Daily Guidance

---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----

"A vital aspect of our Buddhist practice lies in continuing it throughoutour lives. In his 'Letter to Niike,' the Daishonin emphasizes the importanceof maintaining faith to the very end:''Be diligent in developing your faith until the last moment of your life.Otherwise you will have regrets. For example, the journey from Kamakura toKyoto takes twelve days. If you travel for eleven but stop with only one dayremaining, how can you admire the moon over the capital?' (WND-1, 1027)This is a well-known passage. Though having had the great good fortune toembrace the Daishonin's Buddhism, if we stop practising before we reach theend of our life, we won't be able to attain the ultimate summit ofBuddhahood. Since the flame of Buddhist practice is easily extinguished, theDaishonin urges us to remain diligent in developing our faith."Why is the flame of faith easily extinguished? Because people allowthemselves to be defeated by the desire for fame and fortune or byonslaughts of the three obstacles and four devils. Hence the Daishonin says:'Strengthen your faith day by day and month after month. Should you slackenin your resolve even a bit, devils will take advantage' (WND-1, 997). Aslackening or wavering in our resolve or faith triggers our fundamentaldarkness, our negativity. To maintain faith throughout our lives, therefore,rests on our resolve to keep on striving in our Buddhist practise."

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"At such a time, the three obstacles and four devils will invariably appear,and the wise will rejoice while the foolish will retreat."(The Three Obstacles and Four Devils - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,page 637)