Infuse

"Let's wholeheartedly protect
our fellow members.
Armed with the voice of wisdom and conviction,
let's infuse our friends with courage.
This is the mission of a leader."

-"To My Friends" guidance for Nov. 19, 2006, from Daisaku Ikeda-

Confidence

"As long as we pray earnestly and sincerely with all our being, if we have strong and genuine faith, even though results may not be immediately visible, they will definitely manifest without fail in generations of our children and our children's children. I would like all of you to have absolute confidence in this."

Daisaku Ikeda, "For Today and Tomorrow", pg 265

*************************************************************************************



ENCOURAGING MYSELF

Work a high rejection job for often
Big low money.
Opinions, judgement,
Scowls galore . . .
But let's keep it up, honey.

There are those moments -
In between
One someone comes-
Can see.

A little care, a hope, a green
How powerful that be!

-Bethany Wild-

Society

" A society lacking in humanistic, religious and spiritual values is an unfortunate society that lacks reverence for life."

(Daisaku Ikeda, "World Tribune", Aug 3, 2007 pg 1.)

Protection

August 29, 2007

--TO MY FRIENDS--
Nichiren quotes,
"The stronger one's faith,
the greater the protection of the gods."(*)
Young women and women
should be strict about heading home
early [after activities.]
Winning means
remaining absolutely free of accidents.

-Daisaku Ikeda-

Approach

"Success is not a matter of accumulating more of this or that; it is not measured in quantity. It means changing the quality of your life. Wealth, power, fame and knowledge alone cannot make you happy, no matter how much of these you acquire. Nor can you take them with you when you die. But by improving the quality of your life you will at last approach true happiness."


Daiskau Ikeda, 'For Today and Tomorrow', pg. 262

Closer To You

I'll find my way in moonlight,
Like I said I'd do,
I will listen for your heart
And the sun will rise
Navigate the way
That keeps me
Closer to you.

-Bethany Wild-

To Resolve

"Nothing can equal the splendor of youth. To be young is to possess a treasure of infinite worth far greater than any person of power. Youth, and indeed life itself, flashes by in the blink of an eye. That is why it is important for you to ask yourselves what you can do for those who are suffering, what you can do to resolve the mournful contradictions that plague society, and to boldly take on these great challenges without shunning the subsequent problems and difficulties you will inevitably face."

-Daisaku Ikeda-

To Take Off Hold

What would
you
strive
to accomplish
this year
if
you knew
you could not fail?

What
part of
your life
would you
take off
hold?

Transformative Force

"Ultimately, we are responsible for our own destiny. It may seem to us that our fate is predetermined, whether by our genes or by our environment. What really matters, however, is how we can improve ourselves from this moment forward, how we can change the circumstances that we find ourselves in. This enormous transformative force is what Buddhism is all about. In this struggle lies the source of never-ending youth and vitality."

-SGI President Daisaku Ikeda-

Heritage

"I deeply believe that the present emergence of a great global network of Bodhisattvas of the Earth will lead to a profound change in the way humanity perceives life and death; it will cause the heritage of peace, humanism and happiness to flow swift and strong throughout the world; it will spark a fundamental transformation in the life-state of all humankind.
And I entrust the realization of this noble mission to my fellow members throughout the world. I have faith in my disciples. Above all, I am counting on the youth."

(Excerpted from Daisaku Ikeda's Study Lecture Series on "The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life")

Radiant

"It is not a question of your environment or those around you, nor what the organization or leaders may be like. To be swayed by such externals is pointless. It all comes down to one person: you. What matters is that you become a brilliant beacon, shining with joy and happiness, and live your life with confidence and courage. If you shine with a radiant light, there can be no darkness in your life."

(Daisaku Ikeda,"For Today and Tomorrow",page 256.)

Debts of Gratitude

--TO MY FRIENDS--

"Repaying one's debts of gratitude
is the way of Buddhism and human beings.
Ingrates are no better than animals.
Let's advance along the correct, great path
with heartfelt appreciation."


- Daisaku Ikeda -

DNA

How
much
DNA
has
this
man
collected
?

Core

"We need to make a bold and dramatic transformation of the underlying foundation of human civilization - from the "hard power" of military force and authoritarianism to the "soft power" of peace, culture and education. To bring about this shift, 21st-century civilization must adopt as its core values the wisdom and compassion of women, who are inclined to nurture and protect life."

(Daisaku Ikeda-World Tribune, August 17, 2007 Page 2)

Victories

We've been talking about accomplishing goals
And I didn't realize until last night
Talking with Buster,
That I was basing my perspective
On what I have not yet achieved.

Reflecting this morning, I can see
That this is lack of appreciation
And a cause for defeat.

So today, a change.
Hey everybody! Look at these
Victories:

"Ruby Sings" - my new CD,
"Big Fish" mastered and released, too
5 Videos on You Tube,
And the blogs are new.

Here's to strengthening faith-
Sharing with you
Let's find out how much more we can do!

The Age of Women

"Women, in particular, have an immense power with which to create peace in the 21st century. The success of our movement depends on the degree to which we respect women and allow them to utilize their full potential. The age of male dominance is over. We are now living in the age of women."

(Daisaku Ikeda, 'World Tribune' Aug. 10, 2007 pg.3)

Each Person

"--TO MY FRIENDS--
A proverb says,
"One is the mother of ten thousand."(*)
A person of intense resolve
is endowed with the power of
ten thousand.
Therefore, each person should
develop his or her strength
and each person should be
cherished."

-Daiskau Ikeda-

Get up the Eighth

"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 yourselves, "OK! I will start again from now!" If you fall down seven times, get up the eighth. Don't give up when you feel discouraged-just pick yourselves up and renew your determination each time."

-Daisaku Ikeda-

Beauty

A true joy
A whisper
While traveling through-

Show me,
Reveal it-
The beauty in you!



-Bethany Wild-

Give Something

"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."


-Daisaku Ikeda-

Remember

" It is thus vital for SGI members in particular that we remember that not only our specific activities for peace and culture but the movement for "human revolution" based on the daily endeavor to transform our lives from within is a consistent and essential aspect of the historical challenge of nuclear disarmament and abolition."

-Excerpted from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's 2007 Peace Proposal -

People Who Come

People who come to your aid in a time of personal crisis are people of genuine compassion and courage. More often than not, people will try to act as though nothing is wrong. Others are either afraid or refuse to get involved, and quietly drift away."

-Daisaku Ikeda-


"Being treated like a non-entity was perhaps the deepest act of anger against my soul, one that still cuts me to the bone today."

-Anonymous-

Reactions of the Human Heart

Developing a Broader Concern: Clues to Living in a Stress-Filled Society

" . . . In the past, human society provided encouragement and opportunity for people to extend support to each other, especially in highly stressful situations. Regrettably, many of the networks that supported us have been weakened or undermined. Faced with stress, too many people feel they have nowhere to turn to, that they don't have access to the kind of friendships or communities where they can easily and openly share their problems and worries."

" . . . telling someone that their problem is no big deal, even with the helpful intention of encouraging them, might actually deepen and intensify their experience of stress. The reactions of the human heart are not mechanical and predictable but infinitely subtle and delicate."

" . . From one perspective, core sources of stress can be traced to our contemporary ideas about the nature of the self. On the one hand, we are each expected, as "free individuals," to be able to deal unaided with any situation. At the same time, the massive bureaucratic structures of society treat people as components and cogs, inculcating the sense that we are powerless to shape our fate, much less to move human society in a new and better direction. Torn between excessive expectations and feelings of ultimate powerlessness, people become increasingly susceptible to the impact of stress."

" . . Coping successfully with stress requires that we try to see ourselves in a different light. We need a deeper understanding of our truly limitless potentialities as well as our vulnerabilities, how we can develop our strengths as individuals through mutual support."

" . . . Hans Selye, who pioneered the field of stress research, offered the following advice based on his own experience of battling cancer: First, establish and maintain your own goals in life. Second, live so that you are necessary to others--such a way of life is ultimately beneficial to yourself.

" . . Now, more than ever, we need to develop the qualities of strength, wisdom and hope as we forge expanding networks of mutual support."

" . . In the end, the key to living in a stress-filled society lies in feeling the suffering of others as our own--in unleashing the universal human capacity for empathy. There is no need to carry the burden of a heavy heart alone."


[Excerpted from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's opinion editorial published in The Japan Times newspaper on November 9, 2006.]

To Grow Younger

The German author Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) writes that the more one matures, the younger one grows. And certainly there are many people who, as they age, become increasingly vigorous and energetic, more broad-minded and tolerant, living with a greater sense of freedom and assurance. It is important to remember that aging and growing old are not necessarily the same thing."


-Daisaku Ikeda-
("For Today and Tomorrow" pg. 248)

Wireless

"In this way we can communicate our innermost thoughts just like through a wireless. We can talk together."


(Daiskau Ikeda quoting his mentor, Josei Toda in "The Human Revolution", Vol 1, No. 1. page 24)

Benefits

"The true great benefit of faith is this fundamental inner transformation and human revolution. According to the principle of the oneness of life and its environment, when our life state changes we can change our environment as well, and thereby solve all our problems and struggles".

- Daisaku Ikeda-
(January 26, 2007, World Tribune, Special Pullout, p.A).

Friends

This is the poster for Carla's upcoming concert at the SGI-USA Culture Center in New York.

Looking for something great to do on Monday, Aug 13th?

Check it out!
Free Admission!

No ticket required.

SGI-USA New York
7 E 15th St

7:30 PM

Perspective

"If we review history in bird's-eye perspective, it is clear that it is always authoritarian leaders, and the forces that fan the flames of conflict for their own gain, who start wars. And it is always ordinary citizens who pay the price. This is why we need to transcend the confrontations of "our country" versus "theirs," creating a global people's solidarity that confronts and challenges the demonic abuse of authority wherever it occurs."

-Daisaku Ikeda-
Excerpted from "Japan Times" Aug 10, 2006

Indebted

August 6, 2007


"Let's remember to express our
heartfelt gratitude to those
to whom we are indebted. . . "


-Daisaku Ikeda-




Hey, Kenwood!

Thank you eternally for getting me to my first meeting!

triumph

August 4, 2007

--TO MY FRIENDS--
Our journey for kosen-rufu
is long.
Let's advance with hope and vision
toward our next victory.
Now is the time to construct a foundation
for indomitable triumph.

-Daisaku Ikeda-

Sheer Will

My dad had 3 kidneys - but no one knew it
One was hurt when he was young -
Playing football
With friends.

The doctors said it was cancer -
They didn't know it was a 3rd kidney;
And they treated him
With so much radiation
That he had purple scars on his abdomen
And his lower back.

When he died at the age of 62,
They said
His organs
Had disintegrated-

What kept him alive
Was sheer will.


"Sometimes a man whom doctors have given up for dead clings to life by a sheer effort of will. Life holds many unfathomable mysteries which the physical sciences alone cannot explain."

-Daiskau Ikeda-

(The Human Revolution, Vol 1, No. 1. page 23)

Everybody

Excerpted from Japan Times, Sept 14, 2006

"Emerging from the Nuclear Shadow" by: SGI President Daisaku Ikeda

"At any given moment in history, precious few voices are heard crying out for justice. But, now more than ever, those voices must rise above the din of violence and hatred."

These are the memorable words of Dr. Joseph Rotblat, who for many years led the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, a global organization working for peace and for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Rotblat passed away last year in August, the month that marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was 96. In the final phase of his life, he consistently voiced his strong sense of foreboding about the chronic lack of progress toward nuclear disarmament and the growing threat of nuclear proliferation.

The startling development of military technology has entirely insulated acts of war from human realities and feelings. In an instant, irreplaceable lives are lost and beloved homelands reduced to ruin. The anguished cries of victims and their families are silenced or ignored. Within this vast system of violence--at the peak of which are poised nuclear weapons--humans are no longer seen as embodiments of life. They are reduced to the status of mere things.

In the face of these severe challenges, there is a spreading sense of powerlessness and despair within the international community, a readiness to dismiss the possibility of nuclear abolition as a mere pipe dream.

Peace is a competition between despair and hope, between disempowerment and committed persistence. To the degree that powerlessness takes root in people's consciousness, there is a greater tendency to resort to force. Powerlessness breeds violence. But it was human beings that gave birth to these instruments of hellish destruction. It cannot be beyond the power of human wisdom to eliminate them.

The Pugwash Conferences that were Rotblat's base of action were first held in 1957, a year that saw a rapid acceleration in the nuclear arms race that came to engulf the entire planet. On Sept. 8 of the same year, my mentor, Josei Toda, issued a call for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The day was blessed with the kind of beautiful clear sky that follows a typhoon, as Toda made his declaration at a gathering of some 50,000 young people in Yokohama:

"Today a global movement calling for a ban on the testing of atomic or nuclear weapons has arisen. It is my wish to go further; I want to expose and remove the claws that lie hidden in the depths of such weapons.... Even if a certain country should conquer the world using nuclear weapons, the people who used those weapons should be condemned as demons and devils."

Toda chose to denounce nuclear weapons in such harsh, even strident, terms because he was determined to expose their essential nature as an absolute evil--one that denies and undermines humankind's collective right to live.

Toda's impassioned call issued from a philosophical understanding of life's inner workings: He was warning against the demonic egotism that seeks to bend others to our will. He saw this writ large in the desire of states to possess these weapons of ultimate destruction.

The idea that nuclear weapons function to deter war and are therefore a "necessary evil" is a core impediment to their elimination; it must be challenged and dismantled.

Because Toda saw nuclear weapons as an absolute evil, he was able to transcend ideology and national interest; he was never confused by the arguments of power politics. Today, half a century later, the language of nuclear deterrence and "limited" nuclear war is again in currency. I am convinced that Toda's soul-felt cry, rooted in the deepest dimensions of life, now shines with an even brighter universal brilliance.

If we are to eliminate nuclear weapons, a fundamental transformation of the human spirit is essential. Since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki more than 60 years ago, the survivors have transformed despair into a sense of mission as they have continued to call out for nuclear abolition. As people living today, it is our shared responsibility--our duty and our right--to act as heirs to this lofty work of inner transformation, to expand and elevate it into a struggle to eliminate war itself.

In 1982, as Cold War tensions mounted, the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) organized the exhibition "Nuclear Arms: Threat to Our World" at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It toured 16 countries, including the Soviet Union and China and other nuclear weapons states. It was viewed by some 1.2 million visitors in total. SGI members also actively participated in the global Abolition 2000 campaign. The purpose of these and other efforts has been to arouse the hearts of people seeking peace.

To further deepen this type of grassroots solidarity, I would like to call for the creation of a U.N. Decade of Action by the World's People for Nuclear Abolition and for the early convening of a World Summit for Nuclear Abolition. Such steps would both reflect and support an emerging international consensus for disarmament.

Needless to say, it is young people who bear the challenges and possibilities of the future. It would therefore be valuable to hold a gathering of youth representatives from around the world prior to the annual U.N. General Assembly, giving world leaders an opportunity to hear the views of the next generation.

Affording young people such venues and opportunities to engage as world citizens is critical to building the long-term foundations for peace.

"Crying out in opposition to war and nuclear weapons is neither emotionalism nor self-pity. It is the highest expression of human reason based on an unflinching perception of the dignity of life.

Faced with the horrifying facts of nuclear proliferation, we must call forth the power of hope from within the depths of each individual's life. This is the power that can transform even the most intractable reality.

To emerge from the shadow of nuclear weapons we need a revolution in the consciousness of countless individuals - a revolution that gives rise to the heartfelt confidence that "There is something I can do." Then, finally we will see a coming together of the world's people, and hear their common voice, their cry for an end to this terrible madness of destruction."

-SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, Japan Times, Sept 14, 2006-

ICAP

International Committee of Artists for Peace (ICAP)







ICAP artists place a wreath
at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, May 2,2002




The International Committee of Artists for Peace (ICAP) was initiated by the artists of SGI-USA and is a coalition of co-sponsors in support of the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).

Based on its mission to provide peace education through the performing arts, ICAP confers its annual "Humanities in the Arts Peace Award," accompanying a concert; produces a cultural exchange concert series; and promotes peace education.

Genuine

"The fundamental way to put this genuine philosophy into action is to respect and treasure your parents. Give your parents peace of mind, show your appreciation for them and bring them joy. Those who have no concern for their parents cannot be called splendid people, whatever else they may have accomplished in life. To show appreciation for one's parents is the noblest behavior as a human being; it is the highest art and the truest path."

"One's behavior as a human being--this is the starting and ending point of Buddhism."

-Daiskau Ikeda-

Taken from "The World Tribune Express"
No. 425
Previews July 13, 2007

Revolution

" . . .Working for people's happiness is something everyone can do, regardless of circumstances. It requires no special titles or qualifications. In the end, it comes down to the effort to engage with and encourage others. But this encouragement is not something offered at arm's length, keeping oneself at a safe distance. Real encouragement is conveyed only in the process of sharing the reality of life's sufferings and challenges.

Making the effort to live this way amid the corruptions and humiliations of society, striving to offer the gifts of courage and hope, brings out the inner radiance of our lives. Encouraging others enables us to fully grasp the meaning of our lives and experience enduring happiness.

The transformation from a self-centered, self-involved way of life to one dedicated to the well-being of others is the process of "human revolution."

Even in the face of the severe crisis confronting humanity today, I cannot side with the advocates of apocalypse. Rather than the spurs and promptings of fear, we can best negotiate the challenges we face when guided by a vision of hope.

The inner transformation resulting from even a single person's human revolution holds just such a hope. This is a revolution open to all, one that does not demand the sacrifice of a single life.

When this process achieves a critical momentum--with waves of positive change spreading from one person to another--global society itself will be dramatically transformed.

This is a revolution that starts here, now--in the heart of every one of us.

-Daisaku Ikeda-
Excerpted from "Japan Times", April 12, 2007