Daimoku of Practice / Daimoku of Faith

Daimoku of Practice/Daimoku of Faith

In the fall of 1996, Mr. T, who was in his forties, underwent surgery for a tumor in his brain stem. The surgeons were unable to remove all of the tumor. His wife joined the SGI in the hopes of a quick recovery for her husband.

In the summer of 1997 Mr. T's headaches and nausea worsened and he began having consistent convulsions.

The doctors told Mrs. T that while the tumor had not metastasized or spread, he was experiencing these symptoms because water had built up on his brain and that surgery to remove the fluid was necessary. Mr. T could barely walk and his speech was limited to grunts and moans.

Mrs. T told her district chief that she had been chanting for her husband's recovery for a year but he was not improving. The district chief talked to a member of the Nurses' Division. The nurse said: "The fact that the tumor has not metastasized is the benefit of the daimoku. This is really remarkable. Mrs. T's questions about whether he will recover, or whether her prayers will be effective, are simply barriers that she has created in her own life. But there is no barrier, there is no limit, to the great power of daimoku. Now is the time she needs to offer strong prayer! It's a matter of overcoming any feelings of confusion or doubt, and offering whole-hearted prayer with the strongest possible determination and focus. She needs to pray in such a way as to send a 'beam' of daimoku to the diseased area."

When the district leader related what the nurse had told her, Mrs. T became all the more earnest. That evening, there was a change in Mr. T's condition. He suddenly started producing more urine, and a continuous stream of tears and mucus began flowing from his eyes and nose — so much so that his pillow became soaked.

This went on for three days. On the fourth day, he showed startling signs of recovery. He became able to carry on ordinary conversations with the members of his family and could walk without assistance. The doctors were surprised at this change in his condition and brought him in for more tests. They concluded that he had fully recovered and that surgery was no longer necessary.

Mr. T made a complete recovery. On seeing this, his son, who was in the seventh grade, remarked, "Daimoku is incredible! I want to join the Soka Gakkai too. I want to start right away." He urged his sister, who was in elementary school, to practice Buddhism also, and the siblings joined together.

[This experience is related in the October Living Buddhism, pp. 27-29. It is part of the ongoing "Dialogue on the Lotus Sutra".]