Experiencing the Power of Prayer

How did you encounter the practice again?

Angelina: I was traveling in Israel right around 9/11, during a period of intensified Israeli–Palestinian violence. As I sat on a beach in Tel Aviv with helicopters roaring above me, I decided I needed a spiritual practice. After a year of travel, I returned to Los Angeles in 2002 and immediately called a former co-worker who practiced Buddhism with the SGI. I got reconnected and received the Gohonzon within a month.

I have since overcome many obstacles through my Buddhist practice, but engaging in the campaign toward last year’s 50,000 Lions of Justice Festival truly showed me the power of this practice and my own life.

How did you challenge yourself during the 50K campaign?

Angelina: As a vice region women’s leader, I was encouraged to make both 50K-sized personal and organizational goals toward this festival. So, in 2017, I decided to challenge four goals:

1. I would support my son’s dream of starting college at age 13;

2. I resolved to be the first woman in my family to not live paycheck to paycheck;

3. I would have a breakthrough in my pursuit of becoming a published poet connected to the Los Angeles literary community; and

4. I would ensure that my region had the happiest and most united members with SGI President Ikeda.

When I made these goals, huge difficulties hit. My 13-year-old son had a breakdown and dropped out of a prestigious academic program that would have given him early entrance into college. I had accrued so much debt that I could no longer pay my living expenses and monthly credit card payments. What’s more, the professors in my master of fine arts program began to suggest that they did not have confidence in me as a poet, and constantly gave me discouraging feedback.

I was working full time as a public-school teacher, a mom and an SGI leader, while going to school three nights a week. Soon, self-doubt consumed me. I felt overwhelmed, exhausted and incapable.

I wanted my son to be grounded in his own worth as a human being and never be defeated. I chanted from the depths of my life for my son’s dreams, as though they were my own.

What did you do?

Angelina: I sought guidance from a senior in faith and determined two things: 1. to pray to know what it means to fulfill my mission for kosen-rufu; and 2. to win in all areas of my life based on my vow, with the belief that, no matter how bad things seemed, I was changing the situation.

I began to chant this way and every time I felt like my life was falling apart, I’d tell myself: You are changing this, Angelina! You are changing this!
As I continued to study and chant, I reconnected with the meaning of my life. I no longer cared for recognition or success for its own sake, but rather to show to others who were suffering that it was possible to transform the worst circumstances into total victory through chanting with resolve to the Gohonzon.

I threw myself into supporting the region and chapter where I was assigned, determined to enable an unprecedented number of youth to register for the 50K Festival, as well as support members in using the campaign to discover the unlimited power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in their lives.

What happened after your internal shift?

Angelina: It was during the summer when I felt strong, but the people around me seemed to be falling apart. Family, members and friends were feeling despondent and thoroughly defeated by problems that had plagued them their entire lives. Around this time, I read the following guidance from SGI President Ikeda: “When you as an individual exert yourself in faith, you can also lead others in your environment toward the path to attaining Buddhahood. The lives of your family members, relatives, friends and loved ones, too, even if they are suffering in such lower states as hell or hunger, will move in the direction of hope and happiness. Such is the tremendous power of the Mystic Law” (June 2015 Living Buddhism, p. 31).

I had to do my human revolution to believe that I could impact the people around me with my own prayer. I especially realized the power of prayer through my son.

What happened?

Angelina: My son’s dream is to be the youngest person to receive an Academy Award. He has always excelled academically beyond his years, reading chapter books and watching documentaries at age 5. At 12, he took the ACT test and scored above the national high school average. Last year, at 13, he was accepted into an early entrance program at California State University, Los Angeles, which prepares people as young as 11 to enter college.

As a result of his accelerated learning, my son placed a lot of pressure on himself to do well and dropped out of the program. When he was readmitted last year, he started to experience anxiety, paralyzed by the possibility of not getting the thing he wanted the most—to get into Cal State LA.

One day, my son called me from his summer program devastated that he had received a C on his midterm. He was sure that he had jeopardized his chances of being admitted into college.

I encouraged him to talk with his professor, but he quickly became upset. I could sense his hopelessness. Then he hung up on me. Fear struck me to the core, and I wanted to jump in my car to go find him and bring him home. Instead, I ran to the Gohonzon and chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo from the depths of my life for my son to fight to be there and to simply decide he was going to win, no matter what. More than anything, I wanted my son to be grounded in his own worth as a human being and never be defeated.

I chanted from the depths of my life for my son’s dreams, as though they were my own. While I was still chanting, he called me back. He had spoken with his professor who realized that he had misgraded my son’s exam. The professor gave my son a B-plus on his midterm at which point my son collapsed in the chair and began to cry in the professor’s office. The professor, so moved by my son’s sincerity, promised to help him for the last three weeks of the program. My son was so encouraged. It was the last push he needed to stay and finish the summer!

I hung up the phone stunned. It was the first time I felt like my chanting actually changed the trajectory of someone’s life, and I decided to chant this way for the chapter leaders I was supporting, for my friends battling depression and for everyone in my life who was challenging deep karma.

What an incredible victory! How did things change after that?

Angelina: In the last several months, amazing transformations have occurred! The region and chapter I was supporting led our zone in 50K registrations. My son brought three friends to the festival, together with eight of my friends. All the chapter leaders had life-altering breakthroughs in faith. My son was admitted to Cal State LA, where he is double majoring in film and business. He is scheduled to graduate with his bachelor’s degree at 18.

I also had great advancements in my pursuit as a writer and poet who highlights experiences of people of color and immigrants. I am currently working with some of the most influential Chicano writers in Los Angeles. Recently, I was invited to speak on a panel of the Latina Writers Conference and spent time networking with the most important Latina writers in the country.

I also received a teaching award, and an article on the award prominently featured a quote from President Ikeda. Financially, for the first time, I have been able to save money. And I continue to win, and help others win, through my faith and practice.

What brilliant achievements! What is your determination in the Year of Soka Victory?

Angelina: I just accepted new responsibility as a chapter women’s leader, and I am thrilled. While I still have ups and downs, I have finally reached a point in faith where I will never backslide into doubt about the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. I will go wherever my mission takes me, and I will always support members in discovering the unlimited possibilities of our practice.

(pp. 38-41)