Earthly desires in many traditional religions are considered the cause of suffering and obstacles to attaining enlightenment. Eliminating them altogether becomes the goal. Enlightenment, on the other hand, is to attain a vast, expansive state of unshakeable happiness. The two would appear to be polar opposites. In Nichiren Buddhism, when you chant about your problems, […]
Everyone faces problems and obstacles. So what do you do when a tough problem, arises? What’s Your Reaction? Do you throw up your hands and give in, or do you decide to challenge the problem? When you engage with a serious problem, something you aren’t sure you can overcome, you have entered into an invisible […]
If you are living in the life state of Buddhahood, you aren’t different from any other ordinary person. You’re like everyone in that you will continue to have your unique personality and interests and abilities. But other things will be different. You will base your life more of the time on the universal side of […]
The purpose of this post is to give you some idea of where you are heading when you start to practice this Buddhism. Traditional Beliefs People tend to look at statues of a plump Buddha with hands in a meditation position and think that is the Buddha, as if there is only one. Some traditions […]
In the western world you tend to think that you are influenced by conditions outside and separate from yourself. Have you ever heard yourself say any of the following? She made me feel angry, sad, anxious etc My mother wouldn’t let me so He wouldn’t change so I couldn’t…. The economy is bad so I […]
Can a religion that doesn’t have rules and commandments keep practitioners on the straight and narrow? The purpose of Buddhism is to make people free in the most profound sense; its purpose is not to restrict and constrain. This means that in Nichiren Buddhsim as practiced in the SGI, the worldwide lay organization, there are […]
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 […]
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, […]