The Three Kinds of Treasure

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Tuesday, December 11, 2012:

 

Over and over I recall the moment, unforgettable even now, when I was about to be beheaded and you accompanied me, holding the reins of my horse and weeping tears of grief. Nor could I ever forget it in any lifetime to come. If you should fall into hell for some grave offense, no matter how Shakyamuni might urge me to become a Buddha, I would refuse; I would rather go to hell with you. For if you and I should fall into hell together, we would find Shakyamuni Buddha and the Lotus Sutra there.

The Three Kinds of Treasure
Written to Shijo Kingo on September 11, 1277

The Wonderful Means of Surmounting Obstacles

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, December 10, 2012:

 

The wonderful means of truly putting an end to the physical and spiritual obstacles of all living beings is none other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

The Wonderful Means of Surmounting Obstacles
Written to Shijo Kingo; date unknown

The 100th Monkey

Spiritual Story by Ken Keyes Jr.

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant. An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes. Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes — the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes. THEN IT HAPPENED! By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough! But notice: A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea...Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes. Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.

The Fourteen Slanders

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, December 9, 2012:

 

"How great is the difference between the blessings received when a sage chants the daimoku and the blessings received when we chant it?" To reply, one is in no way superior to the other. The gold that a fool possesses is in no way different from the gold that a wise man possesses; a fire made by a fool is the same as a fire made by a wise man. However, there is a difference if one chants the daimoku while acting against the intent of this sutra.

The Fourteen Slanders
Written to Matsuno Rokuro Saemon on December 9, 1276

The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, December 8, 2012:

 

Gold can neither be burned by fire nor corroded or swept away by water, but iron is vulnerable to both. A wise person is like gold and a fool like iron. You are like pure gold because you embrace the "gold" of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra reads in part, "Sumeru is the loftiest of all mountains. The Lotus Sutra is likewise the loftiest of all the sutras." It also states, "The good fortune of the believer cannot be burned by fire or washed away by water."

The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life
Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on February 11, 1272

On Prolonging One's Life Span

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, December 7, 2012:

 

A single life is worth more than the major world system. You still have many years ahead of you, and moreover you have encountered the Lotus Sutra. If you live even one day longer, you can accumulate that much more benefit. How precious your life is!

On Prolonging One's Life Span
Written to the lay nun Myojo in 1279

On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Thursday, December 6, 2012:

 

You have associated with a friend in the orchid room and have become as straight as mugwort growing among the hemp. If you will truly give consideration to the troubles I have been describing and put entire faith in these words of mine, then the winds will blow gently, the waves will be calm, and in no time at all we will enjoy bountiful harvests.

On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land
Submitted to Hojo Tokiyori on July 16, 1260

That's Not My Problem

Spiritual Story by Unknown

A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package; what food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a mouse trap! Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, "There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house." The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me; I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mouse trap in the house." "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse," sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, "Like wow, Mr. Mouse, a mouse trap; am I in grave danger, Duh?" So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer's mouse trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat. So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

The Swords of Good and Evil

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Wednesday, December 5, 2012:

 

Money serves various purposes according to our needs. The same is true of the Lotus Sutra. It will be a lantern in the dark or a boat at a crossing. At times it will be water, and at other times, fire. This being so, the Lotus Sutra assures us of "peace and security in this life and good circumstances in the next."

The Swords of Good and Evil
Written to Hojo Yagenta on February 21, 1274

The Opening of the Eyes

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Tuesday, December 4, 2012:

 

When it comes to understanding the Lotus Sutra, I have only a minute fraction of the vast ability that T'ien-t'ai and Dengyo possessed. But as regards my ability to endure persecution and the wealth of my compassion for others, I believe they would hold me in awe.

The Opening of the Eyes
Written to Shijo Kingo in February 1272

To My Friends

 

May 14, 2012

The (SGI) district is our home base
where we derive comfort and
nourishment for our growth.
For the sake of opening a path toward
a hope-filled future,
let's exuberantly make a momentous advance
and greatly develop friendships.

Words of the Week

May 14, 2012

Dialogue gives birth to drama.
Encouragement spreads courage.
Remember, "The voice carries out
the work of the Buddha."(*)
Let's create a groundswell for kosen-rufu
that begins with our Soka family
discussion meetings.

(*)"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" chapter, THE RECORD OF THE ORALLY TRANSMITTED
TEACHINGS, p. 4

This Person Advances through the World

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Monday, December 3, 2012

 

The present time corresponds to the first five hundred years of the Latter Day of the Law. Passages of the sutra clearly state that at this time Bodhisattva Superior Practices will appear and bestow the five characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on all the people of Japan. And they reveal that he will face exile and execution. I am also like the envoy of Bodhisattva Superior Practices because I spread this doctrine.

"This Person Advances through the World"
Written to Ikegami Uemon no Tayu Munenaka on December 3, 1279

On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Sunday, December 2, 2012:

 

All these things I have done solely in order to repay the debt I owe to my parents, the debt I owe to my teacher, the debt I owe to the three treasures of Buddhism, and the debt I owe to my country. For their sake I have been willing to destroy my body and to give up my life, though as it turns out, I have not been put to death after all.

On Repaying Debts of Gratitude
Written to Joken-bo and Gijo-bo on July 21, 1276

Stone and the Flower

Spiritual Story by Unknown

"You have hardened", said the flower, bending her petals downward toward the half stone at her roots. "These rains should have softened you, made you more fertile and receptive to the seeds of the fields; but no. You have accumulated minerals and have become more silent and full of calcium. Why do you stay here? Why do you resist the brook that gives us water?" The stone said nothing. A number of clouds passed by, the sun set and the night arrived with an immense bronze-coloured freckled moon with acne scars upon her worn face and in this manner reflected down upon the silent stone which still had not fallen asleep. The flower, by now, had tucked-in her petals and slept profoundly, and at this time the stone began to answer: "I stay here because your roots have made me yours. I stay here because it is no longer about my feeling the earth rather because I have become part of that which functions as a support of your stem which resists the wind and the rain. Everything changes, my sweet flower", said the stone, "but I stay here because love is that microscopic space between your feet and my salted skin. You would only be able to feel it if destiny were ever to separate the two of us." The moon followed the fade of the stars. Dawn gave a yawn as the sun began to burn its horizon on the lower lip of the mouth of a new day. The flower awoke and extended her beautiful petals. "Good morning", she said, "I dreamt that you were singing to me. How foolish of me, don't you think?" The stone said nothing.

The Opening of the Eyes

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Saturday, December 1, 2012:

 

I vowed to summon up a powerful and unconquerable desire for the salvation of all beings, and never to falter in my efforts.

The Opening of the Eyes
Written to Shijo Kingo in February 1272

Letter to the Lay Priest Nakaoki

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Friday, November 30, 2012:

 

Though water may be muddied, it will again become clear. Though the moon may hide behind the clouds, it will surely reappear. Similarly, in time my innocence became apparent, and my predictions proved not to have been in vain.

Letter to the Lay Priest Nakaoki
Written to the lay priest Nakaoki and his wife on November 30, 1279

Should He Bite Me

Spiritual Story by Roger D. Abrahams

One time a large stone fell upon Snake and covered her so that she could not rise. A white man, it is said, came upon her and lifted the stone, but when he had done so, she wanted to bite him. The White Man said, "Stop! Let us first go to someone wise." They went to Hyena, and the White Man asked him, "Is it right that Snake should want to bite me, even though I helped her so much?" Hyena (who was looking for his own share of the White Man's body) said, "If you were bitten, what would it matter?" So Snake thought that settled it, but the White Man said again, "Wait a little, and let us go to other wise people, that I may hear whether this is right." They went and met Jackal, and the White Man put the same question to him. Jackal replied, "I don't believe that Snake could ever be so covered by a stone that she could not rise. Unless I saw it with my two eyes, I wouldn't believe it. Take me to the place where you say it happened so I can see for myself whether it can possibly be true." They went together to that place, and Jackal said, "Snake, lie down, and let yourself be covered." Snake did so, and the White man covered her with the stone; and although she tried with all her strength Snake couldn't get up. Then the White Man wanted to let Snake go again, but Jackal stopped him saying, "Don't lift the stone. She wanted to bite you, therefore, let her get up and lift it herself." Then they both went away and left Snake there, just as before.

Reply to the Lay Nun Nichigon

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Thursday, November 29, 2012:

 

Whether or not your prayer is answered will depend upon your faith; [if it is not,] I will in no way be to blame. When the water is clear, the moon is reflected. When the wind blows, the trees shake. Our minds are like the water. Faith that is weak is like muddy water, while faith that is brave is like clear water. Understand that the trees are like principles, and the wind that shakes them is like the recitation of the sutra.

Reply to the Lay Nun Nichigon
Written to the lay nun Nichigon on November 29, 1280

This is What I Heard

Daily Wisdom

From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin
Wednesday, November 28, 2012:

 

Buddhism spreads according to the time and the people's capacity. Although I may not be worthy of this teaching, I expound it because the time is right.

This is What I Heard
Written to the lay priest Soya Jiro on November 28, 1277