A translation of President Ikeda's "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shimbun and more.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
The growth and development of our young people
ensures the creation of a resplendent hope-filled future.
Through our own actions and behaviour,
our friendly, sympathetic and confident voices
let's warmly and wholeheartedly nurture and support our youth.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"Anyone who teaches the principles of Buddhism to others is bound to incur hatred from men and women, priests and nuns. Let them say what they will."
(The Embankments of Faith - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 626)
Selection source: Kyo no Hosshin, Seikyo Shimbun, April 18th, 2012
Thursday, April 19th, 2012
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"The Daishonin discusses 'treating those who are less fortunate with pity and kindness [or compassion]' (WND-2, 636). We should always have compassion for the vulnerable or disadvantaged, he says, and show care and concern for them as if they were our own children (cf. WND-2, 636). The phrase 'less fortunate' does not imply that such people are in any way inferior, but only recognises the differences in social position, age, and experience that objectively exist and indicates that there are times when we should take the initiative in helping others.
"The Japanese word for compassion, jihi, is comprised of two characters which respectively represent the Sanskrit words maitri, meaning 'friendship,' and karuna�, meaning 'pity' or 'sympathy.' The Nirvana Sutra, Nagarjuna's Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, and other Buddhist scriptures define compassion as 'relieving suffering and imparting joy.' As such, Buddhist compassion constitutes true friendship and the wish for the happiness of one's friends.
"As the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero wrote: 'You might just as well take the sun out of the sky as friendship from life.'[1] Cicero also said that people should not 'want such a friend as they are unable to be themselves, and expect from their friends what they do not themselves give. The fair course is first to be good yourself, and then to look out for another of like character.'[2]
"Friendship and compassion, then, start with becoming a good friend yourself.
"Mr. Toda said: 'There is no stronger force in the world than compassion.' And he often taught us: 'Courage is the face of compassion.'
"Concerned about your friends' happiness, you actively reach out to them. You say what needs to be said. You think about your friends, do whatever you can for them, chant for them - truly, sharing the Mystic Law with others and spreading the teachings and principles of the Daishonin's Buddhism are actions of supreme courage and compassion."
SGI Newsletter No. 8487, Learning from the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin: The Teachings for Victory, [36] "The Four Virtues and the Four Debts of Gratitude." Youth, Become Champions of Humanism Who Shine with the Supreme Philosophy of the Mystic Law!, from the January 2012 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translated April 6th, 2012
[1] Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero, with His Treatises on Friendship and Old Age, translated by E. S. Shuckburgh and edited by Charles W. Eliot (New York: P. F. Collier and Son, 1909), p. 25.
[2] Ibid., p. 36.
* The Japanese kanji for To My Friends is available by clicking on
Seikyo Shimbun's web-site address at
http://www.seikyoonline.jp/news/index.html
--- WAGATOMO NI OKURU ---
WAKAKI TOMO NO SEICHO ARITE
KIBO NO MIRAI WA KAGAYAKU!
WAGA FURUMAI DE
JIHI TO KAKUSHIN NO KOE DE
SEINEN NI MAGOKORO NO OEN O!
-- KYO NO GOSHO --
"BUPPO NO DORI O HITO NI KATARAN MONO OBA NANNYO SONI KANARAZU NIKUMU BESHI YOSHI NIKUMABA NIKUME"
(Gosho Zenshu, page 1308)
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