First, Pray
By Anupama Parmar
Cherry Blossom District
Fort Smith, Northwest Territories
I started practising Nichiren Buddhism in 2008 in India, and I have had many experiences through my faith in the Gohonzon[1] ever since then. In 2014, I visited Canada for the very first time with my husband, Sachin. I have been so much in love with this country ever since that visit. While here, I spent a super amazing time with my sister and her family, enjoying my days with my nephew, who was in Grade 1 at the time. Seeing him going to school in the morning and coming back home in the afternoon, I began to have a secret desire in my heart to someday move to Canada and have my own kids attend school in the Burlington, Ontario area. At that time, though, I was not yet a mom. I spent five wonderful months with my sister and her family, and then we travelled back to India.
As the days passed by, I kept thinking, How can I move to Canada? I spoke with my husband, and his reaction was not strongly in favour of such a move. He was well settled in an IT company, and he was happy in India. Nevertheless, we researched many ways by which we could move to Canada. As Ikeda Sensei says, "Everything starts with prayer.”[2] I started to chant more strongly to get clarity and wisdom.
One day, my husband and I decided together to move to Canada, and he agreed to start his career from scratch. By this time, we had an 18-month-old son, Tanishq. My husband applied for admission to York University in Toronto to do his MBA. It was not an easy entrance exam for him, since he had been out of school for a long time; but finally he passed the exam and got his admission offer in 2017.
Very soon, the time came when my husband had finished his two-year MBA program. He struggled hard to get a job in his field of IT, but the market was tough at that time. After applying for hundreds of jobs, he didn’t get a single call. Meanwhile, I also wanted to start something so that I could earn some money and help to support us. As Sensei says:
Nothing is more powerful than correct prayer to the Gohonzon. The Daishonin teaches that no prayer will go unanswered, and that nothing surpasses the strategy of the Lotus Sutra—that is, faith in the Mystic Law.[3] Every struggle, every effort, must start with prayer, must be supported by continued prayer, and must be carried out with prayer to the very end.[4]
In order to manage financially, my husband started working part-time in a restaurant as a kitchen assistant; but soon it became full-time, since he didn’t yet have a regular IT job. To pay the rent and support our family, he started doing 18-hour shifts, coming back very late every night. Because he was not used to kitchen chores, he had minor burns and scratches all the time. It was very painful for me to see, but we had no choice. Over time, the restaurant’s owner became very happy with my husband's sincerity toward his work, and he eventually appointed him as a Kitchen Manager and Head Chef.
During this tough time, I was determined to chant three hours of daimoku[5] every day, and my husband, who is not yet an SGI member, supported me completely.
Finally, my prayers were answered, giving us more benefit than I had been expecting. My husband got his first IT break in a large telecom company, and later he got a second break in an Ontario college as an IT consultant. After that, he got his third major opportunity when he was offered a job in a large university in the Northwest Territories. It was a government job with full benefits for our family, and it paid almost double the salary that he was getting previously! We were so happy about these great victories that we were able to achieve through my daimoku.
At the same time, I was expecting my second child. Everything was going fine, until one day my doctor said that my ultrasound showed some problems, and they would have to do further tests. If the result was not favourable, then I would have to terminate the pregnancy. I chanted with my whole heart to the Gohonzon for the protection of my future fortune child, and I am really happy to report that ultimately my tests came out completely normal. Now my baby is a happy 15-month-old girl named Kyra.
However, soon I started asking myself, When will I become independent and start earning? We had bought a house in the Northwest Territories, and we were settled in there. Whenever I spoke with my sister, she always encouraged me to never stop praying for my own secret desires and dreams; but I was not clear on how I would ever be able to work at a job when I had two little kids and no extra help. My parents and my in-laws were all back in India, and my sister was in Ontario.
In addition, I was wondering how to manage in our new location. The small town was very beautiful and full of nice people, but it was still not clear to me how I could grow financially. Therefore, I tried to implement the following Gosho[6] passage from “The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra,” which was addressed to Nichiren Daishonin’s disciple Shijo Kingo, who had been ambushed by enemies among his fellow samurai, but had managed to escape unharmed:
Regard your survival as wondrous. Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other... The heart of strategy and swordsmanship derives from the Mystic Law. Have profound faith. A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered. (WND-1, p.1001)
Based on “the strategy of the Lotus Sutra,” I changed my way of praying. I stopped thinking too much, and instead I began chanting with my whole heart.
Today, I am happy to share that I've started a catering business in the NWT. I am getting so many orders that, by the end of each day, I say to myself that I cannot work any longer! My customers like my recipes and the quality of the food. I get orders almost every day of the week. My days are very busy, and soon I will be able to hire people to help me in my catering business. In addition, a few existing restaurant owners have approached me to build a partnership with them. As Sensei says:
We all have the same number of hours in a day. How we use that time, moment by moment, can make a huge difference in the way the future unfolds.[7]
Because I had decided to use my time to make efforts toward my goals and offer more prayers instead of complaining and thinking too much, I got results.
However, I really wanted to live near my sister in Ontario, or maybe closer to my brother in Alberta. This was another secret desire that I had never shared with my husband. I kept telling him that he should apply for jobs in other cities, since he had accumulated more than two years’ work experience with the same Canadian company. For some reason, he agreed, and he started applying for jobs elsewhere. In the meantime, I never missed a single opportunity to offer fresh prayers to Gohonzon. I was chanting for the best outcome for me and my family.
I am happy to share that my husband got another big break in the IT Software area— he has been hired by a polytechnic in Grande Prairie, AB, which is closer to my brother, who is in Edmonton!
Recently, I received news that my father in India has a blockage in his heart, and he will have to undergo bypass surgery. My sister and I have started to chant for the best care for our dad, and for complete protection. As the treatment plan continues, we are sending lots of daimoku to my parents every day.
Today, I can clearly see that all my efforts in practice—chanting, participating in SGI activities, and introducing friends to Buddhism—have created constant protection for my entire family, helping us to completely overcome our toughest times. We may have new challenges in the future, but I’m completely determined to face those challenges without any fear, and I will win over everything with full faith in the Gohonzon, as a disciple of Ikeda Sensei.
Published in March 2023 New Century
[1] Gohonzon: The object of devotion in Nichiren Buddhism. It is the embodiment of the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, expressing the life state of Buddhahood, which all people inherently possess. Go means “worthy of honour” and honzon means “object of fundamental respect.”
[2] www.sokaglobal.org/resources/study-materials/buddhist-study/the-wisdom-for-creating-happiness-and-peace/chapter-3-15.html
[3] The Mystic Law is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo: The fundamental Law of the universe expounded in Nichiren Buddhism, it expresses the true aspect of life. Chanting it allows people to directly tap their enlightened nature and is the primary practice of SGI members.
[4] SGI Newsletter 7543, SGI President Ikeda’s speech given at a Tokyo No. 2 Area executive leaders conference held in Hachioji, Tokyo, on April 5, 2008.
[5] Daimoku: Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings.
[6] Gosho: The individual and collected writings of Nichiren Daishonin.
[7] https://twitter.com/daisakuikeda_of/status/1524162371975057409