Sensei's Daily Encouragement - 24 March 2021 - Year of Hope and Victory



                          

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda

March 24, 2021

 
When we practice gongyo and chant daimoku before the Gohonzon, the good and evil capacities of our lives begin to function as the exalted form of fundamental existence. Lives that are full of the pain of Hell, lives that are in the state of Hunger, lives warped by the state of Anger - such lives too begin to move in the direction of creating their own personal happiness and value. Lives being pulled toward misfortune and unhappiness are redirected and pulled in the opposite direction, toward good, when they make the Mystic Law their base.
 
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
March 24, 2021
 
I feel great pity for you and the others, but there is little I can do to help. Nevertheless, I pray day and night to the Lotus Sutra. Spare no effort in offering up prayers with firm faith. It is not that my resolve [to save you] is weak. Rather, it depends on the strength of each person's faith.
 
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 678
The Story of Ohashi no Taro
Written to Nanjo Tokimitsu on March 24, 1276
 
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
March 24, 2021
 
The struggle we go through to have our prayers answered makes us stronger. If we were to immediately get everything we prayed for, we would become spoiled and decadent. We would lead indolent lives, devoid of any hard work or struggle. As a result, we would become shallow human beings. What, then, would be the point of faith?
 
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Daisaku Ikeda – A Youthful Diary (18 December 1951) p.122
 
The S. Press stubbornly persists in slandering the Soka Gakkai with a series of unfounded, malicious articles. We cannot suppress our anger. Decided to visit them with several others to negotiate a retraction.

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