Dean Gerrit Fourie, is a true Buddha - joyfully supporting countless others in their practice and spreading happiness wherever he goes. He’s always keen to share the benefits of practising Nichiren Buddhism, and we talk about that a lot in this chat, as you’d expect.

He’s also very keen to share his experience of living with HIV and developing PML. Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy is a rare, and often fatal disease that attacks the brain in the immunocompromised, such as those, like him, who are HIV positive. It’s also highly avoidable, since effective medication has been developed. Unfortunately, the continuing stigma and misinformation around HIV has meant too many people avoid diagnosis and/or medication - and numbers of cases are rising.

Just like the first Buddha, he feels its his mission to awaken the ability to take responsibility for your life and become happy in everyone he meets. And he wants to make it explicit, that it includes taking responsibility for your health by getting tested for HIV and adhering strictly to medication regimes: After we chatted he summarised beautifully: ‘It’s about having the courage to face the truth. The compassion to care for yourself and those around you. And the wisdom to act. The Buddha nature is already within you. Honour it.'

We talk about a few things we've been reading - here's a list:

Viktor Frankl - Man’s search for meaning

Lucretius - The Nature of Things

Daisaku Ikeda - On Attaining buddhahood in this lifetime

Nichiren Daishonin - The heritage of the ultimate law of life

Daisaku Ikeda - The Heart of the Lotus Sutra

Coming soon! A mission to love life, in every moment

Lily Lowe-Myers is one of those buddhists who are an amazing advert for it - seemingly endlessly able summon up light and cheer - with abundant energy to support others. She makes it look effortless. But she admits how deep she has to dig sometimes - and the amazing life-changing trick of ‘making your prayer bigger’ - finding the determination to overcome your struggles so you can inspire others to believe they have the same power.

Part of practising Nichiren buddhism involved reciting sections of the Lotus Sutra. The concluding lines of this daily prayer sum it up well: ‘At all times I think to myself; How can I cause living beings to gain entry into the unsurpassed way and quickly acquire the body of the buddha’ - in the moment you really yearn to help others become happy your life state soars and you become happy yourself.