E X P E R I E N C E

Istarted practicing Nichiren
Buddhism in May 2001,
after being on a spiritualjourney for a year or so. I
was introduced to the practiceby a friend’s friend. It was thefirst time I heard of Buddhism.
I was in my early thirties andwas working as a storyteller.
At the time I was ver yworried that my life and career
had stopped moving forward.
I went to school during theheight of the uprising against
apartheid, the period of 1976
to the 1990s. It was a norm
then that classes would be
disrupted until examination
times. I therefore took about
ten years to matriculate and only
matriculated at the age of 29.
After matriculating, I worked
hard to achieve a degree inCommunication but was unable
to make a career with mydegree.
This was where I was in life
when I met Buddhism.

A BLOSSOMING
LIFE
Nomsa Mdlalose-Dyantyi describes how
her Buddhist practice has enabled her toexpand her life beyond her imagination.
LIFETOLIFE AUGUST 2021

APPLYING THE PRACTICE
I chanted and did gongyo
every single day without fail,chanting for at least thirty
minutes each morning andevening and got involved in
SGI activities. I began to feel
wisdom emerging from within
my life and benefits came in
one after another. One of these
was that my relationship withmoney improved, and a year
after I began chanting I boughta house. Having experienced thepower of the Gohonzon myself,
I naturally began to tell others
about it.
Initially, I found this hard.
In my observation, the society
has become very materialistic
and one has to have lots ofmoney or material possessions41

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before one is respected andrecognised. Because of this, I
decided that to introduce others
to Buddhism, I need to use mylife as an example. That mademe even more determined towin in my daily life, and I madethe determination that I would
further my studies and improvemy qualifications.
In 2005, I won a scholarshipto do a Master’s degree in
Storytelling in America, at the
only university in the world withsuch a program. I was in myearly 40s by then. Before I left
for the US, I sought guidancewith the senior leader whoemphasized that over the nextten years I should chant hard toachieve something of great value
to my life.

A TEN-YEAR PURSUIT

In t h e U S, I c o n n e c t e dwith a local SGI group andthe members supportedm e w h o l e h e a r te d l y. A f te r
successful l y achie ving myMaster of Arts in Storytelling,
I returned to South Africa in2007. I still had more years toachieve valuable things in mylife, and since I had no plan for
my next achievement, I chanted
to find direction.
Six months after myreturn, I was offered a scholar
residency at the University ofWitwatersrand, which led to mybeing employed in a part-time
lecturing position. This was anachievement, but I continued
to chant about what more I
could do. I decided I needed totake new action, so, in 2008, forthe first time in my practice, I
chanted one million daimoku,praying for clarity in my life.
I completed that million
daimoku in three-and-a-halfmonths. Immediately after I
chanted the last daimoku andclosed my altar, as I turned totidy up my chanting space, thephone rang. A person informedme that my organization,
Kw e s u k e l a S t o r y t e l l i n g
Academy (KSA), had been
approved for a very substantial
funding for a stor ytelling
programme to take place during
the 2010 Soccer World Cup
in South Africa. KSA received
over R16 million in funding.
A year later, we received themoney, executed the task fromstart to finish with very minor
challenges and reported to thefunder. Afterwards we learned
that among the 2010 special
project grants, Kwesukela was
the only organization thatwas implemented successfully.
Through that project, I trained
over 100 people in various skills
including storytelling. Today, anumber of them are working
as storytellers throughout thecountry. Other skills imparted
included project management,
writing and research. Twoof the storytellers have sincejoined SGI-SA, while others
support our activities, such as
our Hope Talks Events.

A MIGHTY SWORD

A few years ago, I wasrecr uited into a businessincubator programme run by
the Johannesburg Chamberof Commerce and Industry
which was set up to provide
the previously disadvantaged,especially, with business skillsand support. The story company
I have established produces
storytelling products like talking

42

LIFETOLIFE AUGUST 2021

4dolls, books, performances,animation and film. I have also
written and published sevenchildren’s books, five of whichhave been approved by theDepartment of Basic Education.
In July 2019, I was awarded
a PhD in African Literature andLinguistics by the University of
the Witwatersrand. Achieving
this doctorate degree wasa tremendous struggle that
required me to chant deeply
because it pushed me to myfurthest limits, to spaces that bymyself I would not sustain anyenergy.
I recently completed
chanting 4 million daimoku
in just over a year. I am also

continuing to read President
Ikeda’s Human Revolution andam now re-reading it for thethird time. This has helped
me deepen my faith. I want
to share this Buddhism withothers and have committed
myself to introduce at least
two people this year. Four ofthe people I have introduced
have received the Gohonzon
including my husband. I am
continuing to chant in orderto reveal my true potential
and understand my mission.
In that way, it is easy for me
to introduce others. Nichiren
Daishonin writes that a sword
is useless in the hands of acoward. So, I am using thesword of Nam-myoho-rengekyo to courageously expand
my life. I am always inspiredby these words of Ikeda Sensei:“There may be times when life
seems gloomy and dull, when
we feel stuck in some situationor other, when we are negative
toward everything, when we feellost and bewildered, not surewhich way to turn—at suchtimes we must transform ourpassive mid-set and determine,‘I will proceed along this path,
I will pursue my mission today.’
When we do so a genuine
springtime arrives in our hearts,and flowers start to blossom”(Daily Encouragement, March 20).