Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 25 August 2012 - The Year of Developing a Youthful SGI

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda Saturday, August 25, 2012   Life flashes by in an instant. By devoting our lives to Buddhism, we will live a life of complete fulfillment. We are selling ourselves short if we fail to attain such a wonderful state of life.     From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Saturday, August 25, 2012   This Gohonzon is the essence of the Lotus Sutra and the eye of all the scriptures. It is like the sun and moon in the heavens, a great ruler on earth, the heart in a human being, the wish-granting jewel among treasures and the pillar of a house. When we have this mandala with us, it is a rule that all Buddhas and gods will gather round and watch over us, protecting us like a shadow day and night, just as warriors guard their ruler, as parents love their children, as fish rely on water, as trees and plants crave rain, or as birds depend on trees.   The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 624 On Upholding Faith in the Gohonzon Written to the lay nun Myoshin on August 25, 1275     Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda Saturday, August 25, 2012   One of the fascinating things about human beings is this: Believe for long enough that you are not as smart as others and this will actually lead to intellectual ineptitude. But, confronted with the same doubts, if you choose to believe that your mind is merely dormant for now, lacking in exercise, once you begin to train it, there are no bounds to what you can achieve.     Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (1957) p.351   Overdoing it everyday.  To gain abundant life force, morning and evening gongyo and chanting daimoku are basic.  Is my personal faith powerful enough to encompass both practice for oneself and for others?  Afraid that it is not. … Sensei returned to Tokyo on an afternoon flight.  He looks very fatigued.  Day by day, the Gakkai is entering an important period of rapid growth.  No one realizes this.  They are all too carefree.   Many gossip or denounce me behind my back.  Nevertheless, I have my own convictions and standards. This cannot be helped.  In the future, the truth will become apparent.