In "My Dear Friends in America" there is an essay by Daisaku Ikeda called "Our Attitude Changes Everything." Here are some of his insights into Financial Fortune:
"When you clearly envision a victorious outcome, engrave it in your heart and are firmly convinced that you will attain it, your brain makes every effort to realize the mental image you have created. Then, through your unceasing efforts, that victory is finally made a reality.
Andrew Carnegie was born into a family so poor that they couldn't afford to call a midwife to assist at his birth, but by death he had accumulated $400 million. It is difficult to calculate the equivalent value today.
Carnegie believed in returning his earnings to society. He contributed $60 million to the creation of public libraries and $78 million to improving the educational system. When all his contributions are totaled they amount to $365 million. This is equivalent to a contribution of one million dollars a day for an entire year!
Incidentally, Carnegie's philosophy of victory was that a cheerful personality is more important than wealth. The human heart, he insisted, is just like the body. It should not remain in the shade but should move to a place in the sun. When we face difficulties, we should laugh at them. Carnegie called on everyone to walk out into the sunshine.
Always turning our hearts to the sun - that kind of life will bring victory, according to Carnegie. As a child he would often tell his impoverished mother: "Mother I promise that someday I will buy you a silk dress. I will make sure that you have servants and your own carriage to go out in."
This determination, this mind of Carnegie's became a force for invincible effort and infinite wisdom in life. His mother also believed in her son's future, believed without the slightest doubt. "I know you will become a great person," she said to him.
Carnegie never dreamed of the possibility of failure. That is why he could march forward without fear. His energy and confidence were contagious. A story of victory unfolded around Carnegie, with him as its central character.
The Positive Life View Within a Single Moment
You are the playwright of your own victory. You are also the play's hero. Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage. / And all the men and women are merely players. (from As You Like It, act II, scene vii, line 139)
Buddhism teaches us that the individual writes and performs the script of his or her own life. Neither chance nor a divine being writes it for us...
To the Coward Everything is Impossible
Sir Walter Scott wrote that everything is impossible to the coward. Why? Because he sees everything as impossible."
Generous Hearts Invite Great Happiness
The most important thing is to develop our states of life. When human beings think of nothing but themselves, they increasingly become entrenched in small-mindedness and their small, lesser selves.
In contrast, those who work toward a great and all-encompassing objective - for the sake of the law, for others, for society - can forge generous hearts and great, magnanimous selves through the mystic function of their minds. Those with big hearts are assured of savoring great happiness."
Daisaku Ikeda is incredibly wise, learned and insightful. I hope we can all take the time every day to read his words.
An now I am going to chant, and I leave you with a song and hope in your hearts. You are magnificent. Chant your song. Chant your life. Live cheerfully today and every day. And never give up!
