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Ikeda Sensei’s Lecture Series—Installment 77

The first point I wish to convey to you is “Please put your health first.”  I hope you’ll use your wisdom and creativity to find ways to improve and maintain your health. Our Buddhist faith and practice are the driving force for good health. But that doesn’t mean we should be complacent about our health.

Inspired by my best friend’s brilliant life, I battle alongside my mentor and summon the courage to open my heart.

Q: I am a longtime SGI member—currently a district leader. I am nearing retirement and still feel very young. In terms of Buddhist practice, what is the best way to create a meaningful third stage of life? A: The first thing is to have a spirit of gratitude and a dedication to kosen-rufu for as

How I transformed my outrage at my mother’s death to become the person she believed I could be.

Centering my life on Buddhist practice, I transformed generations of fear into faith in my own power to heal.

Many of us may have experienced listening to someone share how they achieved something wonderful, only to be left thinking, How great for them, but I could never do something that amazing. Regarding the tendency to think less of ourselves, American philosopher Walt Whitman writes: Why what have you thought of yourself ? Is it

This article is adapted from An Introduction to Buddhism, pp. 46–48. As practice progresses and understanding grows, the three obstacles and four devils emerge in confusing form, vying with one another to interfere. … One should be neither influenced nor frightened by them. (“Letter to the Brothers,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p.

Many SGI members begin practicing Nichiren Buddhism hoping to change something in their lives or to find a deeper sense of fulfillment and happiness. We meet many people in the SGI who have transformed long-term despair into lasting hope, experiencing a great change in the meaning they derive from living. From the standpoint of faith,

With appreciation and a fighting spirit comes deep transformation. by Nick Kano ATLANTA In Spring 2014, I was 21 years old and arrested for selling drugs. Due to my intense financial struggles, dealing drugs, I thought, was the only way to make money. Fortunately the charges were dropped, but my challenges continued. One by one,

by Masayo Mukumoto GARDENA, CALIF. I learned the spirit of financial offerings from my mother. When she joined the Soka Gakkai in Japan in 1962, my family’s business had gone bankrupt, and we had many financial problems. I was 19, and the only one working. I couldn’t afford lunch, so I would tell my co-workers

Jaffar Amir Wilkerson, Atlanta Living Buddhism: Amir, thank you for sharing your story with us. Can you tell us about your upbringing? Jaffar Amir Wilkerson: Thank you! I’m honored to share my experience with you. When I was younger, my mother had many struggles in her marriage, raising nine children and keeping us financially stable.