Daily Encouragement: Quotes From my Buddhist Mentor
A daily dose of wisdom
If you failed yesterday, strive to win today. If you were defeated today, strive to win tomorrow.
— Daisaku Ikeda (from Quotations by Daisaku Ikeda)
Some things I chant about don’t happen right away. Some dreams I have take time — like world peace for example. This idea — which I know I’m not alone in sharing — is so big it could take longer than my current lifetime.
I grew up in the current climate, and I can be caught up in the “instant gratification” model as easily as the next person, but in learning about the law of “cause and effect” I have come to realize that some things take time.
Here’s an excerpt from Wisdom for Creating Happiness, Chapter 3 by Daisaku Ikeda.
President Ikeda responds to the question of a member who asked: “When we were chanting daimoku together with you earlier, the desire and courage to realize my dreams came welling forth from my life. How can I chant with this kind of feeling and live with courage all the time?”
“Even one daimoku (chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo) can pervade the entire universe. Truly heartfelt and determined daimoku, therefore, has the power to move everything.
To illustrate, the words “I love you” can have a completely different impact depending on whether they are said from the heart or merely as an empty gesture.
Daimoku chanted with the deep conviction that one’s life is the entity of the Mystic Law, or with the resolve to dedicate one’s life to spreading the Mystic Law as an emissary of the Buddha, cannot fail to resonate with the Gohonzon or reach the universe. A person who chants in this way will definitely attain a state of complete freedom.
Of course, no one becomes an expert in anything right away. It is by overcoming obstacles again and again and continuing to press forward that we gain a degree of expertise or mastery in a given field.
The same holds true for faith. There may be times when we give in to self-defeat and our determination wanes, or when things don’t go as we’d hoped and we begin to feel anxious or fearful. But the important thing is to continue chanting daimoku, no matter what. Whether our prayers are answered right away or not, we must keep chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, without harboring any doubts. Those who maintain such faith will eventually attain the supreme path and highest pinnacle of value and savor the conviction that everything unfolded in the very best and most meaningful way.”
As the song says, “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”
Keep the faith.
