December 29, 2020
Who is truly great? I hope you can develop the ability to discern true human greatness. A great person is someone who forges unity among human beings through sincere dialogue, armed with a solid philosophy, feet firmly planted on the ground. A great person is one who lives among the people and earns their unshakable trust. Fickle popularity and temporary fads are nothing but illusions.
From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
December 29, 2020
To hope to attain Buddhahood without speaking out against slander is as futile as trying to find water in the midst of fire or fire in the midst of water. No matter how sincerely one believes in the Lotus Sutra, if one is guilty of failing to rebuke slander of the Law, one will surely fall into hell, just a single crab leg will ruin a thousand pots of lacquer. This is the meaning of the passage in the sutra, "Because the poison has penetrated deeply and their minds no longer function as before."
The Essentials for Attaining Buddhahood
This letter is addressed to Soya, a lay follower who lived in Soya Village in Shimosa Province in the year 1276.
Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
December 29, 2020
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes: "And so of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more of it remains." Cheerfulness is not the same as frivolousness. Cheerfulness is born of a fighting spirit. Frivolousness is the reverse side of cowardly escape. Emerson also said that "power dwells with cheerfulness; hope puts us in a working mood." Without cheerfulness there is no strength. Strive to advance still more brightly and cheerfully.
Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (10 October 1957) p.341
The moon was full tonight. When I think about the satellite flying through space, what a profoundly poetic evening it was. With my tired body, it reminded me of listening to an exquisite, mysterious melody. The joy of living. Let it always be so. Read the Gosho "encouragement to a Sick Person".
Ultimately, the spirit of propagation, a life of propagation, is the source of the greatest, most powerful life force and vitality.
* 8 October: news report that the Soviet Union has successfully launched a human-made satellite.
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