Daisaku Ikeda
December 31st 2023
Buddhism enables us to tap from within the depths of our beings the greatest courage and strongest life force there is. Buddhas are not destined for unhappiness or defeat. Those who practice Buddhism can definitely transform all adversity into something positive, irrespective of the troubled time in which they live, their personal circumstances or the hardships that befall them.
Daisaku Ikeda
December 30th 2023
Defeat for a Buddhist lies not in encountering difficulties but rather in not challenging them. Difficulties only truly become our destiny if we run away from them. We must fight as long as we live.
Daisaku Ikeda
December 29th 2023
Ralph Waldo Emerson writes: “And so of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more of it remains.” Cheerfulness is not the same as frivolousness. Cheerfulness is born of a fighting spirit. Frivolousness is the reverse side of cowardly escape. Emerson also said that “power dwells with cheerfulness; hope puts us in a working mood.” Without cheerfulness there is no strength. Strive to advance still more brightly and cheerfully.