The life you are is perfect for becoming a Buddha like no other. You have unique qualities and talents and are perfectly suited to become enlightened. You do not need to become someone else, you merely need to become your true self. So do not think less of yourself. We all have faults and shortcomings but we can polish those rough spots up and reveal the true gem of our lives.
Practice Guide
Quotes
Things in Themselves Are Not Mutually Different
All things and phenomena, being identical in essence with the Buddha or Reality, are eternal and unchangeable au fond, and, in their true nature, one and the same as each other. The vulgar see variety where Buddhas perceive identity. This inability to see anything beneath the external variety in things arises from confusion in the minds of those who look at them. Things in themselves are not mutually different.
Doctrines of Nichiren (1893)Our Ignorance
Until we remove our ignorance of the cause of suffering and attachments to these causes we won’t be able to manifest enlightenment in our lives. We need the corrective lens of the teachings and practice of Buddhism in order to see clearly the causes of our suffering and hindrances to our enlightenment. Chanting the sacred title, Odaimoku, gives us the courage and strength to follow the Eightfold Path and remove the delusions.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Making Change
Attempting to implement change in someone else’s life is going to yield the least amount of improvement in your life. The place where you have the most leverage and effectiveness for making change lies within yourself.
Physician's Good MedicineThe True Life
Neither is birth the beginning, nor death the end of life; the true life extends far beyond both of these commonly assumed limits. Things come and pass away, but truth abides; men are born and disappear, but life itself is imperishable. Buddhahood is neither a new acquisition nor a quality destined to destruction. The One who embodies the cosmic Truth, Buddha, the Tathagata, neither is born nor dies, but lives and works from eternity to eternity; his Buddhahood is primeval and his inspiration everlasting. How, then, can it be otherwise with any other beings, if only they realize this truth and live in full consciousness of it?
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetA ‘Positive’ Religion
Nichiren Buddhism is called a “positive religion” because the Lotus Sutra instructs us to confront reality positively, and improve our lives by making efforts with faith. Generally, this world is spoken of negatively, and is called a degraded and disordered world. However, Nichiren Buddhism is different. Even though this world seems like it is degraded, and a world filled with deep desire, we are Buddha’s children. We all have Buddha’s nature, as a seed, waiting to become a Buddha and to construct an ideal world, the “Buddha’s world.” Unfortunately, it is difficult to recognize this nature by oneself, even if it is a part of our own mind.
Spring WritingsThe Emptiness of Dependent Origination
“Emptiness” is a central concept in Mahayana Buddhism, often associated with the perfection of wisdom. However, Emptiness is really just another way of talking about Dependent Origination. Whereas Dependent Origination focuses on the coming together of many causes and conditions to bring about a temporary thing or being, Emptiness, focuses on the absence of a self-contained or permanent person, place, or thing. In other words, nothing exists forever and nothing can exist on its own.
Lotus SeedsSix Perfections
A Bodhisattva practices the Six Perfections or pāramitās to obtain the goal of causing all beings to strive for Buddhahood. The Six Perfections are:
- Giving
- Observing Precepts
- Patience
- Striving
- Meditation
- Wisdom
The Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path is a set of guidelines for our lives that help us develop understanding and compassion. Developing that kind of deeply compassionate life can help release us from suffering. The Eightfold Path is:
- Right Views
- Right Thought
- Right Speech
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
- Right Effort
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Meditation
… So what exactly do we mean by “right?” It means that we should use our judgment based on the Buddha’s teachings and be mindful of these things when living with others in our society.
Awakening to the Lotus500 Days of Practice
I wonder what you could accomplish in your life if you made a commitment from today for 500 days to practice on a regular consistent basis towards the achievement of some change in your life? Would you be able to travel the entire 500 days without giving up or abandoning or forgetting your goal and effort?
The Magic City: Studying the Lotus Sutra