below is an email i sent to a member in 2007 expressing my views on the best way to encourage new members.
dear ,
tks for sharing the info. yes, you are right in quoting from the gosho, etc.
i hope u realize that you are talking from a very intellectual and educated level. also, yes, it is 100% true in what you have quoted, and also i agree with what you have said about manifestation of the law in ourselves.
however, for people who have reallly struggled (i mean to the point of desperation), it would be most helpful to talk to them and encourage them, in ordinary language, translating the difficult theories into ordinary daily language to help them understand. say things that will be pleasing to their ears (this is also from the hoben chapter)
actually i am talking about myself. at the time of my desperation, if you quote me all the difficult theories, i can honestly tell you that i would not be interested. what people at this stage want to hear is that they will be helped, and everything will be OK.
yes, you can chant and chant, and you DO NOT see the results, i had this experience. when i chanted for.............., i did everything i could but nothing turned up, i suffered soooo much, to the extent that i knelt on the floor (i was in a hotel then), cried my heart out and asked the gohonzon'WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG, WHAT HAVE I GOT TO DO, WHAT HAVE I GOT TO CHANGE, AND WHAT HAVE I GOT TO LEARN' to achieve my goal.
on return to hongkong, all the answers came (yes, you are right), some of the answers came from friends and familes, telling me that i have the wrong focus, i was too snobbish, etc., and that i have a lot to change and learn.
without this asking, i would not (or it will take me much much much longer) be able to achieve my goal in a reasonably short span of time.
sometimes, when we chant for an apple, you get an orange, and without hesitation, you would turn the orange away not knowing that you need all the vitamin c's from the orange, it is at this time that we need to ask the gohonzon (the highest intelligence, or our higher self) as to why we get the orange. in this way, both our wisdom and faith will spring forth.
if we tell ordinary people, when they are in deep trouble, that their suffering can be a source of nourishment for others, (or even congratulate them for having this suffering) they are not going to like this at all. yes, it takes people with deep deep faith and trust to be able to appreciate this, or after they have gone thru their suffering and looking back to realize that this is the case.
of course, i know that buddhism can help us in our daily lives, this is 100% true, but there is also a formula (again, because you are very much into theory, you do not like to hear me using the word formula), but, we do need to know how to apply this mystic law in our daily lives to help ourselves, and, from experience, a lot of members i have come across DO NOT know how to do this, that is why i am very anxious to tell others what i have learned in my years of practice.
when u say 'why should we even get what we chant for?" buddhism says that life is to be enjoyed, we have every right to be happy. and whatever that can bring us happiness, we can chant for and get it. yes, with our buddhism teaching, we know that the end result is that, because we can feel the power of chanting, and of the mystsic law, and after getting what we want, we are soooo happy that we would like to share the joy with others, to tell them about chanting.
yes, u are right in saying that when we chant for something for ourselves, but the intention is to help others, THEN YOU WILL GET WHAT YOU WANT MUCH MUCH FASTER. when i chanted for a husband, other than wanting a husband for myself, i also wanted to use myself as a living proof of this buddhism to encourage other women with relationship problems, i was very very determined to do this. i had a cocktail reception in hongkong and invited almost 200 members to attend, and i was so pleased to tell u that a lady, an sgi member came to me at the cocktail and said, "lydia, my husband deserted me and our son, i have lost everything, but seeing u, i have hope"
dear___________, whatever i am saying to you now, its all from my real life experience. i am glad i can share with you.
lydia
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