Goals Develop Faith
When you are new, you may be encouraged to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for goal that is a stretch, something you don’t really believe you can achieve.
One example. A member might suggest you chant for the money to attend a big event across country that you have wanted to attend but didn’t think you could afford. He would encourage you to take the actions necessary to get there on faith, such as signing up when you still don’t have the resources to buy plane tickets. This is called stepping out on faith. When you achieve a concrete goal such as this one, you will have had the experience of creating what you need through using the practice.
This is an obvious goal. There might be others such as chanting to overcome a problem with anger, or to resolve the difficulties in a relationship.
Why would a more experienced practitioner suggest this? Because they know that when you chant and achieve your goal, you will have taken a big step in the development of faith. Then you can use your faith to move forward in other areas of your life. I’m sure many of you have had experiences doing this. I hope you’ll share one.
Let’s see how Sally did this in the following experience.
Sally’s Experience
Sally owned her own home and her house badly needed a roof. There was a problem in getting the roof as she didn’t have the money to pay for it. Sally was wheelchair-bound due to cerebral palsy and a large amount of her monthly income went for caregivers.
However, having faith, she chanted for a new roof for a number of months, approaching her goal in a general way. Nothing happened. Feeling more pressure as the rainy season approached, she modified how she chanted about her problem. She envisioned a good roof on the house and began to chant with focus and the determination that this goal was going to be achieved.
Not long after, she casually mentioned the fact that she needed a roof to a friend of hers and didn’t think anything further about it. About a month later a member of her friend’s church, a coach in the local high school, appeared at her door.
“I can put a new roof on your house using students from my wrestling team. You won’t have to pay for labor but you will still need to pay for materials,” he said.
Sally was thrilled. “I will have to do some creative thinking, since I don’t have the money for materials right now.” She continued to chant for a new roof and investigated the possibility of borrowing money.
Unexpectedly, a couple of weeks later, the coach knocked at her door again. “We are going to put the roof on this weekend,” he announced.
“What about the materials?” Sally asked.
“A roofing company has donated the roofing supplies out of materials returned to the company that are to be recycled, so it won’t cost either you or the company anything.”
Two days later his wrestling team appeared, and in eight hours the old roof was torn off and the new roof nailed on.
Getting the roof was important, but the biggest benefit of that experience was that Sally came to understand that she could manifest what she needed in ways she could never have imagined, through her connection with the Mystic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Faith Develops Step by Step
You aren’t asked to believe anything when you begin the practice. Then you are encouraged to pick a goal and chant for it for ninety days and see what happens. The more experienced members know that you will prove to yourself that the practice works, thereby taking the first small step in developing faith.
As you continue to progress, you’ll take on bigger challenges as your faith develops. You’ll become confident that your latest endeavor will work out, even if you don’t know how. Somehow you know that even if you leap over the abyss, you will land safely. You will have developed faith through the practice of chanting and achieving one goal after another.
Join the Conversation
Today’s question: Can you share an experience where you developed your faith through chanting for a goal?