Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 24 December 2020 - Year of Advancement and Capable People



    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

December 24, 2020 

Many religions have demanded blind faith, taking away people's independence. President Makiguchi opposed such enslavement. What he called for instead was solidarity of awakened common people. To achieve this, he proposed a self-reliant way of life in which we advance on the path of our choice with a firm, independent character. He also stressed a contributive way of life in which we set our fundamental goal in life toward the realization of happiness for ourselves and others, casting aside arrogance and self-satisfaction to respect and benefit others. 

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 From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

December 24, 2020 

Becoming a Buddha is nothing extraordinary. If you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with your whole heart, you will naturally become endowed with the Buddha's thirty-two features and eighty characteristics. As the sutra says, "hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us," you can readily become as noble a Buddha as Shakyamuni. 

Letter to Niike

Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter in 1280 to Niike Saemon-no-jo, an official in the Kamakura shogunate

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

December 24, 2020

Where is happiness to be found? The famous Roman philosopher - emperor Marcus Aurelius said, "A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for." Human happiness, he maintained, lies in doing those things only humans can: seeking the truth and acting to help those who are suffering. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, too, asserted that those who work cheerfully and take joy in the fruits of their labour are truly happy. These are the words of great thinkers, and as you can see they are in complete accord with the teachings of Buddhism.

 

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 Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (29 September 1957) p.337 

Tolstoy defined unhappiness as having regrets. Must make efforts to live each day meaningfully. Lately, I am thoroughly aware of the joy of chanting daimoku. Had better think carefully about laying the foundation for my life, my direction and planning my living expenses.