The Search For Enlightenment

My Buddhist Practice has become, over the years, my way of life. The routine of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and of prayer, that I go through every day, a routine that also involves me writing this blog. But routine is also another word for boring, mundane or even hum-drum, so it’s important to keep in mind why we Practice.

We Practice for several reasons …

• To give a stable anchor to our lives …

• To raise our life-energy levels …

• To chant for certain outcomes …

• To move us along the road towards Buddhahood …

and there are many others, often different for every individual.

As a mere novice, I find that I can learn a little more each day Let’s face it, Buddhism has been around for well over two thousand years, so there’s plenty to learn about. I can improve or seek to perfect my Practice and to maintain a more focussed attention to the subject of my chanting. I look forward to the feeling I get during and after Gongyo. I often find that I am quite warm when I finish chanting and in a really good mood, despite any problems I am facing.

I never cease to be amazed by the effectiveness of chanting either. To start with, the word coincidence came into my mind to explain the results I saw, but not any more. But I do get surprised by the way the Universe solves the problems with which I have asked it to help. Not always the way I expected, and often in better, more subtle ways than I could have ever imagined.

So my Practice is a pleasure, not a chore. It’s something I enjoy and never something I feel I have to do. As Nichiren Daishonin said, ‘If you practice something, you must test it’s validity with the results you see’. In other words, if it doesn’t work, stop doing it. For me, it is still working wonders almost daily, and I truly believe the World would be a better place if more people were to discover those wonders.