President of Soka Gakkai International (SGI). I find them really very meaningful (:
Maybe we can learn something, or even the philosophy of life after reading!
ENJOY! ~
ONENESS OF LIFE & THE ENVIRONMENT
"The heart of one person moves another's.
If one's own heart is closed, then the doors of other people's hearts will also shut tight.
On the other hand, someone who makes all those around him or her into allies, bathing them in the sunlight of spring, will be treasured by all."
"Much human misery arises from people despairing over things that despair cannot help. We should not worry about things that no amount of worrying will resolve.
The important thing is to build a golden palace of joy in our hearts that nothing can disturb — a state of life like a clear blue sky above the storm, an oasis in the desert, a fortress looking down on high waves."
"Sometimes, incidents happen that may cause us to have doubts and make us feel,
"Why did this kind of thing have to happen again?" or "This is really discouraging."
But allowing ourselves to be swayed by our environment only makes those around us gloomy and despondent as well. It benefits no one. This is the very time that we must summon the faith to turn poison into medicine.
Through our inner determination based on faith, we can transform suffering into joy, problems into happiness, negative karma into benefit.
We can change everything into a sparkling world of eternal happiness."
WHAT IS TRUE HAPPINESS?
"True happiness is to be found within, in the state of our hearts. It does not exist on the far side of some distant mountains.
It is within you, yourself. However much you try, you can never run away from yourself. And if you are weak, suffering will follow you wherever you go. You will never find happiness if you don't challenge your weaknesses and change yourself from within.
Relative happiness is also based on comparison with others. We may feel this kind of happiness at having a newer or bigger home than the neighbors. But that feeling turns to misery the moment they start making new additions to theirs!
Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is something we must find within. It means establishing a state of life in which we are never defeated by trials and where just being alive is a source of great joy.
This persists no matter what we might be lacking, or what might happen around us. A deep sense of joy is something which can only exist in the innermost reaches of our life, and which cannot be destroyed by any external forces.
It is eternal and inexhaustible.
This kind of satisfaction is to be found in consistent and repeated effort,
so that we can say,
"Today, again, I did my very best."
"Today, again, I have no regrets."
"Today, again, I won."
The accumulated result of such efforts is a life of great victory.
What we should compare is not ourselves against others. We should compare who we are today against who we were yesterday, who we are today against who we will be tomorrow.
While this may seem simple and obvious, true happiness is found in a life of constant advancement. And the same worries that could have made us miserable can actually be a source of growth when we approach them with courage and wisdom."
