Friday 23 December 2011

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 23 December 2011

 
Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Friday, December 23, 2011 
 
Leo Tolstoy concluded that the only way to bring about a fundamental change in society is to realize a change in public opinion, a change in people's minds. Then how can we change public opinion? Tolstoy asserted: "It is only necessary for people to say what they really think or at least to refrain from saying what they do not think." It is vital, in other words, not to be swayed by others' opinions or past ways of thinking or doing. Instead each of us must become wise, possessing our own firm convictions.  

From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, December 23, 2011 
 
In view of all this, your sincerity in sending a gift of five strings of blue-duck coins whenever the opportunity arises truly entitles you to be known as one who propagates the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra in  Japan . As first one person, then two persons, then a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand and then all the people throughout the country come to chant the daimoku, before you know it their blessings will accrue to you.
 
The Blessings of the Lotus Sutra
This letter was written at Minobu in 1276 and addressed to Myomitsu, a believer who lived at Kuwagayatsu in  Kamakura .
  

  
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Friday, December 23, 2011  
 
Peace and culture are one. A genuinely cultured nation is a peaceful nation, and vice versa. When conflicts multiply, culture wanes and nations fall into a hellish existence. The history of the human race is a contrast between culture and barbarity. Only culture is a force strong enough to put an end to conflict and lead humanity in the direction of peace.  
 

 
Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (1953) p.137
 
Began to study Nichikan's "Commentary on 'The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind.'"
 
1. Must exert myself in study
2. Must approach it in a scholarly manner.


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