Practice Makes Perfect Sense

03 Feb 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , ,

Practice Makes PerfectFor me, my Buddhist Practice is a way of life. A routine that I go through every day, Gongyo, Daimoku, even 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 raise our life-energy levels …
  • To chant for certain outcomes …
  • To move us along the road to Buddhahood …
  • To give a stable anchor in our lives …

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

As a relative 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 when I saw results, 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 working wonders and I think the World would be a better place if more people were to discover those wonders.

A Lifetime’s Goal

29 Jan 2014 4 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Buddhahood In This LifetimeOften we hear about the different attitudes of religious doctrine around the world, some we are happy to embrace, others we find unsettling. But whatever the doctrine, religion must teach us an ‘attitude to life’.

To live a life of true human dignity is certainly difficult. Life is change, it is continuous change. Nothing is constant. The  four sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death are an eternal theme that no one can escape.

Amid harsh reality, people yearn from the depths of their beings, to live with dignity, for their lives to have meaning, and they make efforts towards that end. The product of these human yearnings, these prayers, is religion. Religion was born from prayer.

What is Nichiren’s response to these prayers of human beings? What attitude towards life does he teach? The answer, in short, is the principle of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime through continued practice.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

A Question Of Purity

27 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

MirrorsNichiren said,

“If the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land.

There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds. It is the same with a Buddha and an ordinary being.

While deluded, one is called an ordinary being, but when enlightened, one is called a Buddha. This is similar to a tarnished mirror that will shine like a jewel when polished.”

We can all purify our minds, follow the path to enlightenment and strive towards Buddhahood.

Get polishing those mirrors folks!

New Shoots

16 Jan 2014 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Two roads diverged in a yellow woodFunny how Nichiren Buddhism, and the principle of Cause and Effect, keeps proving itself over and over again.

Having decided to take a completely different tack, career wise, once my time at Stanley Gibbons is over, you will know that I’ve already started my teacher training.

Giving up 40 years of IT experience, for a new, though exciting new path is, on the face of it, a bit of a gamble. But just as I should have expected, causes put in place some little while back are just now beginning to take effect, and opportunities with amazing possibilities are already starting to make themselves known.

Mulling it all over and over in my mind, knowing that whichever way things turn out, I will never know whether it was for the best, reminded me of the poem by Robert Frost.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could; To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

Chants Of A Lifetime

04 Jan 2014 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Buddhahood In This LifetimeNichiren Buddhists believe that, not only does everyone have the World of Buddhahood within them, but that it can be achieved within this lifetime.

Think about that, everyone you know has the potential to reach Buddhahood, your family, friends, work colleagues, everyone. And not only those people you like, but those you don’t like so much too.

But how do we achieve this state of Buddhahood? The Daishonin had this to say …

“When deluded, one is called an ordinary being, but when enlightened, one is called a Buddha.  This is similar to a tarnished mirror, that will shine like a jewel when polished.

A mind now clouded by the illusions of the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but when polished, it is sure it become like a clear mirror, reflecting the essential nature of phenomena, and the true aspect of reality.

Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.”

So there it is, such a simple Practice, so easy to learn, that when applied with faith and diligence, will allow us to reveal the Buddha in each and every one of us.

One Hundred Per Cent

29 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

One Hundred Per CentThe true victors in life are those who, having endured repeated challenges and setbacks, have sent the roots of their spiritual being to such a depth, that nothing can ever shake them loose.

By practicing Nichiren Buddhism, with all our heart and mind, on a daily basis, can allow us to grow our own spiritual roots to a great depth. Whilst our practice takes us along the road to enlightenment, this is a powerful side-effect that makes us able to defeat anything that life throws at us.

The Hidden Gems Of Buddhist Teachings

20 Dec 2013 3 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

The Hidden Gems Of Buddhist TeachingsOne of the greatest joys in writing my blog is passing on the good news of Buddhism, this is a parable about the rich man, the poor man and the hidden gem …

A poor man visits a rich friend, gets drunk, and passes out.

The rich man, who has to leave on business, gives his poor man a priceless gem, which he secretly sews into the lining of his friend’s clothes.

When the poor man comes to, he resumes his life as a vagrant, unaware of the treasure he received during his blackout.

Later, he meets the rich man again, who shows him where the gem is concealed, and the poor man realizes his wealth.

Passing on the ideas and ideals behind Buddhist teachings can be likened to sewing a hidden gem into the lining of a friends clothes. Discovering the gem, even years later, can transform a poor life into one of untold enlightened riches.

NMRK – The Power To Soar

11 Dec 2013 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Everything From NothingThere is the temptation, whilst continuing to practice, to wonder whether we will ever become a Buddha or doubt whether Buddhahood even resides within us. With his usual wisdom, Nichiren showed us the truth of the matter in his simple words.

“A bird’s egg contains nothing but liquid, yet by itself this develops into a beak, two eyes, and all the other parts, and the bird soars into the sky.

We, too, are the eggs of ignorance, which are pitiful things, but when nurtured by the chanting of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, which is like the warmth of the mother bird, we develop the beak of the thirty-two features and the feathers of the eighty characteristics and are free to soar into the skies of the true aspect of all phenomena and the reality of all things.”

~ Nichiren Daishonin

Buddhahood In This Lifetime?

05 Dec 2013 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Buddhahood in this lifetime?Religion must teach us an “attitude to life”. To live a life of true human dignity is certainly difficult.

Life is change; it is continuous change. Nothing is constant. The four sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death are an eternal theme that no one can escape.

Amid harsh reality, people yearn from the depths of their beings to live with dignity and for their lives to have meaning, and they make efforts toward that end. The product of these human yearnings, these prayers, is religion. Religion was born from prayer.

What is Nichiren’s response to these prayers of human beings? What attitude toward life does he teach? The answer, in short, is the principle of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

What is needed to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime? Wisdom, Courage and Compassion and that comes from sustained, diligent practice.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

A Perfect Fit

21 Nov 2013 5 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

Nichiren BuddhismSo many of the World Religions base their beliefs on a God, a Supreme Being, a Creator or an Entity whose existence is the focus of the religion’s belief.

As a confirmed Atheist, that focus never sat comfortably in my psyche. I don’t think anyone really believes in a white haired old man sitting in the clouds these days, but there are millions of people who base their faith on a Being whose existence cannot be proven. In fact, many religions actively seek to dissuade followers from even trying to prove that existence.

I was schooled in the Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology as well as Psychology, and those sciences demand proof for each and every hypothesis. So when I stumbled, and that is the right way to describe it, upon Nichiren Buddhism, I was overjoyed to find that there was no supreme being and that every part of Practice demands we examine the results of that Practice as proof of it’s validity.

Nichiren Daishonin said that we should seek proof of the effectiveness of our Practice in the results it brings. He also says that if the results do not support the practice, that we should desist.

I don’t want anyone to think that I am putting Nichiren Buddhism above or before any other religion, I am only saying that, for me, it fits my thinking and for me, it works. Although I have been practicing for a little while now, I am still learning new things every day, and the results have been amazing so the proof is there for me, and others to see.

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