Winning in life is not a matter of form or appearances. It has nothing to do with vanity. Victory in life ultimately hinges on whether one has truly fought, whether one has truly advanced.
The biggest obstacles to our progress exist within our own lives in the form of cowardice and the tendency to give up. Breaking through these barriers will unleash a surging wave of change.
The principle that “Buddhism equals life” means that everything in one’s life is itself Buddhism. The principle that “Buddhism becomes manifest in society” means that society, too, is one with Buddhism. The struggle for kosen-rufu can be waged only within the realities of life and society. Those who earnestly grapple with these realities develop strength and inner substance. They develop and grow.