On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Thursday, November 8, 2012:

 

If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain. It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbor's wealth but gains not even half a coin. That is why the T'ien-t'ai school's commentary states, "Unless one perceives the nature of one's life, one cannot eradicate one's grave offenses." This passage implies that, unless one perceives the nature of one's life, one's practice will become an endless, painful austerity.

On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime
Written to Toki Jonin in 1255