Where Hope Still Lives
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season…
On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured since time without beginning and to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally inherent…
Earnest Resolve
Rather than giving our lives - the most valuable possession of all - for "shallow, worldly matters," we should dedicate them to "the Buddha's precious teachings."
Becoming Fearless
What is fear? It is an illusion created by one’s own mind. Cowards tremble with fear at shadows of their own making. “Do not fear!” Shakyamuni Buddha taught long ago. In our own age, Gandhi also called on the people…
The Dragon King’s Daughter
The Difficulty of Encountering the Lotus Sutra Moreover, it is extremely difficult to meet a person who expounds this sutra exactly as the sutra directs. It is even more difficult than for a one-eyed turtle to find a piece of…
The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra
Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other. “All others who bear you enmity or malice will likewise be wiped out.”4 Looking at the world today, it is easy to feel despair. A kind of powerlessness seems to be the prevailing mood in the world…
Courage Is Different From Recklessness
Respectful Actions Convey the Heart of Buddhism “The aspiration of leading all people to enlightenment would just be a pipe dream unless the Buddha taught the importance of our behavior as human beings.” As Nichiren Daishonin states: “The purpose of…
The Berlin Wall
Awakening People’s Buddha Nature Monthly Message ~ Encouragement from Ikeda Sensei Nov 2021 Living Buddhism p. 1 SGI-USA In October 1961, when I saw with my own eyes the Berlin Wall that had been built just two months earlier, I…
Ode To Joy
A votary of the Lotus Sutra is one who fights dauntlessly against great persecution and practices the correct teaching. The Nature of False Sages In Buddhism, arrogant “false sages” are considered the third of the three powerful enemies,…
On the Buddha’s Prophecy
The seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra states, “After I have passed into extinction, in the last five-hundred-year period you must spread it [the Lotus Sutra] abroad widely throughout Jambudvīpa and never allow it to be cut off.” The fourth volume of the Lotus Sutra reads, “Since hatred and jealousy toward this sutra…
