Daily Guidance

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One of the proudest events of my mentor Josei Toda's youth was attending a lecture by the great physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955), together with his mentor Soka Gakkai founding president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. This took place in Tokyo in November 1922, and Mr. Toda, also an accomplished mathematician, was then a young teacher of 22. Einstein, he later reminisced, gave a brilliant lecture on the theory of relativity lasting some five hours with intermission. Mr. Toda often spoke of this memory to me when he was personally tutoring me at what I fondly call "Toda University."
Both Mr. Makiguchi and Mr. Toda retained a passionate spirit of learning and intellectual self-improvement throughout their lives. The first two presidents of the Soka Gakkai are themselves wonderful examples for [everyone.]

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"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."
(Happiness in This World - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 681)

Daily Guidance

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Roman philosopher Seneca said: "I have looked upon every day as if it were my last."[1]
This is very similar to the Daishonin's teaching of living with the spirit that now is the last moment of one's life.
[1] Seneca, Ad Lucilium, Epistulae Morales, translated by Richard M. Gummere (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1962)

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"I, Nichiren, am the foremost votary of the Lotus Sutra in the entire land of Jambudvipa. Therefore, people who ally themselves with those who slander me or treat me with malice deserve to meet with the greatest difficulties in Jambudvipa"
(The Selection of the Time - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 552)

Daily Guidance

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Victory can take many forms, but there is surely no greater victory than breaking through the darkness of innate ignorance, bringing forth the life-state of Buddhahood, and producing an infinite number of successors who can carry on the noble cause of kosen-rufu.

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"When the skies are clear, the ground is illuminated. Similarly, when one knows the Lotus Sutra, one understands the meaning of all worldly affairs.'"
(The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year Period after the Thus Come One's Passing - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 376)

Daily Guidance

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The Daishonin observes: "Just as all the different kinds of plants and trees come forth from the earth, so all the various teachings of the Buddha are spread by persons" (WND-1, 61). In the Daishonin's Buddhism, the mentor is the elemental earth. That is why I firmly vowed in my heart: "Protecting Mr. Toda, whose presence is crucial to kosen-rufu, is the same as protecting the Soka Gakkai and the great teaching of Buddhism. And realising all of Mr. Toda's plans and ideas is equivalent to realising kosen-rufu." It is an everlasting source of pride and satisfaction to me that I devoted my entire youth to fulfilling this pledge.

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"If even a good monk sees someone destroying the teaching and disregards him, failing to reproach him to oust him, or to punish him for his offense, then you should realise that that monk is betraying the Buddha's teaching. But if he ousts the destroyer of the Law, reproaches him, or punishes him, then he is my disciple and a true voice-hearer."
(On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 17)

Daily Guidance

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Nichiren Daishonin states that we living beings have eight million four thousand thoughts in the course of one day and one night that can be causes for negative karma (cf. GZ, 823). Our minds are easily swayed by external influences, and change with dizzying rapidity. Nothing is less reliable. That's why it's so important to make a pledge to accomplish a goal. Those who cherish a pledge and strive to fulfill it are strong, genuine, and true, and they are able to achieve lives of profound satisfaction and fulfillment.

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"It is the heart that is important."
(The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 1000)

Daily Guidance

---- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT ----

Everything doesn't always go according to plan. Life is, in fact, a constant series of unexpected developments. The important thing is not to become fazed by such changes, but to use our wisdom to create the most positive outcome. Such flexibility and adaptability are a sign of genuine strength as a human being.

--- DAILY GOSHO ---

"... but winter always turns to spring."
(Winter Always Turns to Spring - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol. 1, page 536)