Sunday, March 12, 2017

HANDLING REJECTION

HANDLING REJECTION 
  
Q. "Sometimes when I try to make new friends, it's like I'm not cool enough for them, and I'm left on the outside looking in." 
  
A. Although it may seem difficult, if you are ignored, rejected or make fun of, try not to be overly worried about it. 
  
According to Buddhist beliefs, those who treat others poorly make bad causes for which they unfortunately will experience the effects, they are truly to be pitied. 
  
At the same time, remember that experiencing rejection and disappointment is an inevitable part of life. Nichiren, whose teachings we in the Soka Gakkai International follow, was also abandoned by many of his followers. I, too, have been betrayed by people whom i trusted and sincerely tried to encourage. But that is something i have learned is inevitable at times. 
  
In the face of rejection, you must learn to be courageous. It is important to believe in yourself. Be like the sun, which shines on serenely even though not all the heavenly bodies reflect back its light and even though some of its brilliance seems to radiate only into empty space. 
  
While those who reject your friendship may sometimes fade out of your life, the more brilliant your life will become. 
  
No matter what other people do, it is important that you walk your own path, believing in yourself. If you stay true to yourself, others will definitely come to understand your sincere intent. 
  
The Way Of Youth pg 26 
SGI President, Daisaku Ikeda
  

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Polishing Your Gongyo and Daimoku

Polishing Your Gongyo and Daimoku

Our daily recitation of Gongyo and offering Daimoku to the Gohonzon is our spiritual work-out for the growth of our lives. Doing Gongyo is like lifting spiritual weights that makes us strong.

This essential work-out is what makes us and our environments (our world at every moment, all the people & things and everything around us) and if done correctly, we can accomplish our goals and live really fulfilling lives.  

Gongyo and Daimoku are our laboratory - where we create the lives of our dreams! Therefore it is very important that we polish and perfect our Gongyo and Daimoku. Everything we do to enhance our practice is reflected in our lives. 

I visualize Shakyamuni Buddha meditating under the Bodhi Tree; assailed by many inner demons that worked to stop him or to throw off his practice. BUT he, undeterred by any obstacle and focused on his target finally wins/attains enlightenment.

Our daily practice of Gongyo & Daimoku is just like that. We have to fight all obstacles and keep focused/have an ichinen to do our daily gongyo and daimoku. Our concentration will surely pay off. 

Keep reminding to yourself:
I am a Buddha!     
Gongyo & Daimoku are important! Every day, twice a day!     
I must win! No matter what!
I will have Never to be defeated attitude!

Few Tips for a Powerful Gongyo that will bring great benefits - Don't just "do" Gongyo, Feel it, Experience it.

Switch off your phones or Put them on silent mode in another room - Claim this time as YOUR OWN! 

Relax, clear your head, clear your heart and do your Gongyo joyfully – especially your head, your mind, relax emotionally, mentally, physically. It is important to be very natural. Enjoy gongyo.

•Use your eyes and ears - when you chant, you really need to use your eyes. Focus on the Gohonzon. Then listen to your voice. Focus on the ‘myoho’ character which means ‘mystical’. You have to use your eyes. This is extremely important.

When you use your eyes, your mind stops. Clear your mind by strongly focusing your eyes. Let your thoughts rest by using your eyes. When you’re busy thinking all the time, your brain is sucking energy. This means your brain is getting stronger, which is not healthy, but your core isn’t changing because the energy isn’t being directed there.

•Pray each silent prayer with all your heart - Elevate the moment from reading to praying! 
Read each silent prayer over and over until you can actually feel the appreciation. Read the silent prayers until they sink in. You are praying in appreciation. If you don't know why Nichiren Daishonin and the three presidents deserve your praise, please ask a leader and study the history of Nichiren Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai. It took tremendous conviction and courage to bring this practice to us! During these prayers, bring forth immense gratitude for having this practice in your life.   

•Begin and end Gongyo - with no interruptions.  
Recite the silent prayers at the end of Gongyo soon after the recitation and not after finishing you’re your daimoku in the morning. This makes it easier to do a complete gongyo before you get up to do something else. You must start and complete gongyo.

Then I can do as much daimoku as I want, with gongyo done. Complete. With no interruptions. If you get interrupted in the middle of gongyo, begin again! You will see this helping you complete things in your life on a much more regular basis. 

•Do Gongyo & Daimoku every morning and evening without fail no mater what. 
I know, you've heard this phrase before. The reason I reiterate is that it WORKS WONDERS! When we do gongyo twice every day our lives get on a roll. You have to experience it to see it! No one can't tell you how it feels. I can tell you that many members finally began chanting twice a day (after refusing to do this for years) they are able to realize hidden goals, bring it to the surface, chant about it, and Chanting twice a day really WORKS! 

•Perfect Your Rhythm and Pronunciation of Gongyo
In the early days of my practice, I was fortunate to have a leader who believed that perfecting gongyo was important. Every day I used to fine-tune my rhythm and pronunciation. You can do the same, and it will energize your practice and life. 

I would suggest you finding a member, leader or guide in your Block / District who can work along with you. Learn it like a song. Teach gongyo to fellow members / beginners. It will polish yours too. Having perfect gongyo gives you great confidence and better results. 

Daimoku is the time to enrich your Buddha nature, not the time to plan your life or day.

IN MY HEAD: POSITIVE IMAGINATIONS 
IN MY HEART: DEEP PRAYER
IN MY MOUTH: CLEAR CHANTING

Thanks!
Ajay Gupta
 

Monday, March 6, 2017

DEVELOP A STRONG INNER CORE

Here, President Ikeda responds to the concern of a future division member who was failing to make any headway in solving a difficult problem even after having decided to challenge it by earnestly doing gongyo every day. He explains that in Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, no prayer goes unanswered, but that the benefits we accrue from faith in the Gohonzon are sometimes conspicuous and sometimes inconspicuous. So, even if we do not see concrete results immediately from our practice, it’s important that we continue to persevere in chanting and making efforts. If we do so, he says, we will be able to move in the direction that is the very best for us.

DEVELOP A STRONG INNER CORE

In Nichiren Buddhism, it is said that no prayer goes unanswered. But this is very different from having each wish instantly gratified as if by magic. If you chant to win the lottery tomorrow, or score 100 percent on a test tomorrow without having studied, the odds are small that it will happen. Nonetheless, viewed from a deeper, longer-term perspective, all your prayers serve to propel you in the direction of happiness.

Sometimes our immediate prayers are realized, and sometimes they aren’t. When we look back later, however, we can say with absolute conviction that everything turned out for the best.

Buddhism accords with reason. Our faith is manifested in our daily lives, in our actual circumstances. Our prayers cannot be answered if we fail to make efforts to realize them.

Furthermore, it takes a great deal of time and effort to overcome sufferings of a karmic nature, whose roots lie deep in causes we made in the past. There is a big difference, for example, in the time it takes for a scratch to heal and that required to recover from a serious internal disease. Some illnesses can be treated with medication, while others require surgery. The same applies to changing our karma through faith and practice.

In addition, each person’s level of faith and individual karma differ. By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, however, we can bring forth a powerful sense of hope and move our lives in a positive, beneficial direction without fail.

It’s unrealistic to think we can achieve anything of substance overnight. If we were to have every prayer answered instantly, it would lead to our ruin. We’d grow lazy and complacent.

You may have a passing interest in painting, for example. But if you think you can simply dash off some paintings, suddenly hold an exhibition and have your work snapped up by art collectors, you are hardly being realistic.

Suppose you spend all your money playing rather than working, and are now destitute. Do you think someone giving you a large sum of money would contribute to your happiness in the long term?

It would be like making superficial repairs to a crumbling building without addressing the root problem. To create something fine and solid, it would be better to build anew from the foundation up. The purpose of our Buddhist practice is to transform our lives on a fundamental level, not superficially. It enables us to develop a strong inner core and solidly accumulate indestructible good fortune.

There are two kinds of benefit that derive from faith in the Gohonzon: conspicuous and inconspicuous. Conspicuous benefit is the obvious, visible benefit of being protected or being quickly able to surmount a problem when it arises—be it an illness or a conflict in personal relationships.

Inconspicuous benefit, on the other hand, is less tangible. It is good fortune accumulated slowly but steadily, like the growth of a tree or the rising of the tide, which results in the forging of a rich and expansive state of life. We might not discern any change from day to day, but as the years pass, it will be clear that we’ve become happy, that we’ve grown as individuals. This is inconspicuous benefit.

When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, you will definitely gain the best result, regardless of whether that benefit is conspicuous or inconspicuous.

No matter what happens, the important thing is to continue chanting. If you do so, you’ll become happy without fail. Even if things don’t work out the way you hoped or imagined, when you look back later, you’ll understand on a much more profound level that it was the best possible result. This is tremendous inconspicuous benefit.

Conspicuous benefit, for instance, might allow you to eat your fill today but leave you worrying about your next meal. As an example of inconspicuous benefit, on the other hand, you may have only a meager meal today, but you are moving steadily toward a life in which you will never have to worry about having enough to eat. The latter is a far more attractive prospect, I think, and is the essence of practicing Nichiren Buddhism.

President Ikeda’s Guidance:
Adapted from the dialogue Discussion on Youth, published in Japanese in March 1999