On reprimanding hachiman

Compassion is the very soul of Buddhism

Compassion is the very soul of Buddhism. To pray for others, making their problems and anguish our own; to embrace those who are suffering, becoming their greatest ally; to continue giving them our support and encouragement until they become truly happy-it is in such humanistic actions that Nichiren Buddhism lives and breathes.

Buddhism Day by Day
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Friday, July 29, 2016


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guidance is by Soka Gakkai Vice President Takehisa Tsuji

The following guidance is by Soka Gakkai Vice President Takehisa Tsuji that appeared in the 16 May 1986 issue of the World Tribune and is so significant to our practice and meaningful to our lives that it should be read, reread and shared with all. This is a great read but, more importantly, it needs to be utilised!🌷🌷

🌷THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND THE GOHONZON🌷

Today I would like to explain the relationship between you and the Gohonzon. The telephone was invented by Mr Bell and it enabled people to communicate. The electric light, invented by Thomas Edison, is used everywhere in the world. Although he invented it, it is not the property of a single person. It already existed in life. Telephones and electric lights were possible because of the existence of the natural laws of sound and light. Nichiren Daishonin explained the law of life in the form of the Gohonzon. It is applicable to any person: anyone who chants to this Gohonzon becomes happy. A baby doesn't know how to use electricity but if he pushes the switch, it works. In the same way, when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the first time, it is like a baby putting on the light of the Law of Life.

It seems as if we are chanting to an external object, but actually you are switching the light on within yourself. If you look at a beautiful picture, it doesn't speak to you and tell you how beautiful it is. You feel its beauty by looking at it: you experience it inside. One you feel beauty inside, you can enjoy the beauty of beautiful flowers, etc, outside. Similarly with music, although it is external, you enjoy its beauty inside yourself.

In the same way, when you do gongyo, the highest state of life wells up from within you. You make a connection with the Gohonzon in your heart. When we talk of faith, we mean developing our connection with the Gohonzon. Try bringing forth that highest state from within you every time you do gongyo.

It is said that with the Gohonzon we can become healthy and rich. When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we make an invisible connection to and from the Gohonzon, like radio waves. If you receive electric waves, you die, but if you make a connection with the Gohonzon through chanting daimoku, you're able to circulate Nam-myoho-renge-kyo within your body and attain enlightenment at that moment. You're rejuvenated. Two people having a love affair have this special connection. Try to develop a similar seeking attitude for the Gohonzon. The Lotus Sutra mentions gen kai e renbo: seeking the Gohonzon as though it were your lover. If the Gohonzon could speak to you, probably you feel it would be easier. The Gohonzon is like a parent which listens to all your prayers and tries to bring you to an equal life condition.

Everyone has a cycle of emotions within including Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but we can't see their existence. As the Gosho says: your eyebrows are too close to be able to see them. Your life-states only occur in relation to an external cause. For example, when someone lies to you, anger fills your entire body - every physical aspect is imbued with anger. When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, you achieve kosen-rufu in your body. Your entire body is filled with joy.

The Gohonzon doesn't give you medicine, but you are able to connect the invisible Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in yourself with the visible Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in the Gohonzon and we obtain the same benefit and healing power as is contained in the Gohonzon. When you are chanting, do not chant as if to some external object, but to bring forth Nam-myoho-renge-kyo from within and let it circulate through your entire body.

Seek the Gohonzon as your parent. When we do this, our entire body absorbs Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It reaches the brain and cures mental illness. It reaches the ears and cures hearing problems, it reaches the eyes and cures eye troubles, as our vocal chords make this beautiful sound. It reaches the lungs and cancer of the lungs or breast is cured. It reaches the stomach, the tips of the hands and feet, everywhere. Chant with the attitude of devoting your life to kosen-rufu, of becoming healthy for kosen-rufu.

Gongyo is bringing forth Nam-myoho-renge-kyo from within yourself which cleanses and purifies the body. It is not asking for benefit from some external object. Gongyo purifies your life from within. Try to taste the daimoku and circulate it through your body to reach the bones and the blood. Express your appreciation to the Gohonzon that you can attain the same life-state as the Gohonzon. There is a phrase in the Lotus Sutra, shiki ko mimi, which means practice faith as though enjoying delicious food. Gongyo done out of force of habit is nothing like this. Chanting with an appreciative attitude as though enjoying delicious food enables you to overcome illness and other problems.

When you take off in an airplane, the crew makes flight checks. When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, make an inspection of your life by letting it reach all parts of your body right to the extremities. Then our bodies become the treasure tower of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The head is MYO, the throat HO, the breast and stomach RENGE, and the legs, KYO.

Recently I met a woman who couldn't walk properly. She had to walk to tiptoe. I told her about this treasure tower of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and that the feet were KYO. I told her to chant for kosen-rufu, to pledge to cure her feet so that she could run around and do shakubuku. She felt she had not been doing gongyo correctly and changed her attitude. Her feet started to move and the pain went away. Actually, she understood immediately and because of this, was cured right away.

I met a 66-year-old grandmother who was blind. She said she didn't mind if she didn't see, but she wanted to see the Gohonzon just once. I told her the same thing, to send Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to her eyes. She changed her attitude in gongyo and determined to work for kosen-rufu. She started to see the light in the room at that moment. She jumped up and shouted! She wrote to me saying that now she chants for hours on end.

These experiences are not because of me; I am not a doctor. I merely told these people the Correct Method of Chanting. The Gohonzon is not just a piece of paper. A dollar bill has value. The Gohonzon has incomparable power to cure any disease or problem. Change yourselves into being magnets of good fortune. Love the Gohonzon above all else and circulate Nam-myoho-renge-kyo through your body. We all have the ultimate Law within us, but only Nichiren Daishonin could bring it forth without external help. This is why he inscribed the Gohonzon for us. A parent yearns for her children to become equal to herself. If all people could chant and live based on Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, there would be no conflicts or wars in this world. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo can harmonise all conflicts.

The invention of the telephone and electric light are praiseworthy indeed. However, these do not enable us to overcome disease and change our karma. Only the Gohonzon enables us to attain happiness. It enables people from all over the world to live happy lives. Telephones and lights have become popular throughout the world because they are so useful. In the case of religion, it is not so easy to let people all over the world know that the Gohonzon enables them to live happy lives. We make daily efforts to do shakubuku. You may have difficulty trying to shakubuku your family, but it is much more praiseworthy than inventing the electric light.

Question: Can we overcome any illness?
Answer: Yes, all diseases. The Gohonzon is almighty. There are four large characters on the Gohonzon in the corners, The Four Heavenly Kings. The one on the bottom left is Zojoten which has the meaning of increasing and enlarging. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enlarges and increases through the body, allowing any illness to be cured.

Two things are important. Firstly, is one's practice really joyful? Secondly, make sure we are not chanting for mercy from an external object. It is the difference between chanting like a beggar or bringing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo forth from within and tasting the daimoku. Maybe some people's attitude is


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Faith for a harmonious family

"Striving to create a harmonious family starts with our own inner transformation, our human revolution. When we change, others change, our environment changes, and the world changes. One of the most important and fundamental arenas where this drama of human revolution takes place is our family."

"Faith for a harmonious family" is an eternal guideline articulated by second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda.

-- THE WISDOM FOR CREATING HAPPINESS AND PEACE Part 2: Human Revolution Chapter 15: "Faith for a Harmonious Family"

一家和乐的浩荡步伐也是从自己本身的境界革命、人间革命开始。
身边的人就是映照自身人间革命的那面镜子。

自己改变的话,对方就会改变,环境会改变,世界会改变。对于人间革命的这出戏来说,重要的是足下的舞台──「家人」。

「一家和乐的信心」是户田前会长提出的学会永远的指针。


-- 「创造幸福与和平的智慧」 第二部 人间革命的实践 第十五章 一家和乐的信心


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Awaken to our great good fortune

"There are infinite life forms in the universe. The earth, and even the smallest garden, is home to countless living entities. Among all of these, we possess the good fortune to have been born as human beings. What's more, we are able to pray to the Gohonzon, an opportunity so rare that it might only be encountered once in a thousand, ten thousand or a million years.
"Moreover, we have been given life right in the midst of world kosen-rufu. How deep are our karmic bonds! What an immense mission we possess! There are no coincidences in Buddhism. Truly, as the sutra says, "We have been blessed with great good fortune from past existences and so have been born in an age where we can encounter the Buddha's Law" (LS27, 315). To live aware of this solemn fact is the greatest pleasure. It is to overflow with joy.
"We should carry out faith single-mindedly, regarding each day as a treasure. When we practice with such a sense of excitement and enthusiasm, we receive benefit at once.
"To spend one's life idling away time, without ever awakening to one's mission, is to be like a living corpse. The Daishonin admonishes us, "You must not spend your lives in vain and regret it for ten thousand years to come" (WND, 622 [MW-5, 173])."

[Wisdom of Lotus Sutra (51)]


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Our SSA item for NDP 2016

Singapore Soka Association—Promoting Harmonious Coexistence in the Lion City | Soka Gakkai International (SGI)

http://www.sgi.org/

Singapore Soka Association—Promoting Harmonious Coexistence in the Lion City

Singapore celebrates the anniversary of its independence every August with a spectacular National Day Parade [SSA]

Races, languages
religious faith and customs intermingle,
for this truly is a crossroads of
East and West—
A microcosm of the world.
A land made mighty with cultural diversity.
—SGI President Daisaku Ikeda

Singapore is a young nation with a population of just over five million. In 2015, it celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence. With a demographic that largely comprises Malays—the indigenous peoples—and the descendants of immigrants from other parts of the Malay Peninsula, China and the Indian subcontinent, the people of Singapore speak multiple languages and dialects and are incredibly diverse in their cultures, practices and beliefs.

related article A Palace of Artistic and Cultural Exchanges--Soka Gakkai Malaysia by Dinesh Chandren It is not uncommon to find a mosque located right beside a Buddhist or Hindu temple in Singapore. The Soka Peace Centre, one of the main Singapore Soka Association (SSA) centers, is located on a street that is also home to three other religious organizations. Since its early days of nation-building, Singapore has stressed the importance of tolerance and harmonious coexistence among its populace. Indeed, its success as a fairly young nation state can be attributed to the promotion and preservation of a unique multiracial, multireligious and multicultural social climate.

The teachings of the Lotus Sutra—with its message of the dignity and equality of all life and the interconnectedness of all phenomena—and the SGI, which has inherited this Buddhist tradition, resonate with the Singaporean ethos of treasuring diversity and aspiring for peaceful coexistence.

Since its inception in 1972, SSA has grown to a membership of 35,000, 40 percent of which are young people under the age of 40. As a youthful and energetic organization, drawing upon the encouragement and inspiration of SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, SSA has made efforts to promote the core spirit of the Lotus Sutra in Singaporean society through organizing various cultural and educational events and actively participating in national events, interfaith programs and community service projects.

SSA women's member Yu Ah Lin (center), aged 65, gave hope to many as she took part in the 2015 NDP with her two daughters (left and right) [SSA]

In the process of participating in such initiatives, SSA members have the opportunity to strengthen their own faith and understanding of Buddhism and engage in their human revolution while also deepening friendship and connections with others. Through such activities, the challenge of harmonious coexistence—learning to respect and collaborate with others, bridging differences in order to meet a common objective—at once becomes both a personal and collective endeavor.

Below are a few examples of the kinds of events SSA has been involved in over the years.

National Day Parade

Since the 1980s, SSA has participated in the National Day Parade (NDP), Singapore's largest national event celebrating the anniversary of its independence on August 9, 1965. SSA has taken part in over 30 of the 50 NDPs to date. Featuring spectacular mass performances that include gymnastics, light shows and choreographed dance routines and involve hundreds of SSA members and their friends of all ages—most of whom are not trained dancers—participating in the NDP is no easy achievement. The participants rehearse for months to learn choreography and synchronize their movements and formations with one another.

Lecture Series

SSA Chairman Michael Yapp speaking at the inaugural event of the Wee Kim Wee–Soka International Seminar on Global Peace and Understanding, a lecture series which launched in March 2016 [SSA]

To promote the sharing and exchange of views and ideas that will progress larger global issues, SSA has actively organized various lecture series, inviting distinguished individuals to speak on topics such as poverty, global citizenship, sustainability and human security.

SSA has also organized interfaith dialogues. In 2008, the youth division of SSA organized their first Youth for Peace Interfaith Symposium titled "Humanizing Religions, Creating Peace." The symposium brought together 4,000 young people from the Bahá'í, Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu and Islamic traditions, including representatives from other SGI organizations in Asia, to engage in discussion and deepen understanding of the possibilities for interfaith peace and harmony.

More recently, in March 2016, SSA partnered with Singapore Management University to launch the Wee Kim Wee–Soka International Seminar on Global Peace and Understanding, an annual series of five symposiums. The series brings together scholars and thinkers of different ethnicities and religions to discuss perspectives on achieving global peace and understanding.

Youth Expedition Projects to China

Participants washing rice during one of their youth expeditions [SSA]

With the aim of enabling youth to foster understanding and friendship across cultures, SSA has been organizing service-learning expeditions to China since 2009. During these "Youth Expedition Projects," participants journey to lesser-known provinces and engage in cultural and educational exchanges with local students. The program is supported by the National Youth Council of Singapore, which provides grants and a platform for program participants to share their experiences upon their return.

Such initiatives to promote peace and coexistence are not unique to SSA. The government of Singapore actively encourages its populace to strive for unity amid diversity. And yet, it could be said, that the interactions and relationships that SSA activities facilitate, bringing people from all walks of life together, enable individual participants to examine their attitudes toward difference and diversity. It is within the realm of such every day interactions that, one could argue, the underlying challenge of respecting others may be found.

Dennis Lee

Dennis Lee is director of Program and Community Relations at SSA. Born and raised in Singapore, he started practicing Nichiren Buddhism with his mother in 1969. In his spare time, Dennis enjoys photography and spending time with his wife and two daughters.

[July 2016]

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Fwd: Daily Guidance Tue 07/12

   

For Today and Tomorrow

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

I imagine that some of you have family members who are not yet practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. There is no need to be impatient or to agonize over this. Whether people take faith has to do with their mystic connection with Buddhism, which takes a variety of different forms. Important is the presence of one person who is practicing. One person's attainment of Buddhahood brings happiness to family members and relatives and all those around him or her. When a single sun rises, everything is illuminated.

 

Buddhism Day by Day

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

No one can better bask in summer's balm than those who have endured winter's bite. Similarly, it is those who have suffered through life's darkest hours who are able to truly savor the bright dawn of happiness. The person who has transformed the worst of fate into the best of fortune is life's champion.

 

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

When I think that I will surely eradicate these karmic impediments and in the future go to the pure land of Eagle Peak, though various grave persecutions fall on me like rain and boil up like clouds, since they are for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, even these sufferings do not seem like sufferings at all.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 191
The Origin of the Service for Deceased Ancestors

Written to Shijo Kingo on July 12, 1271

Gosho for July disc mtg

共勉之..

What is Happiness? | Words of Wisdom by Daisaku Ikeda

http://www.ikedaquotes.org/

What is Happiness?

What is the purpose of life? It is to become happy. Whatever country or society people live in, they all have the same deep desire: to become happy.

Yet, there are few ideals as difficult to grasp as that of happiness. In our daily life we constantly experience happiness and unhappiness, but we are still quite ignorant as to what happiness really is.

A young friend of mine once spent a long time trying to work out what happiness was, particularly happiness for women. When she first thought about happiness, she saw it as a matter of becoming financially secure or getting married. (The view in Japanese society then was that happiness for a woman was only to be found in marriage.) But looking at friends who were married, she realized that marriage didn't necessarily guarantee happiness.

She saw couples who had been passionately in love suffering from discord soon after their wedding. She saw women who had married men with money or status but who fought constantly with their husbands.

Gradually, she realized that the secret of happiness lay in building a strong inner self that no trial or hardship could ruin. She saw that happiness for anyone—man or woman—does not come simply from having a formal education, from wealth or from marriage. It begins with having the strength to confront and conquer one's own weaknesses. Only then does it become possible to lead a truly happy life and enjoy a successful marriage.

She finally told me, "Now I can say with confidence that happiness doesn't exist in the past or in the future. It only exists within our state of life right now, here in the present, as we face the challenges of daily life."

I agree entirely. You yourself know best whether you are feeling joy or struggling with suffering. These things are not known to other people. Even a man who has great wealth, social recognition and many awards may still be shadowed by indescribable suffering deep in his heart. On the other hand, an elderly woman who is not fortunate financially, leading a simple life alone, may feel the sun of joy and happiness rising in her heart each day.

Happiness is not a life without problems, but rather the strength to overcome the problems that come our way. There is no such thing as a problem-free life; difficulties are unavoidable. But how we experience and react to our problems depends on us.

Buddhism teaches that we are each responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness. Our vitality—the amount of energy or "life-force" we have—is in fact the single most important factor in determining whether or not we are happy.

True happiness is to be found within, in the state of our hearts. It does not exist on the far side of some distant mountains. It is within you, yourself. However much you try, you can never run away from yourself. And if you are weak, suffering will follow you wherever you go. You will never find happiness if you don't challenge your weaknesses and change yourself from within.

Happiness is to be found in the dynamism and energy of your own life as you struggle to overcome one obstacle after another. This is why I believe that a person who is active and free from fear is truly happy.

The challenges we face in life can be compared to a tall mountain, rising before a mountain climber. For someone who has not trained properly, whose muscles and reflexes are weak and slow, every inch of the climb will be filled with terror and pain. The exact same climb, however, will be a thrilling journey for someone who is prepared, whose legs and arms have been strengthened by constant training. With each step forward and up, beautiful new views will come into sight.

My teacher used to talk about two kinds of happiness—"relative" and "absolute" happiness. Relative happiness is happiness that depends on things outside ourselves: friends and family, surroundings, the size of our home or family income.

This is what we feel when a desire is fulfilled, or when something we have longed for is obtained. While the happiness such things bring us is certainly real, the fact is that none of this lasts forever. Things change. People change. This kind of happiness shatters easily when external conditions alter.

Relative happiness is also based on comparison with others. We may feel this kind of happiness at having a newer or bigger home than our neighbors. But that feeling turns to misery the moment they start making new additions to theirs!

Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by trials, and where just being alive is a source of great joy. This persists no matter what we might be lacking, or what might happen around us. A deep sense of joy is something that can only exist in the innermost reaches of our life, and which cannot be destroyed by any external forces. It is eternal and inexhaustible.

This kind of satisfaction is to be found in consistent and repeated effort, so that we can say, "Today, again, I did my very best. Today, again, I have no regrets. Today, again, I won." The accumulated result of such efforts is a life of great victory.

What we should compare is not ourselves against others. We should compare who we are today against who we were yesterday, who we are today against who we will be tomorrow. While this may seem simple and obvious, true happiness is found in a life of constant advancement. And, the same worries that could have made us miserable, can actually be a source of growth when we approach them with courage and wisdom.

One friend whose dramatic life proved this was Natalia Sats, who founded the first children's theater in Moscow. In the 1930s, she and her husband were marked by the Soviet Union's secret police. Even though they were guilty of no crime, her husband was arrested and executed and she was sent to a prison camp in the frozen depths of Siberia.

After she recovered from the initial shock, she started looking at her situation, not with despair, but for opportunity. She realized that many of her fellow prisoners had special skills and talents. She began organizing a "university," encouraging the prisoners to share their knowledge. "You. You are a scientist. Teach us about science. You are an artist. Talk to us about art."

In this way, the boredom and terror of the prison camp were transformed into the joy of learning and teaching. Eventually, Mrs. Sats even made use of her own unique talents to organize a theater group. She survived the five-year prison sentence, and dedicated the rest of her long life to creating children's theater. When we met for the first time in Moscow in 1981, she was already in her eighties. She was as radiant and buoyant as a young girl. Her smile was the smile of someone who has triumphed over the hardships of life. Hers is the kind of spirit I had in mind when I wrote the following poem on happiness:

A person with a vast heart is happy.
Such a person lives each day with a broad and embracing spirit.
A person with a strong will is happy.
Such a person can confidently enjoy life, never defeated by suffering.
A person with a profound spirit is happy.
Such a person can savor life's depths
while creating meaning and value that will last for eternity.
A person with a pure mind is happy.
Such a person is always surrounded by refreshing breezes of joy. 

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Our eternal mentors

CHANGE YOUR OWN KARMA

Many people who come to see me for guidance complain of their unhappiness and blame others--their husbands, wives, in-laws, children, leaders, this or that--indeed, everyone and everything but themselves, Virtually no one feels that his suffering is his own fault, Each and everyone believes that he or she alone is entirely blameless.

A problem, no matter what kind, is an effect produced by the combination of an internal and an external cause. Here is a glass of water. Let's suppose that there is some sediment at the bottom. If you stir the contents, the water will become dirty. In this case, the sediment is the internal cause and the act of stirring is the external cause. Suppose we have a man and wife who lead a cat-and-dog existence. Each insists that the other is to blame. It's like saying, "Because you stirred the water, it become dirty." But no matter how hard you stir, if there is no sediment the water will remain clear. People often fail to notice the sediment and simply accuse others of stirring up the water. In other words, they are not aware that the cause of their unhappiness lies within themselves and that they are merely experiencing the effect of that cause after it has been activated by someone else. In a quarrel, husband blames wife and wife accuse husband. No one ever gets into a fight thinking, "It's my own fault."

One day, President Toda was giving individual guidance at his office in Ichigaya, Tokyo. A woman complained, "My mother-in-law is perverse, malicious and will not change her ways no matter how often I ask her." She called the older woman all name she could think of. "As young as you are, you are still unable to correct your own disposition," the president said to her, "How, then, can you expect your aged mother-in-law to change her?" He went on to give her detailed guidance. Finally, the woman realized that the fundamental source of the problem was not her mother-in-law, but she herself. When she returned home, she found that her mother-in-law's attitude toward her had undergone a profound change for the better.

The above principle applies to all other problems as well. It is not your mate, your children or your parents who are to blame. First of all, you must change your own bad karma. That is the purpose of our faith. As long as you only complain about your spouse or children, you'll never be able to solve your trouble. You must first consider why you are being hurt by them. Suppose you have a delinquent child.

Fundamentally it is because you have the bad karma to be hurt by your child; this is the consequence of your negative causes formed in the past. Secondly, it is because you have assumed an incorrect attitude toward your faith, in not recognizing your own responsibility but simply blaming your child. If you change your bad karma which causes you to suffer on account of your child, he will change of his own accord. People whose children cause them heartache put the blame on them but, as I see it, the accusers are often more at fault than the accused.

The important thing is for you to recognize that your own bad karma is the cause of your unhappiness and pray for it to be changed. As the Gosho states, "Even a small offense will destine one to the evil paths if one does not repent of it. But even a great slander can be eradicated if one repent of it." You should aquarely face your problems and wholeheartedly chant to the Gohonzon, apologizing for whatever offenses or slanders you may have committed in this and previous lifetimes. Then you must take action---that is, practice--in order to overcome them. If you do so there will be no destiny or karma which cannot be changed.

Suppose you have a debt of a million yen. If you have little money, you can't possibly repay it, but if you are told that if you return only 30,000 or 50,000 yen, the rest of the debt will be cancelled, you can pay it off with relative ease. This illustrates the principle of lessening one's karmic retribution. What you have borrowed, you must return. You create a cause, and therefore you must receive its effect. However, through the blessings of your faith, you can experience the effects of your bad karma much more lightly. You will be able to overcome all karmic retribution, no matter how serious, and enter into the happiest state of life.

Guidelines of Faith - Satoru Izumi


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Significant dates in SGI

Challenging Every Obstacle | Soka Gakkai International (SGI)

http://www.sgi.org/

Challenging Every Obstacle

Bill Ponce (center) with his family

I was 19 when I came to the United States from Mexico, not speaking English and with only a seventh-grade education. By 27, I was married and had two beautiful daughters—and a drinking problem. At 33, my marriage ended in divorce, and my life plunged into chaos and despair.

I realized my mistakes, but I did not know how to change. I overflowed with anger and resentment. At the same time, what mattered most to me were my daughters, who were then 7 and 2. They needed me as much as I needed them.

I was deeply depressed and desperately searching for a change when Windy and her son and daughter moved next door to me. We became friends, and she invited me to a Buddhist meeting. I started practicing Buddhism with the SGI-USA, and my life changed.

Specifically, my despair changed to hope and my anger to happiness, and my resentment faded away. My daughters and I attended SGI-USA meetings with Windy and her children. Soon after, Windy and I were married.

I also came to understand more about the importance of the mentor-disciple relationship and how one supports the other. I felt I had found a mentor in SGI President Ikeda—a man who, like me, had little formal education. Yet he had educated himself under the tutelage of his mentor, Josei Toda; he went on to challenge every obstacle and stand up for the sake of humanity, never letting anything stand in his way. There was much I could learn from his life.

related article The Oneness of Mentor and Disciple Before I started practicing, I had been working in a company for about nine years with good benefits and a fair salary. With little education, I felt I had no chance of moving up, nor did I care.

But once I began chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, I became more positive at work and more involved with my coworkers, and I cared more about the success of the company. As the years went by, I received promotions and finally became the site manager.

Things were looking so good that Windy and I decided to purchase a home. The same week that we closed escrow on our house, I was told that, in several months, the company would close the distribution center where I worked—I would be out of a job. I was shocked and discouraged.

I talked with my SGI-USA leaders, who encouraged me that this obstacle would lead to something better. I was reminded that, as Nichiren Daishonin writes, "Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are as if in winter, but winter always turns to spring" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 536). This would become my "spring" because, at the very least, it would help me grow as a person.

Regardless of the encouragement, however, I still thought there was nothing better out there for me. On top of that, I had a mortgage to pay.

I found a job, but it lasted only three months before I was let go. I went through the same scenario repeatedly for years. Every time I was let go, my confidence and self-esteem crumbled, along with my savings.

Around February 2004, my brother-in-law and fellow SGI-USA member, Chad, mentioned that there were morning chanting sessions every day at the SGI-USA Los Angeles Friendship Center. I began attending and was consistently the first person to arrive and start chanting.

Choosing President Ikeda as my mentor has allowed me to move my life in the right direction.

Each day, after chanting, I went job hunting. Evenings, I participated in my SGI-USA district activities. I wanted to learn more about the spirit of Buddhism, so I studied more and tried to apply SGI President Ikeda's guidance to my daily life. My practice became stronger, and I naturally and wholeheartedly shared Buddhism with others.

Within a few weeks, I interviewed for a dream job as distribution supervisor for a Fortune 100 company. I had all the qualifications except for a bachelor's degree. The interviewers said they would let me know their decision in a few weeks. I continued to attend the morning chanting sessions and put my heart into Buddhist activities.

Weeks later, I received a call from another company with which I had previously interviewed—they invited me for yet another interview. It was a good company, but I was determined not to give up on my dream to work for the Fortune 100 company.

As I chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on the morning of the interview, I gathered my courage and called the Fortune 100 company. "We're glad you called," they said and offered me my dream job!

I started right away, working long hours and learning as much as I could. I also continued participating in many SGI-USA activities. A year later, I was called into my manager's office and told to close the door behind me. My heart sank—I thought it was going to be bad news.

Instead, my manager said, "Bill, you have done a good job, and we want to promote you to a better position." I was so happy, not only because of the promotion but because I had finally changed my pattern of losing jobs after only a few months.

related article Summoning up the Determination to Win by Lyla Cansfield Last year, my supervisor moved to another division, and his position became available. I chanted to get his job but was told that a bachelor's degree was a minimum requirement.

With the confidence gained from my previous experiences and remembering my determination to make the impossible possible, I continued to chant for the job. Earlier this year, I was promoted to manager while celebrating my third year with my dream company.

After 19 years of marriage, Windy and I continue to be very happy together, and we are proud of our four children.

Choosing President Ikeda as my mentor has allowed me to move my life in the right direction. I hope to respond by continuing to help others practice Nichiren Buddhism and by showing actual proof of this practice in my daily life.

[Adapted from World Tribune, SGI-USA, June 29, 2007]

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