I sit and look out

I sit and look out upon all the sorrows of the world, and upon all oppression and shame;
I hear secret convulsive sobs from young men, at anguish with themselves, remorseful after deeds done;
I see, in low life, the mother misused by her children, dying, neglected, gaunt, desperate;
I see the wife misused by her husband—I see the treacherous seducer of young women;
I mark the ranklings of jealousy and unrequited love, attempted to be hid—I see these sights on the earth;
I see the workings of battle, pestilence, tyranny—I see martyrs and prisoners;
I observe a famine at sea—I observe the sailors casting lots who shall be kill’d, to preserve the lives of the rest;
I observe the slights and degradations cast by arrogant persons upon laborers, the poor, and upon negroes, and the like;
All these—All the meanness and agony without end, I sitting, look out upon,
See, hear, and am silent.

- Walt Whitman

You dont have to find out that you are dying to start living - Zach Sobiech

You dont have to find out that you are dying to start living - Zach Sobiech

Zach Sobiech, at the age of 14, found out he had a rare form of terminal cancer. So he became a rock star, and millions of people got to see his music before he passed away on May 20, 2013. This is his beautiful story.

You never know what to expect until you lose someone dear to your heart. If you wouldn't mind sharing this so more people hear Zach's story, I'd love it. His family has requested that anyone who is interested in helping change the fate for future children like Zach donate to the research fund set up on his behalf. http://bit.ly/ZachsFund



You can purchase Zach's album here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/fix-me-up-feat.-zach-sobiech/id603389901

If you like this work, please like SoulPancake they are beyond AWESOME = https://www.facebook.com/soulpancake

Please also follow Upworthy, they are sharing great stuff and good news about people and life: http://www.upworthy.com/

Thank you
Robbie

Marriage is not a failed institution. The problem is with you, not with marriage.

People always say "Marriage is a failed insituation, what is the point in getting married? Why do you gays want to become part of something that is so out dated and pointless?"

Well what I would say is that there is nothing wrong with marriage, it isn't failed, it functions perfectly fine.

What has failed is communication between people. More marriages fail because the man or woman involved dont know how to speak to their partner, because as children they were never given the training by their parents in how to share their feelings.

The problem with marriage is our parents, and our parents parents and our parents parents parents.

We have to break this cycle, we have to train our children in compassion, in openness and in understanding.

We must teach our children that its ok to talk about our feelings that in doing this, we are not weak, but strong people.

A relationship survives as long as the other person knows without a shadow of a doubt that they still have a place in your life, a function.

If you hide it from them, if you lie to them, if you cheat on them you destroy everything you have built and created.

Though saying that, the biggest lies we tell are to our selves, so the change must begin within you.

Stop lying to your self, face the facts and be true to who you are, in the long run you will save your self and your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend a lot of pain.

I know from my years of Buddhist practice that the hardest thing in the world to do is look at your self, to really look. To see the faults and to be aware of them, to know that they need to change.

Its so easy to be single, to sit with your self and never every confront your issues, your "stuff".

Being in a marriage or a relationship is an opportunity to really confront these issues, as most of the time the other person will reflect back to you the things you dislike most about yourself. It is a unique opportunity to become more, to transform, or do your human revolution as we call it in Nichiren Buddhism.

Life is about choices, every single interaction with another person involves choices, how you choose to react to them, how you choose to behave. It is all a conscious choice.

So when you hear someone talking down about marriage, remind them that a marriage is just a place you go, its a space.

It is up to you what you do with it.

Trust, Openness and Honesty that is all we need to succeed.

Robbie

1 Hour Daimoku Live Recording London

Click to view the flyer.

Some time ago, after many requests I created a 1 hour daimoku video. This was done with love as many people had asked about creating something on Youtube that they could use to chant with their friends and at their meetings.

Due to a rather strange legal battle, it was removed. After many many letters and requests I fought this battle and won! Since then I have decided that I wanted us to record our own audio and share that with the world.

Ideally we would all chant together regularly, not only is it an inspirational and uplifting experience but it enlivens our practice and reminds us about why we chant.

Unity, is an essential part of our organisation, "many in body and one in mind" is the principle that we are all working together to bring change to the world. This doesn't mean we are mindless drones following a far away leader, but working together to make a difference, with the same vision in our hearts.

For me the principle function of the SGI is preserve the teachings for Nichiren Buddhism, but also to empower individual people to become more, to stand up and have the courage to make powerful changes in their lives, their communities and the world.

The chanting of Daimoku (nam myoho renge kyo), is a enigmatic and profound process of actualising the inner self-worth and resolve that builds a strength, allowing a person to become a truly great human being.

Now greatness isn't about money, or material possessions, but instead about potential within our humanity.

There are many examples of people from all walks of life, from the every corner of the Earth who have stood up, within their communities and changed the impossible.

This has happend because of self belief, hope and vision.

The worlds people need more hope, vision and self belief and I am certain that the more us who begin to find the true nature of our being, the closer we will get to a peaceful Earth.

Join me and many others on June 8th 2013 at the London Ikeda Peace Center at 12pm - 3pm for a live 1 hour recording of Daimoku, as a gift for the world. It will be given its own page on the internet and will be our way of sharing our voices and prayers with the millions of other Buddhists and non-Buddhists across the globe.

"Awaken to the vast power you possess! Chant Daimoku with the firm belief that you will achieve a life of great fulfilment. This itself is the true heritage" - Daisaku Ikeda

Hope to see you there.

Namaste
Bobby
nichirenletters@gmail.com

What will you do today to make the world AWESOME?

What will you do to make the world awesome?

Now you won't make it awesome if you keep sitting there.

We were made to be awesome!

- Kid President

Why World Peace Is Not Possible and That’s Okay

By Vanessa Gobes

I love writing about my spiritual awakening. And I love reading about other people’s spiritual awakenings. What tickles me most about it all, is how we all seem to feel as if we’ve just discovered uncharted insight or invented a revolutionary technique that can help not only us, but anyone who is willing to try to think like us or act like us or serve the world like us.