You know the saying about taking the rough with the smooth? Well life generally consists of a mixture of good times and bad times, happiness and sadness, health as well as sickness. In general, it is the ratio of these opposites that makes us feel that life is going well, or going badly.
Buddhism teaches us that human life is endowed simultaneously with both good and evil. The human mind is interpreted as partaking of ten different conditions, or states, the Ten Worlds, including, at one end of the scale, hell, which is filled with suffering; hunger, dominated by greed; and animality, characterized by fear of the strong and contempt for the weak.
At the other end are the worlds of Bodhisattva and Buddhahood – states of mind in which people strive to help others by eliminating suffering and imparting happiness. Buddhism further teaches us that it is the nature of life for good and evil to be essentially inseparable.
As we have seen previously, all ten worlds contain, and are contained within the other worlds. This explains how we can be flying high one second and down in the dumps the next, generally at the whim of some external cause.
By realising that the worlds are so interconnected, we can learn to exercise more control over our changing life-states, or mood swings as they are commonly known. The result of greater self-awareness, brought about by the self-improvement that our practice brings, is that we can maintain a more stable, happier state of mind, and isn’t that the whole point?
You know the old adage, ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’. I believe it means that you can introduce an idea to someone, but you can’t make them accept the suggestion.
Buddhism teaches that our lives are endowed with both good and bad aspects simultaneously. The human mind switches between ten individual conditions, 
Sometimes I surprise myself, or rather something, that in all truth should be totally ingrained by now, suddenly permeates my grey matter and comes as a bit of a shock. I’ve been writing my blog for nearly three years now, and over sixty thousand people have visited it in that time, but it is important that the whole purpose behind it is not to get attention, is to help me, and others, to reach a state of enlightenment.
That makes me sound like a ‘60s flower child, doesn’t it? I was a bit too young to really take part in the Swinging Sixties, with their free love, flower power and peace signs. It must have been a very exciting time, so much was happening, in so many ways.
Passing on the ideas and ideals behind Buddhist teachings is a little like sewing a hidden gem into the lining of a friends clothes.
Since finding Nichiren Buddhism a couple of years ago, even though I have been a Buddhist for nearly twenty years, I still have a huge thirst for learning.
You know the old adage, ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’. I believe it means that you can introduce an idea to someone, but you can’t make them accept the suggestion.
The function of fire is to burn and give light. The function of water is to wash away filth. The winds blow away dust and breathe life into plants, animals, and human beings. The earth produces the grasses and trees, and heaven provides nourishing moisture.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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