Sensei's Daily Encouragement - October 28 2023 - Year of Youth and Triumph

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
October 28, 2023
 
It may seem perfectly all right to put ourselves and our own wishes first, to simply follow the dictates of our emotions and cravings, but the truth is that there is nothing more unreliable than our own mind. Life doesn't always go like clockwork and things will not necessarily turn out as we hope or plan. Consequently, Nichiren Daishonin frequently stressed: You should become the master of your mind, not let your mind master you. We mustn't allow ourselves to be ruled by a self-centered mind. Rather, we have to discipline our mind and gain mastery over it. This is the Daishonin's strict admonition.
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From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
October 28, 2023

Showing profound compassion for those unable to comprehend the gem of the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, the Buddha wrapped it within the five characters [of Myoho-renge-kyo], with which he then adorned the necks of the ignorant people of the latter age.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 376
The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One's Passing
Written to Toki Jonin on April 25, 1273
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
October 28, 2023

Shakyamuni Buddha explained the fundamental spirit of Buddhism as a sense of individual responsibility. "You are your only master. Who else? Subdue yourself and discover your master." In other words, we must each take responsibility for our own self-discipline and for cultivating meaningful lives.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (14 January 1956) p.285/86

Left Tokyo Station at 12:30 on the Dove, the express for Osaka, for the Study Department exam. Thought I would study on the train, but couldn't. It was awful. Couldn't concentrate at all. Practice, training. Recalled Musashi*.

Answered exam prep questions until after 11:00. Overly tired. Feel a neuralgia-like pain in my left hand…

At 1:20, 423 people took the written exam. There were five questions. The quality of my lecture will be reflected in the examinees' performance. The responsibility is ultimately my own.

*Miyamoto Musashi (famed swordsman 1584 – 1645)
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