More on buddhist daily practice. AKA the power of transformative daimoku

I went to do my first homevisit the other day. I had a very interesting chat with the young woman I went to support, which made me think of writing another post about our daily practice.

This time, I wanted to focus on the more practical side of it, i.e. the amount of time one spends on Buddhist activities and what exactly correct practice consists of.

I will use an anecdote as a starting point.
The other day at Discussion meeting, my Men's leader said that years ago a senior leader gave him the following advice:

You should try every day to chant for twenty minutes, study for twenty minutes and make three people happy.

This already gives us the three major tenets of correct practice: chanting, study and shakubuku.

Grade 1 Study Exam - 2012. Section A1.

I'm taking the Grade 1 exam. I've always wanted to take the exams, all the exams up to Grade 3, and I'm finally starting.

My decision to take the exams has been faced with sanshoshima for years.
Up to 2006 I wasn't a member and I couldn't.
in 2006 I hadn't been a member for long enough and they didn't let me.
in 2007 I moved from Brescia to Bergamo around the time the deadline is and I forgot to apply.
in 2008 I moved to London around the time the deadline is and I forgot to apply.
in 2009 I moved to Romania where there are about 50 members in the whole country.
in 2010 I moved back to London around the time the deadline is and I forgot to apply.
in 2011 I really really wanted to apply. And I forgot.

So, finally, 2012, here I come!
I went to my first study meeting on Saturday and I really enjoyed it. I think it's also a great way to foster friendships in the Chapter and I'm already seeing some great Human Revolution potential in the experience.

I thought to share some notes and tips as I go through the study process.

SGI UK Youth Division song

UPDATE: the website mentioned here has now been discontinued. All the songs and materials can now be found on the SGI members website. Every area has a unique login and password, so if you want to access this free content, you need to ask your local leaders for the login details.

Here is a link where you can find the Youth Division Song. We sang it today at my Chapter's study kick-off. I really really like it, especially the rhythm of the chorus, it's really catchy.

You can download both the lyrics and an mp3 file.

Once again, the instructions on the page to download the mp3 don't work on my Mac. And sadly the "Copy link location" trick I did last time didn't work this time around, but I'm having problems downloading anything today, so I'll try again and maybe edit. 

My Chapter's leader happens to be one of the writers of the song, and he told us the story of how it came to be. He was in Trets - a Buddhist cultural centre in the south of France where a lot of international training courses are held (note to self: MUST go to Trets, soon), when a National leader approached him and a few other musicians and asked them to write a song for the YD. They sat under a tree and did it.

It might sound cheesy that a group of young people, sitting under a tree in the sun would come up with a lovely song in just a few minutes, but it makes perfect sense to me. A training course is just a monumental source of inspiration, and it maximises your natural talent... you actually get to discover talents you didn't know you had, to be honest (and I speak from personal experience here).

When my life opened wide. AKA The Gohonzon

Hello people, I'm back from the land of the dead, i.e. my holidays, survived my first two weeks in school and went to an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G Summer course.

The Summer course has been an important turning point in my practice, and really in my life. I will need a while to come to terms with all the things that happened there. I will, eventually, write everything up, but not now.

However, I need to get back into the good habit of writing this blog (even if noone answered my plea for help, me not happy >.<)

During the course, we had our first ever Gohonzon receiving (at a course). Two beautiful young women made the commitment to practise this Buddhism, and they inspired me to write this post.

Ages ago, I had decided to write about my Gohonzon receiving day and the Gohonzon in general, but never got round to it, until now.

Some blog that I used to know

Just in case you were wondering, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth.

I'm on holiday.

I spent two weeks in sunny Salamanca, improving my Spanish and having adventures (like spending the night in the car park of Madrid airport with 20+ hippies), and am now about to relocate to Sicily for another couple of weeks, before going back to my beloved job of trying not to murder children on a daily basis teaching.

That, however, is not the reason why I haven't kept up with my weekly update on my blog.

I hit a dry spell. I haven't got the faintest clue what to write next. Hopefully my mother will have some ideas when I get home later on today, but as of now, I can just stare at the blank page.

So, if any of the lovely people who are reading this blog has any idea or question, please do ask. I'm not a Buddhist scholar, but I have access to vast literature and expert consultants (dad? DAD!?!?!?!) and I'll be glad to sink my teeth into any topic you would like me to write on.

Please.

I beg you.

Thanks.