Awakening the Buddha within

Awakening the Buddha within

July 2016

By Punya Srivatsava

The book starts with his own account of becoming, though reluctantly, a Nichiren Buddhist and the life that followed. What I found profoundly fascinating was his account of Nichiren Buddhism’s ‘10 worlds’– hell, hunger, animality, anger, tranquility, rapture, learning, realisation, bodhisattva and buddhahood.

He succinctly describes this model of the mind, and how the first six worlds are ruled by our lower selves, and how we can efficiently move towards the latter four levels or worlds.This handbook of happiness is written with the aim to make readers realise the amazing beauty of the daily life; of the small but simple reasons to wake up to each morning. Life coach turned author David Hare extends a supporting hand to all those looking to find that ultimate happiness. ‘Nam myoho renge kyo’ – the profound Nichiren Buddhist chant and the title of the Lotus Sutra takes centre stage in his debut title.

I also liked the author’s honest narration of his life’s not-so-successful and almost bleak phases. Being a life coach might have helped him in the way the book, by default, takes the tone of a warm-hearted acquaintance sharing his experiences of picking himself up again and again when knocked down by life’s blizzards. Sample this: “The rock bottom point is the crucial moment… where you realise that your life is asking to grow and that you can either say ‘No’ and give up or say ‘Yes’ and carry on. When you are a sniveling mess on the floor, and you think your fundamental darkness has beaten you, this is the moment when ‘poison turns into medicine’. When the negative forces have got you on your knees, they are, paradoxically exhausted and this is the very moment to strike back.” There were many pages which compelled me to put down the book, and steep myself in the resonance that certain passages stirred within me. I did that often. I also like the way each chapter ends with a list of affirmations and a journal exercise; reiterating the fact that this indeed is a guide towards a happy life. As Hollywood film maker Justin Simien says about the book, “A modern GPS guide for navigating the road to real happiness in this lifetime.”