May is a golden season in Britain, where winter is long. March and April are not yet fully spring. It is May when days grow long and warm. The English expression “March winds and April showers bring May flowers” well describes this transition. …
May is a month of youth; it is a time for all creatures to sing an ode to life. I know the English autumn, as well as her winter; but England is most wonderful in May.
It was also May when I was invited to have a dialogue with the British historian Dr. Arnold Toynbee. In 1972 and 1973, two years in a row, I visited him in the season of mayflowers. Said he, “If I were young, I would seek the essence of Buddhism in the Orient and put it into practice.” In May of 1975, Dr. Toynbee lay on his sickbed. So I entrusted his secretary with the newly published collection of our dialogues, Choose Life.
In May 1989, 14 years later, Taplow Court, a castle of culture, was opened. Located west of London, Taplow stands atop a gently sloping hill overlooking the flow of the River Thames.
As I strolled around Taplow Court, my eyes fell upon a handmade pine bench beside a spring well, which is said to have been there for at least two millennia. People naturally settled around this secure hill where water was plentiful, as evidenced by a sixth-century burial mound on the grounds.
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It was May 3 when my mentor Josei Toda became the second Soka Gakkai president. It was also May 3 when I was inaugurated as the youthful third president of the Soka Gakkai. Since then, many a May 3 have come and gone, some bright, some overshadowed by darkness. But our fellow members have surmounted all and won. They have triumphed alongside me.
The spirit of May is eternal hope; it is the heart of youth, a passion for progress. As long as the spirit of May burns in our hearts, a garden bed abloom with a profusion of flowers will always unfold along the path before us.
May is a time to take a step forward on our eternal journey. The spirit of May lives in my heart every day, even amidst the solitude of autumn, the trying hardships of winter or the stormy nights of summer!
Within my heart always spreads the dazzling blue sky of May 3. Within my heart always rises the bright sun of May, the sun of eternal beginning!
Adapted from an essay in Our Beautiful Earth: Photos and Essays of My Travels, by Daisaku Ikeda, April 2, 2000, Seikyo Press, Tokyo, Japan.
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