Do you feel practicing more bring more devils? I say RETHINK!!!

Fellow members say, i am practicing hard so problems are coming and i am feeling low, well i would say they are wrong. You know why? When i practice hard it shouldn't be only about doing extra but it should be about enjoy that effort feeling the joy of having this practice, the feeling of pure gratitude. Problem is not when you practice hard, problem is when we leave holes such as lack of gratitude, lack of feeling joy and lack of kosen rufu spirit of being happy and spreading this happiness with others that let the devils seep in. Devils come when we lack in keeping our high life condition, for boddhisattva a problem is an opportunity to grow and prove the power of law. 

When i practice more, i make sure i chant to feel the joy of chanting and doing these activities. Not only this i feel practicing harder is not bringing problems rather it is our determination to grow in our life that we encounter more opportunities to do some more human revolution. Practicing more can only bring you more fortune in your life.

Well, be careful as fortune is not same as being lucky. At some point we all have weighed our life in terms of being lucky or unlucky. I have personally seen myself as the most unlucky person but last night while being on the Byakuren duty i got an answer and wisdom to put all my worried to an end. 

Difference between "Fortune" vs. "Good luck"

Well good luck can be like winning a lottery or so but fortune is something we all can have. Even being unlucky person myself, in past year i have personally acknowledged that i have been very fortunate in my life at different levels from financial to relationship karma or so on despite it was one of hardest year i have survived. 

Ques: How do we accumulate good fortune?

Good fortune comes with profound change in my inner state of life. When i do my human revolution and change my negative tendencies like discipline life and working hard, i immediately feel a difference in my life state and so in my environment. When we chant, we put good causes in our life and when we put that daimoku into action in our life, it turns into fortune. 

Do you realise that all our problems are actually due to lack of action? I know you applied for 100 jobs but maybe you were so soaked in finding job that you forgot that meanwhile you get that job you need to make best of your time. One can do additional courses to improve one's resume or so on. Once can also use this time to do more in gakkai as once you get the job, you won't have liberty to do so much.

Happy chanting

Stay happy amidst of hardships - Kosen rufu Vacation

Last December, i took off for a vacation of 3 weeks spent on another corner of the world. I went to visit someone who has played a huge role in my human revolution for past year and a half. While the world thought, how lucky i am for finally going away for vacations, i knew it was just another chapter of my own human revolution. Like i sensed, it turned out that each day was like a new opportunity to use my negative tendencies and turn all poison into medicine. Easier said than done, i started my trip with a perfect realm of calmness and peace. Starting days went by trying to follow the rhythm of this person´s life while my soul was craving for gakkai activities and my rigorous daimoku and study. Due to winter break, center was closed while i met a dear friend and a fellow member with a senior leader from there. That evening, i knew for me happiness means kosen rufu, it means to spread the law and the teachings.

While it was just one week reaction to lack of activities and my rhythm of practice, in second week i was sinking.  While whole world was taking break from gakkai in name of christmas and new year, i was sinking as my mind went in to a vicious circle of negative thoughts and pressure of my career. Due to sitting alone with my thoughts it was getting worse despite my chanting. (Learning: it is not daimoku itself that helps us with breakthrough, it is a pure consistent rhythm of daimoku and constant actions in faith and life that keeps us going forward)

With my inner wisdom, i chanted to be able to make this poison into medicine and suddenly, my fellow member friend gave me a green light for activities. It was a surge of joy for me that eventually i did 3 home visits, 1 meeting in kaikan and 2 meetings to meet as many members as i could. My inner joy knew no bounds and the journey for those 6 days gave me a huge opportunity to share my experiences and learnings from past years of practice. I was fortunate that i could make a difference, could bring members together, i could revive their spirit above all i could share this practice in shakubuku spirit with 2 new persons while one did chant and met senior leader as well. I can say, i could literally live up to the words of Ikeda sensei as he says, ¨Whenever and wherever we carry out activities, we must never forget to be guided by the shakubuku spirit - the spirit to share Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with others. This is the way of genuine disciples of great teachers of shakubuku.¨ (Ref: The teachings for victory 1., Pg 20., Letter from Sado Lecture 1)

Despite being in similar situation, with work stress and human revolution of being where i was with new people and all, i found my shortcut to happiness through Gakkai. I am at cloud 9 as i say for me Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and responsibilities as a boddhisattva in gakkai and outside are above my happiness and sadness. 

P.S Dedicated to the Gakkai of Bellingham, Washington 

Personal experience on relationship karma

With a perfect timing of a fellow member´s blog on President Ikeda's Guidance on Marriage (Ref: http://eagle-peak.blogspot.com.es/2017/01/president-ikedas-guidance-on-marriage.html) , here i am with a personal experience in complete accord with it.

Guidance:

Experience:

From a history of really hardcore shitty relationships with no respect to respectful on outside and finally, practice has brought me to a level of respectful, compassionate, supportive, someone proud of me and so much more in my fortune for relationship karma. And this whole chain of transformation started with practice and on going with same. I will keep my focus with pointers down below to reflect how this guidance is apt and practical for relationships.

1. ¨together with their sights set on lofty goal and strive for true happiness¨ - for now i am only one practicing in my scenario yet working together as a couple is crucial. Working together like a musical rhythm is rare to me and i rarely see this quality in couples these days expect mature couples. When sensei talks about love or relationships or marriage, his stress is always on being together but not being clingy. He is talking about working together to grow in our own lives while being there for each other and growing together. I witnessed it personally in a day to day life while we were working on our own stuff, sharing nothing in that moment more than sitting in same room. Not having to do things together all the time or the need to talk constantly does reflect a pure understanding and the comfort one has with other person which is surely a sign of healthy relationship. With taking all this into account, i have learnt and witnessed how growing together can define understanding, learning about each other, finding a way to meet other half way at different aspects of life.

2. ¨Patience is necessary for a couple to live together¨ - While new couples are either all blinded in love with unlimited excitement look at the partner with all being perfect and magical, feeling zero gravity, whereas I met him after a long wait of a year and half yet we were no close to honeymoon phase rather i found myself living a life of comfort that comes after years of togetherness. Such calmness, patience in our daily routine with a feeling of coming to one´s home. Some moments were about one person cooking and other watching while we sat to eat in silence, other days listening to music and having conversation. Some days were like a boring married life others filled with my anxiety while he kept patience and help me ease it while it eventually passed. Being together for  24 x 7 will usually be crazy whereas i kept patience when i was filled with frustration or at least tried my best to keep my mouth shut and his patience to deal with me created a perfect balance that made us not only come together as one but grow on daily basis. 

As an individual with a hardcore relationship karma either with love or friend for my whole life, i must share this. If one is in rhythm with mystic law and we trust the lotus sutra strategy more than our own mind strategies to meet our kosen rufu partners, one will only move forward with transforming our karma and building our own ideal relationships with our own ideal partners. Our relationships will have flaws yet the flaws that only add to the beauty like the holes on the moon. You will have rough days or fights but as long as you are willing to share the weight together and wake up another day with determination to work further to lighten that weight, there is no way you won´t be happy. Happy couples are happy as they grow together through all the good and bad, their together doesn't have to be same in words or opinion but just having each other´s back is sometimes is all that is required.

Happy chanting

An ode to 2016

It was a long year even though it killed me nearly twice by making each day like a deathbed still it will always be better than 2017 for now.

I lost my closest friends and i am left with not anger but just missing pieces of who i was. One showed me love and other gave me endless laughter.

I gained people´s trust, many came and many left but i could walk hand in hand with so many people that even today they thank me. Funny part is they thank me for being human and that´s an irony.

I survived through storms but who knew that my 2017 start will be like each minute is a dark hole. No wonder 2016 was long and hard yet it was easier than today.

I continued the journey of love and it is an actual proof of growth of me as an individual and him being persistent in actions.

Above all it was an year with so much to remember from sadness to happiness, so much to talk about yet so much to be left in silence.

This too shall pass.

I grew as who i am and today i am a person with no regrets or any grudges. I grew as i let my silence maintain the peace in moments of argument. I grew as i woke up without feeling the weight of fights from night before. I grew as i learnt from my mistakes and did better next time. I saw life, i saw death and i saw another sunrise.

-KPK