Whatever You do, Don't Give Up!

The caption of this picture says: 

"When everything seems to be going against you, 

remember that 

the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." 

Henry Ford

Yesterday I posted before and after pictures of myself. 

How did I finally lose so much weight and keep it off? 

I did not give up.

Yes, that's it, that's really it. Did I lose the weight and gain it back? More times than I can count. Did I give up? No. I fought for my victory. I fought to be able to live life free of the endless hunger. Over and over I chanted with this prayer that I got from my dear mentor Kate Randolph:

"I don't care how many times I have to come back here and chant for this victory. 
I don't CARE that it still feels impossible. 
I will WIN! 
I am the Buddha
I AM Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
I will win not just for me, 
but for the sake of others who are suffering. 
I will win. I will win. I will win." 

And I took massive action. I tried diet after diet, scheme after scheme, exercise after exercise. And I will continue every day improving how I look and feel in my body. It is the only one I have. And I concluded that it must be my MISSION to use my victory to help others. 

What karma do you have that you could turn into your mission? Once you make the change in your determination you will open the door to fresh energy and enthusiasm. You will not bemoan your fate but see it as the gift it it. 

And every day we get the chance to begin anew. 

"No matter what the circumstances, 
you should never concede defeat. 
Never conclude that you've reached a dead end, 
that everything is finished. 

You possess a glorious future. 

Precisely because of that, 
you must persevere and study. 
Life is eternal. 
We need to focus on the two existences 
of the present and the future 
and not get caught up in worry about the past. 
We must always 
have the spirit to begin anew 
"from this moment," 
to initiate a new struggle each day. 

Daisaku Ikeda
From Faith in Action Page 466. 

You Can Make the Impossible Possible...and Help Others to do the Same!

That's me in the middle with my aunt and my Mom. This was taken right after I moved back to the Chicago area to help my Mom take care of my blind aunt. I do believe weight is genetic, yes? But that doesn't mean you can't make the impossible possible! (I still equate losing weight as the hardest thing I have ever done - and only those of us who have experienced this personally would know what I mean) 

Me with my sister around 2003

Here's a more recent picture of me. I am loving my life! 

The reason I write this blog is very simple. 

I have accomplished the impossible in my life, and I live every moment to help you see that you can accomplish the impossible in your life too. 

What is impossible? I think "the impossible" is different for every person according to their karma. And the beautiful thing about this practice is that you can change that impossible karma, no matter what it is, and make the impossible possible. 

What was impossible for me? Two things come immediately to mind. Depression and Weight. That's right. I suffered from depression and hopelessness my entire life. And fear. As far as I can tell, I was just born with these tendencies. I may have even chosen, before I came into this lifetime, to have these exact problems, so that once I overcame them I could help others overcome them too. I've often felt that way about the weight too. Being an overweight woman in America is a type of prison sentence. And I was overweight all my life until a few years ago.

I searched for many years for the spiritual solution to these problems. And I kept coming up with dead ends until I found THIS Buddhism. 
I mean I searched with my whole life. During High School and College I was on this spiritual search. All I wanted to study were religions, philosophies, spiritual studies. You name a spiritual study and I probably have spent some time researching it. And I did get some good information that I still use and helped to create the concept of PowerPrayers. My appreciation is immense to Catherine Ponder of the Unity School and the wise and wonderful Louise Hay. Tony Robbins' work was invaluable to me, and for quite some time Werner Erhard also had an impact in my ability to live life fully. 

But I really wanted a spiritual PRACTICE that would work for me CONSISTENTLY. Meaning, I wanted a practice that could enable me to make the impossible possible - help me lose the weight and end the depression. 
All the spiritual practices I found told me something I disagreed with: 

I just could not accept the concept that my own desires were the cause of my suffering.
I had to move to San Francisco to find this wonderful SGI Buddhism that said my desires were enlightenment and that through chanting for them them I could be happy. YES. That worked for me! Chant for what you WANT? Exactly! 

So I've spent the rest of my life helping others who are also searching for their personal guide to happiness. That's why I started this blog and am writing my book. We have so much more technology today to help people. 

I know there are people sitting at their computes all over the world and thinking: "I KNOW the key to happiness must be in here somewhere!" And it IS! 
Please help us all to spread the word about chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo by forwarding this blog's url to your friends and "liking" the Facebook page Chant for Happiness, and sharing your favorite posts. 
There are still so many who are sad, or abused, or unhappy! We can help them together. You, and me and our wonderful SGI family are ready to show others the way out of misery. It is our greatest joy and the fastest way to change our karma. Isn't that great? We do both at the same time! 

And, I can tell you my weight problems are gone. And, after being depressed and on anti-depressants for years I know longer take any medications and am truly, truly happy. 

And there are a few impossible things I am chanting for right now, true love and my work spreading the word about this practice to increase. Including having the book I'm writing with Julia Landis be an overwhelming success so that we can help more people learn about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. I am absolutely confident that I will make the impossible possible in those areas too! Absolutely confident. 

Please be confident in your own ability to make the impossible possible! 

There is no Retirement from Life!

"Age is not an excuse for giving up. 
If you allow yourself to grow passive and pull back,  
it's a sign of personal defeat. 
There may be a retirement age at work, 
but there is no retirement age in life. 
How then could there be any 
"going into retirement" in the world of faith? 
The Buddhist law is eternal, 
extending across the three existences 
of past, present and future, 
and one of the benefits of faith 
is perennial youth and eternal life. "

Daisaku Ikeda
From Today and Tomorrow, page 129

How to Chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

(Periodically I post this passage about chanting for the first time. If you're new to the practice we welcome you with open arms. If you're strengthening your own practice I congratulate you. And if you are forwarding the post to someone who wants to try chanting, that is awesome. This blog can be sent to anyone who speaks any language. See the translation button in the upper right?)

Here you will learn how to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

First of all 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 turned into other desires. So don't worry about your current desires. Chanting is progressive, both you and your desires will evolve. I know people who began a very rewarding practice chanting for things others might consider wrong or strange. 

One of my friends chanted for a month to prove to his wife that this practice doesn't work. 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. Be true to yourself. 

I suggest having a journal to write in. Writing in a journal helps you become aware of your progress and benefits.

Choose a place to chant comfortably. You’ll want to sit in a comfortable chair. 

Where would you feel most at ease chanting out loud? 

Before you receive your own Gohonzon (scroll that was inscribed by Nichiren Daishonin that signifies our highest life condition possible) It is helpful to have something on the wall to focus on.  Rest your eyes on something slightly above eye level. It can be anything. 

When I first started chanting in my little two room apartment in San Francisco, I sat on the mattress on the floor and gazed up at the moon in a poster of Mono Lake. I think that's better than staring at a blank wall.  

Choose something soothing to rest your eyes on. 

I have a table nearby for my tea, and other things I like to have close when I chant. You may want to put a low table up as an altar, with fruit and candles and incense, but you don’t need that to begin. 

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, with three long vowels, 
Renge ~  rain gay, 
Kyo ~     key oh. 
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. 
Nahm Meeyohoh Rain Gay Key Oh
(Phonetic spelling) 

Hold your hands with the palms facing in and touching each other in front of your heart. Sit with your back as straight as possible (but be comfortable, as I already stated - this practice is not about formalities) and say Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over and over and over again. 

You do not have to concentrate on anything at first. Just say the words. Breathe whenever you have to for as long as you like. See if you can chant for a few minutes, then a few minutes more. Chant for as long as you can!  

The rhythm should sound like a train moving, or horses running. There should be some energy to it. You can chant as fast or as slow as you wish. Speed of chanting is up to you. 
If you want to hear how it sounds you can go to the top right corner of this blog and chant with me. I begin slowly and speed up with more energy. 

See how it makes you feel. 

Can you get to the point where you don’t have to think about the words, but can actually think about what you want? It may take a little time. Naturally you will begin to chant for what is in your heart. 

Many religions and forms of practice do not encourage people to have their OWN desires. Most of us grew up in cultures where religions never talked of our own Happiness...but this practice is different. Please mull this over. Your desires are YOU. Your desires are inspired from the depths of your life, they are as beautiful and wonderful as you are. 

When you are finished chanting you can write in your journal, if you'd like.

Start by writing an assessment of your life right now. What’s going well, what you’d like to improve on... Then write how you felt before chanting and after chanting. In your journal set a goal for how much you want to chant every day.  When I started, I could only chant five minutes a day in the morning and five minutes in the evening. That was enough. I had a timer next to me and I’m sure there were times I stopped before I’d even reached five minutes! You will build up momentum! 

Commit to chant twice a day every day. 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  

In other words, when you chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo you are accessing the mystic law which has always been within your life. 

You will still have challenges and problems in life when you chant...but eventually you will see them as the opportunities they are. Problems are the FUEL you need to catapult your life into a life of happiness and joy. You have begun a journey to uncover the true happiness that exists in your shining Buddha life. Congratulations!

It is crucial to a successful Nichiren Buddhist practice to join the family of fellow practitioners, your fellow Soka Gakkai (SGI) members. There are many ways to locate the Soka Gakkai practitioners in your area. You can click on the SGI-USA portal to the right. 

You can also do a search on Soka Gakkai followed by whatever country you live in. Then call the center closest to your home and ask to be connected to the nearest district. 

The correct form of this practice cannot be done alone. It must be done within the orbit of faith. Joining with fellow travelers is essential. Other Soka Gakkai members will be happy to help you learn to chant, overcome your problems, and reveal your brilliant, wonderful self!  
and go to IKEDAQUOTES.org to read Daisaku Ikeda's words. He is lighting the way for us all...and for YOU!
Websites that might be helpful include SGI-USA.org and SGI.org. They contain information that is very useful. 
You may want to scroll through the titles of other posts on this blog as well. 

Let me know if I can help you. Email me with questions at chantforhappiness@gmail.com 

PowerPrayer for Becoming a Person of Unlimited Self-Esteem

PowerPrayers 

Transform everything with LOVE

Hello! Here is an essential PowerPrayer. Many of us struggle with confidence, and overcoming fear of being who we really want to be...who we feel we truly are inside. 

We wrote this PowerPrayer to help you bring forth the great power you have, that you KNOW you have, and help you recognize and TRUST this power within...then, of course, to put your power to use for yourself and for those you love. 

Julia and I are so immersed in PowerPrayers we are actually thinking in them all the time...and our life-conditions are sky high. There is power to be gained in focusing on these words, and ingraining your own PowerPrayers in your heart while chanting the name of the rhythm of life itself, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Your life will respond. It HAS to. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the law of life...the law of cause and effect. When you chant and focus on achieving your highest potential you will see that you are always in the right place at the right time...and as you follow your intuition, you are moved to greater and greater happiness and success. 

Julia and I dedicate this PowerPrayer to you on this wonderful Saturday in the middle of summer!

PowerPrayer for Unlimited Self Esteem

As I am chanting, 

I am becoming a woman/man/person 

of unlimited self esteem. 

I open my heart to myself and my life. 

I am determined to really love my-Self 

in a way I have never done before. 

I am determined to take the best 

and most tender care of myself 

and to learn to really want 

and manifest 

all the very best things my life has to offer me 

and this world has to offer. 

From this moment forward 

I am a person of unlimited self-esteem. 

I learn from my mistakes, 

I don’t dwell on them or in them. 

I understand that I am Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 

and I have unlimited power to focus on the things I do right. 

I spend more and more time 

in self-appreciation and gratitude.

And it feels wonderful.

These are the qualities I appreciate in myself:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

These are the qualities I am strengthening in myself and my life as I chant: 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The More You Focus ~ The More Powerful Your Life!

When we chant we are doing something very important. We are tuning our lives to the rhythm of life itself. We are calling forth the harmony of the spheres from within our lives and using our determination to focus on what we want to create or to change. 

The focus you bring to bring to this sacred ceremony of communing with your life force is very important. In the last week I have received emails from people who have told me they chant at work or in front of the computer. I appreciate these people for having the sincerity of heart to write to me. And I had to tell them that chanting this way will not bring the human revolution they are seeking. 

If we are serious about changing our lives, if we really want our desires fulfilled and to live in a state of appreciation we just have to put our lives first and our practice FIRST in our lives. 

This practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo should take place twice a day, every morning and evening with our full concentration. No cell phone, no texting, no television, no driving. Nothing. Focused concentration while intoning the name of the mystic law which has always been within our lives. We ARE Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but if we treat chanting in a casual way and only chant in the car...it will not resonate as deeply in our lives. 

Two members in my district recently started chanting consistently twice a day. They are so excited about the changes in how they feel and how their environment is responding to them. It's truly something you have to have to experience; no one can explain it to you !

What can you do starting right this very second that will deepen your concentration and focus? What can you commit to yourSelf that you will do? 
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I always say that the more I "work" at my practice, the less I have to "work" in life. And the work you put into this practice comes back into your life in so many marvelous ways! Don't trust me on this...it's something you have to experience for yourself! 

As Daisaku Ikeda states:

"It is not a question of your environment, 
those around you, 
or what the organization or leaders may be like. 
To be swayed by such externals is pointless. 
It all comes down to one person: you. 
What matters is that you become a brilliant beacon, 
shining with joy and happiness, 
and live your life with confidence and courage. 
If you shine with radiant light, 
there can be no darkness in your life."

Faith in Action, P. 8

P.S. I am accepting experiences for the book. If you'd like to submit one for us to review please send it to chantforhappiness@gmail.com

The Mystical Significance of Gongyo

"Gongyo and daimoku are a ceremony 
in which our lives 
commune with the universe. 
During gongyo, 
through our faith in the Gohonzon* 
we vigorously infuse the microcosm 
of our individual existence 
with the life force of the macrocosm, 
of the entire universe. 
If we do this regularly each morning and evening, 
our life force is strengthened." 

Daisaku Ikeda, Faith in Action, p. 120 

* Note from Jamie:
The Gohonzon represents our life itself. 
When we chant facing the Gohonzon we connect with the power within our lives.