sit in front of my Gohonzon and I keep getting distracted, or I feel unconnected to my prayer, or I feel defeated and hopeless or tired. 
This is natural. We all experience doubt and negativity  from time to time. Life is full of ebbs and flows and highs and lows. How can we chant when we feel this way? What prayer will impact our lives? 

Here in Chicago we have beautiful snow falling this morning, and I am thinking of you all, and chanting for you to not give up hope, and to keep going no matter what. 

I am chanting to appreciate my life and to love myself. I truly believe that if each of us really loved ourselves and cherished our own hearts we could make an even bigger difference in the lives of others and in our own happiness. I am chanting to raise my life condition and to be happy this moment. 

On this full moon and snowy day I am saying:

Chant to experience love for yourself and recognize your own Buddha nature and Buddha self. Chant to appreciate your own loving heart. Chant to raise your life condition so that you can see and feel how wonderful YOU are. 

We are each so precious. We need to summon the knowledge and feeling from within ourselves of how precious, how loving, how wonderful we all are. 

Great Health Experience

I was introduced to the practice by my sister's friend three years back.  I felt protected instantly  after chanting during some of the darkest moments . Initally like most of us, I chanted 5-10 minutes and then didn't for weeks. Thanks to some of the critical situations in life and the leaders' persistence I continued and became more active.

I have overcome a number of obstacles both from within and without during these years and have experienced many benefits (which I'll share with all of you soon).

This year in August my father, who suffers from chronic pancreatitus, suddenly got another acute attack on august 15th. After getting admitted to the hospital, his condition worsened and he was shifted to Fortis ICU for respiratory distress syndrome and acute pancreatitus. His serum amylase and lipase (indicator of pancreas) were above 1600 and the normal level is below 200. The normal PO2 level(indicator of lung function) is above 80 and his was 50. In such cases they put patients on ventilators but the doctors negligence turned out to be a benefit for us. His face used to be almost blue during those days.

This was a few days after I recieved my gohonzon and I just had complete faith that it has to be a benefit so that he has an even healthier life. Also On the same day I got an oppurtunity to be the MC for the August SGI meeting and I joyfully accepted it chanting through the night for a vibrant zadankai (meeting) and all members to be inspired. I determined to do my own human revolution by not panicing in such crisis instead giving faith and courage to my sister and mother who were clearly in utter panic.

Whenever I was in doubt, I read sensei's lecture on the gosho "The good medicine for all ills".  Josei Toda wrote,"Dont let anything shake you. Just chant with your whole life. Never lose heart. Activate the positive forces of the universe.  I chanted sincerely to change the poison in his pancreas to amrita . I visualised waving a sword of nam myoho renge kyo in his pancreas .

Papa's serum amylase and lipase- an indicator of pancreas dropped back to below 200 which is normal by august 19th i.e. within 4-5 days which was extremely remarkable .

We received protection in the form of my doctor aunt who dropped everything and came to our city  and instructed the low skilled staff of "a hospital in india " to handle his lungs better .
My sister also started chanting more seriously and started seeing results herself. His lung condition was still very weak. She chanted for papa to do spirometery exercises every hour as instructed  even though he was very weak. She chanted for him to want to get better and not give up even in the extreme condition of the ICU .

However, the infection in his body i.e. the TLC counts kept shooting up. In spite of that,  he started looking and feeling better. By the end of the week his TLC was as high as 30,000 (normal is below 11000) and the doctor in fortis said it's unbelievable that he doesn't look as sick as his reports say he is. I smiled, of course.

I read the gosho again and again. At the risk of sounding stupid to my family full of doctors, I encouraged them to read it. Sensei says, " The Buddha is likened to a physician because he teaches people the "medicine of immortality. " The medicine of immortality is "amrita". Elsewhere Nichiren daishonin says," Amrita is nam myoho renge kyo " .

Meanwhile The doctor insisted for him to get neckline since all his other veins were swollen. Now, the neckline can cause many more infections for a lung patient esp in the ICU and by then he had developed hospital aided pnuemonia. The doctor gave us one hour to decide and sign the consent form. I started chanting very strongly and within minutes one of the male nurse found a perfect vein in the arm somewhere which lasted three days.

Because of staying calm and being in a high life condition, we could decide immediately without even our mom to take him out of "A hospital in our city" to " Hospital in another city " where my aunt is an HOD. I was chanting all throughout the way. We met with many obstacles , the ambulance met with an accident , the ac didnt work  but papa's vitals didn't change a bit throughout the journey and he safely shifted to a private ward. Again, he didn't see us frown when any of this was happening, rather all he heard was Nam myoho renge kyo .

We met the best of doctors in the other city. The doctor again suggested a neck line but my sister had determined by then to not let that happen and well it didn't. His TLC i.e. the infection count came down to normal within 3-4 days. And within a week he was out of the hospital walking, talking a bit, urinating, defecating all by himself. His pancreas is damaged 40-50% but he can have a normal life with even half the pancreas. There is no damage to any other vital organ which is very good after an acute attack like this. His lung capacity is actually better than before now.  He has been a chain smoker since 50 years and he has not smoked since over a month now and has no intention of doing so. Like I said, his face is way brighter than before, and he walks twice a day by himself, eats healthy meals, has breakfast and is on the road to full recovery. My mother remarked yesterday that it was impossible to think that we'll all have a lifestyle where  no one smokes in the house and we have have fruits and breakfast on the dinner table. She said life has actually become 180 degrees better.

All this while I chanted for the medicine king buddha to manifest in his life. Leaders told me to read out the gosho" actual proof " to him during our stay and I did. I chanted for all our relatives to see actual proof through this experience. I chanted for my human revolution and to stay calm through it all. We (my sister, me and mom ) had just three small arguments through such high stress period and managed to be  encouraging and always smiling around papa. My sister and brother in law have started chanting and my brother in law already has had an experience.
I determine to keep showing actual proof through this practice and encourage each and everyone who's watching my life.

How to Chant about Health - a question to you

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

from the Silver Boys, Aaron and Ben, 

and me.

It's been a busy few days since Ben and I got back from our Caribbean cruise. The room is still feeling a little like a moving ship. The first few days I felt more dizzy than I felt onboard the ship. 

So we're between holidays now. Christmas was yesterday, New Years is next week, and it's been cloudy here since we got back...

A new reader and new practitioner emailed me yesterday. She has a serious illness and is asking how to chant. Do you have any experiences to share? I am going to send her some experiences, but I would also like to hear from you. Does anyone have an experience to share? 

Thanks for your emails

It's hard to post from a cruise ship...
I can't even post a picture at this point, but I wish I could show you the sunrise I chanted to this morning. I thought of all of you, and am grateful that yesterday I was able to download some messages from you, but didn't have time to respond. 

Thank you!

I should be able to start posting regularly on Monday. 

Thank you for your patience. I hope you are enjoying some of the "best of" posts on this blog.