* The second part in the Five Eternal Guidelines is out, hope you read yesterday's! As before it is slightly longer than the normal length of "Daily Encouragement" but we do hope you'll read it through to the end. It's worth those few extra seconds!
A translation of President Ikeda's "To My Friends"
published in the Seikyo Shinbun and more.
Saturday, Sep. 17th, 2016
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
It is absolutely certain that the ray of light
from the benefits of the Mystic Law
illuminates throughout the three existences of life
—past, present, and future.
The daimoku that we sincerely and earnestly chant
while devoting ourselves to SGI activities
for the sake of kosen-rufu
is indeed the ultimate way
of offering transference of merit for the deceased.
*"Now when Nichiren and his followers perform ceremonies for the deceased, reciting the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the ray of light from the daimoku reaches all the way to the hell of incessant suffering and makes it possible for them to attain Buddhahood then and there. This is the origin of the prayers for transference of merit for the deceased." - "The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, page 17
Saturday, Sep. 17th, 2016
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
- WND, Vol. I, page 4)
Selection source: Soka Gakkai member's experience,
Seikyo Shinbun, September 17th, 2016
A translation of President Ikeda's "To My Friends"
published in the Seikyo Shinbun and more.
Saturday, Sep. 17th, 2016
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
It is absolutely certain that the ray of light
from the benefits of the Mystic Law
illuminates throughout the three existences of life
—past, present, and future.
The daimoku that we sincerely and earnestly chant
while devoting ourselves to SGI activities
for the sake of kosen-rufu
is indeed the ultimate way
of offering transference of merit for the deceased.
*"Now when Nichiren and his followers perform ceremonies for the deceased, reciting the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the ray of light from the daimoku reaches all the way to the hell of incessant suffering and makes it possible for them to attain Buddhahood then and there. This is the origin of the prayers for transference of merit for the deceased." - "The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, page 17
Saturday, Sep. 17th, 2016
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"Arouse deep faith, and diligently polish your mirror day and night. How should you polish it? Only by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."
(On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
- WND, Vol. I, page 4)
Selection source: Soka Gakkai member's experience,
Seikyo Shinbun, September 17th, 2016
Sunday, Sep. 18th, 2016
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----"'There is no true happiness other than upholding faith in the Lotus Sutra [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo]. This is what is meant by "peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences" [LSOC5, 136]. Though worldly troubles may arise, never let them disturb you. No one can avoid problems, not even sages or worthies.
'Drink sake only at home with your wife, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law? Strengthen your power of faith more than ever.' (WND-1, 681; "Happiness in This World")[1]
"What kind of happiness do we seek to achieve through faith? Mr. Toda summarised the Buddhist view of happiness into two key points.
"The first is that there is a difference between relative happiness and absolute happiness.
"Nichiren Buddhism does not reject the relative happiness of a comfortable life or good health. Having a job, good health, and improving our standard of living are all important. While making positive efforts to achieve those things, Mr. Toda said, we should also challenge ourselves through Buddhist practice to attain a state of absolute happiness that nothing can destroy—a state in which living is itself a joy and our lives are imbued with the four virtues of eternity, happiness, true self, and purity.[2]
"The second aspect of the Buddhist view of happiness that Mr. Toda stressed is that we were born into this world to enjoy life.
"The Lotus Sutra teaches that this world is a place 'where living beings enjoy themselves at ease' (LSOC16, 272).[3] But in this saha world[4] filled with suffering, we cannot enjoy ourselves if our life force is weak. That's why we need to exert ourselves in Buddhist practice to bring forth our inner Buddhahood and strengthen our life force. With a strong life force, we can calmly and enjoyably ascend the hilly path of life. The countless hardships and challenges we experience will be transformed into something that adds to our joy in life, like a pinch of salt that enhances the flavour of sweets.
"Mr. Toda's dearest wish was for everyone to find supreme pleasure in life."
SGI Newsletter No. 9450, The Buddhism of the Sun—Illuminating the World, [10] The Five Eternal Guidelines of the Soka Gakkai—Part 2 [of 5], "Faith for Achieving Happiness"—Creating Lives of Happiness for, Ourselves and Others, Establishing a State of Absolute Happiness, from the February 2016 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translation released 15th Sep., 2016
[1] "Happiness in This World" is a letter dated June 27, 1276, which Nichiren Daishonin sent to Shijo Kingo, who was facing harsh persecution at the time.
[2] Eternity, happiness, true self, and purity are known as the four virtues. Describing the noble qualities of the Buddha's life, the four are explained as follows: "eternity" means unchanging and eternal; "happiness" means tranquillity that transcends all suffering; "true self" means true and intrinsic nature; and "purity" means free of illusion or mistaken conduct.
[3] The phrase "where living beings enjoy themselves at ease" appears in the "Life Span" (16th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra. It expresses the truth that this saha world of suffering is actually the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, where all living beings experience the greatest enjoyment.
[4] Saha world: This world, which is full of suffering. Often translated as the world of endurance. In Sanskrit, saha means the earth; it derives from a root meaning "to bear" or "to endure." For this reason, in the Chinese versions of Buddhist scriptures, saha is rendered as endurance. In this context, the saha world indicates a world in which people must endure suffering.
* 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 --
MYOHO NO KUDOKU NO HIKARI WA
GENZENTO SANZE O TERASU.
GAKKAI KATSUDO NI KAKERU
WARERA NO SHINKENNA INORI KOSO
SAIGOKU NO TSUIZEN KUYO DA.
--- KYO NO GOSHO ---
"FUKAKU SHINJIN O OKOSHITE NICHIYA CHOBONI MATA OKOTARAZU MIGAKU BESHI IKAYONI SHITEKA MIGAKU BEKI TADA NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO TO TONAE TATEMATSURU O KORE O MIGAKU TOWA IUNARI"
(Gosho Zenshu - Page 384)
__._,_.___
Posted by: Scobie-John Le May-Grellan <sjlmg@icloud.com>
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from there on it is all automatic!
ALSO if you want to introduce a friend to the SGI but just don't know where to start, share with them the following addresses and they can read and watch some very well put together explanations about the SGI. Check it out yourself!
http://www.sgi.org/
http://www.sgi-uk.org/buddhism/practice
Check out the following address if you are looking for an important gosho quote
http://www.nichirenlibrary.org
And for the children there's a wonderful new web-site
http://treasures-of-heart.com/
And if you are looking for back editions of To My Friends click on...
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo/conversations/messages
To unsubscribe from this group send an email to:
SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo-unsubscribe@egroups.com
But do drop us a line at sjlmg@wta.att.ne.jp when you leave and tell us why you are leaving as it often can help us to improve the service! Please!
To modify your subscription from receiving daily to picking up as you wish go to http://www.egroups.com/mygroups
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