Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Buddhism is not about leading a self-centered existence. If we do not base our lives on the Law, we are not practicing Buddhism. The German writer Friedrich von Schiller writes, "The brave man thinks upon himself the last." This is analogous to the spirit of not begrudging one's life taught in the Lotus Sutra. This means treasuring the Law more highly than one's life. The Law and kosen-rufu are central.
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
No matter how humble a person may be, if his wisdom is the least bit greater than yours, you should ask him about the meaning of the sutra. But the people in this evil age are so arrogant, prejudiced, and attached to fame and profit that they are afraid that, should they become the disciple of a humble person or try to learn something from him, they will be looked down upon by others. They never rid themselves of this wrong attitude, so they seem to be destined for the evil paths.
The Fourteen Slanders
Written to the lay priest Matsuno Rokuro Saemon on December 9, 1276
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
According to Buddhism, health is not a condition in which we merely escape negative influences. It is a highly positive, active state in which we hold ourselves responsible for such influences, in which we face and try to solve various problems - not just our own but others problems, too. The word disease implies a lack of ease, which conversely implies that health is a state of comfort. In the Buddhist sense, however, being "at ease" does not mean freedom from difficulties, it means having the strength to meet and overcome any problem.
Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (01 January 1959) p.430
This year marks the 706th anniversary of the establishment of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism...
Arrived at the Gakkai headquarters at 11:00...
Must take the lead this year - as a young general with unyielding, immovable resolve - if I am a direct disciple of President Josei Toda.
After reciting the sutra and chanting daimoku, listened to the tape of my mentor's lecture last New Year's Day...
Left Tokyo Station on a 1:35p.m. train for the head temple with top leaders...
Gathered here at the head temple, the faces of my fellow members from around the nation. They are the ones - out of the multitudes - with whom I share a karmic bond; the ones I have encountered in the present age, out of the thousands of years of human history. I will never neglect them.
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