Chapter 3

Chapter 3- My mother' decision 

My mother was so happy she could not wait to tell my father what had happened when he got home.

My father had been out all day since early morning, trying to sell some of his paintings and going to shops asking for vacancies.

We didn’t know what time he would be back home nor we had a way to contact him!

I remember my mother being different while she was chanting and waiting for my father to come home; she looked very happy.

When he finally arrived home, my mother did not give him the chance to do anything but to listen to her news. She was that excited!

‘"Valmir, " she started telling him, " I met a lady today, Roberta, who lives near us and practises the same Buddhism as my friend Jorge! I was about to knock at her door when I heard the prayer!" 

My father did not have chance to say anything because my mother was unstoppable!

" I recognised the chanting she was saying. It was Nam - Myoho- rengue- kyo; the same chanting I did a while back". 

My father was still standing in the same place from when he walked in the door, listening! 

" She invited me in for a cup of coffee and we talked about the prayer and Buddhism", my mother said.  

My father was shocked at my mother's excitement. 

" I arrived home and chanted",  she said - " I am feeling so good now!" 

Once she had finished the story she looked at my father seriously and said, ‘I have decided to become a Buddhist, to participate in the SGI activities and to receive the Gohonzon’.

My father did not understand a word of what she was saying but accepted and respected her decision nevertheless. 

From that day onwards my mother chanted Nam - Myoho- rengue- kyo every morning and evening. She also met Roberta regularly to chant together and go to the SGI activities. 

I remember that one day my mother brought home a small book called The Lotus Sutra which was written in Japanese. At that time it was read five times in the mornings and three times in the evenings. 

If one knew how to read this book it would take them 20 minutes each morning and 15 minutes each evening. But as my mother was new to the practice it would take her 1 hour in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening, plus Daimoku (i.e. chanting) in addition to that!

I was 8 at the time and I started chanting Nam- myoho- rengue- kyo with my mother. I soon learned how to do the Gongyo ( the Lotus Sutra book) but it would take me a lot longer than if I was doing it with mum; one hour and thirty minutes in the morning and one hour in the evening. It was long but I liked doing that! I thought the prayer was fun! I felt well! 

The results from my mother’s practice were obvious after she started chanting again:

The first benefit was my mother's mood; she was cheerful, willing and complained a lot less.

The second benefit was the increase in sales of Yakut ( a kind of yogurt) that she sold. 

The third benefit was that she met a doctor who requested many investigations to find out what my mother really had and why the medicines were not working. And she got much better! 

And the last of those great benefits was that my father found a job in a supermarket as a designer.

With many benefits of the practice, a few months later in the same year, my parents decided to become SGI members and my father received a ‘family Gohonzon’ on 13 December 1981, to represent our family. When he had the Gohonzon in his hands he had to make a vow; the vow of protecting the Gohonzon with his whole life. To protect the Gohonzon meant to protect our own life!!! 

All people receiving the Gohonzon had to make a vow! 

The vow was: 

" I promise Nam- myoho-rengue- kyo

I promise Nam- myoho-rengue- kyo

I promise Nam- myoho-rengue- kyo ". 

I will never forget that moment! It was an unforgettable and special day in my life , although I was only 8 years old. 

I do not know why we had to say "  I promise Nam- myoho-rengue- kyo" three times. 

I also do not also know why my father could not fulfill that promise he made. 

But I can explain why my mother and I are still fulfilling our vow made on that day.