Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 31 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Monday, March 31, 2014

 

Position and appearances are irrelevant. The important thing is to carry out our personal duty, our commitment, no matter what anyone else may say. This is a life of true victory, a life of unsurpassed nobility and fulfillment.

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Monday, March 31, 2014

 

I have written out the prose section of the "Expedient Means" chapter for you. You should recite it together with the verse portion of the "Life Span" chapter, which I sent you earlier. The characters of this sutra are all without exception living Buddhas of perfect enlightenment. But because we have the eyes of ordinary people, we see them as characters.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 486

Reply to the Lay Priest Soya

Written to the lay priest Soya in March 1275

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Monday, March 31, 2014

 

Reading is dialogue with oneself; it is self-reflection, which cultivates profound humanity.  Reading  is therefore essential to our development. It expands and enriches the personality like a seed that germinates after a long time and sends forth many blossom-laden branches. People who can say of a book "this changed my life" truly understand the meaning of happiness. Reading that sparks inner revolution is desperately needed to escape drowning in the rapidly advancing information society.  Reading  is more than intellectual ornamentation, it is a battle for the establishment of the self, a ceaseless challenge that keeps us young and vigorous.

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (10 March 1954) p161/162

 

Mr. Toda seems to have regained his health somewhat.  This makes me truly happy...

 

Spoke with Sensei for about an hour: Received guidance on the following points:

 

1. Discussion on life – Sickness and death are not the same thing.

2. The third president and general director.

3. Direction for the Gakkai and for myself for the next three years.

4. Important points to ensure the Gakkai's eternal flow.

 

My mentor's deep love and consideration for this incapable disciple makes me weep heartfelt tears of appreciation.

  

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 30 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Sunday, March 30, 2014

 

There are many elements involved in a prayer being answered, but the important thing is to keep praying until it is. By continuing to pray, you can reflect on yourself with unflinching honesty and begin to move your life in a positive direction on the path of earnest, steady effort. Even if your prayer doesn't produce concrete results immediately, your continual prayer will at some time manifest itself in a form greater than you had ever hoped.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Sunday, March 30, 2014

 

To mix other practices with this Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a grave error. A lantern is useless when the sun rises. How can dewdrops be beneficial when the rain falls? Should one feed a newborn baby anything other than its mother's milk? No addition of other medicines is needed with a good medicine.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 903

The Teaching for the Latter Day

Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu on April 1, 1278

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Sunday, March 30, 2014

 

It is important to develop your character to be as powerful as a mighty river. Continue to advance bravely in the face of every challenge, paying no heed to the obstacles in your way. Become a great river of bottomless compassion and wisdom, overflowing with boundless invincibility and passion.

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (04 March 1954) p.161

 

My fever has not ye subsided.

it's awful.

6:30.  A YMD leaders meeting at the Hall of Education in Kanda.

Went to Meiwa Printers at 9:00 to proofread the Gosho.  The train wasn't running due to a heaving spring snowstorm.  Took a taxi home, finally arriving after midnight.

  

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 28 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Friday, March 28, 2014

 

Youth must have the spirit to attack injustice, the spirit to refute that which is wrong, the spirit to spread the Daishonin's teaching. Just giving an appearance of promoting kosen-rufu and going with the flow, afraid of making waves, are the actions of self-serving youth, who are spiritually old and decrepit.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Friday, March 28, 2014

 

The heart of the Lotus Sutra is its title, or the daimoku, of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Truly, if you chant this in the morning and evening, you are correctly reading the entire Lotus Sutra. Chanting daimoku twice is the same as reading the entire sutra twice, one hundred daimoku equal one hundred readings of the sutra, and a thousand daimoku, a thousand readings of the sutra. Thus, if you ceaselessly chant daimoku, you will be continually reading the Lotus Sutra.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 923

The One Essential Phrase

Written to the lay nun Myoho on July 3, 1278

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Friday, March 28, 2014

 

A Buddha is definitely not an absolute being living a static existence. A Buddha shares the sufferings of others and, sensing the condition of the time, earnestly ponders how to transform that condition. A Buddha vows to struggle in order to lead the people and the age to enlightenment. The strength of this vow causes the Buddha's enlightenment to mature into rich wisdom.

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (01 March 1954) p.160

 

At 6:00, a lecture for the Study Department's fifth level on Nichikan's "Commentary on 'The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind.'"  We studied the commentary on the passage, "Shakyamuni's however, is the Buddhism of the harvest, and this is the Buddhism of sowing" (WND, 370).

Beginning at 7:30, President Toda lectured for one hour to all Study Department members on methods of teaching. A truly interesting and profound discussion, one that should be digested thoroughly.

 

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 27 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Thursday, March 27, 2014

 

While controlling your mind, which is at once both extremely subtle and solemnly profound, you should strive to elevate your faith with freshness and vigour. When you do so, both your life and your surroundings will open wide before you and every action you take will become a source of benefit. Understanding the subtle workings of one's mind is the key to faith and attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Thursday, March 27, 2014

 

You also are a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra, and your faith is like the waxing moon or the rising tide. Be deeply convinced, then, that your illness cannot possibly persist, and that your life cannot fail to be extended! Take care of yourself, and do not burden your mind with grief.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 656

The Bow and Arrow

Written to the lay nun Toki on March 27, 1276

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Thursday, March 27, 2014

 

By changing our inner state of mind, we can change any suffering or hardship into a source of joy, regarding it as a means for forging and developing our lives. To turn even sorrow into a source of creativity - this is the way of life of a Buddhist.

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (26 February 1954) p.160

 

Stopped by K.'s home during business hours. His faith seems to have gotten stronger. Glad my work is going smoothly. The ultimate objective in life, the culmination of our hopes and dreams, can be found in the life-condition we attain through faith.

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 26 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

 

Of foremost importance are the people - not celebrities, the powerful, the rich, scholars or others whom society deems great or praiseworthy. The purpose of all things must be the happiness of the people. Everything else should be but a means to that end. Those who fail to recognize this fundamental point and look down on the people and exploit them are thoroughly vile and contemptible, they are a hindrance to people's happiness.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

 

The Buddha explained how difficult it is for a one-eyed turtle to find a floating sandalwood log with a suitable hollow, even after immeasurable, boundless kalpas . He employed this analogy to illustrate the rarity of encountering the Lotus Sutra. One should be aware, however, that, even if one should encounter the floating sandalwood log of the Lotus Sutra, it is rarer still to find the hollow of the Mystic Law of the daimoku, which is difficult to chant.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 958

The One-eyed Turtle and the Floating Log

Written to the widow of the lay priest Matsuno on March 26, 1279

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

 

When experiencing failures and disappointments, frustrations or illness, people tend to lose confidence and let fear overtake them. At such times, however, we need to make a conscious effort to move forward with strength and courage. When you say to yourself, "Next time I'll succeed!" or "I'm going to get better and make it through this!" you have already won.

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (23 February 1954) p.160

 

A Suiko Group meeting at 6:00.  Sensei seemed extremely tired.  He ended the meeting at 7:00.  Deeply ashamed that I couldn't answer when he asked me a question. My own growth is the growth of the youth division. Self-awakening and growth are my absolute duty! Youth of  Japan ! Youth of the Gakkai! Try your best!

  

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 25 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

 

We are no longer in an age when one person can shoulder everything. Of course, for the day-to-day running of the organization someone will still be officially designated as President, but ultimately our future development hinges on every member having the commitment required of a Soka Gakkai President. With this spirit, this sense of responsibility, this leadership in your activities, may you always work for kosen-rufu and for the victory of the people. May you also build a Soka Gakkai where everyone can advance joyfully, a Soka Gakkai of undying progress.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

 

A wife who leads her husband to take faith will enjoy the same benefit as Lady Pure Virtue. All the more fortunate is a case like yours, in which both wife and husband have faith! It is like a bird possessing two wings, or a cart having two wheels. What is there that you two cannot achieve? Because there is a heaven and an earth, a sun and a moon, the sun shines and the rain falls, and the plants and trees of benefit will surely blossom and bear fruit.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 915

An Outline of the "Entrustment" and Other Chapters

Written to Nichinyo on June 25, 1278

 

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 Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

 

The significance of Buddhism lies both in the discovery of the Buddha nature in all beings and in the establishment of a practical method for bringing it out, so that human beings can derive maximum meaning from their lives. This reformation of the inner human world - what we in the Soka Gakkai call human revolution - is especially relevant to modern civilization, which has long been trapped in a sort of spiritual quicksand. We can escape the quicksand by calling forth the supreme human potential available to each of us.

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (18 February 1954) p.159

 

Gentle rain. Finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo at the office.  Reading  develops wisdom and allows us to accumulate knowledge. It also enhances our ability to read and understand the Gosho. Someone once said: "Read throughout your life, even if only thirty minutes each day. In the course of a lifetime, this will add up to a tremendous amount of reading."

  

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 24 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Monday, March 24, 2014

 

When we practice gongyo and chant daimoku before the Gohonzon, the good and evil capacities of our lives begin to function as the exalted form of fundamental existence. Lives that are full of the pain of Hell, lives that are in the state of Hunger, lives warped by the state of Anger - such lives too begin to move in the direction of creating their own personal happiness and value. Lives being pulled toward misfortune and unhappiness are redirected and pulled in the opposite direction, toward good, when they make the Mystic Law their base.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Monday, March 24, 2014

 

I feel great pity for you and the others, but there is little I can do to help. Nevertheless, I pray day and night to the Lotus Sutra. Spare no effort in offering up prayers with firm faith. It is not that my resolve [to save you] is weak. Rather, it depends on the strength of each person's faith.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 678

The Story of Ohashi no Taro

Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu on March 24, 1276

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Monday, March 24, 2014

 

The struggle we go through to have our prayers answered makes us stronger. If we were to immediately get everything we prayed for, we would become spoiled and decadent. We would lead indolent lives, devoid of any hard work or struggle. As a result, we would become shallow human beings. What, then, would be the point of faith?

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (16 February 1954) p.158

 

Sensei struggles relentlessly against the devil of sickness.

I, too, continuously battle the same devil.

Where there is passionate faith, there must be victory. I am young; my life begins from now. If only I can be the engine that turns President Toda's plans and ideas into reality…

Life is nothing but struggle and advancement. Such is my destiny.

  

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 23 March 2014 - Year of Opening a New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Sunday, March 23, 2014

 

Let us all set our sights on leading great lives dedicated always to truth and move toward that goal in good health, brimming with hope. Let us live our lives boldly, without regret, advancing with patience, enthusiasm and a genuine spirit of friendship and camaraderie.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Sunday, March 23, 2014

 

If only you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, then what offense could fail to be eradicated? What blessing could fail to come? This is the truth, and it is of great profundity. You should believe and accept it.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 130

Conversation between a Sage and an Unenlightened Man

Recipient unknown; written in 1265

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Sunday, March 23, 2014

 

I am the father of living beings and I should rescue them from their sufferings and give them the joy of the measureless and boundless Buddha wisdom so that they may find their enjoyment in that - The Lotus Sutra

 

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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (15 February 1954) p.158

 

Reported to Sensei about our activities in Niigata.  All he said was, "Thank you."