It is The Heart That is Important

President Ikeda's Guidance:

"It is the heart that is important", writes the Daishonin.

When we do something, do we approach it with a negative attitude - grumbling, "Oh, not again! I hate this!" - or a positive attitude - telling ourselves brightly, "All right, here's a fresh opportunity to gain good fortune!"?

This seemingly small, subtle difference n attitude can make a huge difference in our lives. It can change things 180 degrees. This is what the Lotus Sutra and the doctrine of "three thousand realms in a single moment of life" teach us.

The heart is invisible, and Buddhism provides a comprehensive understanding of the principles governing that invisible heart. It represents the highest form of psychology, neuroscience, and psychotherapy.

Appreciation and joy multiply our good fortune. Complaint and negativity erase it.

We often find that those who live in the city yearn for country life, while those who live in the country long for city life, or that those who are single dream of being married, while those who are married wish they were single again. That is a common tendency of the human heart.

But happiness doesn't life somewhere far away. It is something we must achieve for ourselves through our present struggles in the here and now.

When we have a positive and appreciative attitude toward our communities, it will give greater confidence and impetus to our activities. The joy of kosen-rufu will spread.

If You Have Time to Brood, You Have Time to Chant

The Gosho teaches that benefits come from chanting daimoku. Nowhere does it say that you can obtain benefits by complaining, even if you do so a million times.

Some of you may be worried because of your mates, children or parents. But so long as you merely complain about them, you will not be able to solve your problem. Instead, resolve to turn your anxiety into an impetus for changing your karma, into a springboard for attaining enlightenment - in other words, into a good influence. Then muster your power of faith and practice, and chant and chant until you have solved your problem. Only your faith in the Gohonzon can enable you to do this.

- Guidance, Why is Faith Necessary Vol I, World Tribune Press

Thoughts - I love how this guidance instructs one to chant instead of simply complain. I remember this one funny guidance a senior gave saying 'instead of opening the bottle in the evening, open your butsudan.'
It then says to 'muster' your power of faith....Meaning, its not going to come out freely from your life like free-flowing salt when you are low. You will have to drag/coax/nudge/cajole it out..like taking out those last drops of that thick tomato ketchup.
Don't you have to do that? When you are low? So hard to open that butsudan no? But if you muster your power of faith at that time and chant for even five minutes at that time, you have won in that moment and changed a part of your karma at that moment.

A small shift in your heart can change everything

Importance of transforming resentment into compassion, complaints into gratitude.

Sensei says "Appreciation and gratitude increase good fortune. Complaint and negativity erase it."

I encountered a wonderful experience in the Value Creation magazine of a woman who was "working v hard" and doing everything right, BUT was resenting doing so immensely. She was angry that her work was not being acknowledged and appreciated by the people around her. She kind of reminded me of a bird who charges ahead with all her might but bumps into a window each time. :(

It just hit home because I have closely seen people who have technically worked hard in terms of doing their duties, crazy hours of daimoku, and umpteen Gakkai activities. They have got a lot to show for it ofcourse. However, due to some stubborn cause, the relationships in their lives remain unchanged, while the bulk of the work continues to come to them, with no appreciation and people around them making their life only tougher and not easier. While this stubborn cause could very well be karma or mission, it could also have a lot to do with their attitude which had more than a whiff of resentment/arrogance/anger.

To transform the tendency to be resentful appears to be very important. otherwise, we too could practice all our lives looking the wrong way.

Pray

1. to have compassion. This is key. When you bow to the image in the mirror. the image bows back to you. If you hate others, they too will revile you and detest you. You could be doing all the right things, but if your heart is not in the right place, people will respond to that negativity. Pray to transform all resentment into compassion. This is concomitant with Sensei's guidance to pray that all positive, protective forces may enter your life and the lives of those around you as well all members.

2. to have Gratitude. When you have gratitude for the things you have, and express gratitude frequently to those who support your life, your good fortune increases manifold.

Complaints Drain Good Fortune

IF one lacks courage, all of his experiences of hardship will turn into complaints and resentment towards others. He will then lose confidence in faith, as well as the energy to move forward. As a result, he will feel nothing but loneliness and regret.
- Daisaku Ikeda