Thursday, January 8, 2009

THE VICTORY IN THE OBSTACLE: 365 Days of Positive Perspectives for Modern Lives


Based on the writings of Nichiren Daishonin, this current book is also the product of the tortuous relationship below. In the spirit of "turning poison into medicine" and "lemons into lemonade" I seem to have created a LOT value out of that happily-ill-fated relationship below. Not least of which was continuing on until I met my true, forever, gorgeous (too gorgeous, but I've decided to live with it!), and infinitely loving husband!!!!!

So...at the start of my relationship with The-Man-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless (but which half the people I know in Hollywood seemed to have guessed), it was Easter and he asked if I recognized it. I've practiced Nichiren Buddhism for years, but that doesn't mean I can appreciate other traditions. But I was so taken aback I blurted, "Well I like the easter bunny" to which he retorted, "aaaahhh, the little heathen Easter bunny!" Except I realize in time that we was NOT kidding.

Then...after he (proudly) announced that he read NO book except the Bible (this to a girl who got her 500 vision from reading compulsively from the age of 4 in ANY kind of non-light), he said one of those pearl-in-the-oyster things that led (8 years later) to this book.

"The Bible has all kinds of great quotes. What does Buddhism have?" (Did the italics capture the snideness in this voice. or did I merely succeed in conveying it in my head?!)

This modern Buddhism (800 year old from the 3,000 year old Lotus Sutra) has so much to illuminate today's culture. All the elements I gravitate to from Tolle and The Power of Now or A New Earth; Abraham as channeled by Esther Hicks; What the Bleep Do We Know; The Secret are clearly activated in the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism. But WHY WOULD anyone but it's 12 million member know? And there are such universal, colloquial, really COOL QUOTES.

So I decided to see if I could cull 366 quotes from the 2,000 pages of translated letters...but ONLY if they had NO buddhist specific jargon. I wanted them to be totally accessible without anyone needing to do mental/spiritual gynastics to get the value. And then I wrote very informal Iyanla-Vanzant-style instances of how they apply to the situations we all face now!

Okay....I think I may be writing in circles. So perhaps I will stop while I imagine I am still cogent. Alright, I confess. I WROTE THIS 10 minutes ago. Left the screen. It blanked OUT and I had to "recreate it." I have made myself DIZZZZZZY.

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