Have you ever considered what a religion might look like if it didn’t have clergy, rules, and buildings that identify it? Before I ran across Nichiren Buddhism, as practiced in the SGI, the international lay organization, I would have said a religion would have a higher power, a priesthood and rules and rituals that set […]
Problems, Suffering or Opportunity Experienced Nichiren Buddhist practitioners tell you that when you are confronting a problem, you have an opportunity to grow happiness in your life. Some examples would be, a need for housing, a friend who is ill, an issue in a relationship, or a problem at work. That sounds crazy to someone […]
Your life will become much easier when you start chanting about your problems and challenges. I can’t tell you exactly how it works, but when you chant about a problem or an opportunity, then take action, events begin to move you toward your goal in surprising ways, in ways you could never have anticipated. You […]
Do you believe you can direct your life as you wish it, or do you secretly believe that outside forces determine what happens in your life? In the Western world, there is a common belief that something outside of ourselves controls what happens in our lives. You see this when you hear such comments as, […]
When overwhelmed by life, you may feel that everything must be accomplished all at once, and if not, there will be unpleasant consequences. Your mind can go around in circles imagining the worst. Here are some steps you can take to have your life feel more manageable again. Chant First Tap into Your Deeper Wisdom […]
Inside each of you is an Enlightened level of life. At your core exists a beautiful, radiant self, embodying unshakeable happiness, a deep wisdom, compassion, unlimited freedom and enormous vitality. It is called your Buddha Nature. The goal of Buddhism is to bring out the qualities of your Buddha Nature, so you can embody them […]
In the last post I discussed the Ten Worlds so you could have an overview of the different internal life conditions you experience every day. You can see that they range from the lower worlds, which are negative, to the higher more positive worlds. Each of the worlds contains the potentials of all the others, […]
Last week we talked about ten conditions of life, which we experience each day. These are important to us because through chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, we can shift from negativity to positivity. I’ll describe them from the lowest to the highest. The Six Lower Paths Hell – A person feels there is no way out, where living […]
We’ve all had times in our lives when worries tend to overwhelm us. Mentally and emotionally we keep returning to our concerns and going round and round in circles thinking about them. Wouldn’t you like to have a way to stop that? Ten Life States In Buddhism there are ten states of life, which we […]
Have fears kept you from moving forward in some area of your life? This can happen to anyone. In this blog you’ll learn how to overcome the fears that have stopped you. You are the Builder Let’s say you have decided to move forward in an area of your life. The first thing to do […]