* Slightly longer Daily Encouragement today, hope you have enough coffee in your cup to get to the end of it! Or at least a few extra seconds! Hope you have a great day!...
A translation of "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shinbun based on President Ikeda's recent guidance, and more.
Saturday, February 18th, 2017
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
Let's win in today's challenges!
Let's win over ourselves
(and achieve the goals we've set for today)!
It's through making such unceasing efforts
based on the Buddhist principle of
"faith equals daily life"
that we're able to build a great future.
Saturday, February 18th, 2017
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"Renge stands for the two elements of cause and effect. Cause and effect are also a single entity."
(Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
- The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings,
page 4)
Selection source:
Suntetsu, Seikyo Shinbun,
February 18th, 2017
Sunday, February 19th, 2017
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"'I placed the written petition, dated the eighth day of the eleventh month [November 8th] in the third year of Koan (1280), in which you [the lay nun Nichigon] expressed your prayer, along with your offerings of one thousand coins and an unlined robe made of thread spun from bark fiber, before the Lotus Sutra [the Gohonzon], and I spoke to the gods of the sun and moon about it. Now there is no need to attempt to surmise yourself how things will go. Whether or not your prayer is answered will depend on your faith; [if it is not] I will in no way be to blame.
"'When water is clear, the moon is reflected. When the wind blows, the trees shake. Our minds are like the water. Faith that is weak is like muddy water, while faith that is brave is like clear water. Understand that the trees are like [the Buddhist] principles, and the wind that shakes them is like the recitation of the sutra [Lotus Sutra].'
- (WND-1, 1079; 'Reply to the Lay Nun Nichigon')[1]
"The lay nun Nichigon was a follower of the Daishonin who had strong and steady faith. She had sent him, along with a number of offerings, a written petition expressing a prayer. She must have had some earnest wish she hoped to realise, so she set it down in writing and sent it to the Daishonin.
"The Daishonin tells her that he placed her request before the Gohonzon and he prayed for its fulfilment, adding, however: 'Whether or not your prayer is answered will depend on your faith; [if it is not] I will in no way be to blame' (WND-1, 1079).
"This is a very important teaching on the attitude we should have in our faith and our prayers.
"The Gohonzon possesses the immeasurable and boundless power of the Buddha and power of the Law. But it is our own faith—our power of faith and power of practice—that matters. That is what enables us to actually manifest the limitless power of the Mystic Law, the fundamental law permeating the entire universe; to show actual proof of its benefit; and to embody it in our own lives.
"Faith in Nichiren Buddhism is not passive or dependent, simply seeking happiness through the good graces of some external power. Faith based on the Mystic Law is aimed at bringing forth the Buddha nature inherent within us, not calling on an outside power or being to do things for us. As the Daishonin asserts: 'If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching' (WND-1, 3). Everything is determined by our own faith.
"'It is the heart that is important' (WND-1, 1000), says the Daishonin. That's why we need to have self-reliant faith.
"It is just as the Daishonin teaches: 'Your faith alone will determine all these things. A sword is useless in the hands of a coward. The mighty sword of the Lotus Sutra must be wielded by one courageous in faith. Then one will be as strong as a demon armed with an iron staff' (WND-1, 412). Standing up with courageous faith is the basis for everything in Nichiren Buddhism."
SGI Newsletter No. 9552, SGI President Ikeda's Study Lecture Series, The Buddhism of the Sun—Illuminating the World, [15] Basing Ourselves on the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin—Part 2 [of 2], Our Hearts Resounding with the Lion's Roar of Shared Struggle, from the July 2016 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translation released 17th Feb., 2017
[1] "Reply to the Lay Nun Nichigon" is dated November 29th, 1280, and was composed at Mount Minobu. The lay nun Nichigon, whose name was bestowed by the Daishonin, had received the Gohonzon in April of that same year.
* 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 --
KYO NO KADAI NI KATE!
KYO NO JIBUN NI KATE!
KONO SHINJIN SOKU SEIKATSU NO
TAYUMI NAKI CHOSEN NO NAKANI
IDAINA MIRAI WA KIZUKARERU!
--- KYO NO GOSHO ---
"RENGE TOWA INGA NO NIHO NARI KORE MATA INDA ITTAI NARI"
(Gosho Zenshu - Page 708)
Saturday, February 18th, 2017
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
Let's win in today's challenges!
Let's win over ourselves
(and achieve the goals we've set for today)!
It's through making such unceasing efforts
based on the Buddhist principle of
"faith equals daily life"
that we're able to build a great future.
Saturday, February 18th, 2017
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"Renge stands for the two elements of cause and effect. Cause and effect are also a single entity."
(Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
- The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings,
page 4)
Selection source:
Suntetsu, Seikyo Shinbun,
February 18th, 2017
Sunday, February 19th, 2017
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"'I placed the written petition, dated the eighth day of the eleventh month [November 8th] in the third year of Koan (1280), in which you [the lay nun Nichigon] expressed your prayer, along with your offerings of one thousand coins and an unlined robe made of thread spun from bark fiber, before the Lotus Sutra [the Gohonzon], and I spoke to the gods of the sun and moon about it. Now there is no need to attempt to surmise yourself how things will go. Whether or not your prayer is answered will depend on your faith; [if it is not] I will in no way be to blame.
"'When water is clear, the moon is reflected. When the wind blows, the trees shake. Our minds are like the water. Faith that is weak is like muddy water, while faith that is brave is like clear water. Understand that the trees are like [the Buddhist] principles, and the wind that shakes them is like the recitation of the sutra [Lotus Sutra].'
- (WND-1, 1079; 'Reply to the Lay Nun Nichigon')[1]
"The lay nun Nichigon was a follower of the Daishonin who had strong and steady faith. She had sent him, along with a number of offerings, a written petition expressing a prayer. She must have had some earnest wish she hoped to realise, so she set it down in writing and sent it to the Daishonin.
"The Daishonin tells her that he placed her request before the Gohonzon and he prayed for its fulfilment, adding, however: 'Whether or not your prayer is answered will depend on your faith; [if it is not] I will in no way be to blame' (WND-1, 1079).
"This is a very important teaching on the attitude we should have in our faith and our prayers.
"The Gohonzon possesses the immeasurable and boundless power of the Buddha and power of the Law. But it is our own faith—our power of faith and power of practice—that matters. That is what enables us to actually manifest the limitless power of the Mystic Law, the fundamental law permeating the entire universe; to show actual proof of its benefit; and to embody it in our own lives.
"Faith in Nichiren Buddhism is not passive or dependent, simply seeking happiness through the good graces of some external power. Faith based on the Mystic Law is aimed at bringing forth the Buddha nature inherent within us, not calling on an outside power or being to do things for us. As the Daishonin asserts: 'If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching' (WND-1, 3). Everything is determined by our own faith.
"'It is the heart that is important' (WND-1, 1000), says the Daishonin. That's why we need to have self-reliant faith.
"It is just as the Daishonin teaches: 'Your faith alone will determine all these things. A sword is useless in the hands of a coward. The mighty sword of the Lotus Sutra must be wielded by one courageous in faith. Then one will be as strong as a demon armed with an iron staff' (WND-1, 412). Standing up with courageous faith is the basis for everything in Nichiren Buddhism."
SGI Newsletter No. 9552, SGI President Ikeda's Study Lecture Series, The Buddhism of the Sun—Illuminating the World, [15] Basing Ourselves on the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin—Part 2 [of 2], Our Hearts Resounding with the Lion's Roar of Shared Struggle, from the July 2016 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translation released 17th Feb., 2017
[1] "Reply to the Lay Nun Nichigon" is dated November 29th, 1280, and was composed at Mount Minobu. The lay nun Nichigon, whose name was bestowed by the Daishonin, had received the Gohonzon in April of that same year.
* 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 --
KYO NO KADAI NI KATE!
KYO NO JIBUN NI KATE!
KONO SHINJIN SOKU SEIKATSU NO
TAYUMI NAKI CHOSEN NO NAKANI
IDAINA MIRAI WA KIZUKARERU!
--- KYO NO GOSHO ---
"RENGE TOWA INGA NO NIHO NARI KORE MATA INDA ITTAI NARI"
(Gosho Zenshu - Page 708)
__._,_.___
Posted by: Scobie-John Le May-Grellan <sjlmg@icloud.com>
| Reply via web post | • | Reply to sender | • | Reply to group | • | Start a new topic | • | Messages in this topic (1) |
If you have a friend(s) who would like to get To My Friends directly get them to send an E-mail to the following address and just simply write - "subscribe"
: SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk
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
: SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo-subscribe@yahoogroups.co.uk
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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