Never give up, never surrender!

In his latest peace proposal, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda shared the following episode which touches me. There was a concern citizen who attempted to engage in a dialogue with a general who was leading his army in many inhumane brutalities against the common people. He wanted the general to see the folly of his ways. The dialogue ended in failure. The general did not heed his advice and went on to become a cruel tormentor.

After the dialogue, the citizen fell into a lengthy silence. Finally, he turned to his friend who was with him and proclaimed:

“You must never give up. As long as a person is alive, somewhere beneath the ashes there is a little bit of remaining fire, and all our task is. . . You must blow. . . carefully, very carefully blow. . . and blow. . . you'll see if it lights up. You mustn't worry whether it takes fire again or not. All you have to do is blow. “

This was the citizen’s way of restoring his own determination. At the same time, he recognized the importance of encouragement those who stand at the precipice of despair.

Reflecting on my own personal ways of contributing to the education of youths who will bear the burden of the future, the situation is equally tough. It is not uncommon to hear of once passionate educators losing faith and losing hope. Let me in my own way, cry:

“I must not give up. As long as there capable youths, the future of humanity is hopeful. Somewhere beneath the ashes, there is fire waiting to be ignited. All our task is... to encourage… carefully, very carefully encourage… and encourage… and the potential will be realized. I must not worry whether the youths are soaring high or not. All I have to do is encourage.”

Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra 3

About one or two hundred years after the emergence of Buddhism, a Greek ambassador of the King of Syria visited India and was astonished at what he observed there. "A surprising thing about India," he exclaimed, "is that there are women philosophers who debate openly with men, pro-pounding the most difficult arguments!" The status of women in ancient India was said to be nearly as low as that of slaves. Shakyamuni's inclusion of women in the religious order he founded was a revolutionary act. 

In this installment, we examine the universality of the Lotus Sutra. Specifically, we asked: To whom are these teachings of the Lotus Sutra as a whole directed?

The teachings of Buddhism were expounded for the happiness of all people; there is no discrimination based on sex, priestly or lay status, race, academic achievement, social position, power or wealth. In fact, Buddhism was expounded precisely so as to enable the discriminated and oppressed, those who have experienced the bitterest sufferings, to attain supreme happiness. This is the true power of Buddhism, and the true wisdom of the Lotus Sutra.

To demonstrate this point, it is noted that the Lotus Sutra explicitly stressed the enlightenment of women. This is unheard of in religious and philosophical ideas of that era. Across the globe, women were then given a lower status in every aspects of life. Lotus Sutra refuted that and offer women the same status as men in the pursuit of enlightenment.

The next point is that the Lotus Sutra was designed for the future (then), in what Buddhism described as the Latter Day of the Law. In this Latter Day, mankind is plagued with greed, anger and foolishness which permeated every aspect of society. This phenomenon applies perfectly to our contemporary world. This is why Lotus Sutra is really applicable to us, more than the direct disciples of Shakyamuni.

Nichiren Daishonin says that both the essential and theoretical teachings were taught for the sake of all people living after Shakyamuni's passing; the sutra, he concludes, was taught particularly for people of the Latter Day of the Law.

Life and Death

Scissor Paper Stone

Just having some fun with Math using the classic game of Scissor-Paper-Stone (aka Rock-Paper-Scissor).