do you have a vibrant practice versus a “maintenance” practice?

SGI-USA Women's Division Leader-2002

QUESTION – After chanting for so many years how do you have a vibrant practice versus a "maintenance" practice?

RESPONSE – I have now been practicing for twenty six years. To some people in this room I am still a baby in this practice.

Freshness comes from the spirit to challenge ourselves to grow meaningfully. Pres. Ikeda has urged us to "find the one thing that seems the most impossible" and then throw ourselves into our practice and absolutely achieve victory. When you do this you see the rest of your life open.

Confidence is an effect not the cause. You get confidence following your action/victory from challenging the impossible.

Pres. Ikeda says that you cannot live life doing only what is easy for us. We must challenge to do that which we least want to do — if not we will be a slave to our own fundamental darkness.

Practice does not get easier the longer you practice but each year if more fulfilling. It is not easier because we are polishing our lives. As we get older we get past the easy stuff land down to core issues of our lives. Unless we break through in our lives we won't be able to move forward.

Pres. Ikeda says there is a fundamental evil, which is the source of all our suffering. It is a negative belief system about ourselves. We must discover this, face this and win over this evil.

Why is this so difficult? Because it is scary. Here is what I found out about my negative belief system. My mom was great. My dad was a total alcoholic. As a child, I was neglected by my dad. He didn't call. He didn't send birthday presents. I internalized that this neglect was my fault – something was wrong with me that my dad didn't want me or love me. This negative belief system has effected my entire life especially my relationships with men. This negative belief system then transformed into, I was not worthy to have what I want.

It seems an eternity ago but it was just last month that I was asked to go for training for zone women's leaders in Japan. I had been fighting to get this meeting. Most of the women zone leaders are not staff such as the men's zone leaders. These women are working, raising families, giving their all for Kosen Rufu. They give so much that they need more nourishment for themselves. Women are the glue of the organization.

Pres. Ikeda said yes to the meeting. I scheduled in the date. At the last moment the date was changed. The new date was schedule for the same day as the last day of mandatory supervisor training for my job. An SGI person told me, "Oh, well, you were in Japan recently. Don't feel bad. You can go again another time."

I felt so discouraged. No one could encourage me. I was having a pity party for one. What I had to do was to own my own reaction. I had to chant to see what this had to do with the other parts of my life. I needed to see the interconnectedness with myself as a child and my belief of my unworthiness.

For the first time, on that day I GOT BUDDHISM. I GOT ESHO FUNI. Our life is a visible manifestation of our mind. The environment mirrors back. I wasn't worthy of what I wanted.

When we separate the environment from ourselves we are dis-empowered. But I empower my life when I work on what's making me unhappy and chant and take full responsibility. I chanted "I must take full responsibility to change belief systems in my life." I have to battle with this whenever it raises it's ugly head and then use it positively to develop myself.

So since I had never really asked anything special from my job I decided that I needed to ask now. I explained the change in dates for the Japan trip and I was told there was no problem, to go with the rescheduled date.

When we are in a "maintenance" practice we are not challenging ourselves. In life there is no neutral. We are either going forward or backward. We need to constantly have new goals to revitalize our practice. We have to ask are we running away from the painful reality of our own lives.


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testimonials from india- Miraculous Escape

Miraculous Escape

I will like to share my experience today, and before I begin, I will like to quote a Gosho: It is clear that those who now believe inthe Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten thousand miles away. Yes friends today I narrate this only because I have gathered abundant fortune by doing abundant daimoku.
I was returning from Kolkata to Delhi by a prestigious train on last Friday, 15th January 2016 and seated comfotably. I finished doing my evening gongyo and was chanting daimoku. I had hardly chanted for 15 minutes, when there was a big blast and before I could sense anything, I felt that I have been covered with saw dust from head to toe. When I opened my eyes, I found that both the huge windows had shattered and I was covered with splinters and glass powder. On being informed of the incident the train officials rushed to the spot and started their own investigations. One thing they said with conviction was that the glass panes were not shttered by any stone because, a stone could at the most crack the outer glass but cannot shatter both the windows. I was immediately attended to and cleaned with the help of a vacuum cleaner. What surprised every one was that in spite of being covered with glass fron head to toe, I did not receive a single scratch neither was there even a single drop of blood any where.
As the railway officials were intrigued with the incident, the police was duly informed and they came in full force with two sniffer dogs at the next station. The dogs were immediately put to action and to evrybody's dismay found out an empty 303 bullet case under a berth on one side. It thus confirmed the suspicion of the railway authorities that it was something other than a stone that could shatter the window panes. Then I realised that it was a huge, huge protection from the Gohonzon that not only saved my life but my co-passengers too. My co-passengers complimented me and said that the mantra that I was reciting saved our lives. I can only express gratitude to Gohonzon for this miracle.
What I realized today was that even though I do not see immediate change in my life or my environment, the wheels have been set in motion. Change is happening and it becomes apparent at the right time. Sensei says, "Greet everything positively, weather all storm with a strong, resilient spirirt, and emerge triumphant. That is the Buddhist way of life.
I have another short experience which may give a lot of hope to many. As Sensei says, " There are many elements involved in a prayer being answered, but the important thing is to keep praying until it is. By continuing to pray you can reflect on yourself with unflinching honesty, and begin to move your life in a positive direction on the path of earnest, steady effort. Even if your prayer doesn't produce concrete results immediately, your continual prayer will sometime manifest itself in a form greater than you had ever hoped."(Daily Encouragement 30/3/2010).
In 2010, one of my close friends requested me to pray and chant for his highly qualified daughter working as an Assistant Professor in a prestigious college in Delhi. As the girl was highly qualified, it had become difficult to find a suitable match for her and she rejected whatever match my friend brought. I am glad to report that after six years of continuous prayer and chanting, the young lady got engaged last Sunday 17th January and the wedding is scheduled for 31st January.
It clearly proves what Nichiren Daishonin said in one of his writings. "Though one might point at the earthe and miss it, though one might bind up the sky, though the tides might cease to ebb and flow and the sun rise in the west, it could never come about that the prayers of the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra would go unanswered."
Today, I earnestly resolve to achieve VICTORY in All ares of my life together with my mentor in life, chanting with his spirit. Together with Sensei, let's do our part to grow positivity, inspire productivity, push audacity and radiate humanity on a planet that needs these more than ever before...and trust me, I love you for it!

Thank you.


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Buddhism view on LGBT - dignity diversity & equality

Buddhism view on LGBT - dignity
diversity & equality

Sharing by Kieran McCrystalKieran (who himself is a gay).

(From a talk given in 2015 at the Working Men's College in Camden, London)

Since the earliest recordings, Buddhism has rested on the fundamental principle of the dignity of life. Nichiren Buddhism asserts that no matter what circumstances we are in, chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo brings our Buddha nature, or the dignity of our life, to the surface so we can see it and use it to affect our environment. Because everyone inherently possesses this Buddha nature, everyone is therefore a Buddha. Being a Buddha, then, is about what you make of life, how you create your own destiny. No one else, I believe, can do this for you.

I've come to understand that being a Buddha is about not being swayed in any way by external expectations. It's about developing conviction in who you are and having confidence that your life has purpose and value just as you are.

In Nichiren Buddhism there's no prescribed morality or code of conduct. Sexuality is not seen as an issue to judge, to debate or even to resolve. But for me it was. And I wanted to understand why I was gay. I came out at the age of 18, and many people were delighted and relieved and excited about my life. However, the insidious nature of homophobia had created hidden shackles of doubt and fear in the depths of my life. Although coming out was such an incredible experience of liberation, there were times when I was young that I didn't like being so noticeably different. Other people's observations of this difference reinforced the doubt and fear I had in my life.

Homophobia had in fact gripped my life from an early age, leaving me self-conscious. Because of this, when I started to practice Buddhism at the age of 23, somewhere in my naivety and ignorance was a belief that my frustrations in life and my anguish about being different and self-conscious could be solved if I wasn't gay, if I was straight—as if straight people don't have anguish and frustrations!

So at 23, as these hidden shackles began to surface and, against all my values, my hard-won struggle to come out and accept myself and establish myself as a gay person, I decided to chant to be straight.

The following three months were very hard and painful, mainly because I was so scared. I was scared that all I had come to understand and appreciate about my sexuality was in fact an illusion, a problem, that the messages I had received from my environment and, indeed, the world's leading philosophies were right. However, I had the most amazing experience.
In Buddhism we call this experience human revolution—an inner transformation, an alchemy of turning poison into medicine, dissolving the mistaken ideas and the patterns of thought and experience that make us suffer. For me, this human revolution was about facing my anger, doubt and fear as I chanted to reveal my enlightened nature. The more I chanted to become straight, the more I understood the profound concept of karma.

Our karma is the sum total of the causes and effects that have created our lives—who we are—to this point. Through my chanting I came to realize that karma has no value judgments attached to it. I realized that being gay was my karma, neither good nor bad, it just is. I got to a point beyond my doubt and was able to deeply grasp that this range of sexuality is a natural part of life and the human experience, and that is how my sexuality had manifested in this life.

I realized that my sexuality at the very least had purpose and value in developing my humanity and the humanity of others. I had turned my fear into conviction.

I believe enlightenment is simply those times in which we perceive a truth in life, and the truth I perceived about my sexuality enabled me to live with a conviction that I had not known before. Buddhism is about creating value with your own life as it is. It's incredibly liberating and gives us the responsibility to ensure that we live and become more truly who we are.

I'm glad that Buddhist scriptures don't write about sexuality because they would be forever open to misinterpretation. Every part of life has a positive aspect and judging one aspect as wholly negative is to deny the inherent potential in that experience and undermine the great inherent potential of our lives.

I don't think anyone's words would have ever penetrated my self-doubt. Of course this self-doubt is the fear that grips society. Laws that acknowledge the dignity of all people are important, and in my 20s and 30s I fought for the marriage and antidiscrimination laws that are now coming into play. But I believe that personal conviction and confidence are more important in the end, and it is these that can change our lives.
Nichiren famously wrote in his simple and profound way: "Each thing—the cherry, the plum, the peach, the damson—in its own entity, without undergoing any change, possesses the eternally endowed three bodies [of the Buddha]."

The SGI all over the world is filled with LGBT people who are bringing out their Buddha nature on a daily basis, proving the power of their humanity and fulfilling their unique purpose in life. In the message that he sent to the first SGI LGBT conference that was held in the US in 2001, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda said, "Please live your life with courage, wisdom and absolute conviction."

These words have stayed with me and continue to encourage me to this day.

PS:
Kieran McCrystal works as a counselor in a private practice in Harringay, London. He is the father of two wonderful daughters and has been practicing Nichiren Buddhism since 1986.


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何谓勤行唱题 | 国际创价学会会长 | 国际创价学会 Gongyo and daimoku

http://www.sgi.org/chs/

何谓勤行唱题

回一览表

──摘自池田SGI会长《青春对话》

以御本尊为根本、勤行、唱题的修行

勤行是每天心灵的清扫，心理的准备。为一日的出发开动引擎。因人而异，有人的引擎大和有人的引擎小，随着引擎的大小，影响个人一生的行动，产生天壤之别。勤励于勤行、唱题的修行，会加强自己的引擎。

勤行、唱题是一项自身与宇宙交流的仪式。以御本尊为根本，汲取"大宇宙"的生命力，注入自己这个"小宇宙"的作业就是勤行。每天反复这项作业，生命力的引擎就会变得强劲。

向着御本尊勤行、唱题，可美妙地调和小宇宙的自身和大宇宙的韵律。勤行是崇高的仪式，是打开自身宝库的作业。在生命的大地上挖掘生命力的涌泉。挖掘取之不尽用之不竭的智慧、慈悲、勇气的源流。

唱题是在生命当中奠定福运的基础。趁现在打下坚实的地基，其上要建再宏伟的大楼都不怕。基础也有许多方面。努力用功、锻炼身体都是奠定基础。但是，身心的根本是生命。锻炼、净化、扩展根本的"生命"，惟有靠佛法。头脑必须以用功读书来锻炼，身体必须靠运动来锻炼，生命则是以唱题锻炼。生命一改变，头脑、身体也会逐渐改变，变得灵活。此外，题目是"生命的充电"。平常充足电，随时都有活力出动。如果没有充足电，在紧要关头就拿不出力气而败北。

趁年轻将题目渗入生命、充了电的人，就是奠定了一生幸福的基础。从某方面来说，勤行、唱题是最简单的修行。不是像在瀑布下受冲打之类特别的苦修。大圣人的佛法因为"最优越"，所以以"最简单的修行"就能涌现佛界的生命。机械的技术越进步，操作也越简单。反过来说，因为是在自己生活当中修行，反而容易流于惰性，也许没有比此更困难的修行。但是"每天一点一滴地持续"挑战，自然而然，在自己的生命当中会开辟出"幸福之道"。并且建立起"生命的防波堤"，防止沦于不幸。

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Nam Myoho Renge Kyo ~ Chant For Happiness: The Buddhist Concept of Wisdom

http://chantforhappiness.blogspot.sg/2016/01/the-buddhist-concept-of-wisdom.html?m=1

The Buddhist Concept of Wisdom

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We chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo  ~  which means 

"I fuse my life 

with the mystic law of cause and effect 

through sound vibration." 

We pray for exactly what we want. This is the one form of Buddhism that says we can keep our desires, and make the world a happier place through achieving them. 

We pray for our lives to blossom forth with happiness, so that others can see an example of a truly happy life (no matter what obstacles we may face! We turn all poison into medicine) with the end goal of "kosen-rufu" a world of peace and respect for all living beings. 

Wisdom is a natural outcome of this prayer.  

Through creating our own happiness we are transforming the world. This is the essence of the Soka Gakkai (SGI). You can click on the link to the right to find out more. What follows is a passage on the Buddhist view of Wisdom. Enjoy! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buddhist Concepts – Wisdom....

A Buddha is characterized as a person of profound wisdom. The idea of wisdom is core to Buddhism.  But wisdom can be a vague and elusive concept, hard to define and harder to find.  How does one become wise?  Is wisdom something that we can actively develop, or must we merely wait to grow wiser as we grow older?  Perhaps it is because wisdom is such an indistinct concept that it has lost value as a relevant ideal in modern society, which has instead come to place great store in information and the attainment of knowledge.

Josei Toda, second president of the Soka Gakkai, characterized the confusion between knowledge and wisdom as one of the major failings of modern society.

His critique is starkly demonstrated in the astonishing progress of technology in the last century. While scientific and technological development has shown only a mixed record of alleviating human suffering, it has triumphed remarkably in its ability and efficiency in unleashing death and destruction.

Toda likened the relationship between knowledge and wisdom to that between a pump and water. A pump that does not bring forth water (knowledge without wisdom) is of little use.

This is not to deny the importance of knowledge. But knowledge can be utilized to generate both extreme destructiveness and profound good.

Wisdom is that which directs knowledge toward good--toward the creation of value.

Buddhist teachings, such as the concept of the five kinds of wisdom, describe and analyze in detail the dynamics of wisdom and how it manifests at different levels of our consciousness.

When wisdom is functioning in our life, it has the effect of enabling us to overcome the ingrained perspectives of our habitual thinking and arrive at a fresh and holistic view of a given situation. We are able to make a broad assessment of facts, perceive the essence of an issue and steer a sure course toward happiness.

Buddhism also likens wisdom to a clear mirror that perfectly reflects reality as it is. What is reflected in this mirror of wisdom is the interrelatedness and interdependence of our life with all other life. This wisdom dispels our delusions of separateness and awakens in us a sense of empathetic equality with all living things.

The term "Buddha" describes a person who freely manifests this inherent wisdom. And what causes this wisdom to well forth in our lives is compassion.

Buddhism sees the universe, and life itself, as an embodiment of compassion--the interweaving of the "threads" of interdependent phenomena, giving rise to and nurturing life in all its wonderful and varied manifestations.

It teaches that the purpose of human life is to be an active participant in the compassionate workings of the universe, enriching and enhancing life's creative dynamism.
Therefore, it is when we act with compassion that our life is brought into accord with the universal life force and we manifest our inherent wisdom. The action of encouraging and sharing hope with others awakens us to a larger, freer identity beyond the narrow confines of our ego. Wisdom and compassion are thus inseparable.
Central to Buddhist practice is self-mastery, the effort to "become the master of one's mind.  "This idea implies that the more profoundly we strive to develop an altruistic spirit, the more the wisdom of the Buddha is aroused within us and the more powerfully we can, in turn, direct all things--our knowledge, our talents and the unique particularities of our character--to the end of creating happiness for ourselves and others.

Speaking at Tribhuvan University in Nepal in 1995, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda commented, "To be master of one's mind means to cultivate the wisdom that resides in the inner recesses of our lives, and which wells forth in inexhaustible profusion only when we are moved by a compassionate determination to serve humankind, to serve people."
If human history is to change and be redirected from division and conflict toward peace and an underlying ethic of respect for the sanctity of all life, it is human beings themselves who must change. The Buddhist understanding of compassionate wisdom can serve as a powerful basis for such a transformation.

[ Courtesy January 2003 SGI Quarterly]

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Need to have far-reaching vision for future

14/1/16, 10:07:32 AM: Kwee! Chang: 🙏14th Jan, Daily guidance by Daisaku Ikeda:
The problems that occur in real life cannot be overcome with a careless or negligent attitude. We cannot ignore details and still win in the struggles of real life. We should have a far reaching vision for the future.

1月14日, 池田先生今日指导：
现实生活中所遇到的问题是不能以鲁莽或疏
忽的态度克服的。我们不能忽视了细节而仍然在现实生活的奋斗中获胜。我们应该对未来抱着长远的眼光。🙏


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Buddhism is reason

January 10

Buddhism is reason. It is vital, therefore, that our lives and our activities in society also accord with reason. Please manifest the principle of "faith equals daily life," so that you will be trusted, respected and emulated by others. Bringing fragrant flowers of trust and humanism to bloom throughout society is one of the goals of Buddhism. To do things that others find strange and unnatural, that run counter to common sense--such actions go against the basic tenets of Buddhism and amount to slander of the Law.

Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President


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Real benefit

January 9

The real benefit of the Mystic Law is inconspicuous. Just as trees grow taller and stronger year after year, adding growth rings that are imperceptible to the human eye, we too will grow toward a victorious existence. For this reason it is important that we lead tenacious and balanced lives based on faith.

Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President


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Buddhas are Buddhas precisely because they continually ponder and take action to help others resolve their worries.

                   

For Today and Tomorrow

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Sunday, January 3, 2016

Eiji Yoshikawa (1892-1962), the renowned Japanese author of many epic historic novels, asserted, "Great character is forged through hardships."  Surviving a life of hardships and difficulties, of stormy ups and downs, is what produces a person of great depth and character.  True happiness is also found in such an unshakable state of life.

                   

Buddhism Day by Day

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Sunday, January 3, 2016

There simply are no Buddhas who spend all their time sitting in meditation.  Buddhas are Buddhas precisely because they continually ponder and take action to help others resolve their worries. 

                      

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, January 3, 2016

Just as flowers open up and bear fruit, just as the moon appears and invariably grows full, just as a lamp becomes brighter when oil is added, and just as plants and trees flourish with rain, so will human beings never fail to prosper when they make good causes.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1013
The Third Day of the New Year

Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu on January 11, 1280

 

   

Let's strive to give people something

Be convinced abt cause and effect --- look at how flowers bloom

Those who wake up each morning with work to accomplish and a mission to fulfill are the happiest people of all

 For Today and Tomorrow

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Friday, January 1, 2016

Those who wake up each morning with work to accomplish and a mission to fulfill are the happiest people of all. SGI members are like this.  For us each day is one of supreme purpose and satisfaction.  For us each day is New Year's Day.  Please exert yourselves vigorously with the determination to live each day to the fullest, so that you may compose a golden diary of life.

Buddhism Day by Day

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Friday, January 1, 2016

If the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.  It is the same with a Buddha and an ordinary being.  While deluded, one is called an ordinary being, but when enlightened, one is called a Buddha. This is similar to a tarnished mirror that will shine like a jewel when polished. -Nichiren

   

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

                              Friday, January 1, 2016

I have received a hundred slabs of steamed rice cake and a basket of fruit.  New Year's Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year, and the start of spring.  A person who celebrates this day will accumulate virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually, moving from west to east, and as the sun shines more brightly, traveling from east to west.

   

 New Year Gosho (WND p 1137

Written to Wife of Omosu January 5, year unknown

                               HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ME TO YOU

                   2016 year of EXPANSION in the NEW ERA OF WORLDWIDE KOSEN-RUFU

   

The people are the most important and noble

                For Today and Tomorrow

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Saturday, January 2, 2016

The people are most important and noble.  President Toda was firmly convinced of this point.  And I have advanced with the same spirit.  This is also Nichiren Daishonin's undying spirit.  Please always treasure and protect this organization of the people that is the SGI.

Events

                                     

1928: Daisaku Ikeda, SGI president, is born.

Seen here with his mother and in 1949 while attending night classes and working at Toda's Publishing company as chief editor of a magazine for boys.

Happy Birthday  Sensei!!!                 

Buddhism Day by Day

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Saturday, January 2, 2016

In Nichiren Buddhism, attaining enlightenment is not about embarking on some inconceivably long journey to become a resplendent, godlike Buddha; it is about accomplishing a transformation in the depths of one's being.  In other words, it is not a matter of practicing in order to scale the highest summit of enlightenment at some point in the distant future.  Rather, it is a constant, moment-to-moment, inner struggle between revealing our innate Dharma nature or allowing ourselves to be ruled by our fundamental darkness and delusion

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Buddha has already been called a skilled physician, and the Law has been likened to good medicine and all living beings to people suffering from illness.  The Buddha took the teachings that he had preached in the course of his lifetime, ground and sifted them, blended them together, and compounded an excellent medicine, the pill of the Mystic Law.  Regardless of whether one understands it or not, so long as one takes the pill, can one fail to be cured of the illness of delusion?

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 132-33
Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man

Recipient unknown; written in 1265

 

Sensei reads this on every new year 's day

Sensei reads this on every new year 's day:

"You must not spend your lives in vain and regret it for ten thousand years to come." (WND-1,622, The Problem to be Pondered Day and Night)

"Life is limited; we must not begrudge it. What we should ultimately aspire to is the Buddha land." (WND-1, 214, Aspiration for the Buddha Land)

"Could there ever be a more wonderful story, in all future times, than your own?" (WND -1, 499, Letter to the Brothers)
___

"We ordinary people can see neither our own eyelashes, which are so close, nor the heavens in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exist in our own heart.... Misfortune comes from one's mouth and ruins one, but fortune comes from one's heart and makes one worthy of respect." New Year's Gosho.