Prayer is less about the words we utter than about the lives we live. We have a choice in how we live and that choice frequently, if not always, reflects the heart of our prayer, even if our words do not match. We can say all manner of clever phrases, yet it is our actions that speak the loudest.
Physician's Good MedicineQuotes
Benefaction and Gratitude
Applied to the fellowship of believers in the Buddhist Church, the same kind of reciprocity of benefaction and gratitude, of entrusting and perpetuation, exists between Nichiren and his followers forever. Consequently, the Church is the organ for perpetuating Nichiren’s ideals through the efforts of his followers.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetTrue Happiness
[A] healthy, balanced happiness does not imply chasing extreme happiness that may suddenly turn to deep emptiness. And needless to say, balanced happiness does not mean that when experiencing extreme unhappiness you should be a pessimist or take a dim view of your life and lose hope. Harmonized happiness means that even when you are happy you also have some troubles, and although you feel unhappy, you never lose sight of hope, and you realize the happiness to be found in your daily life. That is true happiness.
Spring WritingsThe Real Message of the Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sutra starts out dealing with matters relevant to the contemporary disciples of the Buddha. When the Buddha asks in Chapter XV who will propagate the Lotus Sutra in the ages after the death of the Buddha we shift the focus of the teaching to the future. It becomes apparent at this point that the real message of the Lotus Sutra is not for the people originally present, nor for the Buddha emanations, but for the Bodhisattvas from beneath the ground who represent ourselves.
Lecture on the Lotus SutraEightfold path
Right View is fully understanding life as revealed by the Four Noble Truths.
Right Intention is thinking clearly without the distortion of greed, hatred, or delusion. We are sincere and do not harbor ulterior motives.
Right Speech is the avoidance of deceit, gossip, slander, and other forms of verbal abuse and dishonesty. Instead, we speak only to benefit others and to reveal the truth.
Right Action is conducting oneself in an ethical manner and acting to benefit others. We refrain from killing, stealing, sexual deception or exploitation, and other activities harmful to ourselves and to others.
Right Livelihood is making a living without harming or exploiting others. Right livelihood precludes such activities as dealing in armaments, drug dealing, fraud, insider trading and any other means of living that involves the exploitation or harming of others. In other words, our work should be in accord with the rest of the Eightfold Path.
Right Effort is making every effort to develop good habits while curbing our bad habits.
Right Mindfulness is developing an ongoing awareness of all aspects of our life, including our physical condition and actions, our feelings, moods, ideas, our general enviroument, and our relations with others. Through such careful attention we are able to see more deeply into the true nature of our lives.
Right Concentration is making every effort to develop our Buddhist practice in order to acquire tranquility, insight into the true nature of life, and liberation from false views.
Lotus SeedsEnding Slavery to Pain, Delusion and Suffering
By embracing the faith and practice of Myoho Renge Kyo, we can revitalize our lives. In other words, regardless of the state of life in which we find ourselves at any given moment, through faith and practice we can transform any life condition (no matter how negative) into enlightenment. In this way, we can develop wisdom and a life that is no longer a slave to pain, delusion and suffering.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge KyoComplacency
Complacency has no place in Buddhism. Continuous efforts are required to fully polish our lives so that we can manifest our inherent Buddha. We should not be lulled into accepting our life as it is no matter if it is good or not so good.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Faith Manifest in Action
Whether our words are a formal prayer doesn’t mean they are not indeed a prayer. Our words become the manifestation of what is in our heart and so are indeed a prayer and the beginning of the prayer of action based upon faith. Faith that remains internal is merely ideology and theory. Faith that is manifest in action reveals the true depth of that faith and the true nature of that faith.
Physician's Good MedicineUnreal and Real
The individual, as such, is neither real, in the commonly asserted sense of being a personally persistent entity, nor unreal, in the sense that it has no place in existence. It is unreal, be cause it is subject to constant change; but it is real, as a product of causation, as a manifestation of character accumulated by karma.
Nichiren, The Buddhist ProphetThe Ten Realms of True Happiness
Approaching enlightenment, changing your point of view and rejuvenating your ideas, means spiritually changing your values based on the Buddha’s teachings. Values that are easily dominated by delusion or worldly desires will lead to a life of constant troubles. However, a life that has no troubles at all can also be a potential trouble. When we think of a life of happiness based on the Mutual Possession of the Ten Realms, happiness includes unhappiness, emptiness, other emotions and even troubles. Also, within unhappiness, happiness, hope, and joy can exist, as well as other emotions. So, true happiness is a harmonized balance of both, based on another basic teaching of Buddhism, the teaching of the “Middle Way.”
Spring Writings