Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 19 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 19, 2024
 
At a crucial moment it is the strength and courage of ordinary people who have no name or position in society that save the day. The famous, the well-connected, almost always have too much to lose, and they abandon the cause in order to protect themselves.
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 19, 2024
 
The human mind is inconstant; it is ever-changing and unfixed. I thought it wondrous that you pledged faith in my teachings while I was in the province of Sado, and your sincerity in sending your husband all the way here is even more remarkable. The provinces we live in are far apart, and months and years have passed, so I was concerned that you might slacken in your resolve. However, you are increasingly demonstrating the depth of your faith and accumulating good deeds. Surely this is not a result of practice over just one or two previous lifetimes.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 491
Reply to the Lay Priest of Ko
Written to the lay priest of Ko on April 12, 1275
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 19, 2024
 
Grass and trees cannot grow without soil. The "soil" that fosters our growth includes our parents, teachers, seniors, or homeland, alma mater, community or company. In any case, everyone has some place where they grew up or someone who nurtured them. Human beings grow as a result of nurturing "soil" in which they express their ability and make the flowers of their lives blossom, just as the spirit of the rice plant returns to the soil and the stalk sprouts to flower and bear grain once again. We should repay our debts of gratitude to this soil in which we developed. This cycle of repaying gratitude will envelop one's whole existence. Your true humanity will never blossom if you seek only to develop yourself.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (09 March 1953) p.139
 
A lecture for Study Department seniors at the headquarters. Mr. Toda's strictness and the earnestness of those attending remind me of the severe training of master swordsmen. Whenever I participate in a study meeting, I feel I have not studied enough. Profoundly aware of the importance of study.
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Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 18 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

 Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 18, 2024
 
Those who advance together with this organization that is dedicated to kosen-rufu and pervaded by benefit will evolve the correct mind of faith that matches the time. With this mind of faith you can fill the canvas of your lives with portraits of happiness in which all your wishes are fulfilled.
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 18, 2024
 
Were it not for the presence of the "Life Span" chapter among all the teachings of Shakyamuni, they would be like the heavens without the sun and moon, a kingdom without a king, the mountains and seas without treasures, or a person without a soul. This being so, without the "Life Span" chapter, all the sutras are meaningless.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 183
The Essence of the "Life Span" Chapter
Recipient unknown; written on April 17, 1271
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 18, 2024
 
We live in the midst of a flood of soulless information. And, the more we rely on one-way communication, like radio or TV, or static and unmoving words in print, the more I feel the need to stress the value of the sound of the human voice: The simple but precious interaction of voice and voice, person and person, the exchange of life with life.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (04 March 1953) p.138
 
Heard President Toda is suffering from tonsillitis. Saw him in the office later in the day. Hope he will take good care of his health. To make this possible, we, his disciples, must mature all the more quickly.
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Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 17 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 17, 2024
 
Nothing can equal the splendour of youth. To be young is to possess a treasure of infinite worth, far greater than any person of power. This is all the more true of you who possess the eternal treasure of the Mystic Law. Those who live based on this supreme Law are bodhisattvas and Buddhas. 
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 17, 2024
 
Even if the sun and moon should never again emerge from the east, even if the great earth itself should turn over, even if the tides of the great ocean should cease to ebb and flow, even if broken stones are made whole, and even if the waters of the streams and rivers cease to flow into the ocean, no woman who believes in the Lotus Sutra could ever be dragged down by worldly faults and fall into the evil paths.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 70
The Recitation of the "Expedient Means" and "Life Span" Chapters
Written to the wife of Hiki Daigaku Saburo Yoshimoto on April 17, 1264
 
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 17, 2024
 
The goal is not to eliminate desires, it is what one desires that is important. Earthly desires are enlightenment. The desire for supreme enlightenment, the search for enlightenment, is enlightenment. Satisfaction with one's accomplishments might seem like humility, but to underestimate life's potential is actually great arrogance.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (03 March 1953) p.138
 
I pray that, from among the members of my corps, men of power and ability for kosen-rufu will appear in rapid succession.
Members of my corps! I pray you will each develop into men who surpass me in capability.
Members of my corps! I pray that not one of you will discard your faith.
These days I deeply sense the tremendous mercy of the Gohonzon.
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Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 16 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 16, 2024
 
Spending our time doing what we please may bring momentary pleasure, but it will not bring us true and lasting joy. We cannot become great artists or great actors of life - we cannot become great human beings. Literature, music and drama are all to be found in our activities for faith - in our prayers, our challenges to develop ourselves through SGI activities and our efforts to educate others. All value is encompassed in these activities. This is the profound realm of Buddhism.
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 16, 2024
 
[T'ien-t'ai writes:] "As practice progresses and understanding grows, the three obstacles and four devils emerge in confusing form, vying with one another to interfere. . . . One should be neither influenced nor frightened by them. If one falls under their influence, one will be led into the paths of evil. If one is frightened by them, one will be prevented from practicing the correct teaching." This statement not only applies to me, but also is a guide for my followers. Reverently make this teaching your own, and transmit it as an axiom of faith for future generations.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 501
Letter to the Brothers
Written to Ikegami Munenaka and Ikegami Munenga on April 16, 1275
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 16, 2024
 
[T'ien-t'ai writes:] "Unless acted on, even the ideal of reverence for life can end up being a mere slogan without the power to transform reality. It must, therefore, be established as a genuine philosophy in our hearts and in the hearts of others. We must put this philosophy into practice through concrete actions for peace, working one step at a time toward its realization.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (02 March 1953) p.137
 
Began to study Nichikan's "Commentary on 'The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind.'"
 
1. Must exert myself in study
2. Must approach it in a scholarly manner.
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Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 15 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 15, 2024
 
Material possessions cannot be enjoyed after death. But millionaires rich in life force are able to freely make use of the treasures of the universe in lifetime after lifetime and enjoy a journey of eternal happiness. That is what constitutes proof of true victory in life.
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 15, 2024
 
The Lotus Sutra offers a secret means for leading all living beings to Buddhahood. It leads one person in the realm of hell, one person in the realm of hungry spirits, and thus one person in each of the nine realms of existence to Buddhahood, and thereby the way is opened for all living beings to attain Buddhahood.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 512
Letter to Horen
Written to Soya Kyoshin in April 1275
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 15, 2024
 
Life and death are one, and the entity of our existence is eternal, persisting throughout past, present and future. The setting sun, radiant with joy, gives proof of its undiminished power and at the same time offers a promise of a bright tomorrow. Bringing our lives to a wonderful, satisfying close guarantees us the path to happiness throughout eternity. 
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (03 February 1953) p.136
 
A district lecture on the Gosho "On Establishing the Four Bodhisattvas as the Object of Devotion."…
Feel sorry for those sincere members, since I lack capability as a lecturer. After the lecture, I gave personal guidance. To grasp people's true suffering, to hear their true voices and guide them, enabling them to find the solution, is the noblest work we can undertake in life. I only worry that I lack the power to do so.
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Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 14 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 14, 2024
 
Thoreau, a renowned American Renaissance thinker, wrote in his journal: "Nothing must be postponed. Take time by the forelock. Now or never! You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment." We shouldn't put anything off but seize the moment, living with all our being in the present. If we do that, he says, each moment will become eternity.
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 14, 2024
 
The rice plant flowers and bears grain, but its spirit remains in the soil. This is the reason the stalk sprouts to flower and bear grain once again. The blessings that Nichiren obtains from propagating the Lotus Sutra will always return to Dozen-bo. How sublime! It is said that, if a teacher has a good disciple, both will gain the fruit of Buddhahood, but if a teacher fosters a bad disciple, both will fall into hell. If teacher and disciple are of different minds, they will never accomplish anything.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 909
Flowering and Bearing Grain
Written to Joken-bo and Gijo-bo in April 1278
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 14, 2024
 
The tendency of human beings is to try and escape challenges and seek an easy and peaceful environment. But happiness cannot be found somewhere else - it is found within us. A genuine way of life consists of transforming where we are right now into a supreme paradise. 
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (02 February 1953) p.135
 
Rise and fall, prosperity and decline – human history filled with discord and misery. I believe the greatest person is one who strives to attain a bloodless revolution, based on a correct view of humanity, the world and the universe. This is a standard that transcends commonly held views of right and wrong.
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Sensei's Daily Encouragement - April 13 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
April 13, 2024
 
Quite simply, there can be no true democracy unless the citizens of a country realize that they are sovereign, that they are the main protagonists, and then with wisdom and a strong sense of responsibility take action based on that realization. Democracy cannot be successful in its mission unless the people rouse themselves to become more informed and involved, unless they unite, unless they establish an unshakable force for justice and keep a strict eye on the activities of the powerful.
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
April 13, 2024
 
Although I, Nichiren, am not a man of wisdom, the devil king of the sixth heaven has attempted to take possession of my body. But I have for some time been taking such great care that he now no longer comes near me. Therefore, because the power of the heavenly devil is ineffectual against me, he instead possesses the ruler and his high officials, or foolish priests such as Ryokan, and causes them to hate me.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 310
Reply to Sairen-bo
Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on april 13, 1272
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 Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
April 13, 2024
 
A great work of art is one that truly moves and inspires you. You yourself must be moved. Don't look at art with others eyes. Don't listen to music with others ears. You must react to art with your own feelings, your own heart and mind. If you allow yourself to be swayed by the opinions of others, it must be good because everyone else likes it, it must be bad, because no one else likes it - your feelings, your sensibility, which should be the very core of the artistic experience, will wither and die. To enjoy art to the fullest, you must abandon all preconceived notions, leaving a blank slate. Then confront the work directly, with your entire being. If you are deeply moved, then that work is, for you, a great work of art.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (01 February 1953) p.135
 
Attended a youth division meeting at 6:00pm. Witnessed their bold departure toward the coming year. How splendid! Someday, want Sensei to see the result of our behind-the-scenes unity and growth. I talked about the importance of study. I, myself, however, must first take the initiative and serve as an example. Personally resolved to take a great leap forward during the coming year.
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