Daimoku in Relation to Black America

Q:  Some may want to know, "Why should black people try chanting nam myoho renge kyo?
A:  We should chant nam myoho renge kyo for various reasons.  But first, you should know that in Nichiren Buddhism, we revere the Lotus Sutra, which is the highest sutra in all of Buddhism.  The theme of the Lotus Sutra is that everyone has the potential to attain Buddhahood, which translates to absolute happiness. Everyone has the potential to become absolutely happy; and this kind of happiness consists of courage, compassion, Buddha wisdom, and empowerment, all of which comes from within.  So with that said, chanting nam myoho renge kyo contains many benefits.  Through chanting it, we can overcome our crucibles and become happier than we have ever been before.  Through chanting it, we can acquire things that we need or want.  Even if you don't chant with a goal in mind, you can attain more clarity, which in turn, causes you to make better decisions than previously.  For example, suppose you have a hair-trigger temper, where even a small slight causes you to want to knock the hell out of somebody.  You actually did that a few times, and as a result, you have had to pay fines, serve probation, attend anger management classes, or spend time in either jail or prison.  One day, you're slighted, and you decide to chant nam myoho renge kyo, which is also a HUGE relaxer.  You chant for sometime, and you're calmer.  You do it consistently everyday, and eventually you realize that your irascible behavior stems from something bigger, maybe from years of being bullied, belittled, denigrated to the point of humiliation, abused, etc.  And as you continue to chant, you little by little become improve.  That's a benefit of nam myoho renge kyo.
Q:  How does it help you overcome problems?
A:  When you chant nam myoho renge kyo with determination and faith in yourself to overcome any problem, you tap into your inherent wisdom and courage.  As a result, you come up with better solutions to overcome your problems, or take the right action and overcome your problem.  Sometimes, you chant and eventually part of your thought pattern changes and the situation is resolved.
Q:  Any other reason why we should chant?
A:  As an alternative for revenge.  Many black people have either lost a friend and or family member or hero/heroine to violence.  I myself lost a second cousin to violence 11 years ago.  While I did not know him antemortem, I went to his funeral.  I will never forget the cries.  I will never forget how one man was so terribly upset that he got up and said that this needs to stop, referencing the violence.  I will never forget how the preacher, whose sermon of "The Prodigal Son", had a come-to-Jesus segment for young people where he said that the only options were: a new life with Jesus, or be next in line to be in a casket.  We have lost family, friends, heroes, and heroines to violence.  We watch the news the read articles and hear of people who lost loved ones, and young people who are not even 18 committing these acts of violence.  The question then becomes, "How do we react?"  There are those who react with revenge.  I would not advise it.  There are those who react with defeatism, which is accepting failure or defeat.  There are those who use the tragedy to motivate them to activism of some kind.  Many of us respond to these tragedies with defeatism.  I know that I have done that because I felt powerless to do anything.  However, Daisaku Ikeda once said about prayer, "Prayer is the courage to persevere.  It is the struggle to overcome our own weakness and lack of confidence in ourselves.  It is the act of impressing in the very depths of our being the conviction that we can change the situation without fail."  I've begun chanting to find a way to end violence.  I challenge others, regardless of race, to do the same. However you should know that it is entirely up to us.  No deity or supernatural being will do this for us. It will require us to chant with faith in our inherent Buddha nature, with determination, and take action based on our inner wisdom, compassion, and courage.
Q:  Well I believe I have no more questions.  Thank you so much Akee.
A:  No, thank you.  This is always a pleasure.

The "Horrible" Word That Benefits Me

In Buddhism, we are to assert ourselves in faith, practice, and study.  By faith, I mean faith in your inherent Buddha nature or your inner Gohonzon.  For two years (2013-2015), faith had been a nasty word to me.
Coming from a conservative Christian background,and once being an avid TBN viewer, faith was taught as belief in a god who planned your life out and was to be obeyed.  Faith was a means of encouraging blind obedience.  You were told to trust Yahweh enough to do what you are told, or obey the Bible, since that was his word, regardless of what you may think; what you may feel; or how it may affect other people. Politicians, mainly the Christian Right, have used this to legislate Christian beliefs in our government, and to support certain politicians. They are still doing it with the transgendered bathroom accommodations debate.  It is just like how the Christian Right advocated against same sex marriage and abortion.  In the realm of science, faith was used to fight teaching evolution in school despite the overwhelming evidence that support evolution; and to keep people complacently ignorant on the matter of global warming.  Knowing all this coming to Buddhism, faith sounded like another word for control. However in Nichiren Buddhism, faith  means believing in your inherent Buddha nature.  It's almost another way of saying believing in yourself or your potential.  Why is it important?  It is important because without faith in yourself, you will not overcome your problems.  Well not all of them.  The miniature ones, maybe.  However the big ones, not a chance.  You will succumb and be consumed by them.  Without faith in yourself, you will not have the courage to pursue your dreams and desires.  Without faith in yourself, you give up on yourself.  Without faith in yourself, you live a stagnant state because of your fear of failure.  That's why by 22, after three years in college, all I could say was that I had a 3.5 GPA, and I sang with the choir.  I had no job experience.  I had no connections and a very poor network.  In essence, I had been in college for three years and did not have shit to show for it.  It's because of this faith that I got the financial aid that I need for school.  It is because of faith that I began to mend the relationship with my mother.  It is because of faith that I am just now beginning to move on from high school.  It is because of this faith that I did not give up when I was struggling with Statistics.  Faith is the essence to true happiness.  The other alternative is defeat by giving up on yourself.

30 Months of Daimoku

March 24, 2016 marked 30 months (2.5 years) of chanting Daimoku (nam myoho renge kyo).  Ever since the 2 year mark, I have done some great things, and have grown and become happier.

August and September 2015 (before Labor's Day)- I was having financial aid problems and housing problems.  However, through chanting Daimoku, and study, I underwent my human revolution and received breakthroughs with both problems.

November 20, 2015- I began  chanting to change myself so that my life, family, finances, and relationship with my parents would improve.  What ended up happening initially was that I began shakabukuing people (telling them about Nichiren Buddhism and nam myoho renge kyo).  However I began to improve my relationship with my mom.

December 15, 2015-January 10, 2016- I was out of school for Christmas break.  I shared nam myoho renge kyo with so many people be it online or in person.  I even told my parents, my two maternal uncles, and my first cousin about it.  I also grew.  For those of you who faithfully read my blogs, you might remember the one I wrote about chanting for people's happiness is a way to change poison into medicine. That's something I REALLY did over the break.  I chanted for the happiness of everyone who had hurt me between 2006 and 2015.  As I did so, the anger and pain that I had harbored for years began to melt and turn into compassion.  (This is still an ongoing process).  Also, I began see that the high schoolers who had hurt me were just teenagers trying to find their way in a dark maze, and acting out of ignorance.  They really were not all monsters. On December 27, 2015, I gave a piano performance of a piece that I had not played for 3 years, and I slayed thanks to Daimoku and Hanon practices.  Also, I utilized that event to share nam myoho renge kyo with other performers. Also I turned 26 on January 2.

January 10, 2016-January 19, 2016- I moved back on campus on January 10, and resumed my Daimoku.  This time, I prayed for the happiness of those in high school who had hurt me since 2004.  That caused me to have a clear look at myself and realize that I was no halo in high school.  I might not have always acted nasty, but my thoughts were.  I had somewhat of a superiority complex and there were times when it leaked out in school.  Also, I reached out to someone who had hurt me 9 years earlier and shared Daimoku with him.

February 4, 2016- I suffered serious sinus problems which zapped my voice and my energy.  It was 5 days before my voice came back and even then it was coated with mucus.  During that time though, I began to take stock of some choices that I had made and I realized how much I loved singing.  So upon regaining my voice, I began to do vocal and breathing exercises again.

March 1, 2016- In case it's not evident, I have the ability to hold a grudge like a sponge holds water.  Especially if I am hurt to the point of devastation.  So someone had done this a year earlier and I was so bothered that even if his presence burned me up.  It had hit a pitch this day because seeing him burned me up so much that I was singing hymns and spirituals.  After I did what I had to do, I went to dinner and had some ginger ale to calm my nerves.  Then I decided to give Daimoku a shot to see if it could help me overcome that resentment.  So I chanted with determination to overcome it.  The next day, I saw him again.  I am someone who communicates a hell of a lot better writing than speaking.  So I wrote out how he had hurt me and passed the note to him.  He said that he did not mean to do so, and apologized for it.

March 24, 2016- No breakthrough on this day.  Instead I had a disappointing week of two bad test grades.  Feeling overwhelmed, I considered giving up Morehouse College and dropping out.  However, after calming down, I realized that Morehouse College was connected to my end goals of happy marriage, financial wealth, and happiness; and giving up at Morehouse would make those dreams unattainable.  So I began doing something new.  I have begun chanting with determination to turn negative aspects of my life into benefits., which is the same as changing poison into medicine.  

Nichiren Buddhism and My Temperament

One thing practicing Nichiren Buddhism has done for me over the course of two years was improve my temperament.  Back at Norfolk State University, I was a far different person.  I was a walking case of sadness and rage and I took it out in very unacceptable ways.  I used to pound on the piano keys more than Beethoven, much to the chagrin of many people in the Music Department.  I used to spazz out at any possibly given moment.  I used to fuss and curse people out at least twice a week. One time during the Fall semester of 2011, and one time during the Spring semester of 2012, I spazzed so damn hard that I flipped over every chair in the Midrise Hall computer lab.  Once I began practicing (chanting nam myoho renge kyo), little by little, the rage subsided.  I now understand that all the spazzing I did stemmed from being mad at my lot in life; from lack of confidence in myself; from feeling like that I had no say in my destiny and my fate; from feeling like I had very little chance of surviving in this life, in this world.  Through practicing Nichiren Buddhism, and studying The Lotus Sutra, The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, and publications by Daisaku Ikeda and other Buddhists members, my faith in myself is steadily increasing.  I wish I could go back to that 20-year-old me and tell him to keep chanting no matter what.  Because nam myoho renge kyo will benefit you more than any praise break.

A NonBuddhist Life

Q: Do you ever wonder where you would be if you had not begun practicing Nichiren Buddhism?
A:  I don't need to wonder.  I have a good clue where I would be and it is horrible.  Without Buddhism, I would have resumed my comfort eating habits whenever I felt lonely and depressed. I would still be a Music Major, and a miserable and disappointed one at that.  See, in Atlanta, there are a lot of musical acts seeking to get a record deal.  Now, I would have, in time, gotten a deal, and probably would have become a famous musical act.  But I would have been a very lonely old man.  When I watch biographies on several famous acts like Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Cass Elliott, David Ruffin, and how portions of their life mirror my own, and also, the proclivity for addiction runs in my family, I know that I would have turned to drugs.  Of course not heroin because I'm scared of needles. Not cocaine because I have a fear of strokes and brain hemorrhages.  Nothing smoked because I value my ability to breathe.  But definitely alcohol and pills.  Without Nichiren Buddhism and nam myoho renge kyo, all of my fears of failure, all of my insecurities, and my pain would have caught up with me and I would have died a forlorn soul.

Chanting for Other People's Happiness=Changing Poison Into Medicine

This is a silly question, but has someone ever hurt you in your life?  If so, is the pain of the slight still fresh in your mind?  Well, I can relate.  I have been carrying around years of pain from people who hurt my feelings in one way or another.  This year, my friend and fellow Bodhisattva of the Earth Heather Brewer suggested that I chant for the happiness of someone who had hurt me.  I had started, but had stopped because the change was not coming as fast as I wanted it to come.  Then on November 24, 2015, I had decided to chant to change myself so that my life, family harmony, and  finances would improve.  I found myself sharing my Buddhist practice with more people around me, even my own family.  Also, I began to chant for other people's happiness again.  Then a few days ago, another friend and fellow Bodhisattva of the Earth Patricia assured me that chanting for people's happiness alleviates people's pain.  So today, I was chanting for the happiness of someone who had hurt me 4 years ago and I had a moment of enlightenment or aha moment.  Chanting for the happiness of those who hurt you is an example of changing poison into medicine. You are in essence taking all of those negative emotions of sadness, anger, acrimony, and hatred and turning them into impetuses for your growth and happiness.  Instead of hurting you and causing you to suffer, these negative emotions benefit you.   So for all those who were hurt by someone, let's chant nam myoho renge kyo for that individual's happiness for at least one minute a day.

Chanting for Things

Many of us were told that through Nichiren Buddhism, we can chant for things and get them.  Well that is true. A lot of Buddhists feel that this poses a contradiction to the 4 Noble Truths. I understand.  Have you heard that earthly desires lead to enlightenment?  Well that does happen. I realized that this year.
I struggled to acquire the funds that I needed not only to attend Morehouse College, but to stay on campus.  I had chanted for those things for a long time.I found myself becoming frustrated because I was wondering when will the breakthrough come?  Will the breakthrough come?
Then on the Saturday before my Daimoku Anniversary, I went to a SGI study meeting and we studied the lecture segment of the August 2015 edition of The Living Buddhism. After that section, and reading it for myself, I realized that I was a Bodhisattva of the Earth, and as a Bodhisattva of the Earth, I chose my life  to show the strength of the Mystic Law.  I had heard that before somewhat from Carlton Pearson via his Streaming Consciousness videos on Youtube about a year ago. I initially dismissed his claims that we chose to be here because I thought, "Who the hell would choose to be born into a hardscrabble life?"
After studying that lecture part though, I understood.  Also, I realized that everytime I said that I did not ask to be born, I slandered my Bodhisattva vow.  After that meeting and spark of enlightenment, I went back to Morehouse College financial aid office that Wednesday and was given enough money to be a fulltime student.  However I did not have enough money to live on campus.  That meant having to do 4 hour commutes in order to attend Morehouse College daily from my home in Macon, Georgia.  It would take me 2 hours to get to school, and at the end of the day, 2 hours to get back home.
I refused to settle for that.  I chanted to be able to live on campus.  I was chanting going to school, going to class, and going back home.  My mother said that the 2 hour commute might be my life for that school year.  I was not accepting that.  We were broke.  It was an exhausting thing for me, and a financial drain on her.  Also, I felt as though I deserved to be able to live on campus.  With my grades, work ethic, and character.  Hell yes I deserved it. There were times that doubt crept in, but I fought back against it.
The commute lasted a week.  I kept my faith through studying The Living Buddhism lectures.  When I read the May 2015 edition, I realized that before Buddhism, I had never been a happy person.  Then yesterday morning, before I left home, I read the SGI story of Barbara E. Jenkins.  Following her example, I chanted to take 100% responsibility for my happiness.  Afterwards, I realized that even though I had stopped blaming people for my unhappiness, I had been blaming my circumstances.  My circumstances were not totally great. Hell they were rather inconveniencing, but they were not the reason that I was unhappy.  I realized that I am truly responsible for my happiness.
That Friday, I went about my day, checking on financial aid, and housing options.  At the end of the day, I was awarded enough money to live on campus. I credit nam myoho renge kyo.
Now, I also realize how earthly desires lead to enlightenment, and the purpose of struggling for those earthly desires.  Also, I realize the while kosen rufu is a main objective, so is our human revolution. If only our external life changed, but our internal life, we would never become happy.  Also, this experience has shown me the need to follow my heart in situations like this. The mind operates on logic and in many aspects, it's great.  However in situations when I don't know what's going to happen, my mind goes into frantic mode.  However my heart does not panic.  Rather it knows.  Here's to a year of lessons and breakthroughs.