Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 30 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Thursday, April 30, 2015

 

Nobel laureate Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) of Chile, was well respected as a humanistic educator. Indicative of the great spirit of compassion and caring with which she interacted with her students is her "Teacher's Prayer": "Let me be more mother than the mother herself in my love and defense of the child who is not flesh of my flesh. Help me to make one of my children my most perfect poem and leave within him or her my most melodious melody from that day when my own lips no longer sing." With this same spirit, let us care for and nurture young people.

 

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From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Thursday, April 30, 2015

 

You are indeed an unusual woman since you asked me to explain the effects of various degrees of slander. You are every bit as praiseworthy as the dragon king's daughter when she said, "I unfold the doctrines of the great vehicle to rescue living beings from suffering." The Lotus Sutra reads, "If one can ask about its meaning, that will be difficult indeed." There are very few people who inquire about the meaning of the Lotus Sutra.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 626

The Embankments of Faith

Written to the lay nun Sennichi on September 3, 1275

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Thursday, April 30, 2015

 

Nichiren wrote that wrath can be either good or bad. Self-centered anger generates evil, but wrath at social injustice becomes the driving force for reform. Strong language that censures and combats a great evil often awakens adverse reactions from society, but this must not intimidate those who believe they are right. A lion is a lion because he roars.

 

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (28 January 1960) p.470

 

 Gave guidance and encouragement to leaders of various divisions.

Cannot afford to give heed to criticism in society.

The Gakkai now has no choice but to move forward.

It is important to produce evidence.

it is important to show results.

 

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 29 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

 

What is success in life? Who are the truly successful? There are famous and powerful people who become pitiful figures in their old age. There are people who die alone, feeling empty and desolate inside. Just what is success? The English thinker Walter Pater (1839-94) wrote: "To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life." The person who lives life fully, glowing with life's energy, is the person who lives a successful life.

 

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From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

 

Little streams come together to form the great ocean, and tiny particles of dust accumulate to form  Mount   Sumeru  . When I, Nichiren, first took faith in the Lotus Sutra, I was like a single drop of water or a single particle of dust in all the country of  Japan  . But later, when two people, three people, ten people, and eventually a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, and a million people come to recite the Lotus Sutra and transmit it to others, then they will form a  Mount   Sumeru  of perfect enlightenment, an ocean of great nirvana.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 579

The Selection of the Time

Written to Yui in 1275

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

 

Our efforts for the sake of dialogue, in order to be worthy of the term dialogue, must be carried through to the end. To refuse peaceful exchange and choose force is to compromise and give in to human weakness; it is to admit the defeat of the human spirit. Socrates encourages his youthful disciples to train and strengthen themselves spiritually, to maintain hope and self-control, to advance courageously, choosing virtue over material wealth, truth over fame.

 

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Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (26 January 1960) p.469

 

 My mother came over late at night. My mother's feelings for her child are unchanging. Within her ordinary existence lies her greatness - far surpassing that of any philosopher, politician or great scholar. Must cherish her. Must protect her.

 

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 28 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

 

How incredible it is to chant this wonderful daimoku each day! Nichiren Daishonin writes, "There is no greater happiness for human beings than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The sutra [Lotus Sutra] says, The people there [in my land] are happy and at ease.

 

Events

1253 Nichiren Daishonin chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the first time.

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

 

The greater the hardships befalling him, the greater the delight he feels, because of his strong faith. Doesn't a fire burn more briskly when logs are added? All rivers flow into the sea, but does the sea turn back their waters? The currents of hardship pour into the sea of the Lotus Sutra and rush against its votary. The river is not rejected by the ocean; nor does the votary reject suffering. Were it not for the flowing rivers, there would be no sea. Likewise, without tribulation there would be no votary of the Lotus Sutra.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 33

A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering

Written to Shiji Shiro on April 28, 1261

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

 

When deluded, one is called an ordinary being, but when enlightened, one is called a Buddha. This is similar to a tarnished mirror that will shine like a jewel when polished. A mind now clouded by the illusions of the innate darkness of life is like a tarnished mirror, but when polished, it is sure to become like a clear mirror, reflecting the essential nature of phenomena and the true aspect of reality. Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo -Nichiren

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (21 January 1960) p.468/469

                                                                                                                                

 Left for Kyushu aboard the 11:00 a.m. Japan Airlines flight from Haneda Airport to give a lecture in Yame.

...

Possibly due to fatigue from the trip, felt out of sorts today as well. In the morning, chanted daimoku to improve my physical condition.

 

 In the afternoon, a planning session for a headquarters leaders meeting...

 

 Among the directors, some are old and others young. Some are only concerned with self-preservation while others are selfless. Felt presidents Makiguchi and Toda were watching them, perceiving their innermost minds rather than their appearance.

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 27 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Monday, April 27, 2015

 

Age is not an excuse for giving up. If you allow yourself to grow passive and draw back, it's a sign of personal defeat. There may be a retirement age at work, but there is no retirement age in life. How then could there be any "going into retirement" in the world of faith? The Buddhist Law is eternal, extending across the three existences of past, present and future, and one of the benefits of faith is perennial youth and eternal life.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Monday, April 27, 2015

 

The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, contain the benefit amassed through the countless practices and meritorious deeds of all Buddhas throughout the three existences. Then, how can these five characters not include the benefits obtained by observing all of the Buddhas' precepts?

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 481

The Teaching, Practice, and Proof

Written to Sammi-bo on March 21, 1275

 

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 Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Monday, April 27, 2015

 

We all long for things of beauty - beauty of nature, of appearance, of life, a beautiful family and so on. But these cannot be gained if we are withdrawn and isolated, just looking at ourselves. We must create better relationships with other people and interact with our community and society with an open heart. We must be kind to nature. It is only through this process that we really grow and cultivate our own beauty.

 

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (20 January 1960) p.467

 

 Have been thinking seriously of late; the long march of a human being's life is a truly formidable undertaking. My boyhood and youth were relatively easy. But my 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s will be more significant as my responsibility grows.

 

 Is life a survival of the fittest? is it the strong feeding upon the weak? Is it the triumph of the superior and the defeat of the inferior? Is it cruel? Is it cause and effect? How strict life is!

 

 My mentor, President Toda, led a wonderful life in many aspects - in his humanity, in his enterprise and in the concluding phase of his life.

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 26 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Sunday, April 26, 2015

 

What matters is winning in the end, the wins and losses along the way are of secondary significance. It's final victory in life that counts and that is the reason for our Buddhist practice. No matter how powerful or famous or privileged a person might be, Nichiren Daishonin says, from a Buddhist point of view it is all nothing more than a dream, an illusory pleasure; true happiness can only be attained by revealing the state of Buddhahood within our own life.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Sunday, April 26, 2015

 

There are two types of illness: minor and serious. Early treatment by a skilled physician can cure even serious illnesses, not to mention minor ones. Karma also may be divided into two categories: fixed and unfixed. Sincere repentance will eradicate even fixed karma, to say nothing of karma that is unfixed.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 954

On Prolonging One's Life Span

Written to the lay nun Myojo in 1279

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Sunday, April 26, 2015

 

As globalization proceeds, we enter an age in which everybody's actions strongly influence everybody else. When we realize this, we can then alter our mindset and strive to build a global society of mutual coexistence and mutual prosperity. This will be done by going beyond devotion to the interests of the nation-state and devoting ourselves to the interests of all humanity. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. The key to the solution is the imagination to care for others. It is the empathizing heart or what Buddhists refer to when they talk about mercy.

 

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (19January 1960) p.466/467

 

 I'm losing weight. Lost about twenty-five pounds since last April. Feel troubled. The devilish workings of sickness and death are harsh and fearful.

 

 As long as I have faith in the Mystic Law, I can view my sickness as an intrinsic aspect of my life and in no way fail to transform great evil into great good. Will definitely recover my health within this year. Eradicating one's bad karma is no easy task.

 

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 25 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Saturday, April 25, 2015

 

 Adversity gives birth to greatness. The greater the challenges and difficulties we face, the greater opportunity we have to grow and develop as people. A life without adversity, a life of ease and comfort, produces nothing and leaves us with nothing. This is one of the indisputable facts of life.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Saturday, April 25, 2015

 

 Buddhahood is the most difficult to demonstrate. But since you possess the other nine worlds, you should believe that you have Buddhahood as well. Do not permit yourself to have doubts. Expounding on the human world, the Lotus Sutra says, "The Buddhas wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings." . . . That ordinary people born in the latter age can believe in the Lotus Sutra is due to the fact that the world of Buddhahood is present in the human world.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 358

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

Saturday, April 25, 2015

 

 If you think about it, although we may not be destined to die five minutes from now, we are all, without exception, going to die at some point. We can count on it 100 percent. There is nothing surer than this. Victor Hugo says, "We are all under sentence of death, but with a sort of indefinite reprieve." Ideally, we should live every minute of our lives valuably, as if it were the last moment of our lives. Those who live aimlessly are left with a sense of emptiness at the end of their lives, but those who live all-out, striving right to the end, will die peacefully. Leonardo da Vinci says, "As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death." One aware that death could come at any time will live each day to the fullest.

 

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (18 January 1960) p.466

 

 Headed back to Tokyo. Took a special express from Osaka.

Many leaders saw me off despite the cold weather. Appreciative. Admonished myself not to expect such a send-off in the future.

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Picked up Sarton's Introduction to the History of Science from where I left off before. Want to use this book as my reference when I write about science and religion some day.

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 24 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Friday, April 24, 2015

 

When youth are awakened to a sense of mission, their power is limitless. Ultimately, we have to entrust our hopes and visions for the future to the youth. This is a golden rule. Youth is pure. Youth will rise up to fulfill their ideals without calculation or self-interest. The fundamental spirit of a leader must be to reach out to such young people, work with them and bring out their capabilities and direct their youthful energies in a positive direction.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Friday, April 24, 2015

 

What matters most is that we honour the Buddha's words. As a rule, people in the world value what is distant and despise what is near, but this is the conduct of the ignorant. Even the distant should be repudiated if it is wrong, while what is near should not be discarded if it accords with the truth. Even though people may revere [their predecessors' doctrines], if those doctrines are in error, how can we employ them today?"

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 155

Reply to Hoshina Goro Taro

Written to Hoshina Boro Taro on December 5, 1267

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Friday, April 24, 2015

 

The Buddhas, the World-Honoured Ones, wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to allow them to attain purity. That is why they appear in the world. They wish to show the Buddha wisdom to living beings, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to cause living beings to awaken to the Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to induce living beings to enter the path of Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. -The Lotus Sutra.

 

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (17 January 1960) p.466

 

 In the afternoon - a Kayo Group meeting, a Suiko Group meeting, a district chiefs meeting, a district women's division chiefs meeting and a general block chiefs meeting. I attended them all.

 

Did my utmost despite fatigue. Do I have bronchitis? Feel pain in my chest. Must strain even to utter a sound.

 

At 6:00 p.m., a Kansai general Chapter leaders meeting... Heard more than ten thousand people came, including those who were outside. Held two question and answer sessions.

Realized more important than principles, abstract theories and idealized faith are concrete answers and guidance. Reflected upon myself.

 

Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 23 April 2015 - Year of Dynamic Development in the New Era of Worldwide Kosen Rufu

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

Thursday, April 23, 2015

 

Our fellow members are all family with whom we are linked by deep bonds. If we support and protect this family, they will act as protective forces in our environment, supporting and keeping us from harm in lifetime after lifetime. This is a profound principle of Buddhism.

 

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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin

Thursday, April 23, 2015

 

As I have often mentioned before, it is said that, where there is unseen virtue, there will be visible reward. Your fellow samurai all slandered you to your lord, and he also has wondered if it was true, but because you have for some years now honestly maintained a strong desire for your lord's welfare in his next life, you received a blessing like this. This is just the beginning, be confident that the great reward also is sure to come.

 

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 907

Unseen Virtue and Visible Reward

Written to Shijo Kingo on April 23, 1278

 

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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda

Thursday, April 23, 2015

 

When we are aware that each moment of each day, each gesture and step we take, is truly mystical and full of wonder, we will live our lives with greater thought and care. We will also have greater respect and appreciation for the lives of others.

 

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 Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (16 January 1960) p.466

 

 Some people are narrow-minded, some arrogant, some self-centered and others who dislike President Toda. Just looking at them upsets me.

 

 Gave a lecture at the Amagasaki Civic auditorium.

Couldn't give such a great lecture. Was it my fatigue or my lack of study?