Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 31 October 2011

  

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, October 31, 2011

 

It is only natural that sometimes we fall sick. But we must see that sickness as a sickness that originally exists in life, based on the principle of the Mystic Law. In other words, there is no reason to allow yourself to be controlled by illness, for it to fill your life with suffering and distress. From the standpoint of eternal life through the three existences, your fundamentally happy self is incontrovertibly established.

 

 

---

  

 

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, October 31, 2011

 

Question: Is it possible, without understanding the meaning of the Lotus Sutra, but merely by chanting the five or seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo once a day, once a month, or simply once a year, once a decade, or once in a lifetime, to avoid being drawn into trivial or serious acts of evil, to escape falling into the four evil paths, and instead to eventually reach the stage of non-regression? Answer: Yes, it is.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 141
The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra 
Recipient unknown; written on January 6, 1266

 

 

---

 

 

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, October 31, 2011

 

Death does not discriminate; it strips of us everything. Fame, wealth and power are all useless in the unadorned reality of the final moments of life. When the time comes, we will have only ourselves to rely on. This is a solemn confrontation that we must face armed only with our raw humanity, the actual record of what we have done, how we have chosen to live our lives, asking, "Have I lived true to myself? What have I contributed to the world? What are my satisfactions or regrets?"

 

 

---

 

Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (1950) p.63

 

 

Discussed our company's reconstruction all day with Mr Toda.  Many things to do and many hardships to overcome.  Many passionate thoughts and emotional feelings.

With my common mortal's wisdom, I can accomplish nothing.  But confident of the teaching that because our wisdom is inadequate, we substitute faith, I chant daimoku single-mindedly and exert myself to the utmost in the cause of construction.

... 

My room is so cold.  Yet when I chant daimoku, my entire being seems to warm up.  It is most strange, indeed.

 

 

---