Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, March 5, 2012
The efforts made by one individual can be immensely important. Nichiren Daishonin repeatedly states that victory depends not on numbers but on a group or individual's attitude or resolve. In one passage he writes: "Everyone in Japan , from the sovereign on down to the common people, all without exception tried to do me harm, but I have survived until this day. This is because, although I am alone, I have firm faith [in the Lotus Sutra]"
From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, March 5, 2012
The more gold is heated in the flames, the brighter will be its colour, the more a sword is whetted, the sharper it will become. And the more one praises the blessings of the Lotus Sutra, the more one's own blessings will increase. Bear in mind that the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra contain only a few passages elucidating the truth, but a great many words of praise.
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 673
The Blessings of the Lotus Sutra
Written to Myomitsu on March 5, 1276
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Monday, March 5, 2012
Our individual lives are each infinite treasure houses. Our lives are clusters of blessings. Lasting happiness never comes from the outside. Everything of value emanates from within our own being. Faith in Buddhism means establishing one's true self. It is the recognition that the infinite horizon of the cosmos exists right here within the self. One's life opens out toward the cosmos and is enfolded in it, at the same time, one's life encompasses the entire cosmos.
Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (1954) p.181
There are days when the sun shines and others when it remains hidden. There are days my faith is dynamic and others when it seems somehow weak. Is it fitting to compare the two? What great effort is required to continue throughout life with faith like flowing water. My deepest respect goes to those who have assiduously persevered in their faith for ten or twenty years, though they may be aged or living a mundane life.
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