1. Practicing Nichiren Buddhism to Become Absolutely Happy

2. The Basics of Buddhism: Introduction
There are 3 basics to Nichiren Buddhist practice:
Faith
Practice
Study
I will teach you about faith, practice, and study, so you can know how to become absolutely happy in your life and achieve specific goals.
Absolute happiness is happiness from within that doesn’t depend on circumstances.

3. The Basics of Buddhism: Faith
It is difficult to have faith in something because someone else told us to or because we should.
“In Buddhism, faith is based on experience.”
(The Winning Life, p. 12)
We encourage you to try chanting out with some specific goals in mind, and be open to receiving benefit.
As you experience actual proof, you begin to gain faith in the practice.

4. The Basics of Buddhism: Faith
For example, I have severe tendonitis in my hands and arms.
In the summer of 2010, my hands became swollen, seemly out of the blue, and I couldn’t use them. I was scared. I sought out doctors and chiropractors; no one could help me.
A friend encouraged me to try chanting. I was willing to try anything.
I soon found a chiropractor who helped me so much that my hands were stronger after our first appointment. I could open the door to leave the office. I hadn’t been able to open it to come in.
My hands have not swelled up since. (written in April 2014)

5. The Basics of Buddhism: Faith
Around the same time, I found myself on the phone with my father, and, after 30 years of fighting with my him, we got along beautifully.
My life-long anger was gone and replaced with love, and my dad was so nice, like he had never been before.
I was shocked and so was he.
This happened about a month after I started chanting. I hadn’t even been chanting about my father.
Four years later, we still get along well.

6. The Basics of Buddhism: Faith
Those experiences were my first experiences of faith.
Unsure if they were coincidences, I continued practicing and overcame many obstacles in my life that had seemed impossible to overcome, like an extremely painful 20-year bout with compulsive eating, and a pattern of attracting mean boyfriends due to my low self-esteem.
Today I am much healthier emotionally and physically (without depriving myself) and have a very nice boyfriend.
I not only changed these things but became happier, from the inside out, in the process.
Today, I have deep faith, because if I could change those things, I know I can change anything.

7. The Basics of Buddhism: Practice
Now that you understand that faith comes through trying the practice and experiencing actual proof, I’ll explain what the practice is.
The practice includes practicing for ourselves and others.
Later in the lesson, you will have a short assignment so you can try the practice.

8. The Basics of Buddhism: Practice
Practicing for ourselves
We aim to chant “Nam myoho-renge-kyo” each morning and evening (time varies from a few minutes up to over an hour).
We also aim to recite portions of the lotus sutra each morning and evening. (takes 5 – 10 minutes)
Practicing for others
“Practice for others consists of action based on compassion to help give others the means to make fundamental improvements in their lives” (The Winning Life, p.13)
In other word, we
chant for others’ happiness
share the practice with those who are interested
teach others how to chant and chant with them
share encouragement and hope with others
help others use the practice to overcome problems and achieve goals and happiness

9. The Basics of Buddhism: Study
Now that you have learned about faith and practice, it is time to learn about study.
Study helps us maintain our faith and practice.
Study also helps us encourage others and learn how to use the practice to overcome our life’s challenges and win.
Study leads to a strong and fulfilling practice.

10. The Basics of Buddhism: Study
Like a 3-legged chair that cannot stand if one leg is missing, study is the essential third piece of a successful Buddhist practice that supports you in achieving happiness and goals.
“To gain confidence that this practice is valid and to understand why your efforts will bring about a result, it is essential to study the tenets of this Buddhism.” (The Winning Life, p.13)
There is a wealth of study materials from the SGI (SGI is explained in a later slide) available at Study and Publications.

11. The Basics of Buddhism: Assignment
It’s difficult to understand the practice until you actually try it.
Now that you have learned about faith, practice and study, it is time to experience it.
Because faith takes a different amount of time for each individual and is highly personal, it is not part of the assignment.; however, you may begin to experience faith as a result of this assignment.
Your assignment has 5 parts.

12. The Basics of Buddhism: Assignment
Part 1: To learn how to begin practicing, here is an excellent introductory video, just under 6 minutes, on how to chant:
How to Chant
Part 2: write down 1 or more goals you would like to realize in your life.
Part 3: Read these 6 paragraphs about Buddhism: What Is Enlightenment.
Part 4: chant 3 minutes each morning and each evening for 1 week. Log your time and take notes of anything you happen to notice while chanting or throughout the day.
Part 5: write a 1-page paper about your experiences chanting and your reactions to the reading. How did the reading affect how you felt about chanting? How did chanting affect how you felt? What else did you notice?

13. The Basics of Buddhism: Conclusion
Faith, practice, and study result in tangible and intangible benefits:
inconspicuous benefits like absolute happiness, confidence, and inner peace
conspicuous benefits, or actual proof, like higher income, losing weight, and finding a life partner.

14. The Basics of Buddhism: Conclusion
“With this recipe [of faith, practice, and study], we will experience actual proof of our transformation in the forms of both conspicuous and inconspicuous benefit.”
(The Winning Life, p. 11)

15. The Basics of Buddhism: Conclusion
Because maintaining faith, practice and study on your own can be very challenging, there is a non-profit organization, dedicated to peace, culture, and education.
This organization is the SGI, which stands for Soka Gakkai International. Soka Gakkai means “value creation.”
It exists for the purpose of supporting people in their Buddhist practice.
It is always free to everyone.
I will describe the SGI in detail in a future lesson. In the meantime, learn more at the SGI website.
Happy practicing!

16. References