Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Saturday, June 22, 2013
It's foolish to be obsessed with past failures. And it's just as foolish to be self-satisfied with one's small achievements. Buddhism teaches that the present and the future are what are important, not the past. It teaches us a spirit of unceasing challenge to win over the present and advance ever toward the future. Those who neglect this spirit of continual striving steer their lives in a ruinous direction.
From the Writing of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, June 22, 2013
In judging the relative merit of Buddhist doctrines, I, Nichiren, believe that the best standards are those of reason and documentary proof. And even more valuable than reason and documentary proof is the proof of actual fact.
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 599
Three Tripitaka Masters Pray for Rain
Written to the lay priest Nishiyama on June 22, 1275
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Saturday, June 22, 2013
The Buddha keenly understands various sufferings as though his own children were experiencing them. Sorrow and empathy well from his life. A Buddha is a person of compassion. Josei Toda said: "Compassion is not a Buddhist austerity. It is something that should be expressed unconsciously and naturally in one's actions, and in the workings of one's heart. The Buddha knows no path of living apart from that of living with compassion."
Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (25 May 1950) p.26
As the Buddha's disciple I must fear nothing. All I need to do is accept and uphold his great compassion and dash ahead. Contemplation alone accomplishes nothing. Whoever merely contemplates is not a true disciple. Am I free from illusion? Do I display the great life force that springs from faith and practice or not?
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