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Chanting Growers Group

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PassTheDoobie

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"The Italian poet Petrarch (1304-74) declared: 'Deep within the soul lies what makes us happy or wretched.' With strong faith, we can overcome the most daunting hardships; we can change poison into medicine. Strong prayer and earnest action allow us to break through any obstacle.

"In a letter, Petrarch advised a friend to live happily and persevere courageously. He also wrote: 'The thicker the difficulties are the more eagerly I face them.' The greater the hardships before us, the more we should rouse a fighting spirit to challenge them. That's the way to forge and strengthen our character as a human being."

SGI Newsletter No. 7099, NEW YEAR'S REPRESENTATIVES CONFERENCE--PART 2 [OF 2], Breaking through Obstacles with Strong Prayer, Jan. 2nd, 2007. Translated Feb. 2nd, 2007
 
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PassTheDoobie

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"There is no true happiness for human beings other than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(Happiness in This World - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 681) Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, February 14th, 2007
 
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PassTheDoobie

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"Our behaviour reveals our character, thought, and philosophy. There can be no humanism without genuine concern for people's welfare. At the same time, the path of mentor and disciple is not a stiff, formal affair. It is the joint commitment of mentor and disciple in living dedicated to the common goal of kosen-rufu."

SGI Newsletter No. 7110, The New Human Revolution—Vol. 19: Chap. 3, Sunlight 14, translated Feb 13th, 2007
 
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EasyMyohoDisco

Last night we introduced Chase's Mother to the practice by inviting her over to finally see my plants (which are completing their flowering within a weeks time), since she has always been curious but never really able to come and see sine the timing was never right. She called me in the afternoon and I suggested her son accompany her so we could chant first and she was open to that so I was very encouraged and set up to meet at 7pm.

We met after my lady and I came back from the gym, and sat down in front of Gohonzon and began chanting daimoku for about a half hour. After we completed daimoku I explained we will be reciting two chapter from the Lotus Sutra and this is part of our daily practice, which we do in the morning and the evening. I passed her a copy of the yellow booklet entitled "A Journey Begins" which we read while we chanted a very powerul gongyo. Then afterwards My lady, Chase and I discussed the practice and how we uniquely chant for many different things and all commonly chant for world peace or the wider propagation of The Mystic Law, The Law of Cause and Effect. I went into detail with respect to The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin, and I was thrilled to be assisted by my lady and Chase on quick concise clarifications to her questions:

"Can I chant for anything?" "What do you chant for?" "How does the chanting for certain things work?" "You say world peace, how will that be accomplished through chanting?"

So after the progressive discussion, I brought them over to see the plants and they were very very impressed. Chase's mother asked me to grow her just one plant. I wanted to immediately employ an "expediant means" to get her to receive Gohonzon, I wanted to ask her to accept Gohonzon in her home (or ask to receive Gohonzon) and in return I will grow her the plant she requests. I have not bartered with anyone to encourage them to receive Gohonzon in their home, but I got the feeling she wants her own pot plant for herself that she is possibly willing to accept Gohonzon in her home. Can I offer her the plant in exchange for receiving Gohonzon? I get the feeling she would start practicing with that boost, but then again I have my reservations because everyone I have shakubukued was always encouraged to receive Gohonzon from me, yet asked me to help them receive Gohonzon with their seeking spirit.

I think if Jennie (Chase's Mom) receives Gohonzon, many other people will be introduced to the practice as a result, since she clearly has alot of good influence in her respective community. I also think, my hesitation with respect to offering her a means to accept Gohonzon into her home was wrong and I should have done it right on the spot, but I really wanted to confer on the thread with Thomas, Socal, Babba, Bonzo and company. What do you guys think, I feel like I'm ready to call her and make that offer and really think I can close the deal and have her conferral before the end of Women's Month. I am also shooting for the same this sunday with Beth Ann when she finally attends her first meeting, I am dedicating quite a bit daimoku to have the good fortune of having Beth Ann accept and receive Gohonzon in her home and bring an end to her self described "loneliness, depression, and suicidal thoughts".

I called Chased and he said go for it, we have a ymd discussion meeting tongiht and Chase is going to bring a guest, I was thinking of going to Chase's home tonight and trying to discuss going to more meetings with Jennie and helping her receive Gohonzon into her home.

So you input would be greatly appreciated at this juncture, and I am leaning towards offering a plant for Jennie to chant to her very own Gohonzon in her home. It takes guts and planning sometimes to have the courage to try and help someone start their own Buddhist practice.

In any event, I hope you all continue chanting for a victorious end of Women's Month, the happiness of our membership especially the Women's Division and Young Women's Division, we keep our eye on the prize of world wide propagation of this practice, and tirelessly (happily) turn our struggles and future struggles into genuine hope, justice and stronger faith to wake up to our mission as Bodhisattvas of the Earth!

If anyone can do it, ITS US CHANTING GROWERS!

Hello to Socal, Bonzo, Fallen, Babba, Thomas and company, and everyone else! I'd like to encourage everyone to share their determinations on this thread so I can chant for them too.

My determinations are:

Over 40 shakubukus this year.

Plan, Prepare and Host at least 1 large event this year in my area to introduce new people to the practice and try and make the local news in a positive light.

Bring Hope to the people in my life that feel hopeless.

Tell over 1000 new faces about Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.



Alone we can make the impossible possible, Together we are making a difference! Let's unite in prayer and action and really forge new friendships and create more progress in our lives and for countless others!

I love coming to this thread, but have to get back to work, I have to complete 2 motions a memo and a brief within the next 5 hours. Time to re-direct my focus....

Have great weekends, thanks for the encouragement!

Deep Respect,
Myohodisco

P.S. "GOOD NIGHT, Mrs. Calabash--wherever you are!" :wink:
 
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PassTheDoobie

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The Five Impurities

The Five Impurities

From its inception, Buddhism has been concerned with the questions, “Why do people suffer?” and “How can suffering be alleviated?” May Buddhist teachings have sought to clarify the relationship between the cause and the treatment of misery. For this reason, Shakyamuni enumerates the five impurities in the “Expedient Means” chapter of the Lotus Sutra. They are as follows: impurity of the age, impurity of desire, impurity of living beings, impurity of view and impurity of life span.

Perhaps these five impurities seem like a list of “sins” as with the Ten Commandments of Christianity. But upon closer inspection, they are not so much a group of transgressions as they are, collectively, an elaboration of the relationship between a person and the environment--and on a broader scale, between a culture and a country, or even the entire populace and the world in which we live. To make sense of this, let’s look at each impurity individually.

The “impurity of the age” refers to destructive and chaotic act in the social, economic and natural environments. War, for example, is an “impurity of the age” as is a terrible financial depression, or the oppression of a particular group of people. It is the visible end of the spectrum of mass unease and desperation.

The very normal needs for food, shelter, companionship and so forth--when polluted by negative tendencies such as greed, anger and ignorance--result in the “impurity of desire.” There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to eat, but when greed and ignorance temper the need for food, a person can lose their generosity or even become a thief, which can in turn leave someone else hungry. In this manner, healthy desires can become destructive and difficult to control. When one adds to the equation the terrible lack of basic needs often brought about by war, economic collapse and other “impurities of the age,” this can lead to even further desperation and be the means by which greed, anger and ignorance pollute our natural and appropriate desires.

Desires, when destructive, can lead to mental and physical illness. This is the “impurity of living beings.” Either directly to ourselves (psychosomatic illness, neurosis, malnutrition, etc.) or indirectly to others (diseases related to poverty and social inequality, mental disorders derived from abuse) we see the anguish caused by the “impurity of desire” translated into the “impurity of living beings” all around us.

Similar to the “impurity of desire” is the “impurity of view”--the adherence to erroneous beliefs. Misunderstandings about the interdependence of life (the shared causal connection between all people) are particularly problematic. This is because such beliefs promote the mistaken concept that a person is isolated and one’s actions have no relation to the lives of others, or conversely that one has inordinate power and can “fix” or “control” another human beings. Rotted in warped desires worsened by mental or physical imbalance, the “impurity of view” can become a philosophy of hate, senseless destruction and violence.

Lastly, the “impurity of life span” describes a life shortened or distorted because of the negative effects of the other impurities. Every day people die young because of war, starvation, crime and other dangerous situations. But the “impurity of life span” can also be interpreted as lives nullified, or rendered joyless and unrewarding; lives, in other words, that don’t seem to be worth living. Such deadened, soulless feelings can occur at any age.

Taken all together, it’s clear that the five impurities are neither a list nor a chain, but a loop, a vicious cycle. Referring to this cycle, Shakyamuni says, “Shariputra, when the age is impure and the times are chaotic, then the defilements of living beings are grave, they are greedy and jealous and put down roots that are not good” (LS2, 32). One impurity leads easily to the next and creates a seemingly endless repetition of sorrow.

It’s important to remember, however, that the cumulative effect of a person’s causes, or karma, is not solely a negative thing. Karma is a law, like gravity, not a judge doling out punishment. Because the cycle of the five I purities works in one direction, it must logically work in the other direction as well. In “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,” Nichiren Daishonin writes, “Therefore you must quickly reform the tenets that you hold in your heart and embrace the one true vehicle…If you do so, then the threefold world will become the Buddha land…” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 25). If the five impurities weren’t reversible, the Daishonin would never have said that.

As a very simple example, the prevention of a war--or better still, the establishment of peaceful international relationships--can save many lives and lead to an increase in trade, jobs and so forth by which we can feed ourselves and our families. When such needs are approximately met, mental strife and many illnesses are less common and people are more likely to lead long, healthy lives. This is, of course, a simple illustration.

Though war, theft, oppression and the like can bring about brief periods of wealth and security for some, they are unstable acts incapable of establishing any long-term prosperity. In the end, such acts merely lead back to the cycle of suffering. Nonviolent activities, inspired by mutual respect, are far more likely to bring about long-lasting value.

July 2001
Living Buddhism
By Jason Henninger, based on Yasashii Kyogaku (Easy Buddhist Study) published by Seikyo Press in 1994.
 
southwind

southwind

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Greetings All


I hope and pray and chant for everyones health and happiness.

Things have deen difficult with health and other issues of a serious nature, I am coming up for air now.

It is all for the good in the end.

All fits where it is supposed to fit and sometimes I see that. Sometimes right away and sometimes much much later.

I am chanting for the health of my plants today.

I want to make seeds and donate them and am having or had some bad luck with some rare seeds and it got me down.

It so weird its I have never had such problems with seeds and such important ones!

If it had been other ones..darnit

If if if if only !!!
stuck in if onlys lately!

Just need to let go.

I have a hard time understanding how when a thing is more imporatnt to me than another thing..then that thing fails!

How can I be attracting such terrible luck?!

Thsi is not just seeds I am talking about, not whining about that, but there is no way I will go into whats happening lately, its as if every front in my life has been being attacked!

WOW.

Its a little calmer now BUT WOW!

I thought I was a decent person and treated others very well and the earth well, and yet I seem to be attracting bad karma.

What do i do?

I am chanting but lately even more bad thinsg are happening.

Sorry everyone, I will stop whining now, its just that I seldom whine to people in my offline life so as not to burden others but i gotta put it out somewhere?

Its like PTD said to me, its as ifthe karma or something will try to stop me.

I am trying to bear up and not complain, but I could use a break from it.

Chanting and centering chopping wood and carrying water.

Stepping back and trying to see where i may be adding problems and taking it slow.

These kidney stones and pain are hard for me to see through, bi polar is going wild with the new meds I am on now,

well one foot in front of the other.

good orderly direction.

living through the pain, thats all I can do right now.


I hope and wish for all your health

I hope you are all happy and loved

But the Sun came out today, the plants outside budding out, the crocus, daffodils,ranunculus, gladiolas and green is coming out everywhere.

the beautiful garden! so joyful!



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PassTheDoobie

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No matter how humble a person may be, if his wisdom is the least bit greater than yours, you should ask him about the meaning of the sutra. But the people in this evil age are so arrogant, prejudiced, and attached to fame and profit that they are afraid that, should they become the disciple of a humble person or try to learn something from him, they will be looked down upon by others. They never rid themselves of this wrong attitude, so they seem to be destined for the evil paths.

[ The Fourteen Slanders, WND Page 757 ]
 
SoCal Hippy

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"Why doesn't constant trampling defeat the dandelion?

The key to its strength is its long and sturdy root, which extends deep into the earth. The same principle applies to people.

The true victors in life are those who, enduring repeated challenges and setbacks, have sent the roots of their being to such a depth that nothing can shake them."

Daisaku Ikeda
 
SoCal Hippy

SoCal Hippy

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“When Bodhisattva Superior Practices emerged from the earth, did he not emerge dancing?”

(Great Evil and Great Good - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1119)
Selection source: “Kyo no Hosshin”, Seikyo Shimbun, February 22nd 2007
 
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SoCal Hippy

SoCal Hippy

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“Sincere efforts for the sake of others and for kosen-rufu are manifested as good fortune that adorns our own lives. The German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) wrote that only fidelity and faith–sincerity and conviction–make people worthy of esteem.”
SGI Newsletter No. 7122, The New Human Revolution—Vol. 19: Chap. 3, Sunlight 23, translated
 
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PassTheDoobie

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Today there are people who have faith in the Lotus Sutra. The belief of some is like fire while that of others is like water. When the former listen to the teachings, their passion flares up like fire, but as time goes on, they tend to discard their faith. To have faith like water means to believe continuously without ever regressing.

[ The Two Kinds of Faith, WND Page 899 ]
 
SoCal Hippy

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"This I will state. Let the gods forsake me. Let all persecutions assail me. Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law."

The Opening of the Eyes - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 280)
Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin"
 
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PassTheDoobie

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"I will be the pillar of Japan. I will be the eyes of Japan. I will be the great ship of Japan. This is my vow, and I will never forsake it!"

(The Opening of the Eyes - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 280) Selection source: Soka Gakkai President Harada's encouragement, Seikyo Shimbun, February 17th, 2007
 
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