A Little Further Along The Road

15 May 2013 4 Comments

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

Buddhist PracticeMy 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.

Keep On Keeping On

10 Dec 2011 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , ,

Grit Your TeethIt may be the weekend, but that doesn’t mean that we can take our foot off the software support pedal. As with most websites, our traffic is higher in the evenings and at the weekends, when people who work all week have the time to surf the web.

Fortunately, the winter weather makes it less disappointing to be stuck indoors and be tied to the PC. There is a real feeling of satisfaction in resolving issues for our clients. It’s also nice to get the ‘thank you’ emails dropping into my inbox as people appreciate that we are still working out of core hours.

There was a point earlier in the week, when the emails were coming in faster than we could respond to them. A real feeling that we were losing the battle, baling as fast as we could, with the water still rising fast. But the new version of the product has reversed the trend, with people writing in to thank us for our efforts and even offering to help.

So the moral of the story is to keep your head, keep on keeping on, and your efforts will see you through in the end. Naturally, this applies to all aspects of life, not just to software projects, so keep your chin up, grit your teeth and press on regardless, knowing that good things will come out of it in the end.