Daily Encouragement Corner

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Comment by Linda Fogh Jorgensen on April 26, 2008 at 2:35am

"The underlying difference between someone who is clever and someone who isn't can be imagined as the difference between the top and the bottom side of a line drawn in pencil. It is really insignificant."
by Josei Toda

Comment by Linda Fogh Jorgensen on April 22, 2008 at 3:32am

From "The Quotable Nichiren":
"Sharing Buddhism":
One who attempts to propagate the teachings of Buddhism must understand the capacity and basic nature of the persons one is adressing. (WND, p.48)

Comment by Linda Fogh Jorgensen on April 6, 2008 at 9:20am

From Daily Wisdom March, 28:
The heart of the Lotus Sutra is its title, or the daimoku, of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Truly, if you chant this in the morning and evening, you are correctly reading the entire Lotus Sutra. Chanting daimoku twice is the same as reading the entire sutra twice, one hundred daimoku equal one hundred readings of the sutra, and a thousand daimoku, a thousand readings of the sutra. Thus, if you ceaselessly chant daimoku, you will be continually reading the Lotus Sutra.

The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 923
The One Essential Phrase
Written to the lay nun Myoho on July 3, 1278

Comment by Dan (site admin) on April 4, 2008 at 9:57am

from Buddhism Day by Day, April 4, p. 116 -

The Flower of the Law blooms within the human being. It shines through our character. The Lotus Sutra is wholly a teaching for human beings. the purpose of religion is to help each person become happy. But even a teaching whose original intent was to promote human happiness may start to restrict people. Even the Lotus Sutra could be used incorrectly to justify discrimination. What is necessary to prevent the danger of such distortion from occurring? It is the disciple's inheritance of the resolute spirit and faith of the mentor to lead people to happiness.

Comment by Noriann on March 28, 2008 at 5:17am

This is an experience about a very vigorous district chief in Tokyo, in his mid-50s. He apparently always had a weak heart. Well, a little while ago, his heart gave out and he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was hospitalized and underwent immediate surgery. He had only a 1% chance to live....

I have to apologize because my memory is a bit fuzzy and I may not have some of the details exactly right, but here is the gist....
His Sr. Ward Advisor, Mr. T., recently went to visit him in the hospital. He had been in a coma for 17 days and had just come out of it. Mr. T shared with us this morning what this District Leader relayed to him.

Since I don't know his name, let me call him DL. Well, when DL came out of his coma, the first thing that caught his eye was the SGI's tri-colored flag waving gaily out the hospital window, hanging from someone's apartment. DL had been transferred from one ICU room to another--there are 3, and only this particular room had a view of this flag. This whole experience has become a life-transforming event--he really changed his karma.

Before the illness, he had been struggling financially to make ends meet, with a family to support, and I believe 2 children in college. Mystically, toward the end of last year, he had taken out a special life-health insurance that he was able to cash out and receive payments that enabled him to pay his kids' tuition. Also, when he woke up from his coma, his doctors told him that his surviving the surgery and waking up from his coma to talk about it was a virtual miracle. They wanted his consent to use all the medical data and records about his surgery and hospitalization to use as a medical case record. In this regard, they would pay for the entire hospitalization as well as the surgery fee.

DL told Mr. T that the doctors told him he had "died" at least 3 times during surgery. He shared with Mr. T. what he had undergone as life ebbed away. DL said those on the "other side" kept beckoning him to join them. He said it was terribly tempting--it felt so comfortable just to slip away.... Suddenly in his mind, President Ikeda appeared and with his hand held out to DL, said, "Stay and fight together with me (for kosen-rufu)." And DL replied without hesitation, "Yes, I will." And that was when he came out of his coma.

He and his family, all practicing members, are full of appreciation for his extended life and all the benefits they received. They are determined to share their experience, and most definitely "fight" together with Sensei, in our Soka family.

I was so encouraged when I heard this experience!

Comment by Analilia clay on March 26, 2008 at 8:54pm

hello,
I love the bunny picture! he is not the reason I joined, but I must admit it caught my eye. I.m in dire need of encouragement. I do not chant on a regular basis lately, I Have been extremely busy and tend to put my chanting at the bottom of my list.
I know that when I do I feel so much better, at ease with myself and centered, it's just that I can't get myself disciplined.

Comment by Linda Fogh Jorgensen on March 25, 2008 at 7:12am

Even if somebody is close by, their heart may be
distant. But if someone is far away, if there is a
heart-to-heart bond, they could not be closer. The
heart is what counts. In the world of the heart,
there is no separation. Chanting daimoku erases
distance. (Learning from the Gosho, p.117 by
Daisaku Ikeda)

Comment by BB BERG on March 25, 2008 at 1:41am

When we tap our inner reservoir of appreciation we can quickly go from saying,we have nothing to be thankful for because I am struggling,to "I am thankful for everything in my life for allowing me to go through my human revolution.
Every thing that happens is an answer to our prayer,and whatever it is we are going through,we need this exact thing to arrive at the place where our dreams and desires come true.This awareness and gratetude in our prayer is what elevates our lives to the point of manifesting fortune.

Comment by Linda Fogh Jorgensen on March 24, 2008 at 1:43pm

Today I studied "Faith into Action - Thoughts on Selected Topics by Daisaku Ikeda" - a very useful book, indeed. And I'll send this from the chapter "Our Treasured Organization" - "Friendship":
In light of the Gosho, SGI members are precious, noble beings who carry out the work of all Buddhas, bodhisattvas and Buddhist gods. Therefore, let us by all means treasure our fellow members. Let us carry through with faith, filled with gratitude for our profound and mystic connections with one another. (Learning from the Gosho, p.37)