He explained that he had just returned from a scheduled doctor's appointment and his PSA (prostate specific antigen) test indicated that he was disease free. His doctor was both elated and at a loss for an explanation of Mr. W.'s remission and rebound. Mr. W. had gained weight, looked joyful, and he had completely lost his jaundiced appearance. Mr. W. expressed heartfelt gratitude for his remission and attributed it to his chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
I was amazed. He then told me that a week after our visit he was stricken with pain in his bones and stomach that was so severe, he couldn't even cry out to his son who was in the next room—he was literally paralyzed with pain. Mr. W. somehow composed himself and remembered to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo while visualizing the pain flowing out of his mouth like thousands of bats flying from a cave, expelling the pain with each labored breath. Mr. W. thought he chanted only five minutes, but it seemed like hours. After those five minutes the pain simply vanished. The next evening the pain did not return and he began to feel more energetic with each passing day. Excitement and appreciation due to the possibility that he might actually live to see all his children flooded his senses. Over the next month, he remained symptom free and most importantly, he was pain free. Mr. W. was able to say goodbye to all his children. Mr. W. said that because of chanting he had accomplished what he set out to do. Five days later, after all his children had gone home, he suddenly felt ill and checked into the hospital. On his first night in the hospital he fell asleep and passed away. His death was pain free and peaceful, as if he had taken a well-deserved nap after working in his garden.
BREAST CANCER
Ms. G. was a 51-year-old woman from Chicago who was diagnosed with cancer in her right breast. The doctors believed that it had spread, but could find no evidence in their x-rays or lymph node biopsy. She had a lumpectomy. Prior to the beginning of radiation treatments, she sought out my advice and I taught her mantra-powered visualization. She had chanted for twelve years and knew that other people had overcome all kinds of health problems, including cancer, with their faith and prayer. Although fearful of the unknown, she had a strong determination to show positive proof of the power of faith and chanting.
Ms. G.'s visualization while chanting consisted of seeing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as intelligent laser beams that zapped errant cells, much like the “Star Wars” defense system might target and destroy an enemy missile. She knew that the place of her primary tumor was in her chest, but no one knew if any cancerous cells had migrated to other parts of her body. Throughout her entire radiation treatment, she refined her visualization, attempting to search for the disease and urge her immune system to eliminate every last cancer cell.
When her treatments were finished, and her follow-up appointments showed no further signs of cancer, she cut back on her mantra-powered visualization practice. About a year later, she had a mammogram that revealed a small mass in her left breast. She was scheduled for a biopsy. Several days before the actual biopsy, Ms. G., again sought my advice on how to use mantra-powered visualization to rid her life of cancer, once and for all. She decided to construct a new visualization that would go to the molecular level of her disease.
Ms. G. knew that all spiritual functions emerged from the amala consciousness, the innermost core of life, and that the alaya consciousness was the storehouse of karma. After reviewing the actions of her life, she realized that the cancer must have had its karmic origins in a previous life, but she would never know for sure exactly what actions had created such karma. She apologized to the universe for whatever it was that she had done. Beginning her prayer in that way, she enacted a new visualization scenario based on the quantum world's peculiar nature of particles existing one moment and not existing the next. This time, she viewed the area where the mass was located and saw the mass as molecules that were out of vibration with the rest of her body. Her mind then became a beacon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo that emitted a calibrating pulse that would bring those molecules comprising the mass into resonance with the healthy cells in her body. She envisioned the process like a tuning fork being used to tune a violin. She dedicated twenty minutes twice daily to her visualization until it was time for her biopsy.
Her oncologist had new x-rays taken the morning of the biopsy. Ms. G was shocked when her doctor told her that he was canceling the biopsy because the suspicious image that had appeared on the x-ray did not show up in the computer analysis. The mass was now so small that it was virtually undetectable. Ms. G. was told to come back in six months. Although she was not given a clean bill of health, she was overjoyed. The fact that her original cancer had not returned and the newly discovered mass seemed to have rapidly shrunk into a shadow, undetectable by the latest computer technology, was proof to her that mantra-powered visualization was a powerful adjunct to her overall care.
DIABETIC ULCERS
Mr. R. was a 40-year-old Hispanic American whose debilitating diabetes forced him to relocate from Los Angeles to central Illinois to live with his father. Mr. R. had developed recurring ulcers on his feet that required constant care, rendering him hardly able to walk and, therefore, unable to do physical labor. He followed a strict diet, took insulin injections, continually monitored his feet, and seemed to be constantly taking medicine to fight off infection. But the ulcers would not go away. In a last-ditch effort to overcome his foot ulcers, Mr. R. asked me to teach him how to use mantra-powered visualization. He imagined his feet being bathed in healing light that was cool and refreshing. He made a determination that the ulcers would be gone in seven days, when he was required to return to his doctor. Afraid of developing gangrene and losing his feet, he made a powerful effort to produce healing images in his mind while he chanted.
Each day, he would look under the bandages to inspect the ulcers and each day he would see a small improvement. The morning of his trip to the doctor he was surprised to see that during the night the ulcers had completely healed. His foot ulcers never returned.
COMA
Miss M. was an 11-year-old Hispanic living in the U.S. While on vacation with family in Mexico, she was involved in a serious car accident. She was thrown through the windshield and landed on the pavement, suffering a severe head trauma and broken pelvis. At the scene of the accident, she went into convulsions. On her way to the hospital, she had a second convulsion. Although Miss M.'s mother and stepfather were in the United States, they rushed to her bedside within 24 hours. Miss M. was in a coma. Her parents were Buddhists and so they began to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in her ears the moment they arrived. The child was familiar with the words but she didn't move or respond to anything for two weeks.
Her doctors were worried about blood in her skull near her brain, fearing it could evolve into a potentially fatal clot. Buddhists from the United States chanted for her survival and recovery. Before she was transferred to a hospital in the U.S., CT scans indicated that the blood near her brain had disappeared. After a month in intensive care, she was released as an outpatient. Her mental capacities are now excellent, she has not had any of the seizures that are common to that type of trauma, and her body has healed itself quickly.
Miss M., her mother, and father are all convinced that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo was responsible for her quick recovery. The doctors could only wait and see because neither surgery nor medicine could solve her problem. She remembers nothing of the accident or her first month of hospitalization, but she vividly remembers the sweet sound of chanting in her ear.
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
At 38 years of age, Ms. L. was diagnosed with hypertension. She worked as an office manager and had been a Buddhist for more than a decade. Her mother had a long history of high blood pressure and her father suffered from heart disease. Although she was on medication, Ms. L.'s blood pressure ranged around 145 over 95. Concerned that she would someday be a stroke victim, or suffer from other kinds of cardiovascular disease, she used mantra-powered visualization in an attempt to lower her blood pressure. Because of financial problems, Ms. L. could no
longer afford her medication so she began chanting while monitoring her blood pressure at home. Within several weeks her blood pressure readings dropped to within the normal range of 120 over 80 and has remained there since 1994, with no medication. When she returned to her doctor and explained her situation, he was quite concerned that she stopped taking the medication without his approval. But he was very pleased that her blood pressure had returned to safe levels. Today she continues to use mantra-powered visualization and requires no medication to control her blood pressure.
EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES
Ms. K., a 43-year-old Native American, was going through a very emotional and difficult time. She wanted to replace the negative emotions she was feeling with positive emotions. She used the following technique:
She put herself into a relaxed state, either sitting or reclining.
She visualized her whole body as having a “negative” color (in her case, orange).
She visualized the unwanted emotions swirling around in the orange color and attached names to them such as negativity, fear, rage, low self-esteem, low confidence, grief, vindictiveness, revenge, and sadness.
As she began to recite the mantra, she visualized each of the negative emotions being pushed out by a “positive” color (in her case, blue) and watched as her body slowly changed from the negative color to the positive color.
As the positive color filled up her body, she visualized new, positive emotions taking over the negative, and attached names to them such as optimism, courage, confidence, absolute happiness, and strength.
She repeated this visualization once or twice a day until her life condition became lighter and she was able to replace the negativity with positive and forward-looking emotions.
THE PRAYER MATRIX
Maintaining a balance between the best medical treatment and the power of faith and prayer is only common sense. It is the physician's role to treat and cure illness wherever possible, and it is our responsibility to live a healthy lifestyle, mustering up the determination to change our health problems for the better, especially when an illness eludes a physician's ability to cure.
Prayer is a mystery. It gives us strength when we are troubled and enables us to influence matters seemingly out of our control. Prayer is a tool, a shield, a weapon, and a heartfelt expression of our inseparable connection to the ultimate spiritual reality of the universe. Prayer is appreciation, determination, apology, devotion, and our private confessional. My spiritual mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, suggests that prayer preceded formal religion. From that perspective, prayer is one of the most basic, natural functions of human beings.
I do not discount the sincerity, validity, or effectiveness of anyone's prayers, religion, or spiritual beliefs. I have merely presented the Lotus Sutra's essence as a unique possibility for people engaged in their own efforts to challenge illness and suffering. I do not claim that any one method of prayer, technique, or healing philosophy is better than another. My belief is that actual proof is superior to documentary or theoretical proof. Since this form of healing is virtually unknown and unstudied, the only evidence of its greatness are the words of the Buddha himself, and the many anecdotal experiences of Nichiren Buddhists in the Soka Gakkai International. For that reason, I have detailed my personal experience in overcoming advanced cancer in Part II of this book so it can be added to the record.
I have explained in detail how to use chanting and visualization to challenge illness and suffering. Prayer is a vast concept. Prayer encompasses chanting, all types of meditation, spoken prayer in conversational form with God(s) or the absolute—even our random thoughts and desires are a form of prayer. Our consciousness is an expression of cosmic life and prayer is the means for us to fuse with that energy.
Even though you may have different beliefs and circumstances, I have presented you the Buddha's prescribed means of communication with the absolute. It is my hope that you will use modern Buddhist healing to challenge and overcome all suffering, illness, and fear of death. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
PART TWO
MY BATTLE
CHAPTER 5
Double Tiger
Cancer is a “double tiger.” One tiger attacks our relationship with the world, while inside, we face a merciless beast of fear and pain. How can a person kill a wild tiger like cancer? What strategy can be used against such brute force?
Like a fierce tiger, cancer must be respected. My story is one of a warrior who tried to slip past a mighty foe, but was forced to fight instead. In the fight against a mortal enemy like cancer, there is only one survivor. The nature of the battle is inherently unfair. Even with excellent medicine, the challenge to win is formidable.
I am an American Buddhist, but I am telling my story for my non-Buddhist brothers and sisters who seek a different spiritual point of view to help them regain their health. My fight against cancer was waged with the weapons of the mind, the voice, the inner eye, and the imagination of a child. While my doctors used poison agents to cure my illness, I used grand optimism, communion with my body, faith, and mantra-powered visualization.
Actual proof is superior to argument. The fact that I survived advanced Hodgkin's disease cannot be denied. How I overcame this disease is of vital importance for anyone suffering from cancer, AIDS, mental disorder, and all maladies. The burning question of my quest for survival was: “How could a person of modest ability and station bring the message of healing to the people of the world?” I have no recognized credentials beyond thirty years as a professional writer, and being a cancer survivor. Through the grueling journey of survival, it all became quite obvious.
The joy or pain of the present instantly becomes the past, and the past is no more than a dream, no matter what our experience of it was. The future is not fixed; we create it with our will and pure imagination. We must not let the past control the present. For the cancer patient and others suffering from chronic illness it is important to seize the moment with freedom and volition. By doing so, we may learn how to save our own life.
As with any long journey, I ask you to travel light. My intention is to tell a story of fighting cancer with the amazing Mystic Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Let the skeptics have their laugh at us, and let others proceed as they will in their fight for recovery. Don't let the strange-sounding words or Eastern ideas deter you from the place of reward, for the ideas are universal in application. Our mission is to gain empowerment and regain control of our life. In all great undertakings, huge obstacles will appear, one after another, trying to stop our forward progress. My story is a blueprint for perseverance and victory. Those who listen will benefit greatly.
INSTANT KARMA
Lurking around every corner are the brutal realities of life. After an immense struggle to enhance the quality of life for my family and having obtained a modicum of career success, I was blindsided by one of the most dangerous and powerful enemies known to humankind. Cancer struck me like lightning from a cloudless sky. Without warning, I went from a rugged physical specimen to an emaciated, feeble old man in the space of a few months. What looked like a plummet into unhappiness and death turned into the most important event of my life, and put me in touch with people all over the world.
Having a limited understanding of what advanced cancer implied, I faced a difficult and uncertain future. For years I had been reading experiences of other Buddhists who faced and overcame life-threatening illnesses. Their moving accounts of fighting against impossible obstacles and facing their fears of death head-on were truly inspirational, but they always seemed far removed from my situation. I had taken health and longevity for granted. It was common for my ancestors to live into their eighties, nineties, or even reach one hundred. But there I was, hanging over a great precipice, saved only by a thread of hope, proclaimed in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, that any illness can be overcome.
Cancer is hell. Cancer is the son of death. In January, 1987 I was 36 years old and in excellent health. My new business venture—a professional resume
writing service—had just taken off, and my family life was beautiful. I was living the American dream, in the prime of my life. Quite suddenly I was incapacitated by tremendous back pain, drenching night sweats, insatiable itching all over my body, perpetual low-grade fever, tremor-like chills, and vomiting. I would become so exhausted at work that I would lock the door of my office and sleep under my desk. Both my wife and daughter sensed that I was seriously ill, going out of their way to pamper me and soothe my mind. They saw the concern and fear on my face and were gentle to me.
As the days went by, I became increasingly alarmed by the strange things happening in my body. My eyes' pupils didn't dilate normally, and my skin took on an ashen color. I prayed to dodge the bullet. When the lymph nodes on my neck and behind my right ear swelled up, our family physician immediately ordered a biopsy. That simple procedure was a prelude of the trouble to come. The surgeon, who was taking the biopsy from a swollen lymph node on my neck, nicked my jugular vein, and spent the next half hour trying to stop the bleeding.
The unknown frightened me. Deep inside, I knew that something was terribly wrong. I had been having strange dreams that contained very basic symbolism which I instinctively knew represented danger and death. One evening I dreamed I was driving down a road during the night, when the headlights of the car went off. Feeling out of control and sensing that I was heading for collision, I woke up in panic. Later, I had a dream about an old man who was walking in a garden and was frightened into a heart attack when a kitten jumped out of the brush at a grasshopper. Bolting upright from a deep sleep, I was drenched in sweat. Even if I took just a short, half-hour nap, the sweating was so intense that my clothes and the bedding would be soaked; my perspiration stood on my forearms as if I had been walking in the rain.
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