We must grow and cultivate our own beauty

 Daily Guidance Fri 04/27

For Today and Tomorrow Daily Encouragement by Daisaku Ikeda Friday, April 27, 2012 Age is not an excuse for giving up.  If you allow yourself to grow passive and draw back, it's a sign of personal defeat.  There may be a retirement age at work, but there is no retirement age in life.  How then could there be any "going into retirement" in the world of faith? The Buddhist Law is eternal, extending across the three existences of past, present and future, and one of the benefits of faith is perennial youth and eternal life.       Buddhism Day by Day Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda Friday, April 27, 2012 We all long for things of beauty—beauty of nature, of appearance, of life, a beautiful family and so on.  But these cannot be gained if we are withdrawn and isolated, just looking at ourselves.  We must create better relationships with other people and interact with our community and society with an open heart.  We must be kind to nature.  It is only through this process that we really grow and cultivate our own beauty.         Daily Wisdom From the Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Friday, April 27, 2012 The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo, the heart of the essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra, contain the benefit amassed through the countless practices and meritorious deeds of all Buddhas throughout the three existences. Then, how can these five characters not include the benefits obtained by observing all of the Buddhas' precepts? The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 481 The Teaching, Practice and Proof Written to Sammi-bo on March 21, 1275