Where there is challenge, there is progress.
Where there is challenge, there is hope.
Where there is challenge, there is joy.
Where there is challenge, there is happiness.
Where there is challenge, there is victory.
All things in the universe
are constantly engaged in challenge.
Flowers strive to break through the deep snows
to send up new sprouts.
Waves crash tirelessly against rocks on the shore,
wearing them down.
Day after day, the sun bursts forth from the darkness
and emerges joyously.
All things quietly and tenaciously persevere,
working unceasingly to fulfill their unique mission,
whether seen or unseen.
Challenge!
Challenge!
Challenge!
That is what it means to be alive.
We will take on the challenge ~~
to teach one friend after another the way to happiness,
for the sake of peace and prosperity for all people;
to stand defiant
in the face of the fierce storms of our karma,
so we can demonstrate the true potential of human beings;
to lead a life in which we can enjoy ourselves
at ease (see the Lotus Sutra and it's opening and closing Sutras, p. 272),
so we can proudly declare how happy we are!
I will keep moving forward ~~
for my single, small step today
will eventually forge a great path!
I will not be defeated~~
for I know that, even after dark nights of raging blizzards,
the sun of victory will rise again tomorrow without fail!
Daisaku Ikeda,
from The New Human Revolution, Volume 26, Chapter 2, installment 1. as excerpted in the May 2014 Living Buddhism
