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Name: Lenny
Country: United States
State: Texas
Metro: Houston
Birthday: 1/4/1984
Gender: Male
Interests: Soccer!! best sport ever, its the most popular sport in the world for a reason.... DDR is mad chill... i love women, partyin, dancin, readin, car, politics, and just chillaxin with friends
Expertise: being spontaneous
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  kamikazi1684
Member Since:
12/9/2003
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| SportFiends new lookWhat do you guys think of the new look for the website.... SportFiends ... | | |
| It's always darkest before the sunriseSo I haven't updated my xanga in a while so I figured I'd post an update on the life and times of Lenny Gaiter.
I've definitely had my ups and downs over the last few weeks. In the past I would have probably fallen into a deep depression dealing with my current challenges. I've grown a lot this year though. I really feel like 2007 was my coming out year. I have really solidified my buddhist practice as well as become a much stronger person. The Lotus Sutra teaches that when you advance with your practice and your understanding grows, it is inevitable that you will face challenges and obstacles that come from all different forms. If thats the case, I must be doing something right. LoL!
So this time a month ago my bank account balance was -$700. Even though I've always been impoverished, I've never been this broke in my life. I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent. My car was repossessed this week. My father, who I came to Texas to get to know, hasn't even been by my place to see it or check on it. He calls me once and a while, I suppose to make sure that I'm still alive. His wife called me up this week and told me that he is still using crack. He had checked himself into an outpatient rehab program which I thought would help but the issue is not going away. My mother called me up asking me for money this week, as if I have it. It seems like she only calls me when she needs something. Part of me feels guilty that I can't help her more but maybe its the way it is right now for a reason. My sister, who is with a semi-psychotic boyfriend in a relationship that is borderline abusive called me up this week and told me that my niece had a 103 fever and she had a seizure. She was in the hospital at the time. Here's a picture of my baby girl.
I love that baby so much.
So in the thick of all these obstacles I have not waivered from my faith and my own goals. I made the determination to change my financial karma by the of the year which I am in the process of doing. I also decided that I was going to introduce at least two people to buddhism before the end of the year and I was going to use my life to really show them the power of this buddhism. I also have aspirations to really develop strong Young Men in the SGI here in Houston. It's crazy when you make a serious determination like that, what kind of obstacles will come up to try and obstruct you but it's really important to never waiver from your goals and dreams.
So Last weekend me and a few other YMD went to Dallas to participate in a Victory over Violence movement that they had there. We went to a Youth Detention Center to speak with kids who have gotten in trouble for one reason or another. A lot of them are in gangs, have sold drugs and have been known to be violent. I wasn't worried about it because I am from that environment but a lot of the guys who participated in this activity with me were never exposed to those kinds of things so they were understandably scared. I feel like it took a lot of courage for those guys to take part in that activity and I really admire that. So we dialogged with the kids, we had performances and booths for them participate in. The most moving thing for me though was a Womens division member from Dallas who was a great story teller and also shared about how she lost her son to gang violence but she was really able to overcome her anger towards the person who killed her son as well as have compassion for his life. I was so inspired by what she shared and it made me really put my problems into perspective.
At first the kids didn't seem like they were trying to hear anything we had to say but after the group dialogue they really opened up to us. We also played games and basketball with them. In the end they didn't want us to leave. I was so glad that I was able to participate in that movement. It is going to be something that I remember and cherish for my whole life and I will definitely keep those kids in my prayers.
I've also been chanting more than I ever have in my life as well as doing home visits every week. I have vowed to dedicate my life to Kosen Rufu (World Peace) and I am not turning back. I am proud to be a member of SGI and I will be victorious in my determinations. I really wanted to share my struggles with all of you to let you know that despite hardships you can still create value and help others. No matter what is going on with you, there is always someone worse off. One problem in our society is that people tend to get wrapped up in their temporary struggles. Once I am victorious I hope to encourage many people. At the end of the day, I'm just a dude from the hood. Not the TV hood or the Hood you see in movies. The real hood where people get shot and robbed everyday and it doesn't get reported. The hood where the cops are more ruthless and corrupt than the criminals. The hood where you always have to watch your back and people have no hope besides selling drugs or playing basketball. I want to be an example that ANYONE can completly change their circumstances and be happy no matter what. Hope I didn't bore you all with my ramblings. Have a great week.
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| DreamsSo yeah... I'm feelin Kanye West's new album. My favorite track is 'I wonder.' If you want to listen to it you can play it ------------->
I hate going to people's sites where the music automatically plays. Who says I like your music??
So anyway, hows everyone doing? I'm chillin.... It's been an interesting week. On sunday I did my Soka Han shift. For those of you that don't know what that is, it's behind the scenes for SGI movements. Soka Han members are responsible for traffic control and other duties outside. Our main focus is to make sure that all of the members arrive to, attend and leave the meeting safely.
Anyway, back in Jersey the BSG is very strong. It's not the case here. So I feel like its my mission to help along those lines here because I was trained by some of the best. So I called some guys to support and I recruited some younger guys that were at the meeting and they did their first Soka Han shifts. It was a great experience. Definitely different. I'm used to being one of the guys that is assigned to do something but this time I was responsible for everyone (which is way harder). Then there were many times when I saw guys sitting down, or complaining about how they don't feel like standing and it reminded me of how I used to be when I did Soka Han shifts and I was their age. I used to piss the older guys off I'm sure. Karma is funny isn't it? I wanted to smack some of those guys and tell them to stop complaining, but I had to have compassion. Thats going to be my struggle but I feel like it is a real benefit that I have the opportunity to really start the Soka Han and Gajokai in Houston. Thats fucking big. When President Ikeda comes here we are gonna be fucking tight.
My dad also came to the meeting and he brought my sister. This was his first time attending a meeting at the community center here. That was big. He caught up with a lot of old members. He was smiling the whole day and he stayed for both meetings, from 10am to about 3pm. He was really proud that his oldest child and his youngest child were there.
Overall I felt like I had a great victory that day but I feel like it made me realize how much more work really needs to be done.
The rest of my week consisted of me working on my website. I'm happy to say that it's finally done. Check it out. I know most of you aren't sports fans but any feedback you can give me to improve it is appreciated.
So heres the situation. When I was back in Jersey and I was trying to come here, I lost my job. I thought that was going to be an obstacle but it turned out to be a benefit because I was able to get unemployment. That unemployment money has been the money that got me from Jersey, to FNCC, to my Dad's in Houston, to my own place in Houston. It is still paying for my bills. So anyway, here I am with a little less than 2 months left on unemployment and I really don't want to work for anyone else. So right now I am trying to get into internet marketing. There is A LOT of money to be made on the internet. I've been doing my homework. So my website is the start of that but I really have to get this started NOW. I feel like it is a great benefit for me to have this little bit of time to get this started because if I end up having to work for someone else, I don't know if I will get this opportunity again. I have to really take advantage of the moment and stay on my grind.
So a few months ago I made the determination that I was going to completely change my financial karma by the end of the year through this practice. I've been poor my whole life so that will be a tremendous benefit and it will be how I really encourage members here in Houston and really foster strong YMD (Young men's division) down here. When I win, all of you are welcome to come down to Houston and celebrate. The New years party is going to be at my place. It's going to be a celebration of my victory.
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| It begins....So
I don't know why I am up right now... it is 1:30am CT. Tomorrow I am
supposed to be at the community center at 8:00. It was my idea to get
up that early and to do our Soka Han shift. I am having regrets now
because I don't sleep at night and I am not a morning person. It's ok,
even though I am going to running the behind the scenes movement at our
largest buddhist gathering of the month. I will be there the whole day
supporting behind the scenes.
My original plan when I moved down here was to live with my father and
go to school. He stopped chanting about 7 years ago and I was planning
on helping him get back into the practice. When I moved here though, I
found out that he has a drug problem. To top it off
me and his wife didn't get along at all. It got so bad one night that
she actually kicked me out of the house.
Amidst
all of these struggles in my home situation, I continued to fight hard
with my practice. On September 8th we had a huge kickoff meeting for
Texas/Oklahoma zone. Here in Houston
we had a Culture Festival scheduled for the September 15th. I was
responsible for the outdoor activities and I have been supporting
100%. I've been going to Toso's at the community center during the
week and chanting hard towards the festival as well as towards my
personal struggles.
I even did my first home visit with a young man in my district. He got into
some troubles with the law and His grandmother, who was the only one in
his family who practiced, died a few months ago and he hasn't been
practicing consistently and attending meetings. After the home v. I
didn't feel like it went so well but since then, hes been coming out to
meetings and supported the festival. He did soka han on the
day of the festival. I can't tell you how encouraged I was.
I supported behind the scenes for our Both the September 8th festival
as well as the September 15th Festival and I continued chanting strong
diamoku everyday and looking for a
place. The problem is, I don't have a lot of money or a job in this
new city but I still chanted with strong daimoku. My requirements for
my place was that it had to be in my price range, big enough that I
could have meetings there and close to the community center. My
fathers house was about a 40 minute drive away. So I was able to move
into my place about two weeks ago. It's well withim my price range, 10
minutes from the community center and I beat out 4 other people for the
biggest apartment available in the complex.
My father was also able attend his first meeting in over 7 years last
weekend. He attended our district meeting. I was so encouraged to see
him catching up with old friends and chanting strong daimoku. He
really chants like a lion even though he stopped practicing and to be
honest, it was pretty emotional for me to chant with him at the
meeting. He also called me this week and told me that he checked into an outpatient rehab thing with his job.
I really feel like theres nothing that I cant do right now.. So
I am in the process of making my website... Sportfiends.com.... It is
not up yet but it will be soon.... If your a true sports head and check
it out... The site is under construction but the blog and the forum are up now.
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