Dean Gerrit Fourie, is a true Buddha - joyfully supporting countless others in their practice and spreading happiness wherever he goes. He’s always keen to share the benefits of practising Nichiren Buddhism, and we talk about that a lot in this chat, as you’d expect.

He’s also very keen to share his experience of living with HIV and developing PML. Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy is a rare, and often fatal disease that attacks the brain in the immunocompromised, such as those, like him, who are HIV positive. It’s also highly avoidable, since effective medication has been developed. Unfortunately, the continuing stigma and misinformation around HIV has meant too many people avoid diagnosis and/or medication - and numbers of cases are rising.

Just like the first Buddha, he feels its his mission to awaken the ability to take responsibility for your life and become happy in everyone he meets. And he wants to make it explicit, that it includes taking responsibility for your health by getting tested for HIV and adhering strictly to medication regimes: After we chatted he summarised beautifully: ‘It’s about having the courage to face the truth. The compassion to care for yourself and those around you. And the wisdom to act. The Buddha nature is already within you. Honour it.'

We talk about a few things we've been reading - here's a list:

Viktor Frankl - Man’s search for meaning

Lucretius - The Nature of Things

Daisaku Ikeda - On Attaining buddhahood in this lifetime

Nichiren Daishonin - The heritage of the ultimate law of life

Daisaku Ikeda - The Heart of the Lotus Sutra

Coming soon! A mission to love life, in every moment

Lily Lowe-Myers is one of those buddhists who are an amazing advert for it - seemingly endlessly able summon up light and cheer - with abundant energy to support others. She makes it look effortless. But she admits how deep she has to dig sometimes - and the amazing life-changing trick of ‘making your prayer bigger’ - finding the determination to overcome your struggles so you can inspire others to believe they have the same power. 

Part of practising Nichiren buddhism involved reciting sections of the Lotus Sutra. The concluding lines of this daily prayer sum it up well: ‘At all times I think to myself; How can I cause living beings to gain entry into the unsurpassed way and quickly acquire the body of the buddha’ - in the moment you really yearn to help others become happy your life state soars and you become happy yourself. 

At last a new episode to fill that back-to-school September yearning for a fresh start

Claire Perriam decided to start exploring Buddhism when she had a sudden encounter with death and began to question the meaning of life more deeply. We talk about the concept of 'winning' in Nichiren Buddhism and how chanting Nam myoho renge kyo will definitely lead to a feeling of victory but maybe not in the way you'd imagined. We also touch on Brownies, autism, and finding meaning in work and end up mangling a wonderful quote about fruit. Suffice to say, the gist of it is

..cherry, plum, peach, and damson, each have their own unique characteristics and this relates to the principle of “illuminating and manifesting one’s true nature” (cf. Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume 1, p.746).

To quote Daisaku Ikeda on this: 'Cherry blossoms are cherry blossoms, and peach blossoms are peach blossoms. A cherry blossom can never become a peach blossom. Nor is there any need for it to try to do so. It would be perfectly miserable if it did. Similarly, you are none other than yourself. You can never be someone else, however much you might wish it. What matters is that you become the kind of person who can cherish, praise, and feel content with your own precious, irreplaceable life.'

(from https://www.sokaglobal.org/resources/study-materials/buddhist-study/the-wisdom-for-creating-happiness-and-peace/chapter-6-4.html)

Finally! Spring is here and after a long hiatus we'll be posting a wonderful chat with Claire Perriam, a dance therapist who has finds buddhism provides a solid framework for approaching life - and death.

Just in time to end the 2022 on a high, we chat (and laugh a lot) with writer Paul Bassett Davies.

We explore the tension between striving to develop more courage, wisdom and compassion, and being funny. And he shares how he’s been able to transform his approach to obstacles - so they don't ‘fill the screen’ of his life.

Chanting nam myoho renge kyo taps into a deeper wisdom than our brains can usually come up with. As he says: ‘Don't try and think your way out of something that was created by your mind in the first place. Leave that alone and chant.’

Coming soon! A chat with writer, actor and all round good egg Paul Bassett Davies...

Finally a new episode -  and it’s worth the wait. Fatima Sessay is a powerhouse of confidence and determination.

She shares how a central tenet in buddhism of being responsible for your own life resonated with her from the get go and led her to a life full of meeting challenges head on.

We talk about finding the sweet spot between pushing yourself to dream big dreams and setting compassionate limits for yourself, which she sums up beautifully by saying ‘Please don’t worry. Just chant, it will all be ok!’

Coming soon. Fatima Sessay shares how the Buddhist principle of taking full responsibility for your life resonated deeply with her and has led to a life full of amazing victories.