Just As You Are

14 Dec 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , ,

Flowers Of HappinessYour happiness and victory in life hinge on whether you can grasp, while you are still young, the fact that happiness lies within.

That’s why there is no need for you to compare yourselves to others but instead strive powerfully and cheerfully to develop your state of life, aiming to improve yourselves each day.

From that struggle will bloom noble flowers of mission, flowers of happiness that are yours and yours alone. Shine as you are, live true to yourselves, and advance in your own unique way.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Onwards, Ever Onwards

13 Dec 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Life Is A StruggleThere is no self-improvement without effort.

Without taking action, happiness will never come, no matter how long you wait. A life without peaks and valleys is a fairy tale. Reality is strict, because it is a win or lose struggle.

This is the way it is for human beings. Therefore, you should not allow yourselves to be battered about by reality but rather willingly rise to its challenges and use them as opportunities to train and strengthen yourselves.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Don’t Just Sit There

01 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Don't Just Sit ThereIf you think about it, although we may not be destined to die five minutes from now, we are all, without exception, going to die at some point. We can count on it 100%. There is nothing surer than this.

Victor Hugo said, “We are all under sentence of death, but with a sort of indefinite reprieve.”

Ideally, we should live every minute of our lives mindfully, as if it were the last moment of our lives. Those who live aimlessly are left with a sense of emptiness at the end of their lives, but those who live all-out, striving to achieve their goals right to the end, will die peacefully.

Leonardo da Vinci said “As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death.”

One who is aware that death could come at any time, will live each day to the fullest. So don’t wait for something to happen, or someone to come along, before you start living, do it now.

Every Child

24 Oct 2012 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Every Child Is PreciousWith my thoughts being dominated by Charlotte, and her slow and painful recovery from the latest surgery, whilst remembering that she is but one of my three children, I was reminded of this explanation, by Daisaku Ikeda, of a relevant parable from the Lotus Sutra.

Every child is precious. The Lotus Sutra tells the parable of the three kinds of medicinal herbs and two kinds of trees. There are many different kinds of plants; their shape, size and nature come in myriad varieties. Some plants grow fast while others take time to mature. In this parable, however, the heavens rain upon all the plants equally, nurturing their growth. And the plants blossom and bear fruits according to their own unique character.

This parable symbolizes the Buddha’s vast compassion to nurture all living beings despite their differences. All children are different; each possesses his or her wonderful unique quality. We must pour upon all children our great love and compassion so that each child can blossom, true to his or her unique quality.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Inner Happiness

18 Oct 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

A Brilliant Inner PalaceSuch things as money, fame, and material possessions offer a fleeting satisfaction, something that can be called relative happiness.

However, when we transform our lives internally, when we develop within ourselves a brilliant inner palace, then we can be said to have established absolute happiness.

If we develop a state of mind as vast and resplendent as a magnificent palace, then nothing—no matter where we go or what we may encounter in life-can undermine or destroy our happiness.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Finally …

11 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

Painful Questions, Honest AnswersGoing back over your mistakes, asking yourself painful questions and giving honest answers is a difficult, but enlightening experience.

We’ve all made mistakes in life, some more serious than others, but talking them through, trying to explain why you made this decision at that point in time, makes you re-examine your own values.

Our history is set in stone, we cannot go back and make those decisions anew. But we can try to make amends, apologise for any hurt we have caused, and, above all, be honest with ourselves and others.

The changes in myself, that I see and feel, the way I view life, and my responsibility for events affecting me and people around me, have come about through my Practice and my study of Nichiren Buddhism.

As I have said before, once you see things in a different light, you cannot undo that change. Nor would I want to, because even though I know I will make other mistakes in the future, I know that those mistakes will be made despite honourable intentions, and with a great deal more Wisdom, Courage and Compassion.

The one thing I really must try very hard to improve is how I hear the answers that others give to the questions I ask. I have been guilty of having selective hearing over the last few months and of trying to dissuade others from taking the path that is right for them.

That guilt has caused a great deal of pain to all parties concerned, and for that I am truly sorry. Sadly, I now realise that trying to impose my feelings upon situations beyond my control was never going to work. I hope that I can take the lessons learned into any similar future situations.

The Ultimate Test

08 Oct 2012 2 Comments

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Roller Coaster Of LifeYou may have gathered that the last few days and weeks have been a little challenging for me. It’s been a little difficult at work, though I’m happy to say that we seem to have worked through that.

But that hasn’t really been the most difficult issue. My relationship with Bridget, a relationship that had really seemed to be going so well, has struck the rocks in a major fashion, and has gone down with all hands.

It’s nobody’s fault, and although it is, and has been rather painful, in an odd sort of way, it feels strangely right that we go our separate ways. It may be that this is not the end of the story, but only time will tell. I really hope that her roller coaster ride evens out a little and that she will find happiness very soon.

So here I am, Anupadin, the one who tries to expound a daily gem of enlightening wisdom, having to call on my practice and my progress to make sense of it all. I have chanted about the past, the present and the future, but as you might expect, it’s going to be a work in progress for some time.

Have Courage

06 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , ,

Have CourageWe all have choices to make in life. Everything from whether to take tea or coffee to the major life-changing decisions regarding money, relationships, children and careers. Whatever the choice you have to make, make it with wisdom, courage and compassion.

If you summon your courage to challenge something, you will never regret it. It would be so sad to spend your life wishing, “If only I had a little more courage.”

Whatever the outcome, the important thing is to take a step forward on the path that you believe is right.

Do not worry too much about what others may think. It is your life. Be true to yourself.

It Takes All Sorts

03 Oct 2012 1 Comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , ,

It Takes All SortsYou 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?

It’s All About You

01 Oct 2012 Leave a comment

by Anupadin in Buddhism Tags: , , , , , ,

all-about-youIt’s all too easy, when we find ourselves in a difficult situation, to think that it is the other person who must change. This is a perfect example of a lack of right-thinking, because it is we who must change.

Our Practice, our enlightenment, even the path, all reside within us and it is there that we must look for the change.

Nichiren put it very succinctly …

You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself.

Your practice of the Buddhist teachings will not relieve you of the sufferings of birth and death in the least unless you perceive the true nature of your life. If you seek enlightenment outside yourself, then your performing even ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds will be in vain.

It is like the case of a poor man who spends night and day counting his neighbour’s wealth but gains not even half a coin.

~ Nichiren Daishonin

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