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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Deepening our Missions

Living the Dream! 

That's the name of my friend's boat 

I spent the day on yesterday. 

And I met so many "Dock friends" yesterday. 

One of them told me about her brother who died when he was 32 years old. Her mother never recovered from her brother's death. Even though her mother had grandchildren, and many children who were alive, she never recovered.  

I thought "Wow - my mission is so deep!" I must recover completely from my wonderful son's death. I must live a life of vibrant happiness because he died, not in spite of it. 

I am a Soka Gakkai Buddhist. I know how to turn karma into mission. I MUST turn karma into mission. There is no other way! Even through my tears.

I continue to chant to learn how to encourage people from the depths of my heart. 

This is from the Lecture by Daisaku Ikeda from the Letter to Horen in the June Living Buddhism: 

"The Daishonin says that each of the 510 characters of the verse section of the "Life Span" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, from "ji ga toku burrai" (Since I first attained Buddhahood) (LSOC, 270) to "soku joju bushin" (quickly attain the body of a Buddha) (LSOC, 273), changes into a sun and then into a Buddha. It emits great beams of light that pervade every corner of the universe, finding Kyoshin's father wherever he might be and illuminating him (see WND-1, 517-18)

In other words, each character of the verse section of the "Life Span" chapter recited by Kyoshin becomes the Buddha, shining with the brilliant light of compassion that reaches his deceased father in whatever state of being he may reside, relieving him of his suffering and guiding him to enlightenment."

I am chanting for Ben and I KNOW it is reaching his life. 
I am chanting for all of you! 

We Change EVERY Negative into a Positive...every single one!

(Special note: to the person who is writing me from pujita912  -  your email is bouncing back to me and I can't get through. Please create another email so we can communicate. Thanks.) 

From the August Living Buddhism, page 58 Guidance Series 10.4 
All Karma Has Profound Meaning by Daisaku Ikeda:

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"Accordingly, defeat for a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism lies not in encountering difficulties but rather in not challenging them. Difficulties only become our destiny if we run away from them. We must fight as long as we live...
To practice Nichiren Buddhism is to live with the unshakable conviction that the most painful and trying times are opportunities for changing karma, for carrying out our human revolution and that, no matter how difficult the situation, we can ultimately and without fail transform them into something positive." Daisaku Ikeda

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That's right, of course, that's right. We have to keep moving no matter what, we have to keep challenging our situation no matter what...no matter HOW difficult the situation! 

As many of you know, it has been six weeks since my 22 year-old son Ben died, and every day is different. 

Some days I let my sadness freely flow, because I believe holding it in is unhealthy and has no merit, and some days I have a heart full of appreciation and happiness for the 22 years we had together, the knowledge that we are still together, and always will be, and a hopefulness for my future that is truly exhilarating. Yesterday was one of those happy days where I danced in the sun. 

Today is another beautiful sunny, summer day here in Chicago and I'm looking forward to an easy Saturday. Business has been booming. All of the efforts I've been putting into it are paying off. My days are sailing by quickly, filled with beautiful people. 

And I'm centering my daimoku on getting rid of Ben's negative karma so he can be reborn with every happiness, every wonderful passion, skill, interest and love he had in this life, without the disease...without the negative karma. 

And somehow, I'm going back to happy memories with him, but without the sadness from time to time. I'm picturing us on that cruise ship laughing and laughing, dancing and playing guitar, and enjoying being together. I can picture those moments and feel happy. 

I know I am human, and this loss is devastating. But I also know that I am a disciple of Nichiren Daishonin, my mentor is Daisaku Ikeda, and I am a Soka Gakkai Buddhist. I chant the name of the Mystic law of the Universe - Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, my life itself. I have immense power! And so do you. 

I feel my mission even more deeply than before. If I can live through this, turn poison into medicine, develop even more ways to help others, and really enjoy my life. Well then, anything truly is possible. 

Not just for me, but for you! 

As always the key is changing twice a day, perfecting gongyo, studying the Gosho and Daisaku Ikeda's writings, going to meetings and doing shakukubuku and encouraging others. With this combination it is impossible to fail! 
Have a wonderful Saturday!