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…
Stones Into Jewels
Just as poison can be changed into medicine, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo can change evil into good. The Spring of Jewels is so called because, in this spring, stones are changed into jewels. The Daishonin likens the power of the…
Proof of the Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra
In judging the relative merits of Buddhist doctrines, I Nichiren, believe that the best standards are those of reason and documentary proof. Even more valuable than reason and documentary proof is the proof of actual fact. Three Tripitaka Masters Pray for…
On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime
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…
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…
Eternity In A Moment
The Buddhist principle of “three thousand realms in a single moment of life” suggests that the past, future and all aspects of the physical environment exist in the present. [1] Nichiren Daishonin writes: Just as a commoner can become a…
The Great Beneficial Medicine
The way to become a Buddha is nothing special. It is the same as … providing fire for a person freezing in the cold. ~ “The Wealthy Man Sudatta ” WND-1 p. 1086 The Lotus Sutra is like a lamp…
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…
