Go, Go, Go

21 Oct 2011 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Time FliesToday has just been one of those days.

Up at a crazy time in order to get to my first ever spinning class at the health club in Ringwood, quick shower and change and dash to work for 8:30, one thing after another all day, a commando style sortie into Ringwood high street at lunchtime, back on the wheel all afternoon, stuck in mega traffic on the way back home, loads to do for my trip to Bristol tomorrow … and finally it’s pretty much done … but so is the day …

Thank heavens for mobile chanting, it raises the life-state and calms the mind when you are up against it, stuck in the traffic, when you’d rather be somewhere else.

Exploring Life

08 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Exploring LifeEvery day can be an adventure into the unknown. If we allow ourselves to go with the flow of events, we can find ourselves in new situations, with new challenges. Making assumptions about where life will take us, to expect the mundane, the ordinary, the usual, may mean that we walk straight past the very opportunity we need to take our lives in a completely different and exciting direction.

The belief taught in the Lotus Sutra provides no easy answers, no escape route from the difficulties of human life. In fact it firmly rejects such easy answers, and instead implores us to take up the two tools for exploring life. The use of those tools, belief and understanding, allows us to continually challenge, and work to perfect, ourselves. When combined with the practice of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, they also provide us with the wisdom, courage and compassion and the energy to do just that.

Back In The Groove

03 Oct 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Batteries Fully ChargedHaving had a nice long weekend, with beautiful weather and plenty of time for chanting, had left me well rested and ready for the start of a new week. It’s well documented that I’m allergic to Mondays, they are always busy with the build up of orders, questions and issues from the weekend. But with my batteries fully charged I was ready to meet the challenge head on.

With all the changes to the website, the business systems and the company, it’s a pretty rare occurrence to have the whole team in the office at one time, but today was one of those times. We have a great team, we all get on and we work well together, and as they say, a problem shared is a problem halved, so the day went rather well.

I find that taking to our customers, in order to resolve their queries and issues, much easier and pleasant than trying to do it via email. So today I got to speak to some very nice people, all of whom seemed to appreciate the personal touch of a phone call. We can never please everybody all the time, but leaving them feeling that we really care at least makes things a little better.

So a good day, some nice comments about yesterday’s post and photo and I’m feeling good about taking on the world.

Still Holding Our Breath

29 Sep 2011 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Charlotte and OliverThe initial tests Charlotte has had have come back with very good results, but they want to do more to find out why she feels a bit wobbly now and then. In my mind, it’s hardly surprising seeing as she in in the middle of a course of aggressive chemotherapy and is looking after three little boys at the same time.

Having said that, it is important that they do the tests properly and in-depth, and whilst Charlotte is pining to be back with her family, it’s worth having the patience to let them do that.

I’m confident that she is in the right place to get the test and treatment that she needs, but until we get the full picture, I am chanting for a positive outcome and we are all still holding our breath.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Next Stop Buddhahood

12 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

BuddhahoodNichiren states:

“If there are a hundred or a thousand people who uphold this sutra, without a single exception all one hundred or one thousand of them will become Buddhas.”

All people can attain Buddhahood, everyone, without exception, can win in his or her own unique way and achieve supreme happiness.

This is the greatness of the Mystic Law

More Than Precious

30 Aug 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

More Than PreciousSometimes we get a really sharp reminder about what is truly precious in life. Baby Oliver is being kept in hospital with a very high temperature. Tests indicate that it is not meningitis, but such a condition, in such a young baby is cause for concern.

In the midst of Charlotte’s chemotherapy, this just feels like one more challenge to add to the list, but it’s important that I, we, all stay positive and strong.

For me, that involves a lot of chanting, prayer and keeping my focus on the things that are more than precious in life and being there if I’m needed.

I must remember, poison into medicine. Nam myoho renge kyo.

Awakening Our Intrinsic Value

14 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Intrinsic ValueOne way to overcome our tendency to compare ourselves with others is through learning how to praise ourselves for our unique, intrinsic value.

A common concern about self-praise is that it may cause arrogance, probably due to our Judeo-Christian tradition in which self-humiliation is often regarded as a necessary virtue to praise God, while self-praise is deemed as a sign of pride, which is one of the seven deadly sins. It should be noted, however, that arrogance is a defensive posture caused by a tendency to assume a sense of superiority or inferiority by comparing oneself with others. Therefore, so long as we praise ourselves solely for who we are and for our innate Buddhahood, we will never become arrogant, though we may at times seem arrogant to arrogant people.

Indeed, the greatest way to praise ourselves is prayer that sincerely affirms our supreme potential as the Daishonin states, When you chant Myoho and recite Renge, you must summon up deep faith that Myoho-renge-kyo is your life itself (WND, 3).

As we praise ourselves in this way, we will grow confident yet humble because we start to recognize the same quality of Buddhahood in others as well. Appreciation for oneself leads to appreciation for others, which further strengthens self-esteem. The way we see ourselves is not only the way we live our lives, but also the way we relate to others.

(from the November 9, 2001 World Tribune)

Trust Your Own Heart

12 Jul 2011 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Trust Your HeartI heard a rather profound saying tonight, ‘Don’t lie to those who trust you, and don’t trust those who lie to you’. A pretty good piece of advice in my opinion.

So do you trust your own heart? Can you be sure that, at any time of the day or night, you won’t have some damaging thought, say some hurtful thing, or do something you later regret?

As we tread our own path towards Human Revolution we often find that the things we have hiding away in our subconscious suddenly leap out and try to trip us, or make us deviate from our chosen route.

Do not be alarmed, we are all human, we are all flawed and make mistakes. When these things happen, we must be strong, we must absorb the lessons in order that we are stronger next time, and the time after, and the time after that.

Our path is difficult and long, it will not be without setbacks and mistakes, but while we continue to learn we will only get stronger and grow ever nearer our goal.

Be strong, become wiser and chant with all your heart, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Freeing The Caged Bird

10 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Freeing The Caged Bird

There is no such thing as coincidence in Buddhism. I would therefore like to thank Jayne for putting this right under my nose, amongst a number of other good lessons, whether it was intentional or not …

Nichiren writes: “Myoho-renge-kyo is the Buddha nature of all living beings…. The Buddha nature that all these beings possess is called by the name Myoho-renge-kyo” (wnd, 131). Regarding how to manifest one’s innate Buddha nature, Nichiren explains: “When we revere Myoho-renge-kyo inherent in our own life as the object of devotion, the Buddha nature within us is summoned forth and manifested by our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is what is meant by ‘Buddha.’ To illustrate, when a caged bird sings, birds who are flying in the sky are thereby summoned and gather around, and when the birds flying in the sky gather around, the bird in the cage strives to get out. When with our mouths we chant the Mystic Law, our Buddha nature, being summoned, will invariably emerge” (wnd, 887).

In Nichiren’s metaphor, our innate Buddha nature, whose name is Nam myoho renge kyo, is a bird trapped in the cage of ignorance. In other words, our deluded minds create this cage that imprisons our Buddha nature. But when we chant Nam myoho renge kyo to the Gohonzon, which expresses Nichiren’s enlightened life and the potential of all people, our dormant Buddha nature becomes activated.

The singing of the caged bird is our chanting, and the birds flying in the sky are the Buddha nature in our environment, particularly as it is expressed in the Gohonzon. Through our chanting, the Buddha nature within our lives and the Buddha nature inherent in the universe begin their dynamic interaction.

For Nichiren’s metaphor to work, however, it is necessary for the caged bird to recognize the birds in the sky as being its own kind. In other words, when we pray to the Gohonzon, rather than thinking of it as an external power or deity, we must think of it as the mirror image of our own Buddha nature. If the caged bird thinks of itself as an elephant, it is unlikely to give the slightest thought to flying.

Nichiren Buddhism clarifies that the teaching of the Buddha nature is a teaching of faith and practice. All people have it, but not many can believe in it. Furthermore, some of those who believe in their Buddha nature may not practice to manifest it, erroneously thinking-I’m already a Buddha, so I don’t have to do anything. One’s faith in the Buddha nature must be expressed in one’s actions to manifest it.

Those who see the universal Buddha nature of oneself and others, and work to awaken it in all people are already Buddhas, for such actions belong to none other than a Buddha. As we cultivate our inherent Buddha nature through our conviction and actions to manifest it no matter our circumstances, we begin to see it and experience it. In our everyday lives, seeing may be believing. But in the world of Buddhism, believing in the Buddha nature is the first step toward seeing it.

(from Living Buddhism – February 2005)

Practice Makes Perfect Days

29 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

SunshineSome days are fantastic aren’t they? When there are potential problems, when you have doubts about how things might go with an important meeting, there is one certain cure.

The first thing to do is to pray. From the moment we begin to pray, things start moving. The darker the night, the nearer the dawn. From the moment we chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo with a deep and powerful resolve, the sun begins to rise in our hearts.

Hope, prayer is the sun of hope. To chant each time we face a problem, overcoming it and elevating our life-state as a result, this is the path of changing earthly desires into enlightenment.

Today was just such a day, and chanting helped it all turn out perfectly.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

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