Everyday Happiness...Everyday Wisdom!!!

Gohonzon Conferral! The Ali's have joined the amazing group of people known as the Soka Gakkai! They have their Gohonzon. Here are members from the our District right outside of Illinois. We represent many different countries...Trinidad, Taiwan, China, India, Ireland, America, Japan! We are the United Nations of seekers of Happiness! 


And those of you who know about this practice know about "renge" the simultaneity of cause and effect." Once you make the cause...the effect is already there. Chant for your Happiness, and you may not see it today...you might not see it tomorrow morning but you WILL see it. 


This was a big week for me. I was a little under the weather when I got back from New York...then suddenly I felt a lot better and wrote my book proposal for 8 solid hours. I submitted it to my editor and she said this needs a lot of work!! I have to change tenses and begin again in a new format...but I am undaunted. I am not giving up. 


I keep thinking about all those people who will one day be standing in their local Barnes and Noble and say "What is this?" And they will pick up the Book: Chant Your Way to Happiness, 30 days to a Brand New You! and they will think "Hmmmmm maybe I should at least give it a try...what would thirty days hurt? 


And I think back to my days at the Bay Guardian Newspaper...where my name was in the paper every week...and I would get those calls saying "Is this the same Jamie Lee Silver who told me about Chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo?" When I responded affirmatively they'd say "Oh my goodness let me tell you how my life has changed for the better since you told me about this practice"...then I'd listen with tears running down my cheeks thinking "I helped someone change their life, their karma, the lives of their children." And I know it's not ME. Not ME who changed their lives. They are the ones who had the courage to chant. 


"A sword will be useless in the hands of a coward." says the Gosho. 


But I TOLD them about it...I planted the seed!

I see this book being passed from person to person. "You've GOT to read this! Just try it!" 
I see Gakkai members buying it en masse for their friends. 
I know the time is now. 


How fast can I finish it? 
How fast can I get the book proposal out, while taking on new responsibilities at the job that pays my rent? Are there other ways I can earn additional money?...all these questions are in my mind. 


But when I sit down in front of the Gohonzon to chant for an hour in the morning my prayer is the deep prayer I have chanted for so many years...it is the prayer YOU say every day when you do gongyo because it is in the part of the Lotus Sutra that we recite each day. It says: 
"At all times I think to myself:
How can I cause living beings
to gain entry into the unsurpassed way
and quickly acquire the body of a buddha?"


In other words: use my life to help others become HAPPY!!!!


This is my mission in life. I HAVE the secret to end suffering and create happiness in my life. I discovered this secret so that I could help others. This is my mission...my joy...and my honor! 


Now I have to help more and more and more and more people! 


When I sit down and chant I think about YOU! How can I help my blog readers realize their goals and be happy? What words can I offer them that will lead them back in front of the Gohonzon to NOT GIVE UP! ONE MORE TIME!!! How can I live my life as an example that this practice works? 


I suggest YOU chant the same way. CHANT TO SEE THE RESULT YOU NEED THAT WILL INSPIRE YOU THE MOST!!!! TELL THE GOHONZON (YOUR LIFE ITSELF) THAT YOU MUST HAVE THE RESULT YOU WANT...and KEEP CHANTING UNTIL YOU GET IT! Chant to have the strength of spirit to forge on no matter what...just like Daisaku Ikeda has done and is still doing at the age of 84!!!! Stay close to the life flow of faith...your fellow members! 


And share your progress with me...after all you may end up in a book!!! Woohooo!!! Go YOU!!!

Another Comment to Share

I can't help myself...when I get cool comments like this I just have to share them. SO I am sharing another very encouraging comment with you! I spent so many hours yesterday writing...and I have so many hours ahead of me...and all kinds of Sansho Shima (Obstacles - in this case from the inside...like doubts and fears) are coming up. Who do I think I am...I'll never be able to do this...it's way too hard...
But then there is the real me who thinks...I have worked and chanted all my life for this...I am ready...the world is ready...Oh Yes I can do this. Chanting for confidence...chanting for confidence!!! And see below:

Well, I have to agree with the other comment. It's a great idea for a book, and the world needs more books on this subject.

People who are searching for a practice such as this will inevitably find it. I, for example, stumbled across daimoku for the first time in a biography of Andy Kaufman (of all people!)

It was just a passing reference, but I instantly understood in far more detail than the book went into. I simply intuited a great deal about the practice - and then researched afterwards to confirm that I was right.

And this happened at precisely the right moment in my life too.

But it was all rather serendipitous. More books actually devoted to the subject will allow more people to find the practice more simply and directly. How cool is that?

I'd also add that you are the perfect candidate to write such a book. The real joy and enthusiasm you bring to this blog has proven to be a great encouragement to me throughout what are proving to be difficult times.

On occasion, I have checked your blog and found you have written precisely what I needed to read at exactly the moment I needed to read it - and it has kept me going. So thank you for that.

And I hope you can bring the level of inspiration you have to me to as many people as possible through your writing, both on this blog and in your books(s). I wish you nothing but success with this enterprise.

Good luck! 

Look at the Comment I just got!

From a reader:

"Great idea for a book and I even love the suggested title!! We need more books on this Buddhism out there for those who are searching. Best of luck to you."

The working title for my book is:

Chant your way to happiness:

30 days to a brand new you!

Cool huh!

You readers are amazing! Thank you so much for the support and encouragement! I have been writing the book proposal for six hours tonight, and that encouragement could not have come at a better time!  Thank you! Keep your comments coming. 

I also got a request about how to stop smoking. Several members in my district have successfully stopped smoking. I'll ask them what worked for them and get back to you. It's way past my bed time right now....but I'm so excited about making my dreams come true...and helping people find this practice through my books! Night Night!

My Dreams are COMING TRUE! and so can YOURS!!!

Hello!!!


I just got back from the Writer's Digest Writer's Conference in New York City. 


It was amazing. 


Some of you know that it has been my dream to publish many best selling books about this incredible form of Buddhism. I envision my life as a sought-after speaker on this topic...and being able to reach people who really want to hear this message. I want to teach people how to chant, help them connect with the SGI, and help them become happier than they ever dreamed possible!


You may remember that it took me until I was 25 to find this practice, and that I searched for it everywhere until I found it. I KNEW a solution to my problems HAD to exist! And it does! 


My dream is to reach everyone who is suffering...everyone who has not yet found a solution to their problems...everyone who has people around them who are suffering....everyone who longs for real, true happiness in their lives and in the lives of others!!!


Well, I am getting there! It's so close! I learned so much! I met so many fantastic people!


Remember a few weeks ago...when I was chanting hours and hours a day to rid my life of a recurring sadness?  I chanted to free myself FOREVER from these feelings of longing, otherwise known as the world of hunger. 


I began focusing on the books I want to write. I chanted with the deepest vow within my own life for the wisdom to know what to do next. In the middle of a long Daimoku Tozo (chanting session) suddenly I had the thought "Google 'agents looking for transformational authors!'" I did just that, and found out about the Conference in New York City. It featured a "Pitch Slam". It was an opportunity to get in front of numerous agents looking for new writers.  I decided to go for it. I booked the flights and the hotel and the conference in a real leap of faith. 


And it was one of the best things I've ever done. I feel so close...this close... to actually being able to reach millions through my writing about this practice. I chanted to be in the right place at the right time....to meet exactly the right people who could see the vision in the work I want to do...and to encounter people who could share my passion and help bring my works to life. 


I chanted for my future readers...for the lives of those I want to touch, and for you, my blog readers who will buy this book for yourselves and for the people you love. 


All of my prayers unfolded before my eyes. I met incredible people, and I'm taking the next steps to a finished book. 


I even found a cool title for it. What do you think? 
Chant Your Way to Happiness...
30 days to a brand new you!
It may change, but I'm happy with it for right now. 
What do you think? Would you buy it for yourself? Would you buy it for your friends? 


Stay tuned. This is a huge dream for me. This is making the impossible possible. That's why we chant isn't it? First we become happy...then we shoot for the impossible! 


In the last of the speeches today, the speaker talked about all the people waiting for our books. I sat there thinking about the person who has no hope, the person who is bullied at school, the person who can't stand up for themselves, and I thought "NOW is the time!" 


Move swiftly in the direction of your dreams! 


How about you? What is your impossible dream?  Write out the vision of how you want it to be...not how it is...and keep chanting...keep chanting...keep chanting. And let me hear from you with questions, comments, anything!!! Sending much love, Jamie 

No good cause is ever wasted! Planted seeds are sprouting!

I've been telling you about my old friend ~ the one I knew since she was a child. Well I received this from her yesterday:

"I can remember Jamie chanting when I was a little girl. I did not understand it at the time. And as a teenager, I had too many hardships distracting me... from focusing on anything positive. I've grown up a lot since then. Jamie's heart has always been big and optimistic. At times, I wondered how someone could be so positive and happy, in a world of such pain and suffering? Now that I've been able to chant.... I've begun to see a different way of looking at things. When I chant I feel at peace. The vibration begins to calm my mind and relax my soul. I am so proud of you, Jamie. Thank you for introducing me to chanting at the young age of 5. I know 15 mins is not a lot. But it DOES make a difference. It grounds me. Reading your blog today made me cry. All Happiness. All love. I wish you peace and health and all the best,

That little girl...

Nikki

xox "

If you could only imagine how happy this makes me!!! I've known Nikki since I FIRST began chanting. The first time she heard me chanting was when I lived in a tiny apartment on Bush street in San Francisco. She had been recently adopted by my new and lifelong friend Joan. 


I chanted for her from the very beginning. In fact, I distinctly remember having her over when she was five and chanting that the seed of Buddhism would sprout in her life. Through her hardest years I chanted for her soooo much, and maybe one time I'll share the story of how her mother and I, and then her mother and her, chanted together and reset the course of her life. It only took 5 minutes to cause a great impact. 

Don't disregard ANY good cause you make. Tell people about the incredible source of power in your life and the tool you use to access it...and don't worry if they chant today, tomorrow...or...

Just by telling them, you have made a profound cause! 


A year and a half ago two dear friends I've known for more than 20 years embraced this practice wholeheartedly! After 20 years!!! 

What a great life I lead!!!What a great life you lead! Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo!!!! 

Just keep moving forward! 
And Nikki! You go girl! When you're ready,  I can help introduce you to Buddhists in your neighborhood...you have a new family waiting to meet you, right around the corner!!!

A Message from one of you

 I received this response to my last post to my lovelorn friends:

Hi Jamie,

Thanks so much for responding to my comment/freakout with such an understanding and wise heart. I know that I can be/am happy without this man's love - because this practice is teaching me to love myself! 

nmrk! 

Isn't that beautiful! It is YOU my readers who have such open and warm hearts! Thank you so much for letting me and this practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo encourage you! YES you can use every challenge to become happier!

As the Gosho quote says: "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo will be useless in the hands of a coward!" It takes guts to chant! It takes guts to determine to rise above your own familiar unhappiness! It takes GUTS to dig into your karma by chanting...uncover what might not feel so good some of the time...and move forward, more determined than ever to create value and happiness in your life and in the lives of many others. 

THIS is the life of the Boddhisatva! This is the life you choose if you chant these words every day. And I can tell you from personal experience that the happiness that comes from chanting these words makes it all worth it. 

I've been hearing recently from a dear friend I've known since she was 5 years old. She emailed me to say she was reading my blog, and remembers hearing me chant when she was so young. I chanted a lot of daimoku for this young girl...and she faced many karmic challenges in her life, and was never able to embrace this practice. She writes me now to tell me she is reading this blog every day and chanting 15 minutes every day! I am so thrilled!!! She will be able to tap into the universe of wonder that lies within her and create the life of her dreams...as long as she can courageously move forwards! And I know she can!!! 

For my lovelorn friends

First of all, I want you to know that I know just how you feel. I KNOW what if feels like  - when you have such an intense longing to be with someone...it feels as if your heart is walking outside of your body in someone else's body, and that there is no hope for you until that person's heart returns to your own. Please believe me, with every fiber of my being, when I say I know just how you feel. 
You write to tell me "I've been chanting for him to come back into my life...why hasn't it happened?" and I think "I know...oh how I know...I know." 
And I can tell you to USE THIS PAIN to GROW YOUR LIFE. I mean, what else can you do really? If he is not coming back to you today....you MUST use this feeling to create value. You are a Buddha!!! 


Chant harder than ever to become happy, and to raise your life condition...and change your karma. Make this vow in your life. Chant with this vow in your mind. Always remember you are not imploring some outside force to help you....you are connecting to the power inside your life with your vow.


Remember that there are two kinds of benefits...the first is the kind you can see at this moment...conspicuous benefit. 


The second is very deep....it forms at the core of your life and grows and grown until one day you realize that a fundamental suffering is gone, gone, gone, and a deeper level of happiness has taken its place. 


You can use the suffering you are now feeling like logs on the fire to FUEL your growth....FUEL your happiness. One day, I promise you, you will be grateful for this pain, because your chanting will have a huge impact in your life in ways you probably can't see now.

Realize that this longing is the experiencing of living in the world of hunger...wanting...craving. And you, with the power of this practice,  can elevate your life condition PERMANENTLY so you no longer experience a life of craving. 


I understand. And I chant to raise my life condition. And I have many moments of serenity and happiness, and much fewer moments of the intense kind of longing you write me about. 


If I can elevate my life condition you can too! It starts with your determination and vow to be happy. It is something you have to BUILD for yourself, within your OWN LIFE. 


Today I chanted more than four hours to feel the kind of happiness that I can't even imagine...to somehow blow my life open in ways I can't imagine right now...and to fuser my prayer with Daisaku Ikeda's vow for the happiness of all people. I chant my prayer to reach suffering people everywhere and let them know there is another way. There is another way. Just chant...start there....chant and chant and chant and you will see!