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…
On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Vol 1 p.3 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…
Two Kinds of Happiness
Nichiren writes “Single-mindedly chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and urge others to do the same, that will remain as the only memory of your present life in this human world.” (WND-1 p.64)
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…
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 in all living beings.…
