Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism is a practice of chanting with determination

 

RHYTHM

Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo motivates us to take action with focus, energy and strength. It is the source for advancing our lives. Here is a quote on chanting from Nichiren Daishonin who was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Kamakura period (1185–1333), who developed the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, a branch school of Mahayana Buddhism.

I am praying . . . as earnestly as thought to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground.
“Rebuking Slander of the Law,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishinon, vol. 1, p. 444

Soka Gakkai President Ikeda explains: “A person’s attitude in doing gongyo reveals itself in how that person lives. A person whose gongyo is weak will lack vital energy and will lapse inevitably into a feeble way of living. If you do gongyo only as if it were a chore or out of a sense of obligation, it will be hard for you to feel joy in your faith. Therefore, let’s encourage one another to do a refreshing and rhythmical gongyo, like a mythical white flying horse galloping through the sky. Together let’s aim to do a superb, powerful gongyo each day, one that will move the entire universe and is infused with our earnest prayers” (The Human Revolution, p. 1790).

VOICE

Regarding the voice, SGI President Ikeda says, “When we chant with unhesitant faith, our voices, just as they are, become the voice of the Buddha who is always here expounding the unsurpassed Law” (The Heart of the Lotus Sutra, p. 341). Chanting with a clear, resonant and confident voice leads to our fulfillment and victory.

February .. and the Sun is back

No I have not been hibernating. Or maybe I have but no not really .. as I have been on the air, doing my radio shows .. from Chai Time to Bollywood Top 10, and writing a script for the next film, and doing Odissi .. a dance form I'm very passionate towards. 

And with that I've also been teaching English Composition courses at Dallas College .. yup online coz of this COVID situation. Life has been quite a ride since Feb 2020 .. and hey wait up it's already been a year! We are in 2021. And this is Feb. One year has slipped by and we are ahead .. leaving behind a lot of people who are no longer breathing, and as we stepped into Feb we had a snowstorm in Dallas TX .. power cuts, water-pipes bursts, cooking inside the fireplace (if you have electrical oven top like we do) and now the sun is shining through. There is always a ray at the end of the tunnel. Isn't? So do I have a "Yes"? The other side of midnight is always bright. 

February also happens to be my birth month so I thought of  being born again .. as a person who wants to share her ideas and thoughts, passions and grudges from my side of the hood. 

Back before 2017 kicks in

Yes I' seemed to have taken a hiatus, a vacation if you will, from posting things to my own blog. Reason being that I was so sucked into doing day-today things these past few years, including raising kids, family chores, teaching, and of course being active with other social media platforms suc has FB, twitter, instagram, youtube etc. But before 2017 kicks in I decided to post something, for you and me. Welcome back to my blog. 

Latest Bollywood movies

Lately some interesting movies have made it on to the screen. The genres have become more and more diverse and experimental to say the least.

Dance - drama and life

What would life be without dance and drama. Yup that is my topic of discussion. Tell me can you imagine a life with no color? A life with no shape, no edges, just round and predictable. We often like to sing, dance, and act out our emotions on stage or off stage. It satisfies a need in us, a need for peope understanding us and relating to us and appreciating us and applauding us. Lights - Camera - Sound - Action!
Woman: Lekin tum aisa nahin kar sakte, I am about to have your baby (tumhare bacche ki maan banane waali hoon)
Man: (hisses) Yeh Jhoot hai, tum jhoot bol rahi ho (you are lying)
Woman: (Angrily) Kaminey tu kuta hai
Man: Koi Shuck (the guy was not Shahid from Kaminey - otherwise the dialog would have been CUT)
Director yells "CUT"
Director: That was an awesome shot madam.
Madam breathing heavily, snaps her fingers and looks hungrily at the guy who was playing in the film. She has a strong need to be with him.

Thoughts

Avocado rice and kabab .. hmm pretty innovative dining at my end. The night stares silently as I hear the bugs
chatting .. my eyes are empty
Coz there are no eyedrops left .. and I smile .. faintly .. and I smirk beligently .. and I sing voraciously .. and
in the end the night
the night stares at me with a moonless blanket as I tweet and twitter and tell a few tales waiting for an avatar
with a tail to come and ...
sweep me off the floor with his tail and I smile and I smirk and I sing while he smiles and smirks and sings a
song about wind and fruits ..
about passion and flutes about dining and wining about tales and sails .. and we smile in rapture, we smirk at
others and we sing together .
a song that is ours a sail that is small a house that we've built in a hollow tree on a mountain green where wind
sings and fruits fall ..
fruits fall upon our garden filled with roses and jasmine .. and we stare at eachother fervently passionately
relentlessly ... together w u