A hundred years of practice in the land of Perfect Bliss cannot compare to the benefit gained from one day's practice in the impure world.

Daily Guidance Sun 01/22

For Today and Tomorrow Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda Sunday, January 22, 2012 Ultimately, happiness rests on how you establish a solid sense of self or being.  Happiness does not lie in outward appearances nor in vanity.  It is a matter of what you feel inside; it is a deep resonance in your life. To be filled each day with a rewarding sense of exhilaration and purpose, a sense of tasks accomplished and deep fulfillment—people who feel this way are happy.  Those who have this sense of satisfaction even if they are extremely busy are much happier than those who have time on their hands but feel empty inside.       Buddhism Day by Day Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda Sunday, January 22, 2012 There is a saying that the earth upon which we fall is the same ground which enables us to push ourselves up again. There's another which maintains that barley grows better after it has been trampled on.  Human relationships are sometimes painful, but there is no such pain from which we cannot recover. It is up to us to decide to live a life free from self-doubt and despair in spite of our failures.  Indeed, it is during our most humbling moments that we should show greatest poise and grace.  Then the dignity of our lives will truly shine.         Daily Wisdom From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Sunday, January 22, 2012 A hundred years of practice in the land of Perfect Bliss cannot compare to the benefit gained from one day's practice in the impure world. Two thousand years of propagating Buddhism during the Former and Middle Days of the Law are inferior to an hour of propagation in the Latter Day of the Law. This is in no way because of Nichiren's wisdom, but simply because the time makes it so.  In spring the blossoms open, in autumn the fruit appears. Summer is hot, winter is cold. The season makes it so, does it not? The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 736 On Repaying Debts of Gratitude Written to Joken-bo and Gijo-bo on July 21, 1276