There are some things in life that are just worth the suffering involved in attaining them. Your dreams are included, if not top, of that list.
It has been said that the things that come easily are never worth as much as those that take time and effort. Think back to your own achievements, I’m sure you will see that the things that bring the most pride and enjoyment are the ones that took the most effort to come to fruition.
So let’s examine just what qualities we will need in order to succeed.
In the first place it may well take a great deal of Courage. The Courage to persist under difficult conditions, to make difficult decisions. Often we have to make sacrifices to achieve the greater goal and that also takes Courage. Sometimes we might be tempted to give in, when the pain seems to be too great. The Courage to go on, to reach that goal, will repay us many times over when we succeed.
To ensure that you are making the right decisions along the way will take Wisdom. Maybe we make mistakes and Wisdom is exhibited in the way we learn from those mistakes. At other times the Wisdom is apparent in the way we take the hardest option for the right reason.
Finally we need to have Compassion. There will be times when we have to live through short term pain for long term gain, and Compassion for ourselves and for the others involved will make the process so much easier for everyone to bear.
I don’t need to cite any examples, we have all got life experiences that illuminate the process very clearly. I wish you all the Wisdom, Courage and Compassion to aim for, and attain your own dreams. Remember it can all be made easier by following the Buddhist principle of Kyo Chi Gyo I, it is the recipe for success.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
January The First is symbolically very special, but in reality it is just another day, another short period in our lives and another turn of The Wheel of Life. Often we mark the day by making resolutions, promises to ourselves, to stop doing something we feel we shouldn’t be doing, or to start doing something we feel that we should.
Sometimes in life we find ourselves in difficult or disappointing circumstances. But the laws of Karma are universal, and we get what we deserve, whether we recognise the causes or not, the effects speak for themselves.
With Christmas just around the corner, you would like to think that the spirit of Peace on Earth and Good Will to All Men might have kicked in by now. Sadly there’s not a sign of it. With wreaths being stolen off graves in Ringwood and 
Buddhism, which is founded on the law of cause and effect, stresses the concept of karma. This principle explains that life at each moment is subject to the cumulative effects of causes made in the past.
As a lifelong Chelsea fan, I have been rather upset (understatement of the century alert) at the debacle that has unfolded over the last forty eight hours. The manner in which Chelsea manager, and long time crowd favourite, Roberto Di Matteo was dismissed has left a very bitter taste in the mouth of many fans.
Hurricane Sandy, the latest, and most destructive storm system so far to hit North America, is today wreaking havoc across a huge part of the eastern seaboard. The states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have so far born the brunt of the onslaught, but others are bracing themselves as the storm is predicted to head north into Canada.
Our actions in previous lives are all engraved upon, and contained within, this lifetime. The causes for our present suffering, our joy, happiness or misery, all lie with our own past actions. But Nichiren Buddhism enables us to fundamentally transform our destiny.
There are situations and challenges in life, when the almost overwhelming tendency is to look inwards, to examine repeatedly, the reasons and causes that have brought us to this point in time.
When you find yourself in a situation where there is nothing you can do that will help, what should you do? Well if there really is nothing you can do, even after you have chanted yourself silly trying to find something, you must do nothing.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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