The Power of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo How to get Benefits by Practicing 1.Set a clear goal first, chant and take action. This is the formula to get benefits. I am going to talk about the practice by which you cannot get benefit. Surprisingly quite a few members are practicing in this way. The other day I heard a terrible story. A W.D. member having a big problem chanted 10 million daimoku. But the problem was not solved. She was so depressed that she could not get up from bed for three months. What a terrible story it is. Her senior member visited and asked her what was wrong. She said,I chanted very hard, but things seemed not to change. She was chanting, but she did not believe in the Gohonzon. This was the reason why she could not solve the problem. The senior told her, the way you practice is not correct. It is of the disbelief in the Gohonzon. No I have been practicing so hard, she argues. The senior pointed out that she practiced hard only in style. She finally understood what the senior told her and kept crying for 30 minutes in resentment. Then she asked, What should I do? By when and how would you like to solve the problem? You first have to decide thy and start to chant towards that goal. the senior suggested. She started to chant, following the suggestion. She could solve the problem in a week. Her experience manifested that her attitude towards praying had not been correct. Whenever you pray, you have to pray towards certain clear goals. You have to set your mind first and chant. There are some W.D. members who chant 1 million daimoku, but they find themselves depressed at last. Do you know why? Because they actually do not pray. Their goal is only to chant 1 million daimoku. All they care is the number of daimoku they chant. They do not mind the goal they really should aim at. If you do not chant for a certain goal, you cannot get any benefit. When you pray, you have to determine what and by when your wish should come true. If you chant with this attitude, your wishes always will come true. If your wish is vague, it wont come true. If you chant with an easy, unclear attitude, you wont reach the goal. This holds true to our real life. For example, when you want to go to a place by a certain time, you have to make a plan first and take action and then you can arrive at the destination. Determine specifically, like what and by when you must need and chant sincerely towards the goal and take action. This is the formula to get results. 2.Having faith means not having doubt. In order not to have doubt, you should have a lot of experiences of benefits, not experiences of activities. No matter how many experiences of activities you have, if you do not have an experience of benefit, doubt will arise. An empty boat can easily be flipped over by strong wind, but it becomes stable if it is loaded with big stones (experiences of benefit) inside. They can be a bunch of small benefits. Faith without experience is not faith. Experience deepens your faith. Then how do we get many experiences? The answer is to make a determination and then pray and take action. 3.Pray for goals you think impossible. We pray because there is no way to solve our problems. Faith is to pray for something impossible. For the Gohonzon, there is nothing impossible. For us, it is impossible. So we pray. This is faith. If you think even a bit, It may be impossible when you pray, you do not believe in the Gohonzon. This is doubt on the Gohonzon. If you think, I wont make it or It wont happen to me, this will be also doubt on the Gohonzon. If you think I am not good, this will be also doubt on the Gohonzon. I am weak now, so I pray to be strong This is a correct attitude in practice. Since it is impossible, we pray. If it were not impossible, we wouldnt need to chant. Do not use your brain when you chant. Just use your heart. As long as you are using your brain to think of strategies, you cannot change things. 4.Strong determination is essential when praying to produce benefits. I will make it no matter what This kind of strong conviction you have to have when you chant. First you have to determine like I will solve this problem with this practice and then chant. Once you take this attitude, your wish will come true without fail. For example, you want to cross a river, but you cannot find any bridge across it no matter how hard you try to find one. How can you handle this situation? You first determine, I will cross a river no matter what and then pray. I am sure you will soon find a bridge. No matter how far you are wandering to find one, you will not be able to find it. Because no bridge exists. But once you determine, I will cross the river no matter what with chanting, you can do it for sure. This is faith. Chanting does not always equal to praying. W.D. members like to have Daimoku Tozo. Sometimes they chant for 10 hours. But if they chant only with obligation or in style, they will not get any benefits. You have to chant with determination to get benefits. Since your leader tells you that we have Daimoku Tozo, so you go there and chant without thinking any specific goal. You cannot get any result from this kind of attitude basically you also have to chant to the Gohonzon at your place. Even when you chant with others, you have to clear your determination to chant. Chanting itself should not become a aim or goal, or a part of activities. 5.Having faith means to prove the fact that if you try it, you will make it. I often hear someone say, I am old, so. or I am not strong enough to. This is not a correct attitude in practicing. Once you think I am no good, You really become no good. Once you think I cannot do it, your brain issues the order that I cannot do it and your body and mind start working in that direction. In this sense, there are only two ways in life. One is to prove that you did not try, so you could not make it. The other is to prove that you did try, so you could make it. Having faith means to prove that if you try it, you will never fail to make it. I am weak now, so I will chant to the Gohonzon. This is a correct attitude. Your life is not strong enough to overcome the problem, and you are defeated by the karma and losing everything. Once your life becomes strong, you can win everything. Faith exists to make your life strong. It is just like a training of life. 6.To believe in the Gohonzon means to realize that we all possess the Buddha nature, the potential for happiness in our life and to try to make it manifest. Various internal causes and their effects are always present within the depths of human life. The inherent cause activated by the external cause produces an inherent effect. This is the formula of our life? An internal cause is the potential for change. An external cause is an opportunity to change? Therefore an inherent effect is what the internal cause will produce with being activated by the external cause. In this sense, your life never stops seeking for possibility for change. If you are influenced with an evil, you will become weak and ugly. If you are influenced with the good, you will become strong and happy. The supreme condition of the potential is Buddhahood. The Gohonzon is the only external cause that we can manifest our Buddha nature by. To believe in the Gohonzon means to realize that we all possess the Buddha nature, the potential for happiness in our life and to try to make it manifest. All potential for happiness exists in our life. Not anywhere else. Only when you chant to the Gohonzon, you can manifest the strongness of Buddha nature within your life. So when you chant with the determination like I will overcome this illness or I will get well in a month, it is natural for you to make it. Because you are using your innate power. Every cause to change is within your life. You should never determine, I cannot make it. Once you determine so, everything goes to that direction. Everything is up to yourself. Everything is up to your determination. So what you determine and what is in your mind when chanting is very important. If you do not believe that Buddha nature exists in your life, it means you do not believe the Gohonzon. You cannot be happy without the belief of your Buddha nature. Your prayer will never come true with this negative attitude. Believe in the Buddha nature existing within yourself and others and chant with strong, positive determination, and your prayer will come true no matter what. Excerpts of Guidance by Soka Gakkai Vice President Hajime Kawai, 1996
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 06:24:49 +0000