[SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo] 14th Sep. 2012 To My Friends and Daily Gosho + 15th Sep. 2012 Daily Enc.

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

Friday, September 14th, 2012
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
In a relaxed lighthearted mood let's get out and about and visit our friends!
By having heart-to-heart conversation with the people we meet,
let's help as many people as possible to form a connection with Buddhism.
Let's create happiness for the sake of both ourselves and others.

Friday, September 14th, 2012
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"In the light of the above points, this shows, my followers, that you had better cut short your sleep by night and curtail your leisure by day, and ponder this! You must not spend your lives in vain and regret it for ten thousand years to come."

(The Problem to Be Pondered Night and Day - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 622) Selection Source: "Kyo no Hosshin", Seikyo Shinbun September 14th, 2012

Saturday, September 15th, 2012
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"As the Daishonin notes, 'The practice of Buddhism is always accompanied by persecutions and difficulties corresponding in severity to whichever sutra one may uphold' (WND-1, 770). Therefore, he explains, those who uphold the Lotus Sutra, the supreme teaching of Buddhism, and practice it in accordance with the time—actions that will lead one directly to enlightenment—will find themselves assailed by the most harrowing obstacles. These are the workings of negative forces seeking, by any and all means, to obstruct the practitioners' attainment of Buddhahood.

"Of the three obstacles and four devils, the hindrance of the devil king—namely, the devil king of the sixth heaven[1]—describes what happens when negative forces manifest within powerful or influential figures such as the ruler or people's parents, and attack the practitioners of the Lotus Sutra. The appearance of such hindrances of the devil king attests to the truth of the Mystic Law. The persecutions experienced by the Daishonin are the clearest testimony to this fact.

"Mr. Makiguchi used to say that we need to 'flush out negative functions and vanquish them.' Mr. Toda also said that, after his inauguration as the second president, the three powerful enemies[2] were certain to emerge. He looked forwards to that happening, he said, and urged us to display the same fortitude and not retreat in fear.

"The first three Soka Gakkai presidents have taken leadership for kosen-rufu with such energy that it has invariably brought forth interference from devilish functions seeking to stop the advance of our movement. Nevertheless, all three of us remained undaunted when such negative forces appeared, because we always saw them exactly for what they were.

"Now is the time for us to deeply take to heart the spirit demonstrated by Nichiren Daishonin in this letter. Through struggling against the three obstacles and four devils, we can attain the life-state of Buddhahood. The more powerful those devilish functions, the greater the benefits we can gain through combatting them."

SGI Newsletter No. 8602, Learning from the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin: The Teachings for Victory, [40] "The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra"—Part 2 [of 3], Revealing the True and Highest Potential of Life, from the May 2012 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translated 6th Sep. 2012

[1] Devil king of the sixth heaven: Also, devil king or heavenly devil. The king of devils, who dwells in the highest or the sixth heaven of the world of desire. He is also named Freely Enjoying Things Conjured by Others, the king who makes free use of the fruits of others' efforts for his own pleasure. Served by innumerable minions, he obstructs Buddhist practice and delights in sapping the life force of other beings, the manifestation of the fundamental darkness inherent in life. The devil king is a personification of the negative tendency to force others to one's will at any cost.
[2] Three powerful enemies: Three types of arrogant people who persecute those who propagate the Lotus Sutra in the evil age after Shakyamuni Buddha's death, described in the concluding verse section of the "Encouraging Devotion" (13th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. The Great Teacher Miao-lo of China summarises them as arrogant lay people, arrogant priests, and arrogant false sages.

* The Japanese kanji is available by clicking on Seikyo Shinbun's web- site
address at http://www.seikyoonline.jp/news/index.html

--WAGATOMO NI OKURU--
ASHIDORI MO KAROYAKA NI
SA TOMO NO MOTO E!
KOKORO KAYOU TAIWA DE
BUTSUEN O HIROGEYO!
JITA TOMO NO KOFUKU NO TAME NI.

-- KYO NO GOSHO --
"WAGA MONKE WA YORU WA NEMURI O TACHI HIRU WA ITOMA O TODOMETE KORE O ANZEYO ISSHO MUNASHIKU SUGOSHITE BANZAI KUYURU KOTO NAKARE."
(Gosho Zenshu, page 970)


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