Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Buddhism is, in a sense, an eternal struggle between the Buddha and demons; in other words, a contest between positive and negative forces. If we fail to be assailed by negative influences, we cannot be said to be truly practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. Buddhist practice lies in bravely facing and overcoming adversity.
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, July 25, 2015
A bird's egg contains nothing but liquid, yet by itself this develops into a beak, two eyes, and all the other parts, and the bird soars into the sky. We, too, are the eggs of ignorance, which are pitiful things, but when nurtured by the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is like the warmth of the mother bird, we develop the beak of the thirty-two features and the feathers of the eighty characteristics and are free to soar into the skies of the true aspect of all phenomena and the reality of all things.
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 1030
Letter to Niike
Written to Niike Saemon-no-jo in February 1280
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Many people talk about peace, but few really do anything about it. Very few are willing to fight the battle to the end. Josei Toda instilled in me the hard and fast rule that, even if we stand alone, we must never give up but must see the struggle through to its conclusion.
The year before he died, he said something I have never forgotten for a minute: "If we don't fight, justice will be defeated. Because justice is on our side, we must not lose, we absolutely must win. That's why we fight. The lion is most lion like when he roars."
Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (08 June 1949) p.8
Bought a pair of old shoes. Society holds too many contradictions. Some people are poor, though they live and work honestly. Others live by deceit and never lift a finger, but they lack of nothing. All kinds of people in the world.
Is the one who amasses material possessions the final winner in life?
Absurd! Must examine my own situation and then leap beyond, to show great proof in the future. Isn't that what faith teaches.
Youth, never be envious. Never lose heart.
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