Never letting others opinions block your path forward

I was sitting in the park looking at the palace of art jealous of a couple getting married late at night. I waiting for my ex to get off the phone to his friend. I knew his friend disliked me and so I decided to sit by a tree and chant to dissipate my anger. I've chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo as an SGI member for over 20 years now and have always found it to be helpful in mellowing me out. As I chanted I focused on just being able to be happy on trying to hold onto a relationship that with hindsight I should have left at that moment.

That's not to say I haven't had enjoyable experiences in that relationship over the years since that night but what kept me there was allowing my sense of self worth to be dictated by my ex and his friend. I was chanting the words but not really believing them. I wasn't taking them into my soul and practising Buddhism like it's meant to be lived. I'd been chanting for so long it had become a habit and I'd stopped thinking about what the words really represent so I'd like to break it down for you here.

Nam MyoHo Renge Kyo literally translates as "I devote myself to the mystic law of cause and effect that move through vibration". But it's so much more than - that each word has it's own meaning and secondary translation. Nam - I devote or I believe in. Myoho is translated as mystic law because it consists of two alternating states. One state of ‘myo’ is where everything in life that’s not obvious to us exists. The other state, ‘ho’, is where everything in Life exists whenever it becomes obvious to us. When anything becomes apparent, it simply means that it has come out of the state of ‘myo’ (dormancy/latency) and into a state of ‘ho’ (manifestation). Chanting is a way of tapping into this unseen to make it more apparent in your life. In my case I couldn't see a way forward I was stuck in a belief that holding onto a relationship and trying to make someone happy was the only way for their friend to see me. Instead of really using the chanting powerfully to see what was hidden from me and hone my perspective to move on.

The words renge’, governs and controls the functions of ‘myoho’ – ‘ren’ meaning cause and ‘ge’ meaning effect. I.e with the causes you make in life you will see the effects. They might not always seem to make sense or be linked but that's why it's called a mystic law ‘myoho’ and ‘renge’, work together simultaneously and underlie all spiritual and physical existence.

Kyo’, is what allows the law ‘myoho’ to integrate with the law ‘renge’. It’s the great, invisible thread of energy that fuses and connects together all Life and matter, as well as the past, present and future. It is often termed the Universal Law of Communication. It is usually translated simply as sound or vibration but it is so much more than that it is the energy that flows through all life that we can tap into.

Yesterday I was back in that park attending a yoga class in the palace of art. It is truly a beautiful building. I was reminded of that night and how far I've moved on since then. I've been attending meetings to reconnect with the SGI properly and move my life forward not allow it to stagnate as it had. I've set motivational goals as I did in my first few years of practice and realised that I was holding onto a feeling of jealousy when I wasn't really appreciating the mystic law not being able to see the big picture and appreciate this building and life in general for everything it has to offer.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about chanting and how it can improve your life and remind yourself of your own innate power so others opinions don't block your path forward.