Customer Reviews

Romancing the Buddha: Embracing Buddhism in My Everyday Life

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'Romancing the Buddha' is linked to daily practical family as well life problems, based on the writer's own amazing experience. It is easy to understand and an introduction to Nichiren Buddhism. Along with my experience, I absolutely agree that by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we can definitely change anything. There is one of the quotes that I picked up from reading this book, which I really like.

"Unless we live fully right now, not sometime in the future, true fulfillment in life will forever elude us. Rather than putting things off till the future, we should find meaning in life, thinking and doing what is most important right now, right where we are - setting our heart aflame and igniting our lives. Otherwise, we cannot lead an inspired existence."
--Daisaku Ikeda--

The image many people have is of monks with shaved heads wearing long robes. Or maybe Richard Gere looking very serious. Those are other forms of Buddhism. The Buddhism that Mike Lisagor practices is Nichiren Buddhism, as popularized by Daisaku Ikeda and the Buddhist lay organization, Soka Gakkai International (SGI). The SGI is the leading and largest Buddhist denomination, with members in over 190 countries. As Lisagor reveals through a collection of humorous anecdotes from his own life, this is a religious practice for day-to-day application and not something for hermits, professional monks or scholars. Read this book for lightening up your perspective on whatever problems you may have and laugh along with Mike as he overcomes one situation after another and offers keen insights on family relationships.

This is an excellent introduction into the Buddhist philosophy of the Japanese priest, Nichiren, and how it applies to your everyday life.

I first found the website that the book was based upon through the recommendation of a friend. Having been a practicing member of SGI-USA for 15 years and owning a dog-eared copy of "Buddha in Daily Life: Introduction to the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin" I was already very familiar with the topics of the book, however I found that Michael Lisagor did a great job in communicating Nichiren's philosophy and it help provide me many new insights into my own religion.

This is a great first book for learning about Budhdism. It's also a great book for those already familiar with the subject.