"I've Been So GOOD Today!"

 
 
 
 
Good at WHAT, exactly?

Your job? Not running people over while driving? Resisting the urge to purchase a Bazooka with which to take out that annoying neighbour?

Or do you mean that you have followed all the food rules and not eaten anything you shouldn't have?

Remember when we were kids and our parents would discuss our behaviour that day? "She was SO good!" And we would feel proud. "You won't believe how bad/naughty she was." And we would feel humiliated.

Food is food.

Really, that's all it is. We decide to charge food up with emotions. Cupcakes - bad, tempting, seductive, naughty. Carrots - healthy, a good choice, diet food. Cupcakes are just cupcakes and carrots are just carrots.

When we tell ourselves that we are "good" or "bad" in relation to food, we are giving it power over us and our emotions as well as how we see ourselves. If we stick to our food rules, we are GOOD. If we don't, we are BAD.

And telling ourselves that we are good or bad - and we more often tell ourselves we're bad - has an impact. Words have power. They come to rest in our sub-conscious. The subconscious creates how we behave in the world.

Eat. Enjoy whatever you eat. The food is neither good nor bad. How you perceive yourself in relation to it, is. And that perception is something YOU have power over.

Alterntative Silent Prayers for Independent Nichiren Buddhists - 2

First Prayer
Offering to Protective Forces
I sincerely pray to the protective forces in the Universe, that I might add to those protective forces to protect anyone that practices this teaching. I offer appreciation to the shoten zenjin, the functions in life and in the environment that serve to protect us night and day. I pray that their protective power be further strengthened and enhanced through my practice of the Law. (Chant daimoku three times)
(insert individual prayer here)

(chant Sansho)

Second Prayer
Offering to the Law
I express my sincere gratitude and devotion to the Gohonzon and to those who have made this vehicle available
(chant Sansho)


Third Prayer
Offering to the Lineage

I offer my devotion and gratitude to the Shakyamuni Buddha and Nichiren Shonin.
(chant Sansho)
(insert individual prayer here)


Fourth Prayer
Offering for Peace and Practitioner

I sincerely pray for the Great Aspiration of the Buddha, the peace of the land brought about through the purification of the mind.


I pray to expiate my negative karma caused by my slander of the Law in this life and in the past and to fulfill my wishes in the present and the future.

(chant Sansho)


Fifth Prayer
Offering to the Deceased and all of Existence

 I pray for my deceased relatives and for all those who have passed away, particularly for these individuals: (Sound bell continuously while offering prayers. Then chant daimoku three times)
(offer special memorial prayers while
sounding the bell continuously)

I pray for peace throughout the world and the happiness of all humanity

(chant Sansho)

Alternative Silent Prayers for Independent Nichiren Buddhists - 1

Silent Prayers
Chant extended (hiki) Daimoku: Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo
(ring bell five times)
(chant Sansho)


First Prayer
Offering to Protective Forces
I sincerely pray to the protective forces that are born from the harmonizing effect of the practice of the One Vehicle. I pray that I might add to those protective forces to protect anyone that practices this teaching.
(insert individual prayer here)

(chant Sansho)

Second Prayer
Offering to the Law
I express my sincere devotion to the Gohonzon. The True Object of Devotion for the Observation of the Mind and the only Depiction of the Triple Bodied Tathâgata in the Fifth Five Hundred Years Period after the Tathâgata’s Passing over to Nirvana.
(chant Sansho)
(insert individual prayer here)


Third Prayer
Offering to the Lineage

I offer my devotion to the Buddha, the first 25 lineage holders, Kumarajiva, Nanyueh, T’ien-t’ai, Changan, Miaolo, Dengyo, and Nichiren.
(chant Sansho)
(insert individual prayer here)


Fourth Prayer
Offering for Peace and Practitioner

I sincerely pray for the Great Aspiration of the Buddha, the peace of the land brought about through the purification of the mind.
(chant Sansho)
I pray to eradicate negative karma in my life, and to continually purify and deepen my faith and practice so that I may attain enlightenment in this body.
(insert Personal Prayers)
(chant Sansho)


Fifth Prayer
Offering to the Deceased and all of Existence

I pray that all my deceased relatives, all
deceased Nichiren believers, and all others
who have departed this life may attain
Buddhahood through the power of MyohoRenge-Kyo.
(offer special memorial prayers while
sounding the bell continuously)
(chant Sansho)May the impartial benefits of MyohoRenge-Kyo penetrate the far reaches of the
Universe to allow all life to experience the silence and illumination of the Seat of the Law.
(ring bell three times and chant extended (hiki) Daimoku)