The joy of chanting daimoku each day.

How incredible it is to chant this wonderful daimoku each day! Nichiren Daishonin writes, "There is no greater happiness for human beings than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The sutra [Lotus Sutra] says, 'The people there [in my land] are happy and at ease.'"(MW-1, 161). There is no joy, happiness and ease surpassing what we can attain through chanting daimoku. No matter how much you may pursue the things you love and skip gongyo to have a good time—all such fleeting, worldly pleasures pale beside the deep sense of satisfaction that comes from chanting daimoku.

For Today and Tomorrow
Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda 28/4

Fighting spirit, "Bring it on!"

Life is like a sea voyage. We each need to open up our own course in life with the strength of our convictions, unperturbed by the crashing breakers of life's stormy seas. The fiercer the tempest rages, the more we need to rouse our own fighting spirit and man the tiller with all our strength and skill crying, "Bring it on!" Through this type of arduous struggle we can forge the practical wisdom to triumph consistently and, as victorious champions, to create history.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 8/10