Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 27 August 2012 - The Year of Developing a Youthful SGI

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda Monday, August 27, 2012   The important thing is to keep working for kosen-rufu to the very end. On any journey, we cannot hope to reach our destination if we stop halfway. Likewise, if despite our good fortune in meeting and embarking on the unsurpassed way of Buddhism, we stop halfway, all the efforts we have made thus far will have been in vain, we will not be able to attain Buddhahood.   Events 1260 Matsubagayatsu Persecution. Incited by priests, Pure Land believers descend on the Daishonin's hermitage at Matsubagayatsu,Japan, to kill him. He is forced to flee for his life.     From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Monday, August 27, 2012   Mugwort that grows in the midst of hemp or a snake inside a tube [will as a matter of course become straight], and those who associate with people of good character will consequently become upright in heart, deed and word. The Lotus Sutra exerts a similar influence. The Buddha will look upon one who simply puts faith in this sutra as a good person.   The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1128 The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings Recipient and date unknown     Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda Monday, August 27, 2012   When we create or appreciate art, we set free the spirit trapped within. That is why art arouses such joy. Art - whether skillfully executed or not - is the emotion, the pleasure of expressing life as it is. Those who see art are moved by its passion and strength, its intensity and beauty. That is why it is impossible to separate life from art. Political and economic developments may seem to dominate the news, but culture and education are the forces that actually shape an age, since they transform the human heart.     Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (1957)   Missed gongyo in the morning.  Very tired.  Could not meet with Sensei.  Was told he was resting all day in conference room #1.  He seems to be growing weaker.  Such desolation, sadness. Feel a tautness in my heart when I think of the Soka Gakkai's future.  Above all, must enable the Gakkai to develop.  Must forge ahead, placing faith first and foremost.  Strong faith and the power of practice.