The story of my path to Buddhahood through the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin
14 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Buddhahood, Fortune, Happiness, Heart, Respect
Happiness is a matter of the heart. This is not mere spiritualism. Our hearts are precious vessels endowed with the treasure of Buddhahood.
When we strive earnestly in faith and practice to reveal our Buddhahood, we can walk along the sure and steady path to happiness and attain a state of complete fulfilment and satisfaction.
Nichiren writes: “Fortune comes from one’s heart and makes one worthy of respect.”
01 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Love, Peace, Point Of View, Respect, Right Thinking, Understanding, Wisdom Courage and Compassion
My dear old friend Billy Brown had a favourite saying, ‘that everyone had the right to his opinion’. He was generally joking, but sometimes he meant it.
My view is somewhat different. I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion, whether it agrees with mine, or not.
Seeing things from another’s viewpoint is a critical part of being able to meet that person half way in any situation. That then gives us the ability to resolve, or at least come to terms with any potential point of conflict in a positive and constructive way.
If someone stands by their beliefs, even when doing so might run the risk of causing hurt in some manner, those beliefs must be respected. To do anything else would be to concur with Billy’s idea, and that, I am afraid, is not a recipe for peace, love or understanding.
26 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Human Rights, path to enlightenment, Respect, Responsibility
We all have to find our own path to enlightenment. One person’s way may not be that of another, but we all have a path, if we take the time, and have the courage to find it.
Finding the right way is not an easy task, but you owe it to yourself to keep looking.
Everyone has the right to flower, to reveal his or her full potential as human beings and to fulfil their particular mission in this world. You have this right, as does everyone else.
This is the meaning of human rights. To scorn, violate and abuse people’s human rights destroys the natural order of things.
Valuing human rights and showing respect for other people are amongst our most important tasks in life.
15 Jan 2014 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Oneness Of Self And The Environment, Practice, Reflection, Respect, Self Awareness, Wisdom Courage and Compassion
The misfortune of others is our misfortune. Our happiness is the happiness of others. To see ourselves in others and feel an inner oneness and sense of unity with them represents a fundamental revolution in the way we view and live our lives.
Therefore, discriminating against another person is the same as discriminating against oneself. When we hurt another, we are hurting ourselves. And when we respect others, we respect and elevate our own lives as well.
~ Daisaku Ikeda
14 Dec 2013 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Buddhahood, Fortune, Happiness, Heart, Respect
Happiness is a matter of the heart. This is not mere spiritualism. Our hearts are precious vessels endowed with the treasure of Buddhahood.
When we strive earnestly in faith and practice and reveal our Buddhahood, we can walk along the sure and steady path to happiness and attain a state of complete fulfilment and satisfaction.
Nichiren writes: “Fortune comes from one’s heart and makes one worthy of respect.”
31 Jan 2013 2 Comments
in Buddhism Tags: Human Rights, path to enlightenment, Respect, Responsibility
We all have to find our own path to enlightenment. One person’s way may not be that of another, but we all have a path, if we take the time, and have the courage to find it.
Everyone has the right to flower, to reveal his or her full potential as human beings and to fulfil their particular mission in this world. You have this right, as does everyone else.
This is the meaning of human rights. To scorn, violate and abuse people’s human rights destroys the natural order of things.
Valuing human rights and showing respect for other people are amongst our most important tasks in life.
19 Dec 2012 2 Comments
in Buddhism Tags: Investigation, Karma, Pleb, Police, Respect, Responsibility
There seems to be a tidal wave of corruption, skulduggery, cheating, malpractice, you name it, coming out of the woodwork all at once. Not that I believe for one instant, that this kind of thing hasn’t always gone of in one form or another. But there seems to be a form of cleansing going through society, where the guilty are being brought to book.
Further allegations regarding the BBC documentary about Jimmy Savile, revelations about possible Police collaboration over the Andrew Mitchell ‘Plebs’ case, the Dominique Strauss-Kahn ‘pimping’ case proceeding to court, UBS being fined $1.5bn for LIBOR fixing. Every single day, we are confronted by further evidence that many people who are in positions of power or authority are totally unfit for office.
Whilst it might seem like a depressing stream of bad news, tales of deceit, fraud, miss-use of power, and exploitation of the weak and innocent, it is in fact, a fast growing pressure by society in general, the everyday man and woman in the street, to rid ourselves of these liars, leaches and larcenists, and we must not stop here, we must press on.
There will be a force of resistance to this cleansing. The culprits are clever and powerful people, and are in a position to manipulate and hide evidence of their wrongdoings. As with the revelations that brought about the banking crisis, news of this kind will not be good for the economy and will most likely have serious consequences.
But having got our foot on their necks, we must not let then slither away. We must press home our advantages, maintain this impetus, and not rest until the work is done. Then, when honour, trust and confidence are restored, we must never let this filth rise to the top again.
12 Dec 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Buddhahood, Fortune, Happiness, Heart, Respect
Happiness is a matter of the heart. This is not mere spiritualism. Our hearts are precious vessels endowed with the treasure of Buddhahood.
When we strive earnestly in faith and practice and reveal our Buddhahood, we can walk along the sure and steady path to happiness and attain a state of complete fulfilment and satisfaction.
Nichiren writes: “Fortune comes from one’s heart and makes one worthy of respect.”
06 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Buddhahood, Dark Passenger, Fundamental Darkness, Lessons, Lotus Sutra, Practice, Respect
The Lotus Sutra, which explains that all people can attain Buddhahood and that all people are Buddhas, embodies a spirit of supreme respect for human beings.
By contrast, those teachings and ideas that seek to turn people into objects to be exploited, embody ultimate disrespect for human beings.
Such disrespect is an expression of fundamental darkness. On the level of the individual, practising the Lotus Sutra means confronting the fundamental darkness in one’s own life.
~ Daisaku Ikeda
16 Sep 2012 Leave a comment
in Buddhism Tags: Kate & William, Photographs, Respect, Responsibility
Amongst the photos of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visiting the idyllic Solomon Islands, the royal couple’s legal team are proceeding with an action, in the French courts, against the photographer who took the photos of Kate, sunbathing topless.
With reports that these photos have now also been published in Ireland, I started to wonder where the blame for this type of personal invasion really lies. Is it with the photographer, who stands to earn a huge amount of money selling the images? Does it lie with the publishers, who pay them for the pictures, knowing all too well that they will sell many, many more copies of their paper? Or does it lie with us, the people who willingly pay for the chance to see some fuzzy titillating images?
I suspect that all three would find it difficult to defend themselves in a court of law. But without any demand for the final product, would the paper pay the huge sums demanded by the photographer? If there were no financial gain to be had, would the photographer go to all the trouble to snoop on the Royal couple?
In the week that the Liverpool fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster finally received justice, it is very relevant to note that it is still not possible to buy a copy of the Sun newspaper in Liverpool. The damning headline in that paper, on the day after Hillsborough, so outraged the people of the city, that it has never recovered from the shame.
If only we could, collectively, put that level of pressure on publishers, or better still on society as a whole, the moral fibre might be improved. Now I realise that morals are a very personal measure of our own behaviour, but stooping to the lowest common denominator cannot be in the interest of any of us.
Whilst not trying to be a modern version of Mary Whitehouse, I do think that if we all took a little more notice of our own individual responsibility in these matters, the world would be a far better place to live.
As an interesting footnote, it appears that the photographer is, in fact, a woman.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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