Daily guidance by Daisaku Ikeda

Daily Guidance by Daisaku Ikeda:

WHEN we chant and exert ourselves for kosen-rufu, we can block
negative, destructive forces from entering our lives and allow the
positive, protective forces of the universe to enter instead. Please
chant with strong conviction, as if calling, "Brahma, Shakra, the gods
of the Sun and the Moon, enter my life and put your power to work!"


BY dedicating ourselves to Buddhism, we transform our lives into
"gold". Inept and unworthy though we may think we are, our lives come
to shine with supreme brilliance and will remain so eternally. That is
why Nichiren Daishonin urges us to strive earnestly in our practice of
faith.


HAPPINESS is ultimately determined by oneself alone, not by others. To
base one's happiness on how one appears to the world is to live in a
"provisional" way, only chasing after illusions. In contrast, to live
in accord with the "true" or "essential" way of life is to determine
by oneself: "I did my best. I am satisfied. I have won." These two
ways of life are as different as heaven and earth, and water and fire.


LIFE without philosophy, without belief, is indeed both vulnerable and
fleeting. Swept along in the current of times, such a life drifts
aimlessly. One's soul knows no rest, preoccupied with the immediate
and the transience of other people's opinions.


NO one can avoid the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death.
It is the Mystic Law that is capable of eliminating suffering equally
from the lives of all people. For this reason, it is our
responsibility to teach all mankind the power and benefit of the
Gohonzon which embodies the Mystic Law.