Misfortune (Please Advise)

bcol01
Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 10:20 pm

Re: Misfortune (Please Advise)

Post by bcol01 »

Incredible!
Soma999 wrote: Sat Dec 30, 2017 3:44 pm There could be many reasons for problems to come. First of all in these world problems come, up and down come and that’s it.

That being said i would not be surprised if people sabotage themself sometime. It can be quiet obvious : guilt for exemple can generate calamities. But it can also be subtle : some associate spirituality with martyr, suffering. Or purity with absence of desire and complete renonciation, no sex, no money. It could be some things that creates obstacles. Some also « want too much ». It rigidify the energy and creates obstacles also.

One solution is to clarify oneself, one’s belief system, one’s intention. Little by little it allows things to get better.

But for a fast improvement of your situation, i would give you two advises which can work whichever tradition you choose :

First express gratitude, as much as you can, for the good that comes, for the good that came, for the good which will come, and for the good of others. The more you express gratitude, the better things will be. Even giving thanks for hardships may turn a curse into a blessing.

Also, do your practice not as a means only to improve your life, but as an offering. Chant for everyone. Turn your practice into a giving of loving attention. The more your intention becomes « giving » the better it will be.

The more the intention is « me my mine » the more fears you will have and rigidity, and the more hardships. The more you turn the me into us, the more benefits you will get.

All texts speak about vacuity, but what does it imply ? Vacuity of self means all depends on everyhing. That is « me my mine » is the worst obstacle, a complete anomaly, the worst demon. When you turn the me into us, that is turning your intention from taking to giving, you remove yourself from the devastating influence of this demon, which is egocentrism.

Compassion is he great medicine. Without compassion, even the highest teaching lack the essential. Vacuity of self is a meditation which generates compassion. The ohers is also me. That does not mean we should be stupidly open, just letting love increase.

Look your intention. That is the essential. If you have the right intention, anchored into love, then forget about the immediate results. Just give. You have set the direction to he Kingdom.
In his writing, Hokkemongu (Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra), The Great Master Nichiren said, “If the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra wholeheartedly devote their life to the Lotus Sutra and practice according to its golden words, it is certainly needless to say that not only in the next life, but also in this lifetime they will overcome severe difficulty, prolong their life, receive the great, good fortune of unsurpassed enlightenment, and accomplish the great vow of the widespread, propagation of True Buddhism.”
illarraza
Posts: 1257
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:30 am

Re: Misfortune (Please Advise)

Post by illarraza »

RengeReciter wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 6:43 pm I am at my wit's end.

I know that as Nichiren Buddhists our primary concern is not necessarily the achievement of mundane successes. Instead, we are to be focused upon the ultimate attainment of Buddhahood. That said, the practice of chanting the daimoku and revering the Lotus Sutra is touted as a universal panacea for the ills of those of us who inherit the dharma in the Latter Day with no Thus Come One in the world about. It was my understanding that, in light of ichinen sanzen, the problems of material existence have their counterparts in problems of the mind. Chanting would therefore result in a natural improvement in one's circumstances as mental karmas are likewise subdued.

Many of Nichiren's writings highlight practitioners (I think immediately of Shijo Kingo) who were able to attain better conditions overall by holding faithfully to the sutra.

It seems as though I have been exclusively generating demerit in my practice which results in unpleasant circumstances manifesting for me. This isn't entirely unanticipated mind you. Nichiren says in one gosho that the daimoku has the effect of drawing negative karma to the surface to be dealt with in lesser forms so as to avoid harsher expiation in future births. The problem is that I am not really seeing benefit in tandem with the arising of those obstacles.

When I chant consistently, my life takes a noticeable downturn. I work in sales, and I notice that the daimoku has the uncanny effect of drawing the worst possible clients to my doorstep. Down to a man, these potential sales will be deficient in some way (poor attitudes, uncooperative, inability to afford service, etc.). I've also noticed my health being adversely affected and strained relationships.

It is worth noting that when I don't chant, when I essentially separate myself from the practice, these issues disappear. Conditions improve almost instantaneously.

I would like to remain a Nichiren Buddhist, but I cannot continue to receive so many debilitating effects of my practice without some sense of comeuppance or light at the end of the tunnel. Is my misfortune the result of unintended slander of some sort? Is this a test of my resolve, perhaps?

Please advise. Thank you.
Hi Rengereciter... Perhaps you have been mistaught the nature of benefit and then again, perhaps it is your associations in faith. For now, I will address the first point, the nature of benefit of practicing the Lotus Sutra:

“Good men, the first [great benefit] is that this sutra can cause bodhisattvas who have not yet conceived the desire for enlightenment to conceive such a desire.

It can cause those who are without compassion or benevolence to nurture compassionate minds.

It can cause those who delight in killing and slaughter to nurture minds of great pity.

It can cause those filled with envy and jealousy to nurture minds of joyful acceptance.

It can cause those who are begrudging and attached to things to nurture minds capable of relinquishing.

It can cause those who are close-fisted and greedy to nurture minds of almsgiving.

It can cause those of abundant arrogance and pride to nurture minds that uphold the precepts.

It can cause those much given to wrath and anger to nurture forbearing minds.

It can cause those who are indolent and lazy to nurture minds of diligence.

It can cause those who are scatterbrained and disordered to nurture minds devoted to meditation.

It can cause those with much ignorance and folly to nurture minds of wisdom.

It can cause those who are not yet capable of saving others to nurture minds set upon saving others.

It can cause those who practice the ten evil acts to nurture minds devoted to the ten good acts.

It can cause those who delight too much in the conditioned to strive for minds fixed on the unconditioned.

It can cause those whose minds are given to regression to cultivate minds of non-regression.

It can cause those given to outflows to nurture minds free of outflows.

It can cause those with many earthly desires to nurture minds that cleanse and extinguish such desires.

Good men, this is called the first benefit and inconceivable power of this sutra” (LSOC, p21-22)

Mark
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