This Week and This Month's Event Calendars: [SGI-ToMyFriends-Wagatomo] Feb.5th, 2017 To My Friends and Daily Gosho plus 6th Feb. Daily Encouragement

A translation of "To My Friends" published in the Seikyo Shinbun based on President Ikeda's recent guidance, and more.

Sunday, February 5th, 2017
-- TO MY FRIENDS --
"Youth" is another name for "hope".
Those who always have a youthful spirit
and advance alongside young people
never get deadlocked.

Sunday, February 5th, 2017
--- DAILY GOSHO ---
"A bird's egg contains nothing but liquid, yet by itself this develops into a beak, two eyes, and all the other parts, and the bird soars into the sky. We, too, are the eggs of ignorance, which are pitiful things, but when nurtured by the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which is like the warmth of the mother bird, we develop the beak of the thirty-two features and the feathers of the eighty characteristics and are free to soar into the sky of the true aspect of all phenomena and the reality of all things."

(Letter to Niike
- WND, Vol. I, page 1030)
Selection source:
"Kyo no Hosshin",
Seikyo Shinbun, February 5th, 2017

Monday, February 6th, 2017
---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----
"The Daishonin writes: 'Therefore, the best way to attain Buddhahood is to encounter a good friend. How far can our own wisdom take us? If we have even enough wisdom to distinguish hot from cold, we should seek out a good friend' (WND-1, 598).

"The Buddha way is infinitely profound and the Buddha's wisdom, unfathomable. In comparison, no matter how smart human beings may seem, their wisdom is very limited. That's why, if we wish to attain Buddhahood, we should associate with true and good friends in faith. Their support enables us to advance correctly along the path to enlightenment.

"'How far can our own wisdom take us?' (WND-1, 598), says the Daishonin. Even the greatest scientists and physicians don't possess the wisdom to grasp the real nature of their own lives or solve the fundamental problems of human existence. Being a powerful political leader or a billionaire doesn't mean that one knows the path for attaining absolute happiness.

"In spite of that, we tend to rely on our meagre wisdom and lose the humble spirit of seeking the way. This is the cause of unhappiness.

"Neither knowledge nor wealth guarantees happiness, nor does social status or celebrity. While this seems obvious, very few look seriously and closely at this stern reality. But this simple fact is the crucial reason why we must earnestly turn to Buddhism, which reveals the path for true human happiness.

"Seeking Buddhism means, in concrete terms, seeking outstanding good friends. As the Daishonin declares: 'The best way to attain Buddhahood is to encounter a good friend' (WND-1, 598).

"A good friend, in Buddhism, is a good influence embodied in a person that leads someone to embark on the Buddha way. People of virtue, honest and true, who guide others in a positive direction and enable them to practise Buddhism act as good friends, be they Buddhas, bodhisattvas, practitioners of the two vehicles, heavenly beings, or human beings. We, too, of course, can serve as wonderful good friends to others."

SGI Newsletter No. 9542, The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, Part 3: Kosen-rufu and World Peace, Chapter 22: The Organisation for Advancing Kosen-rufu—Part 1 [of 2], 22.2 The Soka Gakkai Is a Gathering of Good Friends, from the November 2016 issue of the Daibyakurenge, translation released 3rd Feb. 2017

* 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 --
"SEINEN" TOWA
"KIBO" NO IMYO DA!
SEINEN NO KOKORO DE
SEINEN TO TOMONI AYUMU HITO MO
DANJITE YUKIZUMARANAI!

--- KYO NO GOSHO ---
"TATOEBA TORI NO TAMAGO WA HAJIMEWA MIZU NARI SONO MIZU NO NAKA YORI DAREKA NASUTOMO NAKEREDOMO KUCHIBASHI YO ME YO TO KAZARI IDEKITE KOKU NI KAKERU GA GOTOSHI WARERA MO MUMYO NO TAMAGO NISHITE ASAMASHIKI MI NAREDOMO NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO NO TONAE NO HAHA NI ATATAMERARE MAIRASETE SANJUNISO NO KUCHIBASHI IDETE HACHIJU SHUKO NO YOROIGE OISOROITE JISSO SHINNYO NO KOKU NI KAKERU BESHI"
(Gosho Zenshu - Page 1443)

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Posted by: Scobie-john Le May-Grellan <sjlmga1@yahoo.com>

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