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Chanting Growers Group

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PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
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Wow, how freeing! Just got back from two hours with my sensei to prep for my Gosho lecture on the opening paragraph of the Gosho,'On Repaying Debts of Gratitude.' I'm sitting there wanting him to confirm to me that my understanding of a certain underlying point of faith is correct--and I'm relying on my understanding of this issue based on what I perceived from reading "Lectures on the Sutra by Josei Toda"--and I look over and there it is. He actually has a copy, in almost new condition, of this book that has been out of print for more than thirty years. So I pick it up from his bookshelf and I (it) open(s) to the page that discusses this point. HA! He confirms that my understanding is correct, and now I am obliged to refute points that were made by others at last months Gosho lecture that I knew were in error. I should have spoken up then. But because I had just had a big freaking argument with the wife just before I got there, I was in too much of a shellshocked life condition to speak up and seek to clarify why I believed their point to be in error. For a whole fucking month, I have chanted and felt bad about not having the nads to speak up to keep things straight, even though I was suffering from a low life condition. To do that was wrong, and I have apologized through my Daimoku and made the determination to correct my mistake, and started tonights Gosho Review with my question to make sure I am correct in my understanding so I can correct that point. For him to have "Lectures on the Sutra by Josei Toda" and for it to open to the page discussing this issue was to me, mind boggling! How cool!
 

Desiderata

Bodhisattva of the Earth
Veteran
Very Karmic bro!

In our practice, because of our Buddha natures, the truth is always on the surface has been my experience.......love ya.......desi

PS. I hope the children are ALL feeling better!
 

Payaso

Original Editor of ICMagazine
Veteran
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Yet another month has slipped by, but not without chanting.

And growing...in new directions.

And the book opened exactly to the page in question, I respect that. It happens to me frequently.

Looking forward from the doldrums, it looks as if we may have an altogether too exciting a summer ahead. Keep cool, keep chanting.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Regards to all! And hope you stay healthy...
 
E

EasyMyohoDisco

I also have had some great myoho experiences recently... This weekend the National Youth Leaders were in town and I support the SGI locally as a behind-the-scenes group member/coordinator. For this particular weekend my sole duty was to drive one of the leaders to the airport and this was a huge thing for me because she is sooooooooooooooo beautiful and even better was that I got to also have in the car with me the former national high school division leader who is also a friend that I haven't seen in some time. The reason I haven't seen this friend was because he mother died last year and as a graduate student he had to take time off then because he was so focused on activities and school he didn't really grieve and eventually got a couple C's in grad school and they gave him the boot. So the three of us leave from the community center and are riding along and then I just bring up exactly what I posted here the other day about the Congress woman from Hawaii being listed in wikipedia as being a 'non-practicioning' member of the True World Tendai School Buddhism. The same school of Buddhism that rejects both Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism, and I say "well I was wondering about this lady but since there are so many pioneer members in Hawaii and Hank Johnson being the only SGI member in Congress perhaps someone shakubukued her and that is why she is listed as a non-practicing Pure Land Buddhist". The reply by this national leader was soo myoho "I met her two years ago and she wants President Ikeda to come to Hawaii and she supports the SGI!"

I couldn't fucking believe it, but I did because she said it with conviction from the backseat as I was driving! I was soo blown away, that my inclination was spot on with regards to this Buddhism penetrating the heart of someone who was raised or may have practiced such a slanderous teaching. I really feel fortunate and pleased to be living my life with Nichiren Daishonin the Gohonzon Buddha and also because I am really growing in absolute happiness as opposed to reveling in moments of relative happiness.

The Study meeting at my home was great, I spoke about the Zange spirit that Socal recently posted about and no bullshit I realize that this thread is as much a part of my life as is my job, school and relationship with significant other. On these 900+ pages over the past 42 months I have poured my seeking spirit via words onto these pages with each of you and have documented the most spectacular growth possible! I feel honored to have so many great people around me and especially the friend that lost his mother and got kicked out of school was able to grieve and became involved in our organization again and I'm grateful to Gohonzon for that too.

I continue to always make an extra silent prayer before all the rest in my gongyo to keep Gohonzon for the rest of this life and the next. I continue to try and be as involved as I can be and represent my Chapter, Region, Zone and Territory everywhere I go as a capable and upstanding young citizen changing the world one day at time! I'm planning on moving again in the next couple months and want to get a place that will perfect to grow some plants that won't go hermie (gonna need new genetics!). I also want to enjoy my mini graduation next month and prepare to work as best I can towards my undergraduate degree and eventually become a JD (juris doctoris aka doctor of law).

I will always be available for each of you if you need me, just make sure to keep up your end of the bargain and keep your meetings motivated, keep your fellow members encouraged, keep improving the quantity of daimoku you are putting out and keep setting up more meetings and helping others continue to chant. It is important that we strictly follow the guidance in this thread especially in those posts by Socal and Thomas, they really hit home if you ever have time to go back and enjoy them.

Wisdom is nothing more than Faith in Chanting to Gohonzon for me, and I love being a Wiseguy! hahahaha :laughing:
 
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EasyMyohoDisco

In my 1 million daimoku booklet, that is a small thin book that has 5 pages with squares on it that each represent fifteen minutes of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! Each page has 20 rows that are 12 squares across. I am more than half-way done on my first page and have 4 1/2 more pages left til I complete 1 million Daimoku towards the specific intentions therein.

These things I am chanting for on my list are:

1)Complete my undergraduate education by 12/10
2)Best possible financial fortune by 6/9 (I'm definitely excited about this one!)
3)For my girl and me to get A's in school (I'm almost there 3 more weeks and yes I got straight A's so far...)
4)For my girl's job to improve and for me to find meaningful work (I'm pretty sure I already did 2 weeks after putting the pen to the paper).
5)Create lifelong bonds with others (I want all my good friends forever).
6)Expand my consistancy in everything
7)Chant more everday (=Happines). (I really do need to chant more...)
8)All members of my chapter and chanting growers to prosper and make me aware.
9)The best possible home with 3bedrooms, amazing bathrooms, storage, new appliances, backyard nearby, room to grow and great neighbors.
10)For my friends to WIN!
11)Happiness for my parents!
12)New jobs for my friends who need them.
13)For me and my girl's health to improve.
14)For a co-worker at my new job giving me trouble to get a home.
15)For our District Leader to be happy and keep her job.
16)For a friend's son to graduate from high school.
17)Great health for all my friends and for their environment to nurture them.
18)Five Shakubuku by 1 million that recieve Gohonzon.
19)For those I lost touch with to come back (eg. Socal, Bonzo, et al.).
20)For my brothers and their children (and grandchildren) to do well and succeed.


Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo!
 

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
"'Though it is thought that Shakyamuni Buddha possesses the three virtues of sovereign, teacher, and parent for the sake of all of us living beings, that is not so. On the contrary, it is common mortals who endow him with the three virtues'. (WND-1, 384)

"The Buddha's great virtues are manifested because of ordinary people, the Daishonin asserts. This is a truly remarkable statement, a bold and historic declaration of humanism that marks a radical departure from religion as an authoritarian entity to one that puts people first.

"'Common mortals' in this passage refers in a specific sense to Nichiren Daishonin. As an ordinary person undergoing harsh persecution, the Daishonin read the Lotus Sutra with his very life and demonstrated the truth of the Buddha's words. His life itself was a grand drama of religious reform embodying the principle that ordinary people possess the highest state of being. And, in the light of the Daishonin's teachings, it is clear that his disciples who stand up with the same spirit he has and devote themselves to chanting and spreading Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are also living proof of that principle.

"Buddhism originated with the historical Shakyamuni. Over the centuries, however, he came to be viewed as a supernatural being adorned with special, superhuman characteristics. Priests and professional clerics exploited this development to bolster their own power and authority, and elevated the Buddha to a separate, lofty position. The Daishonin's teaching that the ultimate state of Buddhahood exists in the lives of all people is what changed all of this.

"The lives of ordinary people don't shine because they are illuminated by the Buddha, rather, ordinary people are what make the Buddha a Buddha. In this way, the Daishonin turned the prevailing popular view of the relationship between the Buddha and living beings on its head. The principle of the true aspect of all phenomena is the profound doctrine that supports this idea.

"The Daishonin's writing 'The True Aspect of All Phenomena' begins with the assertion that all things and phenomena are, just as they are, the true reality, and as such 'are without exception manifestations of Myoho-renge-kyo' (WND-1, 383). Everything in the universe is a manifestation of the Mystic Law. It thus follows that when ordinary people chant and spread the Mystic Law, which is the true reality of all things, they themselves are venerable Buddhas living in accord with that supreme Law.

"In this writing, the Daishonin strongly asserts that as entities of the Mystic Law, ordinary people are the real Buddhas. The Buddhas that appear in the various pre-Lotus sutras, in contrast, are but provisional Buddhas manifesting different functions of the Mystic Law."


SGI Newsletter No. 7743, THE WRITINGS OF NICHIREN DAISHONIN AND THE MENTOR-DISCIPLE RELATIONSHIP [5] The Humanistic Teaching That Ordinary People Are Buddhas, from the Jan. 22nd, 2009, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated April 2nd, 2009
 

Babbabud

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
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Nam myoho renge kyo

Selection Source: Reply to Kyo'o - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 412

"Muster your faith, and pray to this Gohonzon. Then what is there that cannot be achieved?"
 

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
Veteran
"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."

(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 4) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, April 4th, 2009
 
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EasyMyohoDisco

"Little streams come together to form the great ocean, and tiny particles of dust accumulate to form Mount Sumeru. When I, Nichiren, first took faith in the Lotus Sutra, I was like a single drop of water or a single particle of dust in all the country of Japan. But later, when two people, three people, ten people, and eventually a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, and a million people come to recite the Lotus Sutra and transmit it to others, then they will form a Mount Sumeru of perfect enlightenment, an ocean of great nirvana."

The Selection of the Time
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 579)
 

PassTheDoobie

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
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Who Is a Buddha?

Who Is a Buddha?

To many, the image conjured up by the word Buddha is of an otherwordly being, calmly remote from the matters of this world. Through meditation he has attained state of "nirvana" which will enable him to escape this world and its constant sufferings--the fruit of human delusion and desire.

However, this image does not reflect the truth about the life of Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism who lived in India around 2,500 years ago. He was a deeply compassionate man who rejected the extremes of both asceticism and attachment, who was constantly interacting with others and wanted all people to share the truth he had discovered.

The literal meaning of Buddha is "enlightened one." Enlightenment is a fully awakened state of vast wisdom through which reality in all its complexity can be fully understood and enjoyed. Any human being who is awakened to the fundamental truth about life can be called a Buddha.

However, many schools of Buddhism have taught that enlightenment is only accessible after an arduous process undertaken over unimaginably long periods of time--over many lifetimes, in fact. In dramatic contrast, what is considered Shakyamuni's last and highest teaching, the Lotus Sutra, explains that Buddhahood is already present in all life. It teaches absolute equality and emphasizes that even within the life of a person apparently dominated by evil, there exists the unpolished jewel of the Buddha nature. No one else gives it to us or judges whether we "deserve" it.

As with gold hidden in a dirty bag, or lotus flowers emerging from a muddy pond, we have first to believe our Buddha nature is there, then awaken and develop or "polish" it. In Nichiren Buddhism this can be done through devotion to the law contained in the Lotus Sutra and the chanting of the phrase "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

But Buddhahood is not a static condition or a state in which one can rest complacently. Rather, it is a dynamic experience and a journey of continual development and discovery.

When we continually reinforce the Buddhahood in our lives, we come to be ruled less and less by selfishness (or greed), anger and foolishness--what Buddhism terms the three poisons. As we fuse our lives with the enlightened life of the Buddha, we can tap the potential within us and change ourselves in a fundamental way.

As this inner state of Buddhahood is strengthened, we also develop a fortitude which enables us to ride even the wildest storms. If we are enlightened to the true, unchanging nature of life, we can joyfully surf the waves of difficulty which wash against us in life, creating something of value out of any situation. In this way our "true self" blossoms, and we find vast reserves of courage, compassion, wisdom and energy or life-force inside us. We find ourselves becoming more active and feeling deep inner freedom. And as we experience a growing sense of oneness with the universe, the isolation and alienation that cause so much suffering evaporate. We lessen our attachment to our smaller egotistical self, to difference, and become aware instead of the interconnectedness of all life. Gradually we find our lives opening up to those of others, desiring their happiness as much as our own.

However, while it is easy to believe that we all possess the lower life-states outlined in Buddhist teachings (hell, hunger, animality, anger and so on), believing that we possess Buddhahood is much more difficult. But the struggle to develop and constantly strengthen this state within our lives is well worthwhile.

For, in the words of Daisaku Ikeda, "[Buddhahood] is the joy of joys. Birth, old age, illness and death are no longer suffering, but part of the joy of living. The light of wisdom illuminates the entire universe, casting back the innate darkness of life. The life-space of the Buddha becomes united and fused with the universe. The self becomes the cosmos, and in a single instant the life-flow stretches out to encompass all that is past and all that is future. In each moment of the present, the eternal life-force of the cosmos pours forth as a gigantic fountain of energy."

[ Courtesy July 1998 SGI Quarterly ]
 
G

grapepunched

nam myoho renge kyo!
chanting for a day of peace
health and happiness to all

-gp
 

Payaso

Original Editor of ICMagazine
Veteran
"The literal meaning of Buddha is "enlightened one." Enlightenment is a fully awakened state of vast wisdom through which reality in all its complexity can be fully understood and enjoyed. Any human being who is awakened to the fundamental truth about life can be called a Buddha."

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and thank you T for reminding us of this important concept.

Thanks for the enlightenment...I believe this is true at a very fundamental level for all.

"But Buddhahood is not a static condition or a state in which one can rest complacently. Rather, it is a dynamic experience and a journey of continual development and discovery."

~Striving to stay awake and aware.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
 
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EasyMyohoDisco

~Striving to stay awake and aware.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

The key is to keep repeating Nam-myoho-renge-kyo! to your own Gohonzon. Have you been attending any meetings locally yet chris? I sure hope so!

Can anyone else elaborate on their recent meetings, or lack thereof? How about some thoughts and feelings on meetings in general and how you feel afterwards? Babba, you've been at this longer than me - how's it going over there?

I posted not too long ago requesting an update on local meetings for chanting growers and really didn't a get a response except for T. Who else is in rhythm?

Please remember that this month is a special contribution month and we should all challenge ourselves to do shakubuku and to also support our organization as best we can! Thank you so much and I really look forward to your feedback :)

"You are indeed an unusual woman since you asked me to explain the effects of various degrees of slander. You are every bit as praiseworthy as the dragon king's daughter when she said, "I unfold the doctrines of the great vehicle to rescue living beings from suffering." The Lotus Sutra reads, "If one can ask about its meaning, that will be difficult indeed." There are very few people who inquire about the meaning of the Lotus Sutra."


The Embankments of Faith (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 626)
 

Babbabud

Bodhisattva of the Earth
ICMag Donor
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Yes our local group has not had a meeting for about 2.5 months. Not sure exactly how im going to straighten out some of the energy some of the members have between them at this point but It certainly calls out for daimoku. Spring is here and as winter fades and new growth begins so I hope it goes with our local group.
Nam myoho renge kyo
 
T

TrichyTrichy

I have avoided the crush of politics that has over-run my centre. I have been absent for a year. Privately practicing but not contributing.
 
E

EasyMyohoDisco

Babba thanks for sharing that great determination. You know I support you 100% and we both realize that you are going to be the group leader who brings them back together. It's up to your daimoku (and mama's daimoku) too! I have sincerely been chanting for this for a couple days now and I'm with you man, all the way. Fuck the past, you're the leader who will usher in this great new future, WHATEVER IT TAKES! Thank you so much for sharing that, I'm very proud of you and honored to be on your side.

Hello TrichyTrichy:

If there is anyway I could make myself clear to you, please reflect on the great feelings you had during the better days at the centre. It's more about our individual life condition and not really the overall perception with respect to the unsettling sensations that built up over time. We both know that 99.9% of the Japanese public was against Nichiren Daishonin (because he was just like us) and that .01% are the ones who stood by the Daishonin, just as you have with your Gohonzon at home. But new and old members alike truly know in there hearts that we cannot practice this Buddhism correctly on a mountain all alone, or with just me, myself and I. I can empathize because I in fact have demonstrated a knack for anti-social tendencies in the past, but isn't that fundamental darkness. Isn't anything that comes between us and Gohonzon, Fundamental Darkness? Sure it is!

You're a chanting grower by posting on this thread and taking part Trichy, take pride in your achievements and let your wisdom shine through your daimoku. Please challenge yourself to go back, if not for you, do it for me! I would be very inspired to know you tried. I never give up on my friends, just ask Desi, Scegy, Babba, anyone on this thread. I won't give up on you, and here in this thread there is no sense of politics and if you do feel that way discuss it and we will suss out the devilish function and come to an honest understanding. Throughout all the pages of this thread you'll find that exact sentiment, with good intentions all the way.

I gotta go chant now and thanks for giving me something else to chant for! When Desi receives his Gohonzon and you are back at the centre leading the way, I'll become the region leader! Let's never give up and always keep going forward!

I got your back if you need help let me know I'll support you anyway I can.

Best regards,
MyohoDisco

P.S. Thanks to both of you for sharing, I really appreciate it!

P.P.S. Don't be Afraid. Don't be Defeated. Faith! Victory of Gold!
 

Desiderata

Bodhisattva of the Earth
Veteran
Well, if I was in Cali I would have a Gohonzon, but I'm not.

But, everytime I get ready to go to a meeting something heavy stressful happens. Like last week I couldn't breath.....now I doubt it was my Karma controlling the pollen/weather and my doctors attitude who took me off Advair/corticosteroid. I didn't have enough air to chant last week. But, I'm always reminded by you Easy, that my problem is my fundamental darkness........so I'm feeling better........hell I'm lucky to be alive!
 
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