Joy Is Found In Struggle

“Joy is found in struggle. It is found in the darkness of the crushing breakers and tearing winds of a stormy sea.”

~ Aleksandr Pushkin, Russian poet

We Are Each “the Blacksmith of Our Own Happiness”

Iron, when heated in the flames and pounded, becomes a fine sword. Worthies and sages are tested by abuse. My present exile is not because of any secular crime.

(“Letter from Sado,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 303)

In this letter, Nichiren Daishonin explains that while it is impossible to fully understand the causes he had made in past existences, his current hardships exist so that he can transform all his negative karma in this lifetime.

Nichiren Daishonin writes, “Three things are required – a good teacher, a good believer [disciple], and a good teaching – before prayers can be effective and disasters banished from the land.”

World Tribune Feb 5, 2021

Japanese Flying Squirrels – Yosomono Photography