Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
Sunday, November 8, 2015
In the "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings), Nichiren Daishonin says with reference to attaining Buddhahood, "To attain' means to open'" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 753). Attaining Buddhahood means opening our lives to their fullest potential and revealing our innate Buddhahood. This is the purpose of Buddhism.
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, November 8, 2015
If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbour's wealth but gains not even half a coin. That is why the T'ien-t'ai school's commentary states, "Unless one perceives the nature of one's life, one cannot eradicate one's grave offenses." This passage implies that, unless one perceives the nature of one's life, one's practice will become an endless, painful austerity.
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 3
On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
Written to Toki Jonin in 1255
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
Sunday, November 8, 2015
The noted pacifist scholar Johan Galtung tells young people, "We must be realists in our brains while keeping the flame of idealism burning in our hearts." Both of these --to see the world as it is and how it could be -- are essential to reform. A firm hold on reality should not entail being swamped by or resting easy in the status quo. To pioneer uncharted ways requires that people today keep the lamp of optimism lit.
Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (04 October 1950) p.52
In society we find those who win and those who lose. Fortune and misfortune cannot be calculated. Even if we win, however, our elation will not last indefinitely. But a person of self-awakening, even if temporarily defeated, can go on to build a future vaster, broader, deeper and greater than that of the person who originally won. As long as we are not defeated fundamentally, we should continue to advance step by step, confident of our eventual victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment