She was a Buddhist. Apparently, the universe was trying very hard to send me an important message. This time, I was ready to listen. When I first received the gift of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, it marked the beginning of a new life for me in more ways than I could have imagined.
Thanks to the spiritual awakenings I experienced by chanting, I gained the clarity and strength to make countless important changes in my life. Ike was afraid of my chanting because he thought I might be able to put a curse on him or something.
I realize now that he mostly feared the person I could become through my spiritual practice. His hold on me was threatened because chanting strengthened me. He almost never let me go out to meet people without him, so I found time whenever I could to chant secretly, stealing precious moments to do my prayers morning and night. Gradually, I felt I was getting in sync, in rhythm with life on the deepest level.
The more I chanted, the more I felt my true self, my inherent Buddha nature, awakening. My life condition kept rising, and I developed a newfound feeling of detachment around my husband. I became so strong inside that eventually our conflicts began to feel like a game, like some sort of karmic test.
Slowly but surely, I increased my Buddhist practice over the next couple of years. I became stronger—so strong that in the summer of , I finally found the courage to escape from the unhealthy domestic situation I had been trapped in for so long. Myoho expresses the fundamental life force of the universe.
Finally, kyo has multiple layers of significance, including the teachings of Buddha and sound vibration. Sign in. Log into your account. Forgot your password? Password recovery. Recover your password.
Get help. YOU Magazine. Home Celebrity. Their unhappiness cast a long shadow over my childhood My mother, Zelma, was affectionate with my sister, but it was different for me. Soon after I turned thirteen, my father also left. Thankfully, I still had my cousin Margaret. Buddhism offers a method to clear the subconscious mind. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo changes negativity into positivity. Regula: I believe Buddhist practice gives people peace of mind and the cultivation of wisdom and compassion.
We are living in a time of increased divisiveness. What do you feel people can do, across the religious spectrum, to help unify the world for peace? Tina: The experience of singing prayers together in cross-cultural unity allows us to deeply connect on an emotional level—a place of love and respect where worldly differences fade. Regula: Build bridges! Our modern world gets more and more divided. What divides us is our ego. Create peace within yourself! Cultivate a compassionate loving personality and live it within your families, with your neighbors and friends.
You both live in Switzerland, a land known for peace. How does your Swiss environment affect your work? Regula: Tina often says that Switzerland is a very spiritual place. We also feel a sense of responsibility to give back. We wish for our work to be a celebration of the universal power of music to bring people together, promoting togetherness and compassion, and helping people realize that we, humanity, are one team.
On September 23, , the youth of the SGI-USA will host the Lions of Justice Festival to unite 50, young people of all backgrounds who are striving for a society of justice, peace and respect. What inspirational message would you like to share with these young people? Tina: Work on yourself to become a kind and loving person.
Respect all people. Chanting will help you to think and act correctly, to become clear and develop peace. Build bridges and help others. When you give life to friends you truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness by honoring other traditions. Tina, you always seem to have an ageless spirit.
What do you think are key ingredients for remaining youthful throughout life? Tina: Singing and dancing helped me to stay young and vibrant. But I also have very good genes, and I take good care of myself. And a positive attitude toward life is important. One who possesses hope is forever young. Tina: I took all the challenges as they were, and I overcame them. My life is a love story! The world is full of people that are born into such situations, and they are traveling through life in the dark.
No one has ever explained to them that they need to find love, and they have no education for love except for falling in love with another person, for sexual love. I believe that the problem with the world today is that we have too many people who are not in touch with true love.
But I found love when I was with myself. I would go into nature, into gardens and eat fruit. I would climb trees. I looked to nature and found love because love is in nature. If you go there, hurt and angry, it can transform you. I went with nature, with animals, and I found love and harmony.
I am very happy that I discovered love in nature because later I was in a relationship without love and I still found a way to find love. You can find love when you are of love. I was singing almost from the moment I was born. When I was a little girl my mother would put me on a chair and I would sing for the shop ladies. So I was born with a voice to sing and I have been singing all my life. It might be that being a singer helped me.
Maybe singing on stage helped. Maybe it was a release. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a song. In the Soka Gakkai tradition we are taught how to sing it. It is a sound and a rhythm and it touches a place inside you. That place we try to reach is the subconscious mind. I believe that it is the highest place and, if you communicate with it, that is when you receive information on what to do.
Singing a song can make you cry. Singing a song can make you happy. Meditation and praying change your spirit into something positive. If it is already positive, it makes it better. I think that is the best answer I can give you right now. The language of Buddhism works for me. Was it that impulse to find unity in diversity that led you to become involved with the Beyond Music Project, a not-for-profit movement that weaves together music and inspiration from Tibetan Buddhism, Christian, Hindu, Nichiren Buddhism, and other traditions?
Yes, definitely. I feel passionate about promoting interfaith and intercultural unity, which is why joining Beyond was appealing to me. And yet we seem to be living in an increasingly polarized world.
I believe the remedy for divisiveness is to cultivate and spread compassion for all living beings. It seems in so many places there is a drought of love and kindness these days. Some people react to pain by inflicting more pain on themselves and others.
This is a vicious cycle that creates more negative karma and makes things worse for everyone. Our human family must end the toxic karmic pattern of divisiveness before it ends us. If anything, the pandemic seems to have made everything worse. As someone who has survived racism, family trauma, financial ruin, and the premature death of loved ones, what advice would you offer?
The most important thing is to never give up. No matter what. When we choose hope over despair, we have already won. The trick is that we have to do our part to help it along. Buddhism has taught me that hidden inside of our challenges are the lessons we must learn in order to break through to a better life.
As hard as that might be to grasp in the midst of difficult times, when we can see our problems from that perspective, things naturally change. Then even the impossible becomes possible. Choosing hope is crucial, as is finding ways to use our difficulties to move forward.
I realized that the most valuable help comes from within. What, for you, is the most important aspect of Buddhism for people to keep in mind today? Buddhism teaches equality—the empowering principle that everyone has the potential to attain enlightenment and become absolutely, indestructibly happy.
When we come to see this potential in ourselves, we can see and respect it in everyone else, too. The purpose of Buddhism is to enable all people to come to this realization. What makes you such a strong believer?
Actual proof. Nothing is more convincing than actual proof. And that makes me a very strong believer. What has been your biggest challenge recently? Staying physically fit and healthy after my health challenges.
That would be a lot to handle at any age, but I got through it in my seventies!
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