Our young women's division members, whose lives sparkle with dazzling brilliance,
are the diamonds of Soka Gakkai. The realm of the Soka Gakkai and Nichiren
Daisonin's Buddhism is one where women are respected and valued to the
most.
(Photo & words by Daisaku Ikeda)
File 009: April 2007
Lhea Malinao
(YWD District Vice Chief, Cebu)
This month we interviewed Ms. Lhea Malinao, the District Vice Chief of
Cebu Chapter.
Following her mother, who first practiced this faith in her family in the midst of a dire financial difficulty and the disappearance of her husband, Ms. Lhea also started chanting daimoku. Since then she has accumulated great experiences in faith to achieve her remarkable human revolution.
with Future division's members
Q & A Interview
Q1. Please tell us about your experience in faith that made you deepen your
faith.
I would like to share two significant experiences. First was during the typhoon Ruping in the early 1990s, which was the most severe typhoon that had ever hit Cebu. We lived in a small house during that time. At the height of the storm, we just stayed inside the house and chanted a lot of daimoku. All of a sudden, a severe gust of wind caused our house to tumble upside down with all of us inside! The next thing we know was we were all in fact on what used to be our ceiling. Despite that, we were all unharmed. I believe that we were all protected because of our strong faith.
The other experience was a few years back when I was on my way to work very early in the morning. I was riding a multi-cab which was speeding quite fast along the highway. In fact, the brakes were no longer working. I was very alarmed and started chanting daimoku for protection. Then all of a sudden, the vehicle swerved off the road and stopped by hitting a row banana trees and ended up upside down; some of the passengers were slightly injured but I was not hurt in any way. Mysteriously, at that time the streets were pretty clear and there was no vehicle ahead of us; there was also one vehicle behind us and the driver, noticing something was wrong with our multi-cab, followed us and was the first to give us help.
Q2. How did your life change since you actively joined SGI activities?
Since I actively joined SGI activities, a lot of changes occurred, not only in terms of my personal growth and family relationship, but also in my health and finances.
I used to get sick almost every month for tonsillitis. There was even a time when the doctor said that I would have to undergo an operation. But I earnestly chanted daimoku, deeply encouraged by Sensei’s guidance:
"Those who have experienced great suffering must win in life
and become happy. If you are always losing and miserable,
then you are not practicing the Daishonin’s Buddhism correctly,
you are not following the true path in life.
Buddhism teaches the means by which the sad become happy
and the happy become happier still.
That is the reason for our practice."
I was able to overcome this problem five months later since I earnestly joined the activities.
Our financial condition also improved, especially since I joined the financial department. Before I would do overtime a lot and rarely attended SGI activities; yet I always find myself running short on budget. Since I joined the financial department, however, I made sure that I would actively attend organizational activities, that is, I wouldn’t render overtime unless required, and found that I was actually able to save more and even go on to participate in far-distance activities. We were also able to make some improvements in our house which is now a group kyoten.
Q3. Please tell us about any SGI activity into which you have put most
of your effort.
It is in our monthly Young Knights (future division) activity which has been held since January 2006. Later on, the same set of activity came to be held as well in my house to accommodate members who cannot attend their monthly activity in the community center due to various reasons like distance and financial difficulty. We do all kinds of activities during the meeting, including story telling, art activities, gongyo practice, discussions about Buddhist principles, sharing of experiences, film showing of Happy Tales, through which I tried to help them in developing their faith and attitude toward their studies and life.
I am very happy to say that the attendance for this monthly activity at
our house is so good that it often exceeds the attendance in the community
center; the great development in the members' attitudes toward faith and
studies has also been observed. In order for me to ensure the success of
the said activity, I visit the members as well as pick some of them up
to attend. I believe they all have the potential in becoming capable leaders
in the future for Kosen-rufu. My target is to ensure that the future division
members will develop into outstanding youths with the stand-alone spirit.
with Byakuren members
Q4. Please share your favorite guidance of Sensei and describe the bond
between Sensei and you.
My favorite guidance of Sensei is as follows:
“From one standpoint, Buddhism is a philosophy for helping people become
self-sufficient. It is a teaching that explains how people
can develop themselves
through their own efforts. We cannot develop a truly profound
state of life if we
have a spirit of dependence on our teachers.
At the same time, Buddhism is also a teaching of respect
for human beings.
By seeking through our minds and actions of the Buddha
who attained the
supreme state as a human being, we can develop in ourselves
the same vast
state of life.” (Living Buddhism, April, 2002, pp. 29-32.)
Even if we are physically far from Sensei, he still guides all SGI members
to exert more effort and not to depend on the mentor, and he teaches us
how to have the "stand-alone" spirit; as Sensei Ikeda has stood
alone himself, following Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings and his mentor,
Mr. Toda. We have the Gohonzon and our mentor Sensei Ikeda is within our
hearts so there is no reason to depend on him per se. I will try hard to
become a good disciple of Sensei by following all his guidance to make
myself a stronger person.
Q5. Please tell us about your personal dream for the future or your aspiration in life.
My personal dream is to become a capable leader in the future for kosen-rufu as well as a better person, both in my work place and in my community. That is, I want to be someone who my mother would be proud of.
