[SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo] 8th March 2013 To My Friends and Daily Gosho + 9th March 2013 Daily Enc.

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

Friday, March 8th, 2013
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
A good positive human relationship is one of life's priceless treasures.
It's very important therefore,
that we cherish each and every encounter we have with others.
Let's always try to take the initiative to build new friendships
with as many people as we possibly can!

Friday, March 8th, 2013
--- 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 Dashonin, Vol. 1, page ) Selection source: Soka Gakkai member's experience, Seikyo Shimbun, March 8th, 2013

Saturday, March 9th, 2013
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"Why did the Daishonin go on with his struggle, accepting the inevitability of such harsh persecutions? 'Solely because I had long known that the people of Japan would meet with great suffering, and I felt pity for them,' he writes. This 'pity' is a warm spirit of concern to share others' suffering; it is an empathy and understanding for what others are going through. It means 'relieving suffering,' as in the phrase 'relieving suffering and imparting joy,' and is an expression of the Daishonin's profound compassion.

"It can also be said to be an overwhelming wish to completely remove not only the suffering that plagues people in the present, but also the suffering that we can envision them undergoing in the future. To be ready to face great obstacles and hardships in that cause, and not fear or shun them — that is the heart of the great compassionate struggle of Nichiren Buddhism.

"In 'The Opening of the Eyes,' the Daishonin writes: 'But as regards my ability to endure persecution and the wealth of my compassion for others, I believe they [the great teachers T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo] would hold me in awe' (WND-1, 242). Because he possessed such immense compassion, he fearlessly continued to proclaim the correct teaching.

"Speaking with reference to this above-mentioned passage from 'The Opening of the Eyes,' my mentor, second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda, once said: 'Our efforts to introduce others to the Daishonin's Buddhism, too, must brim with conviction and, as a manifestation of our great compassion, with courage. Where there is conviction, there will always be abundant courage.'"[1]

SGI Newsletter No. 8731, LEARNING FROM THE WRITINGS OF NICHIREN DAISHONIN: THE TEACHINGS FOR VICTORY [45] "Reply to Yasaburo." A Struggle of Words to Open the Way for Kosen-rufu, from the October 2012 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translated 6th March 2013

[1] Translated from Japanese. Josei Toda, Toda Josei Zenshu (Collected Writings of Josei Toda) (Tokyo: Seikyo Shimbunsha, 1981), vol. 1, p. 47.

* 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--
YOKI NINGEN KANKEI WA
JINSEI NO TAKARA DA!
HITOTSU HITOTSU NO
DEAI O TAISETSU NI.
MIZUKARA YUJO O HIROGEYO!

-- KYO NO GOSHO --
"SHIMERERU KI YORI HI O IDASHI KAWAKERU TSUCHI YORI MIZU O MOKENGA GOTOKU GOJONI MOSU NARI"
(Gosho Zenshu, page 1132)


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