How do I chant?
What should I think about?
I know I shouldn't beg, but should I demand or expect or ask?
I think we all have asked these questions. I have heard many different answers.
Some people make affirmations - "I will get this job!"
Some people visualize what they want - i.e. imagining a tumor shrinking.
Still others just think "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo"
I have done all three of these and still have trouble figuring out how to chant. Then Sunday at a meeting, a newer member gave an experience about how she chanted. She decided she would use a method I haven't heard before:
Make a very specific determination which includes very specific results.
For example, let's say you wanted a new job. You have chanted to find the best job and have applied or interviewed. Now you make a very specific result - I will get the job, I will receive the call at this time, I will start on this date, it will pay this much and have these benefits. When you chant, you have a very specific goal in mind.
I like this idea. Monday night when I was chanting, I came up with my own very specific goal. I owe my dad some money and I just can't seem to get far enough ahead to pay him back. My very specific goal is that I will be able to pay him back next Wednesday and the money cannot come from my business. It has to come from somewhere else. Where? I have no idea, but that's what is "mystical" (see Joe Isuzu's latest blog) about this practice. I believe, because of my past experience, that this will happen if I chant for it. That's not magical thinking (see Rev. Greg's blogs), it is experience. Our experiences with this practice lead to our faith.
Damn! I just got a phone call, one of our big printers went down, I got off on a discussion about Straw Man and Red Herring and several people asked me questions. I have no idea what I was going to say next. Maybe someone else can wrap this up for me.
I think you are all forgetting why Nichiren had people chant. During his day people were reciting other Sutra's and were attached to other Buddha's, so he had them stop reciting those Sutra's, and to start chanting the Lotus Sutra and Myoho Renge Kyo to realize the truth of the Lotus Sutra. He was fighting the attachments to the established Sects of Buddhism that he felt were destroying Japan, and in his mind, having people chant would reverse this process and restore peace to Japan. The concept of what should I think about is an American sales job because we didn't have the same set of circumstances. So, chanting turned into an attachment or ritual, a human tool to acquire harmony, peace, or piece of something, nevertheless the translation was either intentionally or not intentionally mangled. There is absolutely nothing at all in the Lotus Sutra to back up or give any validly to the practice of chanting words to get a result of any kind. The Sutra says you already have Buddha Nature, everything you do, you do as a person with Buddha Nature because of ichinen sanzen explained in the sutra. If you didn't already have Buddha Nature, you could not become a Buddha. Chanting words will do nothing.
Maltz
Posted by: Bruce Maltz at March 20, 2008 01:16 PM
Patrick,we all make mistakes. You, about Bonno Soku Bodai being inscribed on the Gohonzon and I for asserting that the Fudo and Aizen representing Bono Soku Bodai and Shoji Soku Nehan were only Taisekaji doctrines. Now, we can sit upright and ponder the ultimate reality and our sins will melt like frost and dew. As far as my assertions about the SGI, maybe these too are mistaken. If you run away, you will never be able to prove to me that I am mistaken.
Mark
Posted by: Markrogow at March 12, 2008 03:20 AMMichael & Mark,
Consider it a promise.
Your FWP lacks the ability of dialogue.
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick at March 10, 2008 01:06 PMThank you for all your input on this subject. I have read all your responses and have been thinking this over.
For me, I feel that I need to chant for something to happen, at least sometimes. After awhile, it is encouraging to chant for something tangible. I am finding that it takes courage to chant for something specific. It scares me, in a way. Thoughts come into my mind - what if it doesn't happen? If it doesn't happen, what does that mean? What if it does happen? What does that mean? It also takes courage to put yourself out there and tell people what you're doing. Now everyone knows if you succeed or fail. And what does that mean?
I'll find out...
Nancy
Hi Patrick,
You say: "You two 'other' Nichiren practitioners have forgotten the concept of Boddhisattva Never Disparaging as your comments about the SGI are rude and I will no longer respond to your rude comments."
I am not sure who you are exactly referring to - but I assume I am one of them. Was Nichiren being rude and violating the spirit of Bodhisattva Never Despise when he pointed out how the successors of Dengyo Daishi were ruining the Tendai school from the inside by going agains the principles of the Lotus Sutra and Great Master T'ien-t'ai, Great Master Miao-lo, and Great Master Dengyo? It is in the spirit of compassion that we point out the errors of SGI who are now replacing the Lotus Sutra with a personality cult centered on Daisaku Ikeda (well "now" is a relative term, perhaps more accurately "for some time now") and who reduce "actual proof" to crude worldly success (which we are not excluding - but what Nichiren was talking about was hardly restricted to the path of humanity and heaven - just read the gosho).
As for not responding to us anymore: Is that supposed to be a promise or a threat? For my part I'll consider it a promise.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Your observation of praying for other worldly outcomes leaves no 'actual proof' for today, vice your next life.
How will your practice benefit you today vice in your next life?
Nichiren did not teach to practice for then, he taught to practice for now, creating the then, ichinen sanzen.
Nichiren says, If you want to understand the future, observe the present.
Happiness in is today's grasp, not tomorrows.
You two 'other' Nichiren practitioners have forgotten the concept of Boddhisattva Never Disparaging as your comments about the SGI are rude and I will no longer respond to your rude comments.
Have a great day!
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick at March 10, 2008 06:29 AMThe identifcation of the bijas (Sanskrit seed syllables) of Aizen Myo-o and Fudo Myo-o with bonno soku bodai and shoji soku nehan is also taught in Nichiren Shu. I don't believe they are strictly Fuji lineage teachings. We found this identification referenced in one of the Nichiren Shu dictionaries (in Japanese of course). My sensei translated the passage after Dr. Stone told us where to find it. It was an interpretation that came after the time of Nichiren though, but I don't remember in which lineage. Also, though it might have first been written about in Nichiren Buddhist after the time of Nichiren, it very well could have been something taught within the Tendai Shu during or even before Nichiren's time. It would be interesting if someone with the ability could do a study of this and find out when this interpretation started. It makes sense to me though - as long as bonno soku bodai and shoji soku nehan are understood correctly - though they usually are not. They are usually misinterpreted to justify crass materialism and are part of the "What I Was Going to do Anyway" Shu.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Dear Patrick:
According to Taisekaji doctrines, Fudo Myo-o and Aizen Myo, who are on the Gohonzon, REPRESENT, "respectively, the doctrines of 'samsara is nirvana' (shoji soku nehan) and 'the defilements are bodhi' (bonno soku bodai)." On no authentic Nichiren inscribed Gohonzon are the words, "bonno soku bodhi" inscribed, to my knowledge. Maybe on the Nichikan no-honzon? The SGI is a master of distortion of the teachings and therefore its principle are distorted. The Nichikan Gohonzon is inhabited by devils.
Posted by: Mark Rogow at March 9, 2008 12:31 PM
Nichiren states my dear Patrick:
"I, Nichiren, have never prayed for the benefit of this lifetime alone. I pray only for the realization of Buddhahood."(Reply to Shijo Kingo).
The Kempon Hokke exhaults the teachings of the lotus Sutra and Nichiren Daishonin. The SGI debases it.
Mark
Posted by: Mark Rogow at March 9, 2008 11:31 AMMark,
'earthly desires are enlightenment' is inscribed on the Gohonzon.
I said, the SGI teaches 'being happy, just as you are' no material gain that understanding.
Michael,
I noted, being happy just as you are. no becoming a success story.
I pointed out the difference between success and failure.
Nichiren refers to 'observing the mind'; ie meditation; as chanting nam-myoho-remge-kyo to 'his Gohonzon' Nothing wrong in that view.
As I said earlier, Nichiren's teaching is about taking focused action with prayer and nothing mystical about that, just hard work.
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick at March 9, 2008 09:14 AMHow did Nichiren Daishonin live his life? Many a day he had to subsist on grass. Icicles hung down from the beard on his unshaven face. He lived in a hut in a cemetary whose walls and ceilings provided no adequate shelter. He wore deer carcasses of those who died a natural death in the forest. He had to lick his writing brush to soften it from the cold. He often had not enough to eat and he suffered from chronic diarrhea. He retired to a ten foot by twelve foot hut on the top of a cold mountain. He slept on the cold ground. He rarely if ever chanted for material things but the entire SGI propaganda machine talks about actual proof and "arthly desires are equal to enlightnement" (while the real name of this Gosho is the Sufferings of Birth and death is Equal to Nirvana. A more distorted version of the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin and the Lotus Sutra than that taught by the SGI is impossible to find. Is that why SGI members and leaders suffer such severe retribution?
Mark disciple of Shakyamuni and nichiren Daishonin.
Posted by: Mark Rogow at March 8, 2008 10:15 PMHi Patrick,
I just have to say I am not surprised that you didn't understand what I was saying - I was certainly not talking about living in some other ideal world.
You also don't understand what Nichiren or Buddhism in general means by actual proof. It doesn't mean simply worldly success. By that standard Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin were complete and utter failures with more than their share of horrible tragedies and painful circumstances.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Michael and others,
Nichiren says, 'there is no separation between Buddhism and this reality.'
Trying to live outside this reality and it's influences is highly unlikely, and most likely improbable. I do not think separating oneself from reality is what Nichiren teaches.
Nichiren also says, 'Of the three Proofs, Actual Proof is the most important.'
Having a focus on the problem and and a view of the problem gone with a plan to make the problem go away is c how to create actual proof.
Having a specific prayer is the basis for determining actual proof or just plain lucky.
Having a specific plan of action is just as important as chanting nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Actual proof deepens faith in Nichiren's core teaching of being happy, just like you are, without having to change. Rich, Poor, etc.
Nichiren also says, 'develop continuing faith'
I choose to live my life in this reality with all the positive and negative influences, and not try to escape from 'this reality,' but be happy in spite of this reality.
Centering my life on myoho-renge-kyo, allows me to be happy irrespective of my current circumstances, and instead, due to my current circumstances I can be happy, 'earthly desires are enlightenment.'
Nichiren also says, 'The Lion exerts himself equally, no matter the task.'
Underestimating the current set of circumstances is sure to lead to a less than a completed task, and possible a failure.
Patrick says, 'A man without a plan is called a failure!'
Most successful people will tell you they planned their successes but they never planned for their failures!
When I plan anything, I investigate every detail, and plan out every detail to assure my own plans succeed.
That is possibly why I am a successful Architect, as well. Happy Clients with no surprises, just well thought out solutions for their problems.
Nichiren also says, 'When you chant myoho, with the realization that my life is myoho'
Looking at ALL life is myoho, and there is no separation between myoho and my life and this reality, all problems are meant to 'develop continuing faith.'
When you plan, there is no need for dependence on miracles, just hard work, and expectations based on that same hard work.
Nichiren describes 'chanting daimoku' as reciting the daimoku and taking action.
No miracles in taking action to overcome one's own obstacles or hardships in life, just hard work.
I think the key to prayer is connected to direct specific actions.
If the problem is big enough to sit in front of the Gohonzon and chant about for some time, it is big enough to get up and correct in a timely manner. No miracles, no luck, just focused hard work to correct the problem at hand, using the courage and wisdom gained in front of the Gohonzon chanting nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
If you think this is a plan to 'get rich' you are mistaken. This is a plan to overcome whatever obstacles appear in life.
I have no desire to get rich or become powerful, just do what I want to do in this life, practice Nichiren's Buddhism and live happy.
I am able to do those two things, based on 'continuing faith' and that is good enough for me.
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick at March 7, 2008 04:56 PMCharle wrote:
It is truly difficult to have intention, yet without attachment. "Thy will be done," isn't necessarily an acknowledgement of an external or higher power.
Stace writes:
Shortly after I recieved the Gohonzon I was chanting about a young lady. I like this girl, she has many wonderful qualities. However, I coulnd't bring myself to specifically chant that we get together. I felt as if that was somehow a violation of her free will. So I chanted that our relationship develop for the greatest and highest good for us both. This prayer told me something about my own mind, I wasn't sure what the greatest and highest good for us both was. I chanted like that and over the next few weeks, I came to understand that where she was/is at and what she wants, was not the same as where I am at and with what I want. So it worked out, still like her though.
There are some things I might want to chant for with an utterly determined resolve that this is going to happen. However, chanting with intention, but without attachments to outcome,is perhaps a more freeing practice. Attachments to outcome often bring suffering, "getting what one doesn't want, not getting what one does want causes suffering".
Charles wrote:
It also seems wise and prudent to just celebrate Myoho-renge-kyo as the greatest of all joys. When love affair with the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra permeates our being, fortuitous events unfold, often beyong expectation.
Stace writes,
Thank you for this sentence, Charles. It is perhaps the best sentence I have read all week, and maybe the simplest yet most wonderful explanation of this practice. I really appreciate its meaning and am going to take it to heart. I lood forward to reading more of your work.
Be Well,
Stace
Posted by: Stace at March 7, 2008 01:02 PMStace wrote an excellent response to prayer. Stace said:
"It's just that to some people putting food on the
table, or as in my case, being able to support my mother, may on occasion, take on greater importance."
This is the cunundrum. It seems historical and natural to pray for soultions to very specific problems and needs. But what is more effective. The urge is to target in on our worry and beseech the gods, the shoten zenjin, the universe, the Buddha and bodhisattvas, the Gohonzon, etc. It is truly difficult to have intention, yet without attachment. "Thy will be done," isn't necessarily an acknowledgement of an external or higher power. I would say that once your intention is broadcast into the Indra's matrix, "May the best result occur," or something similar that acts as a preface to dropping attachment to a specific outcome, the "ordering force" brings forth the right results in the right measure. That's how it works. Stace goes on:
"And as far as very specific targeted prayer goes, Nancy said it was a method "SHE" had never heard before, not a new method that has never before existed or studied."
This is fascinating to me, personally, because for decades, this form of prayer has been encouraged. Through years of trial and error, I have recognized when to use micro-specific prayer and when to use non-directed prayer. It also seems wise and prudent to just celebrate Myoho-renge-kyo as the greatest of all joys. When love affair with the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra permeates our being, fortuitous events unfold, often beyong expectation.
Charles
Posted by: Charles at March 7, 2008 10:36 AMHey Guys and Gals,
As far as chanting for stuff, didn't Nichiren chant to extend his mothers life. Life seems like stuff, very important stuff, and perhaps for some people other stuff may be as important for them in accord with their experience and state of life. I would never tell someone not to chant for stuff, or that if they did they are not Buddhist.
In the Sigala Sutra Shakyamuni instructs the layman Sigala on how to live in order to have a life of virtue and gain, rather than one of vice and loss. He even goes on to tell Sigala what type of stuff (jewelry) he should supply his wife, "In five ways, householder's son, should a wife as the West be ministered by a husband; by courtesy by not despising her by faithfulness by handing over authority to her by providing her with ornaments".
To Sum up the sutra, The Buddha said, beware your thoughts, words, and actions less you lose your stuff and lead a miserable life. (liberal translation.) here is some info:
According to Buddha's explanation to his chief benefactor, Anathapindika, there are four kinds of genuine satisfaction and material pleasure that could be enjoyed by a lay person in order to lead a happy and peaceful family life;
Atthi Sukha - A sufficient income.
This refers to the acquisition of wealth and income according to the principle of the The Noble Eight-fold Path.
Bhoga Sukha - Enjoyment of wealth.
This happiness refers to the correct way of spending one's income. For example, looking after one's parent, wife and children and also the performance of charity to a deserving party.
Anana Sukha - Freedom from debts.
By being free from debt, a person will be free from worries and thus able to enjoy a happier life which is free from worries.
Anavajja Sukha - Harmless life.
This refers to oneself leading a life which is free from any deeds of harming others. Such as slandering, sexual misconduct etc.
May I chant(as a lay Buddhist) to to realize this in my life? Or,is that just un-buddhist?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As was said everyone has to start where they are, and for some just satisfying the lowest rung on Maslow's hierarchy of need is where they are at. It would be immoral for me to say, "no you can't chant for a better living conditions, etc..." It seems to me that many Nichiren Buddhists are starting to practice the "upper" middle class way. Having said all of this, I do think it's of primary importance that we chant to manifest our naturally awakened nature. It's just that to some people putting food on the table, or as in my case, being able to support my mother, may on occasion, take on greater importance.
And as far as very specific targeted prayer goes, Nancy said it was a method "SHE" had never heard before, not a new method that has never before existed or studied.
Best to all, while chanting for all sorts of stuff, material and spiritual!
Stace
Posted by: Stace at March 7, 2008 03:57 AMHi Nancy and others,
I was a bit hard on Patrick in my last post - so I want to clarify that I am not trying to slam you, Nancy, or anyone else who chants about stuff, specifically or otherwise.
As I have said many times, I think that we do need to be clear about our issues, and concerns, and aspirations (worldly or otherwise).
What I am criticizing is the idea that Nichiren criticizes quite vehemently in his shakubuku of Shingon Budhdism: the idea that Buddhist practice is about worldly aims or that the efficacy of a Buddhist teaching or practice should be judged by worldly miracles or outcomes.
I think that we do need to enter the practice of Odaimoku from wherever we are. On my blog I list the various motivations that might come from any of the perspectives of the ten worlds. It is my conviction and hope that Namu Myoho Renge Kyo will elevate our aspirations and perspectives - maybe even in spite of ourselves and our own limited views and perspectives (that more often than not are in accord with the 14 slanders and not Namu Myoho Renge Kyo).
What is problematic is when people teach a form of chanting that is more based on the perspective of the 14 slanders (see the gosho of that name) rather than the perspective of bodhicitta (which is the perspective taken in Letter to Gijo-bo and many other places). It is problematic when Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is viewed as a tool to get something else to make us happy, rather than as an end in and of itself (which is what Nichiren states in Happiness in this World).
When someone is constantly defending and promoting their own sectarian group as superior rather than being concerned with the Noble Sangha, or belittling the value of training and education in contradiction to Nichiren's instruction in Shoho Jisso Sho, or trying to reduce the Odaimoku to nothing more than a tool for worldly ends, then I have to honestly question whether this is Buddhism at all anymore, let alone Nichiren Buddhism. We have to ask this question of ourselves. Are we chanting based on bodhicitta or the mindest of the lower realms and the 14 slanders?
Again, there is nothing wrong with making specific plans and having specific aspirations. In fact, even in the Abhidharma there are teachings that directly tell us to be clear about our goals and our methods, and in the Mahayana the bodhisattvas make very specific vows to accomplish the unfolding of compassion in the world. But we must not lose sight of the fact that for Nichiren, at least, the Odaimoku was about far more than these provisional considerations.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Hi Patrick,
You and I guess President Ikeda have just shown how to use a nuclear bomb to kill a gnat. Way to go.
If this is what Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is all about then it is totally superfluous. One might as well go buy a copy of the The Secret. Why chant in Sino-Japanese to praise a scripture from another culture at all when one can just go directly to our power to shape reality at whim?
Nichiren himself criticized the Shingon school for basing everything on worldly miracles. There is no bodhicitta in that.
My recommendation is that we must read more deeply in the gosho, as opposed to reading just enough to confirm views that do not go beyond the three realms much less escaping and reengaging the three realms.
Shakyamuni Buddha once said to the elder Kashyapa (the fire worshipper, not Mahakashyapa) that, "You sir are not awakened and are not doing anything by which you could awaken." You, Patrick have yet to express anything here or elsehwere that would indicate to me that you are or ever have been a Buddhist in any sense that Shakyamuni Buddha or Nichiren would recognize.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Nancy,
I think how we chant is more effected by what it IS we actually believe, than anything else.
Nichiren says, to develop, 'continuing faith.' Nichiren also says, 'never sek this gohonzon outside yourself.'
President Ikeda says, Our prayer should be specific, with details adequate to visualize a complete solution.
President Ikeda also says, 'Who answers our prayers? We do!'
With the above understanding, the details of the problem, the detailed solution, and the courage to follow through with 'continuing faith' is what is actually needed to resolve any problem in life.
President Ikeda also says, It appears our problems last a life time, but in reality our problems are much shorter.'
So to use your example of paying your Father back.
Be specific with a schedule, a plan, and the courage; no matter what; to follow through with your plan, and your debt to your father will be repaid in the time frame you establish.
Like Nichiren says, 'No prayers of a Votary of The Lotus Sutra goes unaswered.'
No mystical solutions to life's problems, just hard work, and the determination to overcome life's problems.
Patrick
Posted by: Patrick at March 6, 2008 12:24 PMIn agreement with what Charles pointed out we do need to be careful of what we wish for. I know of stories I've heard anecdotes from others and based on my own experiences that we sometimes get what we ask for - good and hard too! (H.L. Mencken once said about democracy: "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
In some schools of Ceremonial Magick (I am thinking of Donald Michael Kraig actually) it is recommended to do a divination before performing a ritual to accomplish some magickal working - just to make sure the repercussions will not be counterproductive or harmful to oneself or others. So when asking the genie to make you rich - make sure you are not turned into a raspberry chocolate truffle.
My own practice and recommendation to others is that when we chant we should bring our concerns to the Gohonzon. We need to bring all of ourselves honestly to the practice. We should chant about our issues and concerns. We should chant for the well-being of ourselves and others (and even people we have difficulty with!). We should chant as a way of being clear about the outcomes we would like to see and to make determinations re our aspirations. That is all part of Metta (Loving-Kindness) cultivation, and Bodhicitta (arousing the aspiration to attain buddhahood for the sake of all). But then we have to let go of that.
What happens when we let go of all that (or at least just let it be - illuminated by the Odaimoku instead of rooted in our own attachment and aversion)? In "Happiness in this World" Nichiren writes to Shijo Kingo that chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is in itself the greatest happiness. Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is not for something else but is itself the most peaceful and joyful abiding in the true nature! In "Letter to Gijo-bo" Nichiren writes that Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is really about expressing the determination to see the Buddha within our own life.
So those are just my own thoughts about the practice-realization of chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
Namu Myoho Renge Kyo,
Ryuei
Glad to have your thoughts and experiences Nancy! Lately I've been experimenting in my approach to how I chant. I used to be very micro-specific prayer in my prayer and while I feel I got what I wanted it alot of times it ended up being kind of not the best thing. sort of forced. like I limited my possibilities or ways for the benefits to express themselves. I also advised my friend to chant micro-specifically and it was sort of disastrous too. At this point what works best for me is to chant with deep appreciation for my life and all my teachers, to allow inspiration to take place while I'm chanting -by visualizing particular goals with a prayer of best possible outcome. keep it fresh!
imagine mydaimoku spreading out in waves gaining in strength as it leaves my body and reaches the various living beings on the earth and in the universe. Perhaps allowing growth it may be nice to have a spectrum of different styles available according to the circumstances of the issue or where you might be. I find the best outcome is always directly related to the quality and sincerity of my daimoku.
"She decided she would use a method I haven't heard before: Make a very specific determination which includes very specific results."
This is new? The hard science on targeted and non-targeted prayer has been in for thirty or more years, thanks to the prayer research organization, Spindrift. Non-targeted prayer, for the best results works more consistently and better that targeted payer, like that which has been traditionally taught in the SGI. Micro-specific prayer for money? Just put your intention out to the universe via the Gohonzon and let go of the attachment to a specific result.
The problem with mirospecific prayer, like you describe is that the universe takes this literally. Need money badly? Next thing you know, old uncle Hank or Aunt Edna gets hit by a truck and your name is on the insurance policy. Be careful what you pray for, not only might you get it, you may shudder at what transpired so "your" desire was fulfilled.
Oh yes, welcome.
Charles
Posted by: Charles at March 6, 2008 09:16 AM
SGI Sutra:
"Desiring to see money we do not begrudge our lives."
Lotus Sutra:
"Desiring to see the Buddha we do not begrudge our lives."
Posted by: Mark Rogow at March 5, 2008 09:32 PMI haven't really chanted for "stuff" in a long time. Maybe I should start again (I need a new car).
I pretty much use my world-famous "washing daimoku", which is sort of like the mirror-polishing daimoku. I visualize a jewel inside my life, which has dirt and grime on it, then I hold it under a flowing stream of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo until it starts to shine beautifully.
As a result, I hope that I am able to develop a shinier life.
Let me know about your money campaign. I could do with one of those, too. Maybe I'll do a "five-star trip to Europe" campaign. Sounds like a plan....
Best, Byrd in LA
Posted by: Byrd in LA at March 5, 2008 05:13 PMHow about your life is "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo"--- better instructions in the Goshos, "On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime" and the "True Aspect of All Phenomena."
Posted by: Dr. Mimi at March 5, 2008 02:05 PM