Life crumbles down and we hit
the rock bottom; general problems of relationships, health, financial or
career; life is smooth yet something doesn´t feel right; Nothing makes sense or
interested in knowing the practice & we think let’s give it a try- that´s
how we all end up chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo J
We practice, find members
around us and go to meetings and we don´t give a thought on what is really we
getting into, more than thinking that it is a machine for benefits. These
things are deep may be but yet very important, getting hold of right basics is
important to have a faith like flowing water and not like fire. In starting we
chant and get benefits and slowly and steadily due lack of understanding or
same practicing way day after day makes us slide in faith.
Did you think it was so easy?
Actually honestly speaking it is, all you need is a right foundation. For my
own understanding i like to call this a triangle practice.
Triangle:
Faith, practice and study –pillars of practice
Me, Gohonzon and Sensei- relationship with practice
Wisdom, courage and compassion- essence of practice
Let’s see how we apply these in
daily life, while faith gives us hope, practice helps us grow and study gives a
better perspective towards our daily problems big or small.
On the other hand, the
relationships with Gohonzon and Sensei gives us a clarity and courage to face
our problems.
Wisdom is to look at our daily
problems with a right perspective, courage is to sit down for Daimoku in the
time of problems rather than complaining or feeling hopeless and compassion is
the most important as it help you see others pain with empathy and not
sympathy.
Even though we have all the
right tools in our hand then why we are stuck. In my honest opinion i think we
are not stuck we are still walking the path. It is like learning all these
things at our own pace. Don´t worry, it is a journey not the end that will make
a difference. Something will be learnt fast then some will be learnt through
tough and may be very harsh experiences.
Coming to application of these triangles in our
daily life is like this: Make Gohonzon as a center of our life which means
first thing is Daimoku and then take the actions for the things lying in front
of us. In simply words, Buddhism is about giving our best in our daily life,
this will be the secret to biggest benefits you can ever imagine. When feeling
like ¨Oh my god what i am going to do now, my life is stuck¨ just take a deep
breath and find some courage to sit for Daimoku and have a dialogue with Gohonzon. Go back to sensei´s guidance and the conclusion is keep moving,
conquer your problems step by step. Still feeling anger or fear, trust me it is
natural all that matters is are you going to face it or try to run away.
Running for guidance and still feeling like crap. Chill my dear friends in
faith, we might think we have no hope yet the act of looking for inspiring guidance
and words is the act of saying you still have hope inside your heart. If there
was no hope then why would you even look for something outside? Daily Buddhism
is not letting yourself being sucked in the bag of fear or loss. Buddhism is
not being perfect but giving your best even while knowing your own weaknesses.
Buddhism is walking with your chin up in midst of problems, it is a daily act
of putting up that smile of bodhisattva, not a fake one but a smile that
reflects our life state about we will do it and finally our approach to life
gives hope to people around us that life is worth living even in the series of
shit happening every second. I love concluding this whole with a simple
thought, we all stand in our own battle fields and no one will know how we feel
in our life. Yet we walk with dignity and with an expanded heart to accept
people around us with their own flaws. Accept others and respect them for
fighting their own wars each minute of the life. By doing this we naturally
create value in our daily life. Buddhism is 24*7 J
