I started to practise Nichiren Buddhism in 2001 while on a yoga retreat in Turkey, writes Clea Myers.

The galvanising factor was the generous spirit of my new yoga instructor who had invited me on the retreat in the first place. Her energy was highly attractive and unlike other experiences with yoga groups, her attitude was wholly inclusive, warm and uncompetitive.

One morning over fresh fruit and yoghurt she told me about Nichiren Buddhism. A sense of recognition overwhelmed me because the basic tenets fitted with my own perceptions and beliefs about life.

I also liked the idea of chanting and actively using my voice (I am an actress). I had tried other forms of Buddhist meditation that had not particularly inspired or excited me, although I appreciate the clarity of thought that can emerge through diligent practice.

And therein lay the problem for me: By nature I am fairly intolerant, madly impatient, impulsive and prone to excessive mood swings. My main consistency is lack thereof. Balance and inner-happiness were sorely missing in my life. The most noticeable manifestation was in the pattern of binge drinking I was stuck in.

Active addiction had been in my life since my 20s when I had moved to Los Angeles and got hooked on crystal meth (my memoir about this devastating drug, and it's horrific affects on my life NOW AVAILABLE). Now in my early 30s, I had stopped using drugs, but had replaced them with their legal sister, alcohol.

Alongside my binge-drinking, discipline was relatively foreign to me, and a twice-daily practice barely within my frame of reference. While I slowly engaged with chanting and followed some guidance from trusted leaders within SGI-UK, I gradually managed to change these negative aspects and therein changed myself: this is what I understand 'Human Revolution' to mean.

After three years of initial and sporadic Buddhist practice, with gaps due to an unhealthy relationship and messy break-up with a fellow drinker, I understood deeply within the depths of my life (bones, cells, DNA, spirit) that to continue drinking was completely and utterly wrong for me. Not 'wrong' in a finger-wagging, judgmental way but in a loving, caring way that represented true self-esteem and self-respect. I was now actively recovering my humanity and genuinely learning to value my own life. (I was not taught this as a child). I was developing the latent compassion within so that I could apply these heart-felt beliefs to my life.

It was not an intellectual decision to stop drinking — I had known for years I was a problem drinker — but a total change of heart that motivated me to get the professional help I needed, as well as self-motivate to change on a profound level for myself and my family, where addiction has been a destructive force for generations.

Undoing negative behaviour patterns is undeniably hard: Often one step forward, two steps back. But I sense the progress in my life and can see it manifesting externally. I also have friends and colleagues, both within SGI-UK and elsewhere, who bear witness to my 'human revolution':

A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind. 

Daisaku Ikeda

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