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Buddhism Holds That Everything Is In Constant Flux. Thus The Question Is Whether We Are To Accept Change Passively And Be Swept Away By It Or Whether We Are To Take The Lead And Create Positive Changes On Our Own Initiative. While Conservatism And Self-protection Might Be Likened To Winter, Night, And Death, The Spirit Of Pioneering And Attempting To Realize Ideals Evokes Images Of Spring, Morning, And Birth.

-Daisaku Ikeda

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Buddhism Holds That Everything

Daisaku Ikeda

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Buddhism Holds That Everything Is In Constant Flux. Thus The Question Is Whether We Are To Accept Change Passively And Be Swept Away By It Or Whether We Are To Take The Lead And Create Positive Changes On Our Own Initiative. While Conservatism And Self-protection Might Be Likened To Winter, Night, And Death, The Spirit Of Pioneering And Attempting To Realize Ideals Evokes Images Of Spring, Morning, And Birth.

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Genuine Happiness

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I Cannot Say This Too Strongly: Do Not Compare Yourselves To Others. Be True To Who You Are, And Continue To Learn With All Your Might.

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Suffering Of Others

Strength Is Happiness.

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Buhhdism Is Wisdom. As Long As We Have Wisdom, We Can Put All Things To The Best Use, We Can Turn Everything In The Direction Of Happiness.

Keep Moving Forward, Even One Or Two Steps, In Your Own Way. Those Who Live Out Their Lives To The Fullest, Unperturbed By The Noisy Clamor Around Them, Are The True Winners.

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A Person Who Respects Others Is Respected By Others In Return. Those Who Treat Others With Compassion And Concern Are Protected And Supported By Others. Our Environment Is Essentially A Reflection Of Ourselves

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Life Is Painful. It Has Thorns, Like The Stem Of A Rose. Culture And Art Are The Roses That Bloom On The Stem. The Flower Is Yourself, Your Humanity. Art Is The Liberation Of The Humanity Inside Yourself.

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While Conservatism And Self-protection Might Be Likened To Winter, Night, And Death, The Spirit Of Pioneering And Attempting To Realize Ideals Evokes Images Of Spring, Morning, And Birth.

Hope Is The Sun. It Is Light. It Is Passion. It Is The Fundamental Force For Life's Blossoming.

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Dialogue Starts From The Courageous Willingness To Know And Be Known By Others. It Is The Painstaking And Persistent Effort To Remove All Obstacles That Obscure Our Common Humanity.

Common Humanity

It Is Precisely When We Have Suffered Defeat That We Can Determine To Win And Open The Path To Future Victory.

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Knowledge Itself Is A Neutral Tool That Can Be Used For Good Or Evil. Wisdom, In Contrast, Always Directs Us Toward Happiness. The Task Of Education Must Be To Stimulate And Unleash The Wisdom That Lies Dormant In The Lives Of All Young People. This Is Not A Forced Process, Like Pressing Something Into A Preformed Mold, But Rather Drawing Out The Potential Which Exists Within.

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When We Have A Genuine Sense That, No Matter How Difficult Our Present Circumstances, We Are Not Alone-that We Are Vitally Connected With Others And With The World-we Will, Without Fail, Rise Up To The Challenge Of Living Again.

Life Is The Blossoming Of Flowers In The Spring, The Ripening Of Fruit In The Fall, The Rhythm Of The Earth And Of Nature. Life Is The Cry Of Cicadas Signalling The End Of Summer, Migratory Birds Winging South In A Transparent Autumn Sky, Fish Frolicking In A Stream. Life Is The Joy Beautiful Music Installs In Us, The Thrilling Sight Of A Mountain Peak Reddened By The Rising Sun, The Myriad Combinations And Permutations Of Visible And Invisible Phenomena. Life Is All Things.

Life Is Filled With Potential That Is Truly Unfathomable. At Last We Are Coming To See The Enormous Power It Possesses. That Is Why We Must Never Write Anyone Off. In Particular, We Mustn’t Put Boundaries On Our Own Potential. In Most Cases, Our So-called Limitations Are Nothing More Than Our Own Decision To Limit Ourselves.

A Great Revolution In Just One Single Individual Will Help Achieve A Change In The Destiny Of A Society And, Further, Will Enable A Change In The Destiny Of Humankind.

Hardships Make Us Strong. Problems Give Birth To Wisdom. Sorrows Cultivate Compassion. Those Who Have Suffered The Most Will Become The Happiest.

True Love Should Be Transformative; A Process That Amplifies Our Capacity To Cherish Not Just One Person But All People. It Can Make Us Stronger, Lift Us Higher And Deepen Us As Individuals. Only To The Extent That We Polish Ourselves Now Can We Hope To Develop Wonderful Bonds Of The Heart In The Future.

Likewise, Education Can Direct People Toward Good Or Evil Ends. When Education Is Based On A Fundamentally Distorted Worldview, The Results Are Horrific.

Having Lived Through The Transition From Totalitarianism, I Am Acutely Mindful Of The Need To Never Take For Granted The Basic Freedoms Of Thought, Expression And Belief That Democracy Brings.

When You Devote Yourself To Achieving Your Goal, You Will Not Be Bothered By Shallow Criticism. Nothing Important Can Be Accomplished If You Allow Yourself To Be Swayed By Some Trifling Matter, Always Looking Over Your Shoulder And Wondering What Others Are Saying Or Thinking. The Key To Achievement Is To Move Forward Along Your Chosen Path With Firm Determination.

Envying Another's Beauty Will Diminish Your Own. But When You Praise Beauty In Others Your Own Beauty Deepens.

While It Is Important To Win, It’s Even More Important To Remain Undefeated No Matter What Happens.

Hope Transforms Pessimism Into Optimism. Hope Is Invincible.

Only When We Connect To Nature, Engaged With Nature, Are We Truly Alive And Vigorous. To Really Be Alive, One Must Be Under The Sun, The Moon, The Shining Stars And Surrounded By The Beautiful Greenery And Pure Waters Of The Natural World.

Extreme Poverty Threatens People's Right To Life Itself And Makes Impossible The Enjoyment Of The Rights And Freedoms Essential To A Humane Way Of Life.

The Determination To Win Is The Better Part Of Winning.

In Most Cases, Our So-called Limitations Are Nothing More Than Our Own Decision To Limit Ourselves.

Rise To The Challenges That Life Presents You. You Can't Develop Genuine Character And Ability By Sidestepping Adversity And Struggle.

Since Ancient Times, People From Throughout Asia Have Brought To Japan Their Talents, Knowledge And Energy, Helping To Lay The Basis For Japan's Existence As A Country.

What Matters Is The Value We’ve Created In Our Lives, The People We’ve Made Happy And How Much We’ve Grown As People.

Our Voice Resonates With Life. Because This Is So, It Can Touch The Lives Of Others. The Caring And Compassion Imbued In Your Voice Finds Passage To The Listener's Soul, Striking His Or Her Heart And Causing It To Sing Out; The Human Voice Summons Something Profound From Deep Within, And Can Even Compel A Person Into Action.

A Healthy Vision Of The Future Is Not Possible Without An Accurate Knowledge Of The Past.

Visions Of The Future

When We Change, The World Changes. The Key To All Change Is In Our Inner Transformation- A Change Of Our Hearts And Minds. This Is Human Revolution. We All Have The Power To Change. When We Realize This Truth, We Can Bring Forth That Power Anywhere, Anytime, And In Any Situation.

There Is No True Joy In A Life Lived Closed Up In The Little Shell Of The Self. When You Take One Step To Reach Out To People, When You Meet With Others And Share Their Thoughts And Sufferings, Infinite Compassion And Wisdom Well Up Within Your Heart. Your Life Is Transformed.

Poems And Songs Penned As An Unstoppable Outpouring Of The Heart Take On A Life Of Their Own. They Transcend The Limits Of Nationality And Time As They Pass From Person To Person, From One Heart To Another.

Japan Learned From The Bombings Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki That The Tragedy Wrought By Nuclear Weapons Must Never Be Repeated And That Humanity And Nuclear Weapons Cannot Coexist.

Hiroshima And Nagasaki

A Commitment To Human Rights Cannot Be Fostered Simply Through The Transmission Of Knowledge. Action And Experience Play A Crucial Role In The Learning Process.

In Life When We Feel We Have Reached A Limit, That Is When The True Battle Begins. Just When You Despair And Think It Is Impossible To Go Any Further, Will You Become Apathetic, Or Will You Say It's Not Over And Stand Up With An Unyielding Spirit? The Battle Is Decided By This Single Determination.

Many Things Happen In Life. There Are Joyous Days And Times Of Suffering. Sometimes Unpleasant Things Occur. But That's What Makes Life So Interesting. The Dramas We Encounter Are Part And Parcel Of Being Human. If We Experienced No Change Or Drama In Our Lives, If Nothing Unexpected Ever Happened, We Would Merely Be Like Automatons, Our Lives Unbearably Monotonous And Dull. Therefore, Please Develop A Strong Self So That You Can Enact The Drama Of Your Life With Confidence And Poise In The Face Of Whatever Vicissitudes You May Encounter.

People Can Only Live Fully By Helping Others To Live. When You Give Life To Friends You Truly Live. Cultures Can Only Realize Their Further Richness By Honoring Other Traditions. And Only By Respecting Natural Life Can Humanity Continue To Exist.

Men And Women Who Know The Brutal Reality Of War, Who Know That War Strips People Of Their Very Humanity, Must Unite In A New Global Partnership For Peace.

Let Us Give Something To Each Person We Meet: Joy, Courage, Hope, Assurance, Or Philosophy, Wisdom, A Vision For The Future. Let Us Always Give Something.

The Power Of Growth, Of Improvement, The Power To Overcome All Stagnation And Break Through Every Obstacle And Transform A Barren Wasteland Into A Verdant Field - That Unstoppable Power Of Hope Resides Right Within Your Own Heart. It Wells Up From The Rich Earth Of Your Innermost Being When You Face The Future Without Doubt Or Fear: "i Can Do More. I Can Grow. I Can Become A Bigger And Better Human Being."

Anyone Who Has Ever Made A Resolution Discovers That The Strength Of Their Determination Fades With Time. The Important Thing Is Not That Your Resolve Never Wavers, But That You Don't Get Down On Yourself When It Does And Throw In The Towel.

By Changing Our Inner State Of Mind, We Can Change Any Suffering Or Hardship Into A Source Of Joy, Regarding It As A Means For Forging And Developing Our Lives. To Turn Even Sorrow Into A Source Of Creativity - This Is The Way Of Life Of A Buddhist

Anyone Who Has Ever Made A Resolution Discovers That The Strength Of That Determination Fades In Time. The Moment You Feel That Is When You Should Make A Fresh Determination. Tell Yourself, “ok! I Will Start Again From Now!” If You Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up An Eighth. Don’t Give Up When You Feel Discouraged-jus T Pick Yourself Up And Renew Your Determination Each Time.

If You Summon Your Courage To Challenge Something, You’ll Never Be Left With Regret. How Sad It Is To Spend Your Life Wishing, “if Only I’d Had A Little More Courage.” Whatever The Outcome May Be, The Important Thing Is To Step Forward On The Path That You Believe Is Right.

No One Should Be Left To Suffer Alone.

Why Doesn't Constant Trampling Defeat The Dandelion? The Key To Its Strength Is Its Long And Sturdy Root, Which Extends Deep Into The Earth. The Same Priciple Applies To People. The True Victors In Life Are Those Who, Enduring Repeated Challenges And Setbacks, Have Sent The Roots Of Their Being To Such A Depth That Nothing Can Shake Them.

Life Can Unfold Unlimitedly As Long As We Have A Heart Of Appreciation And An Undefeated Mind.

Hope Changes Everything. It Changes Winter Into Summer, Darkness Into Dawn, Descent Into Ascent, Barrenness Into Creativity, Agony Into Joy.

Sometimes We Complain Without Thinking Much Of It, But The Frightening Thing About Complaining Is That Every Time We Do, A Cloud Descends Over Our Heart, And Our Hope, Appreciation And Joy Gradually Wane.

The Human Spirit Is As Expansive As The Cosmos. This Is Why It Is So Tragic To Belittle Yourself Or To Question Your Worth. No Matter What Happens, Continue To Push Back The Boundaries Of Your Inner Life. The Confidence To Prevail Over Any Problem, The Strength To Overcome Adversity And Unbounded Hope — All Reside Within You.

It Is By Fighting And Triumphing Over The Enemies Of The Buddha That We Ourselves Become Buddhas.

Courage And Compassion Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin. Compassion Without Courage Is Not Genuine. You May Have A Compassionate Thought Or Impulse, But If You Don’t Do Or Say Anything, It’s Not Real Compassion.

A Person Fully Awakened To The Jewel-like Dignity Of Their Own Life Is Capable Of Truly Respecting That Same Treasure In Others.

Hopes, Dreams, Faith And A Sense Of Mission Enable Us To Open Up Our Lives.

One Thing Is Certain: The Power Of Belief, The Power Of Thought, Will Move Reality In The Direction Of What We Believe And Conceive Of It. If You Really Believe You Can Do Something, You Can. This Is A Fact. When You Clearly Envision A Victorious Outcome, Engrave It In Your Heart And Are Firmly Convinced That You Will Attain It, Your Brain Makes Every Effort To Realize The Mental Image You Have Created. And Then, Through Your Unceasing Efforts, That Victory Is Finally Made A Reality.

The Economy Is After All Driven By People. No Matter How Dire The Situation May Be, As Long As People Are Firm, A Turnaround, Revival And Progress Can Be Possible.

Every War, When Viewed From The Undistorted Perspective Of Life’s Sanctity, Is A “civil War” Waged By Humanity Against Itself.

Victory Lies In Not Getting Defeated.

The Heart Is What Is Important." There Is Nothing More Vulnerable, Nothing More Corruptible Than The Human Mind; Nor Is There Anything As Powerful, Steadfast And Ennobling.

Women Are, In My View, Natural Peacemakers. As Givers And Nurturers Of Life, Through Their Focus On Human Relationships And Their Engagement With The Demanding Work Of Raising Children And Protecting Family Life, They Develop A Deep Sense Of Empathy That Cuts Through To Underlying Human Realities.

In The Past, Human Society Provided Encouragement And Opportunity For People To Extend Support To Each Other, Especially In Highly Stressful Situations.

To Communicate The Truths Of History Is An Act Of Hope For The Future.

Hope For The Future

Whatever The Outcome May Be, The Important Thing Is To Step Forward On The Path That You Believe Is Right.

You Must Not For One Instant Give Up The Effort To Build New Lives For Yourselves. Creativity Means To Push Open The Heavy, Groaning Doorway To Life.

Living Here On Earth, We Breathe The Rhythms Of A Universe That Extends Infinitely Above Us. When Resonant Harmonies Arise Between This Vast Outer Cosmos And The Inner Human Cosmos, Poetry Is Born.

Prayer Is The Way To Destroy All Fear. It Is The Way To Banish Sorrow, The Way To Light A Torch Of Hope. It Is The Revolution That Rewrites The Scenario Of Our Destiny.

Dialogue And Education For Peace Can Help Free Our Hearts From The Impulse Toward Intolerance And The Rejection Of Others.

The Role Of Humankind Is To Use The Cultural And Social Environment It Has Created To Devise New Global Values.... Human Relations With Nature Are Intimately Bound Up In Interpersonal Relations And With The Relation Of The Self And Its Inner Life.

We Have Both A Weak Self And A Strong Self; The Two Are Completely Different. If We Allow Our Weak Side To Dominate, We Will Be Defeated. The Thought ,"i Am Still Young And Have A Lot Of Time, So I Can Relax And Take Life Easy" Is A Function Of Our Own Weakness.

Speak Out Tirelessly With Conviction.

Faith And Daily Life, Faith And Work-these Are Not Separate Things. They Are One And The Same. To Think Of Them As Separate-that Faith Is Faith, And Work Is Work-is Theoretical Faith. Based On The Recognition That Work And Faith Are One And The Same, We Should Put One Hundred Percent Of Our Energy Into Our Jobs And One Hundred Percent Into Our Faith, Too. When We Resolve To Do This, We Enter The Path Of Victory In Life. Faith Means To Show Irrefutable Proof Of Victory Amid The Realities Of Society And In Our Own Daily Lives.

Peace Will Be Realized Only By Forging Bonds Of Trust Between People At The Deepest Level, In The Depths Of Their Very Lives.

A Sense Of Being Part Of The Great All-inclusive Life Prompts Us To Reflect On Our Own Place And On How We Ought To Live. Guarding Others' Lives, The Ecology And The Earth Is The Same As Protecting One's Own Life. By Like Token, Wounding Them Is The Same Thing As Wounding Oneself. Consequently, It Is The Duty Of Each Of Us To Participate As Members Of The Life Community In The Evolution Of The Universe. We Can Do This By Guarding Earth's Ecological System.

We Must Take Steps To Prevent Further Nuclear Weapons Development Or Modernization.

Life Isn't Always Smooth. If It Were, We Would Never Grow & Develop As Human Beings. If We Succeed, We Are Envied; If We Fail, We Are Ridiculed & Attacked. Sadly, This Is How People Are. Unexpected Grief & Suffering May Lie Ahead Of You. But It Is Precisely When You Encounter Such Trying Times That You Must Not Be Defeated. Never Give Up! Never Retreat!

Reality Is Harsh. It Can Be Cruel And Ugly. Yet No Matter How Much We Grieve Over Our Environment And Circumstances Nothing Will Change. What Is Important Is Not To Be Defeated, To Forge Ahead Bravely. If We Do This, A Path Will Open Before Us.

A Truly Beautiful Person Is One Who Is Good At Discovering Beauty.

Beautiful Person

Like The Ocean That Remains Calm In Its Depths Even When Waves Rage Over Its Surface, And Like The Sun That Continues Shining On High Even During Storms, We Can At Each Moment Create Value And Develop Our State Of Life, Enjoying Our Existence To The Fullest In Times Of Both Suffering And Joy.

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