[SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo] 25th March To My Friends & Daily Gosho + 26th March Daily Enc.

* Two weeks have now gone by since the great earthquake in the Tohoku region. Hours and hours of news programmes today have been covering a lot of the suffering and heroic efforts of many, it is quite an emotional handful to watch! In Tokyo more and more people are arriving to be looked after. Further south other parts of the country are having power outages to save energy and keep the country going. In the north the death toll is now over the 10,000 mark and there are now nearly double that number still missing - many unaccounted for anywhere and others in places where their families have not been able to connect with them yet. For the survivors in a survey done by NHK - Japan National TV - many expressed little hope about what they will do, how they will survive or where they will live and others, as worried as they are, are determined to have hope and fight on. A 29 year-old-woman gave birth the day after it all happened with her contractions coming constantly during the after-shocks, she named her new born "Hikari" meaning Ray of Light, her husband caught up with relief work didn't find out until three days later that he was a father but it certainly encouraged him and the other evacuees! Long-term temporary housing for just over a thousand people will be completed next week and other areas are close behind.

A translation of President Ikeda's "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shimbun and more.

Friday, March 25th, 2011
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
Hope is found precisely within our own hearts.
The lives of those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
are treasure towers themselves.*
Let's therefore, encourage each other and advance together!

*In essence, the appearance of the treasure tower indicates that on hearing the Lotus Sutra the three groups of voice-hearers perceived for the first time the treasure tower within their own lives. Now Nichiren's disciples and lay supporters are also doing this. In the Latter Day of the Law, no treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, high or low, those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves the treasure tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come One Many Treasures. No treasure tower exists other than Myoho-renge-kyo. The daimoku of the
Lotus Sutra is the treasure tower, and the treasure tower is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. (On the Treasure Tower, WND-I, page 299)

Friday, March 25th, 2011
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
" I am praying that, no matter how troubled the times may become, the Lotus Sutra and the ten demon daughters will protect all of you, praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain water from parched ground."
(On Rebuking Slander of the Law and Eradicating Sins - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 444)
Selection source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shimbun, March 25th, 2011

Saturday, March 26th, 2011
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"'When one becomes aware of the Buddha vehicle [the Mystic Law] within oneself, one can enter the palace of oneself [i.e., one's Buddhahood]. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is what is meant by entering the palace of oneself.' (cf. OTT, 209) From The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings.

"We who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are ourselves Buddhas. A magnificent palace exists in the depths of our being--a palace that no one can destroy and nothing can desecrate.

"Bringing our lives to shine and working to create beautiful realms of peace and happiness in our beloved communities--this is the invincible spirit of establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land."

SGI Newsletter No. 8188, LIVING THE GOSHO: WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT FROM SGI PRESIDENT IKEDA, (3) The Palace of Our Life Is Indestructible, translated March 24th from the March 24th, 2011, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai daily newspaper.

* The Japanese kanji for To My Friends & Daily Gosho is available by clicking on Seikyo Shimbun's web-site address at
http://www.seikyoonline.jp/news/index.html

--- WAGATOMO NI OKURU ---
KIBO TOWA
WAGA KYOCHU NI!
MYOHO O TONAERU SEIMEI
SORE JITAI GA HOTO NARI.
TOMONI HAGEMASHI SUSUMO.

-- KYO NO GOSHO --
"IKANARU YO NO MIDARE NIMO ONO ONO OBA HOKEKYO JURASETSU TASUKE TAMAE TO SHIMERERU KI YORI HI O IDASHI KAWAKERU TSUCHI YORI MIZU O MOKEN GA GOTOKU GOJO NI MOSU NARI"
(Gosho Zenshu, page 1132)

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