Just sit with it.
I’m having a really hard go of it at the moment. There’s just something soul crushing about a bad breakup flavored with a pinch of exploitation and betrayal. When people in the world are really cruel to you, it can be hard to see past the grief of that recovery. But it’s in these moments, when we feel like there isn’t a breath left in our body, that we must rise all the same. Sitting with the discomfort is where the really good growth happens, just like a lotus flower growing out of the mud.
Our tendency as people is to run from discomfort or to distract ourselves from it, but that pacification overrides the human revolution that happens when we sit with our discomfort and suffering. This concept of human revolution comes to us from Nichiren Buddhism, a form of Buddhism cultivated in Japan. We learn from Nichiren Buddhism that,
“Only by squarely facing the challenges that confront us amidst the harsh contradictions of society … can we carry out the task of changing our own lives and the world for the better ..”
What a powerful thing to learn that each of us has the ability to influence the world around us for the better simply by cultivating the qualities of compassion, wisdom, and courage in our own lives. When we commit to a life of positive intent and self-less action, we can tap into the comfort even amidst the temporary discomfort that we’re suffering through.
“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.” - Daisaku Ikeda
Out of the 8 billion people who live on the earth, only about 7% are recognized as Buddhists and an even smaller percentage of that 7% practices Nichiren Buddhism. One of the Buddhists of our time was the legendary Tina Turner. She discovered Nichiren Buddhism, and the technology of chanting, at one of the lowest emotional points in her life. Chanting is one of the almighty technologies of Nichiren Buddhism that can help you to activate your human revolution.
Practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism chant the mantra Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. This Japanese phrases simply means that one shows their devotion to Buddha’s most honored text, the Lotus Sutra. Check out this clip of Tina sharing her faith and her practice of chanting.
So if you’re sitting in a place of discomfort in life and the usual things aren’t helping to make you feel better, maybe it’s time you give chanting and try and activate your human revolution. Don’t run from the discomfort, find a way to alchemize it.
Learn more about the concept of Human Revolution from the Soka Gakkai.
