Today is Wednesday, January 28th, 2026, and it is 8:16pm. I wanted to get started on my blog tonight because I will publish tomorrow. I would have liked to have started earlier but I had some stuff I needed to work on. I have not done my Duolingo yet, but that will have to wait for later. I am studying Japanese and German. I must visit Japan. I don’t think it will happen in 2026, but I would love to visit in 2027. I would love to go for about two weeks. Or maybe go for a week and a half. I might need a few days to adjust from the 12-hour time difference. I would love to go in spring to see the cherry blossoms, but that is probably one of the peak seasons. I have heard that it can be much less expensive to travel in the off-peak season. I was thinking maybe early or mid-fall.
The Buddhism that I practice, Nichiren Buddhism, originated in Japan in the 13th century. It was started by a Buddhist monk, Nichiren Daishonin, who first chanted nam-myoho-renge-kyo on April 28th, 1253. According to Nichiren, chanting nam which means devotion, along with the title of the Lotus Sutra, myoho-renge-kyo is the direct path to enlightenment which he made accessible to all people.
I have been practicing Nichiren Buddhism with the SGI-USA since August 8, 2000. Soon I will be approaching my 26th year of being a member. I am so appreciative for having encountered this practice. My friend G introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism in the winter of 2000. He really encouraged me to get my own Gohonzon, which is a mandala that has I, Nichiren and nam-myoho-renge-kyo, down the center, which represents the oneness of the person and the law.
According to Nichiren, even though we may believe in and chant nam-myoho-renge-kyo, if we see the law outside ourselves, we are not embracing Buddhism, but an inferior teaching, and an inferior teaching can never lead to enlightenment, even if we practice for countless kalpas, a very long unit of time. It is like the case of a poor man who counts his neighbor’s wealth night and day and gains not even half a coin.
Today is Thursday, January 29th, 2026. I worked late tonight. I punched out at 6:30pm. Luckily, it only took me a few minutes to drive home. The weather in Buffalo has been horrible for the past couple of weeks. I am sick of winter right now. According to Nichiren all things sentient and insentient have a Buddha nature. Winter has a Buddha nature. Somehow, I can’t see this right now. I am ready for it to be spring already and we are still in January!
Thomas, the young man that I am supporting loves winter. He rides his bike year-round and especially enjoys doing so in the winter. He stopped by earlier tonight. We are going to chant together tomorrow morning. He shared with me that he is going to start chanting twice a day and then go from there. That made me so happy. He is still in the beginning of his practice. I struggled with consistency for years. If he could overcome that hurdle early on in his practice, I would be very happy. Supporting him has been a joy and it has also strengthened my practice. I am grateful to Thomas.
Kosen Rufu Gongyo and the Buffalo Chapter Kick Off are this Sunday. I am very excited about it. It’s going to be a fun meeting. Each district will share their determinations for the year. I am looking forward to learning about the goals of other districts. After we give our district determinations, we are going to share our amazing Peace Bridge District song. I am really excited about that. Which reminds me, we need to practice at some point. I hope that we can run through it at least once before the meeting. But I do think our spirit is much more important than perfection. Our high life conditions as we sing will reverberate throughout the room!
I am still excited about 2026. I am looking forward to working on my people pleasing tendencies with my therapist. I am still reading the book she recommended, The Four Agreements. There is a lot of good stuff in that book. I am glad that she recommended it, and I am even more glad that I decided to read it.