Sensei's Daily Encouragement - March 5 2024 - Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide

    

Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda
March 5, 2024

 The efforts made by one individual can be immensely important. Nichiren Daishonin repeatedly states that victory depends not on numbers but on a group or individual's attitude or resolve. In one passage he writes: "Everyone in Japan, from the sovereign on down to the common people, all without exception tried to do me harm, but I have survived until this day. This is because, although I am alone, I have firm faith [in the Lotus Sutra]"
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From The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
March 5, 2024

The more gold is heated in the flames, the brighter will be its colour, the more a sword is whetted, the sharper it will become. And the more one praises the blessings of the Lotus Sutra, the more one's own blessings will increase. Bear in mind that the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra contain only a few passages elucidating the truth, but a great many words of praise.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 673
The Blessings of the Lotus Sutra
Written to Myomitsu on March 5, 1276
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Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda
March 5, 2024

Our individual lives are each infinite treasure houses. Our lives are clusters of blessings. Lasting happiness never comes from the outside. Everything of value emanates from within our own being. Faith in Buddhism means establishing one's true self. It is the recognition that the infinite horizon of the cosmos exists right here within the self. One's life opens out toward the cosmos and is enfolded in it, at the same time, one's life encompasses the entire cosmos.
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Excerpt from Daisaku Ikeda - A Youthful Diary (31 March 1958) p.389

To Sensei's home in the morning. Immediately took a taxi with Sensei's wife to the Japan University Hospitality in Surugadai. The room was not very good. Negotiated again and again. Earnestly requested the best room possible, but to no avail. Truly regrettable. Dr. H. also asked for our understanding, calling it only temporary. An unavoidable choice. But sincerely urged the hospital to provide its best possible treatment.

Went back to the head temple… Immediately reported to the board of directors and the general director.

Sensei's condition is quickly worsening.
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