The teachings of Nichiren Daishonin I think differ from other forms of Buddhism in so
far that it's very much a hope filled philosophy.
It's not looking at karma as something very negative that happened in the past but more
of the causes that we make now to change for the future.
So, it is about taking responsibility for our lives now, making positive causes for
our lives now so that we can reap the positive rewards in the future.
One of my big experiences of overcoming my own karma, was about 7 years ago, no, about
14 years ago I decided I need to have a complete career change.
Up to that point, I had been working in an area that I wasn't really fulfilled in, I
wasn't earning enough money, it wasn't bringing out my talents.
I asked somebody for advice and they recommended that I start a campaign of chanting Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo
to find out what would be the best area for me to go into.
I decided right, I would become a nurse, which was completely left of field, it wasn't something
that I had ever really considered before.
I chanted Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo for a long period of time, over a six-month period and
decided this was great and I am going to sort out my life completely by changing career.
So, I sold my business, I went to India, and I did the exams for nursing at home. Absolutely
totally convinced that this was, because this was the area for me that I would get on the
course and there would be no problems.
While in India, I discovered this terrible news that I didn't get on the course so I
came back to Ireland very depressed, just didn't know where to go from here.
And again I got some great advice not to give up to re-determine, to really decide that
if this is the area that I wanted to go into to not give in and that is the whole point
of our practice.
So with that in mind I enrolled in a kind of a pre-nursing course.
I did the exam for nursing again and again I didn't get it the second year. Very devastated
by this and really understood how much more effort I had to put in to actually changing
my karma.
And I had a real decision to make at that stage whether I wanted to pursue nursing or
stay in this other area.
So again, with more advice from my wife, I decided to really go for it this time, so
this is my third year to apply for nursing.
And I chanted a huge amount over that summer period and long and behold this time I actually
got the place.
So at 38 years of age I went back to university.
I was in for a battle for the next four years to qualify as a nurse, but again I stuck at
it I realized that this is what I wanted to do.
So, eventually I qualified, I got a job in an organization that is very progressive.
And, especially now that this recession has hit, again I see even more good fortune in
being in this area where my job is relatively secure and I am doing something that I really
really love doing.
So, if I look back now and try to identify the deep karma that I felt that I changed
over this whole experience, it was the karma of not believing in myself, not believing
that I could achieve academically.
Often part of the whole training process of becoming a nurse is that you are constantly
moving into new wards and new situations, constantly changing.
And you have to build relationships every time, new relationships every time and one
of the things that I find most difficult, one of the things I really overcame was this
ability to build relationships and to be confident and to believe in myself.