Testimonial from Sept 2008 YMD VA daimokukai!!!
N was shakubuku back in 1988. In 1988, N and I were taking our O levels exams, so we attend tuition together.
During one of tuition session, N asked , “Where can he buy a bible?”
I replied, “Why do you want to buy a bible?” Cos N got very poor results for his preliminary results in early Oct. He got 27 points and he thinks that he got no where to go. He cannot go to junior college(JC) or polytechnic. So, I asked him, “Why don’t you come and chant with me? I’ll give you free tuition.”
“So, every day you chant with me I teach you.”
At that time I was quite a good student. I has already work the 10 yr series by 2 rounds. We chanted together every morning, study and chant together in the evening again. Within 1 month, N turn the impossible possible. He got his results in 1989 March. His score decreases from 27 marks to 7 marks…That was a tremendous improvement…
From then on, he was truly convince on the power of the Gohonzon. He can go to his dream JC, Victoria JC. For a while, I lost touch with N as I got into AJC. As N went to JC, he forget about everything. Play, and went out with lots of rich people,. 2 yrs is fast. It’s time for exams again.
This time round, N didn’t practice anymore. N pass his A levels, but cannot make it to local university. So, N had to go overseas to study. As his parents are pretty well off, decided to send him to study Chemical Engineering in USA.
The real turning point came when he graduated in 1998. He return back in Jul and one day he called me. He told me that he got to make a difficult decision because his girlfriend in USA give him a choice; If he don’t return in a month, she’s going to end their relationship. He really loves this girl so much, but he felt bad cos his parents sent him to university.
Within a month he didn’t even collect a pay check yet and he got to make this tough decision whether to leave his parents to go for his love ones or to stay. He asked me for advice. I really can’t tell him anything. The only thing I had to remember is that wherever he is, as long as he have the Gohonzon, there will not be dead-end. He took my advice with so much confidence that he decided to move off and went back to USA.
That was really his turning point. When he returns to USA and back there, he participates in SGI USA activities. But he‘s like a leisure type of practitioner. When he goes over to USA, he doesn’t have the necessary work permit. He cannot find job. He bought 15 thousand and within about a year, he is left 800 hundred bucks. As he didn’t had the work permit and it’s not easy to get the job. There is nothing he can do and basically he had to try everything, i.e. like work in MacDonald’s, part time. His most difficult time is he got relegated to work in a lingerie department as wall mall.. Every time when he calls me, he will always cry.
In 2001, I went to USA and met him at Texas. After many years, I was shock that he’s no longer the old N who got branded goods n stuff all over his body. Now he got the cheapest stuff, cheapest shoes and anything he can save he will save. When we met each other at this pan cake shop, he was really pouring all his struggles that we are like hugging each other n cried. He just couldn’t help it. He could not called his parents for help as he choose to leave everything in Singapore. He doesn’t have the face to call his parents. However, one thing he has really developed tremendously over the last few yrs was his faith and practice has strengthened tremendously.
In 1999, He couldn’t take it anymore and he received the Gohonzon. That was when he feels the great power of the Gohonzon. Since 1998 to 1999, he never had the Gohonzon. He never felt the need to have the Gohonzon. But, when he had no one to turn to, Gohonzon become the biggest fortune he could had. That was everything he could had and he was so poor that the only furniture had was the Butsudan. Even the mattress he slept was donated by another member. That was at his poorest state. During the very poor time, he had chanted lots of daimoku. Because he got no job, he got lots of time and he spent time chanting and chanting. To save on money, he cannot even afford to turn on the air condition. As he stays in a very hot part of USA, Houston, whenever he chants, the whole room felt like sauna. Yet he cannot turn on the air condition, he got to save every cent he had.
He remembers a passage in Human Revolution (HR), Toda sensei is actually in prison. Toda sensei had a happy and successful business before, but all of sudden, he got into the jail. He had to leave everything behind, but he did not choose to worry in the jail, like how is his family, and how is his business. He chooses to do one thing, which is to embark in vigorous daimoku campaign. It was really upon reaching 1 million daimoku, Toda sensei was enlightened with the fact of attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.
N basically had adopted every method from the HR, he had chosen not to worry about things he cannot believe . He chants to focus on things influence him, chant a lot of daimoku and go all out for kosen rufu.
During that time when he has no job, he focus on doing gajokai, and volunteer for daimokukai. In the places where they live always had lots of typhoons. The kaikan is flooded. He will help to move the things like tables, to make sure that things don’t get spoilt. When they move kaikan in every 2 or 3 yrs, he will goes around to fix the sound system, roll the carpet, paint..
Basically he was doing all these when he was jobless, without being paid a single cent. But as I will review later, all his efforts that he give was never short change. More importantly he got married with this girl he loves so much. Because of the financial difficulty that he was facing, he never give up to a lot of problems..
His wife is from a very rich family. How rich she can be? Their house is as big as this kaikan (telok blangah kaikan in Singapore). She force N to stay with her and she allows N to enshrine the Gohonzon, but had to put it under the staircase.
Whenever they quarrels, he will ask N to move the Gohonzon to the garage, the car had a separate house like the garage. What was actually pushing N never to give up his relationship was he had this single ichinen that even he had to divorce his wife, the day that they divorce,. the wife must be chanting. That is the single ichinen that was pushing him on. That he don’t want to break up this relationship. Even he had to go, he must had shakubuku and convince her the great power of the Gohonzon. So, he never give up.
Indeed, he was very protective to the Gohonzon. In order not to cause any harm to the Gohonzon, when being instructed to move the Gohonzon to the garage, he will stay with the Gohonzon in the garage. He will not stay in the house. When it’s time to move back to the house, he and gohonzon will then shift back to the house. It’s really this kind of oneness to the Gohonzon. Never giving up, because the Gohonzon has being his only support throughout his very tough years in USA.
Of course, he will be worried, but always told himself not to worry on those things, just keep focusing, really involving and practicing the “Ho Nin Myo” spirit. Keep working on the causes and causes, forget about the effects. “I know the effects will come”, always told himself that, for sure in one day.
True enough, his 1st big benefit comes in year 2000, his green card application was approved. Actually he applied his green card in 1999, while they are still processing the applications in 1998. But somehow, 1 year later, when he went to the immigration department to check the status of the application, miraculously, the previous application files was unknowingly deleted. Hence, they are still retrieving the files. Therefore, they straight away process 1999 applications. There and then, his green card was applied.
With green card, he can start applying for job. But in year 2000, top markets in USA were weaken, and banking crashed. Though he got green card, he can find job, but every job he found cannot stay more than 2 months. Companies start retrenching people.
From 1999 to 2002, he never had a job related to his training. He always wanted to be a chemical engineer. He wanted to work in the oil and gas industry, but he never get a change to step into the industry he wants. He will sell insurance, financial software, all sort of things that is not aligned. But he never give up, he kept chanting. Each time he get fired, he was so used to it again, that every time he see the boss holding the letter, he knows he’s fired.
But he begin so used and convince to the power of the Gohonzon. That once he receives the letter, he always had a box stand by for him and he will straight away went to the kaikan in Houston and really prays for 3 hrs, to set the cause for his next job.
Very majestically, every time within 1 month, he will get a new job. Even though it is not in the industry he wanted, every time he will get 100, 200 bucks of pay. It’s sort of Gohonzon telling him that “don’t give up, the big benefit is coming. He keep telling himself to just keep believing, keep chanting and keep doing kosen rufu. He never give up.
In 2003, finally, he got into a small oil refinery. After being 6 or 7 years away from the industry, he had no industry experience. But his karma never stops, because the refinery is so small that there are news of the refinery going bankrupted or somebody is going to take over.
As he was so well trained in fighting job karma, he is not scared at all. He just keep chanting and do kosen rufu. In 2004, his big turning point came, he volunteer to be the driver to pick children for their culture festival. His driver’s role is to pick up the kids to their training ground, because USA is so big that he had to cover several areas. So if the practice started at 8’o clock on a Sunday morning, he actually had to wake at 3 o’clock on a Sunday morning, to do gongyo and start picking up the kids so that they can reached the training ground 8 in the morning. They will practice the whole day, probably until evening. Usually people go for vacation in weekends, so there may be jams. By the time he sent all the kids home, it is about Monday morning 1am.
After the cultural festival, his job karma changes for better tremendously. 1 week later, he got a phone call from the head hunters. He got a job from a fortune 5 hundred oil n gas industry(Congo). He couldn’t believed it cos never in his dreams he could work in fortune 5 hundred oil n gas industry. In 2004, it is also the precious year for oil and gas industry. That is the year when oil prices moves from 30 bucks to the recent of 150 bucks.
In 1 or 2 years, he get head hunted by one of the world wide companies, then move on to BP(British Petroleum) and most recently he is in Exxo Mobile, holding a senior position. His job karma from then on, sort of totally eradicated. His dream is always to go back to school to do his MBA. He had save money, but he once make a promise that if he ever he had enough money, his 1st priority is to buy his 1st apartment, because he wants to contribute his place for meetings.
When he was face with a difficult decision to buy an apartment or to go for his studies. He made a total decision to give up his studies and to use the money to buy an apartment. So that he can live on his own with his wife and contribute this place for kosen rufu. When he made this decision, at about 1 month later, he was in BP then. Very miraculously, the boss asked him to do an audit for their budget. What he found is they got an extra of 100 thousand. At the typical cover act operation, the boss rejected and asked, “How come there is a over budget of 100 thousand for the department year training budget ?” Hence, the boss claim to him why not he used it for his study?
Within 1 month, his destiny of not able to go to school for 1 or 2 years was totally transformed. Because he had this sponsorship of these 100 thousand bucks, he made an arrangement with the boss that every week he only work 4 days and every Friday he goes to school. He don’t have to take leave and company will cover his travels, air tax because he need to fly to Texas to study. Everything is bonded by the company. Because of this single ichinen that he will used his paid to buy a house to donate to kosen rufu. With this single ichinen, he got a 100 thousand to study. That he didn’t even plan before.
In Aug, he called that he had completed his studies for 2 years. Today he holds a position as a negotiator for oil and gas dealing in the gulf area. No one will ever believe that with his kind of start up that he will ever go to an important position in the big oil company. Because of the oil prices boom, whatever pay he loses up in the 1st 5 to 6 yrs, he more than earn it back 2 to 3 times. The Gohonzon never short changes him.
To share this important message in this testimony, the essential of this Buddhism is really to chant that as long as we practice this Buddhism, wholeheartedly, committed, patiently, there will never be any death end that we can’t break through, the issue lies how deep our faith is. How committed our practice is and how sincere we are. As long as we fulfilled all these criteria, there will be no dead ends we cannot break through. The Gohonzon is absolute whether we believe it or not. The fundamental is how strong is our faith. As long as our faith is unlimited, the gohonzon power is unlimited for us.
To also encourage on the importance of daimoku, we had to migrate from being a leisure practitioner, like chanting 4 to 5 mins daimoku, 30mins daimoku, to seriously chanting professional daimoku. We only heard of being professional in our job, but we seldom hear of being professional in our daimoku, in our practice. It’s time that we had to reflect and .to tell our self on that. If had to be professional in our job to earn lots of moneya,we had to be equally professional in our faith, then we can live with boundless benefits.
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