The Purpose of a Margarita
What is the purpose of a margarita? Yesterday I bought a 1.75 L bottle of 1800 Ultimate Black Cherry Margarita mix. A mouthwatering ready-to-serve margarita made with real tequila and extract of lime. I salted the rim of the glass…
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…
Happiness
It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbor’s wealth but gains not even half a coin. – On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime [Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Vol 1 p. 3]…
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."
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…
On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
On Attaining Buddhahood In This Lifetime This letter was written to Toki Jōnin in the seventh year of Kenchō (1255), two years after Nichiren Daishonin established his teaching of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the Lotus Sutra, but to the…
Pleasure Is Different Than Happiness
Dorian Gray, or perhaps Oscar Wilde once said that pleasure is different than happiness. Aristotle said “Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” [1] According to Buddhist teachings, there are two…
Cultivating Flower Gardens of Happiness
Transforming Our Lives
Polishing Our Lives Through Chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo The Mystic Law is the key to polishing our lives. In “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime,” Nichiren Daishonin writes: “This is similar to a tarnished mirror that will shine like a…
The Three Kinds of Treasure
The Three Kinds of Treasure It is rare to be born a human being. The number of those endowed with human life is as small as the amount of earth one can place on a fingernail. Life as a human being is hard to…
