Know What to Do When Not Seeing Benefit?

Buddhism describes nine levels of consciousness, the ninth level being the level which science would describe as pure potentiality and Buddhism would say is the intelligent life force, the Mystic Law. Daisaku Ikeda would describe this invisible level of life as follows:

“In the innermost depths of all beings, there is the primal life-force and it causes living beings to live. This same force supports inorganic matter and works it into the harmonies and rhythms of the great cosmic existence.” This all-sustaining force is called the Mystic Law.
When this force manifests itself in the physical world it appears as laws governing the inorganic world….” Similarly the life force constructs the world of spirit, creates intelligence, gives birth to conscience, gives force to urges and instincts and thus creates all variations of mental and spiritual activity. It is called God in other religions but it is not a force outside the cosmos but is the cosmos itself”
Life An Enigma, a Precious Jewel, Ikeda, p. 25

This is what we connect with when we chant and what we are at our core. This consciousness, this intelligent life looks out of our eyes. Our incredible human mind has the same creative and generative characteristics as it does, as we are one with it.

Since we are creating our lives at every instant, it is important that we understand how our minds work.
The Mystic Law creates the laws which support the universe. One of these is the law of cause and effect. This law is completely impartial and impersonal. It just is. We have the free will to use it to create what we want, and also to create what we don’t want. It works very much like the law of mathematics. We can use it to come up with a correct answer or a wrong answer. And no ritual or pleas will make a difference. We just need to use the law correctly, to work with the universe the way it works. When we try to work with it the way we work, we get into trouble.
Now let’s look at the law of cause and effect and how to use it to be successful in creating what we want.
This level of consciousness brings into our experience what we believe to be true. If you would change the circumstances of your life, you must change your beliefs.

Everything you are experiencing in your world, you have either consciously or unconsciously brought into your experience. Every negative or positive experience was produced by first giving attention and feeling to it.
Fortunately, what you created through the law of cause and effect you can unmake. Your responsibility is to impress upon your mind the change you wish to express.
The 9th level of consciousness works in the eternal now. Everything which has ever been created or is going to be already exists at this level. When you chant, imagining with feeling what you would experience when you achieve your goal, you trigger its projection into your physical world. So when you set a goal, know that what you want already exists and you will bring it into your world by the belief you already have it.

Even though in the eternal now your goal already exists, events appear in a time sequence in our three-dimensional world. And while the event is still invisible it is our responsibility to maintain our faith that it has already happened. It is also our responsibility watch our internal dialogue to ensure that it conforms with what you have imagined. So how do you do this?

Determine what you want to have happen. In other words set the goal. Feel and see the end result you desire. Have an image which says to you, I have already gotten this. For example, let’s say you want a promotion. Your image might be your friends congratulating you on the promotion. You feeling would be excitement at having gotten it. Or say you want a new car. Imagine yourself driving it out of the lot for the first time. Feel how happy you are you have it. Smell the new smell, enjoy the wind in your face. Make the image as real as possible. Use all your senses.

Make a decision it is going to happen no matter what.

Be persistent. We are projecting to the universe all the time. Repeat your imagined result each night before you fall asleep, when you chant, and during the day when you think of it.

If you need other people to bring your goal about, they will be drawn in according to your imagination. If you need to take an action it will come about normally and naturally. You don’t need to worry about it and ‘help’ it.

Take action on the ideas that come to you, even though they may not seem to make sense. For example a friend of mine was looking for a full time job. A call came from a part time agency. She ignored it. When they called again which was highly unusual, it turned out they had the perfect full-time job for her. Here is the experience of another woman, who was looking for a job. She wasn’t having any success in finding a job that week but kept getting the idea that she should go to a potluck. Since it was a Friday evening and there was nothing more she could do in the job hunt, she went to the potluck. Since she was late there was only one empty chair in the room, right next to a gentleman who had the perfect job for her.

Even though in the eternal now your goal is already accomplished, in the three-dimensional world events appear in a time sequence. During that time, it is important that you are internally talking to yourself in ways that conforms and supports the goal you are imaging.
Be observant. Notice what you are thinking. Since your thought produce your feelings, if you find yourself being anxious, worried, depressed etc. you know your thoughts have gone off track and are not conforming to what you want. As Ikeda says,

“If you practice faith while doubting its effects, you will get results that are at best, unsatisfactory.” My dear Friends in America, pg 99

For example if you want a better job, you can’t be thinking “My boss won’t give me a recommendation.’ Or, I am too old, too young, don’t have the experience etc.” These inner conversations can negate what you are imaging as your goal. So revise those thoughts to conform with what you wish. For example instead of thinking someone else will be hired, start imagining you are being congratulated by your future
employer or you are reading the letter of acceptance. Project what you want to have happen.

Revising what you’ve been thinking in the past changes the future. For example an impatient man going through check-out lines was thinking, “I always have to wait.” And that’s exactly what was happening. People in front of him had digital troubles or problems checking out and he had to wait. Knowing something about the power of his beliefs, he realized one day that he needed to change his thinking. Because what you believe with feeling is what manifests in your life.

He changed his belief, to “I never have to wait,” even though his senses told him something different. You must disregard the evidence of your senses as it pertains to any undesirable condition in your life, and start projecting what you want to have happen. Shortly thereafter everything started to move smoothly with no glitches.
You don’t want to dig up the seed of what you are trying to produce by being anxious about how it will be accomplished. Instead, relax and let go. Have the confidence that that divine consciousness within knows exactly how to bring your goal about. After all it created all of the phenemonal world. When you have doubts refocus on what you want and be confident it is already done. As Daisaku Ikeda says,

“While controlling your mind, which is at once both extremely subtle and solemnly profound, you should strive to elevate your faith with freshness ands vigor. When you do so, both your life and your surroundings will open wide before you, and every action you take will become a source of benefit. Understanding the subtle workings of one’s mind is the key to faith and to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.”
My Dear Friends in America, p. 99

In Summary:
First: Set your goal and clearly imagine it accomplished.
Second: Make a decision it is going to happen, no matter what.
Third: Be Persistent
Fourth: Take action on ideas that come to you.
Fifth: Talk internally to yourself in ways that conform to the goal you are imagining
Sixth: Relax and let go.

Comments: Thank you for your ideas questions and comments. And I’ll see you the first Thursday of next month.