At first only Nichiren chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but then two, three,
and a hundred followed, chanting and teaching others.
Propagation will unfold this way in the future as well.
(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.385)
2nd week
Consider this: if one cannot cross a moat ten feet wide, can one cross
a more that is twenty or thirty wide?
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.808) 3rd week
Teaching another something is the same as oiling
the wheels of a cart so that they turn even though it is heavy,
or as floating a boat on water so that it moves ahead easily. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.1086)
4th week Bring forth the great power of faith, and be spoken of by all the people
of Kamakura, both high and low, or by all the people of
Japan, as "Shijo Kingo, Shijo Kingo of the
Lotus school!" (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.319)
5th week
Life is limited; we must not begrudge it. What
we should ultimately aspire to is the Buddha land.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.214)
February 2008
1st week
In battles soldiers regard the general as their soul.
If the general were to lose heart, his soldiers would become cowards.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.613)
2nd week
Buddhism primarily concerns itself with victory or defeat, while secular authority
is based on the principle of reward and
punishment.
(Writings of Nichiren
Daishonin, p.835)
3rd week The most important thing in practicing the Buddhist teachings is to follow and uphold the Buddha's golden words,
not the opinions of others.(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.393)
4th week Be resolved to summon forth the great power of faith, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
with the prayer that your faith will be steadfast and correct at the moment of death.
(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.218)
March 2008
1st week
"If this person ... on seeing those who read, recite, copy, and uphold this sutra, should despise, hate, envy,
or bear grudges against them ... When his
life comes to an end he will enter the Avichi hell." (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.61)
2nd week
To forgot the original teacher who had brought one the water of wisdom from the great ocean of the Lotus Sutra and instead follow another would surely cause one to sink into the endless sufferings of birth and death.
(Writings of Nichiren
Daishonin, p.747)
3rd week If a boat is handled by an unskilled steersman, it may capsize and drown
everyone aboard.
(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.614)
4th week The purpose of the appearance in this world
of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, lies in his behavior
as a human being.
(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin,
p.852)
April 2008
1st week
Life as a human being is hard to sustain - as hard as it is for the dew to remain on the grass. But it is better to live a single day
with honor than to live to 120 and die in
disgrace. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.851)
2nd week
The Mystic Law you now embrace surpasses
the moon-loving meditation. How could your boils possibly not be healed
and your life span not extended?
(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.634)
3rd week All the various teachings of the Buddha are spread by persons. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.61)
4th week Let us openly and clearly outline the virtues
of Myoho-renge-kyo! Just as poisonous compounds are changed
into medicine,
so these five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo
change evil into good. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.1064)
May 2008
1st week
A hundred years of practice in the Land of
Perfect Bliss cannot compare to the benefit gained from one day's practice
in the impure world. (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p.736)
2nd week
This life is like a dream. One cannot be
sure that one will live until tomorrow. However, wretched a beggar you
might become, never disgrace the Lotus Sutra.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.824)
3rd week Nichiren alone took the lead in carrying
out the task of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. He may even be one of them.
If Nichiren is to be counted among the Bodhisattvas of
the Earth, then so must his disciples and lay supporters. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.385) 4th week Buddhism is like the body, and society like
the shadow. When the body bends, so does the shadow. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.1039) 5th week Just as a lamp becomes brighter when oil
is added, and just as plants and trees flourish with rain, so will human
beings never
fail to prosper when they make good causes. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.1013)
June 2008
1st week
Since the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect; since the
person is worthy of respect, the land is sacred. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.1097)
2nd week
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest of all
joys. (Record
of Orally Transmitted Teachings, p.212)
3rd week The sufferings that all living beings undergo, all springing from this
one cause - all these are Nichiren's own sufferings.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, p.934) 4th week When he was alive, he was a Buddha in life,
and now he is a Buddha in death. He is a Buddha in both life and death.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, p.456)
July 2008
1st week
What a joy it is for us to have been born
in the Latter Day of the Law and to have shared in the propagation of the
Lotus Sutra! (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.1026)
2nd week To examine one's face one has only to look in a clear mirror, and to understand the rise and fall of a nation's fortunes, there is
no mirror more revealing than that provided
by the Buddhist teachings. (Writings of Nichiren
Daishonin Volume II, p.618)
3rd week When great evil occurs, great good follows. Since great slander already
exists in our land, the great correct Law will spread
without fail. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.1119)
4th week Have profound faith. A coward cannot
have any of his prayers answered. (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.1001)
5th week Everyone in Japan, from the sovereign on down to the common people, without exception has tried to do me harm, but I have survived until this day. You should realize that this is because, although I am alone, I have firm faith. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.614)
August 2008
1st week
Regard your service to your lord as the practice
of the Lotus sutra. This is what is meant by "No worldly affairs of
life or work
are ever contrary to the true reality." (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.905)
2nd week If the minds of living beings are impure,
their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.4)
4th week Praying as earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood, or to obtain
water from parched ground.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.444)
September 2008
1st week
Even though one acts virtuously throughout
one's life, a single word can ruin one.
(Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.499)
2nd week If the ruler of a walled city is unbending,
then those who guard the city will remain firm; but if the ruler is cowardly,
then those who guard the city will grow fearful. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, p.668)
3rd week When we chant this Myoho-renge-kyo, the Buddha
of original enlightenment present in our lives becomes manifest. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, p.85)
4th week Whether or not your prayer is answered will
depend on your faith; [if it is not] I will in no way be to blame. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.1079)
October 2008
1st week If Nichiren's compassion is truly great and encompassing, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
will spread for ten thousand years and more,
for all eternity. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.736)
2nd week Those who hear even a single sentence or phrase of the Lotus Sutra will
attain Buddhahood without fail. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.42)
3rd week It is the way of the devil to delight in obstructing good and in causing
the production of evil. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.856)
4th week The more gold is heated in the flames, the
brighter will be its color; the more a sword is whetted, the sharper it
will become. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.673)
November 2008
1st week
Anyone who teaches the principles of Buddhism
to others is bound to incur hatred from men and women, priests and nuns.
Let them say what they will. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.626)
2nd week To hope to attain Buddhahood without speaking out against slander is as
futile as trying to find water in the midst of fire or fire
in the midst of water. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.747)
3rd week The Lotus Sutra, however, reveals not only
the person's form but that person's mind as well. And it reveals not only
the mind;
it reflects, without the least concealment,
that person's past actions and future as well. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, p.619)
4th week Worthy persons deserve to be called so because
they are not carried away by the eight winds; prosperity, decline, disgrace,
honor, praise, censure, suffering and pleasure.
(Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.794)
December 2008
1st week
A wise person, while dwelling in security,
anticipates danger; a perverse one, while dwelling amid danger, takes
security for granted. (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.621)
2nd week It is the way of the world that the poor fawn upon the rich, the lowly
revere the noble, and the few follow the many. (Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.969)
3rd week You should understand from the above that
even if one performs a good deed, should it be an act of lesser good that
destroys great good,
it will cause one to fall into the evil paths. (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.79)
4th week Evil friends will employ enticing words, deception and flattery and speak
in a clever manner, thereby gaining control over the
minds of ignorant and uninformed people and
destroying the good minds that are in them. (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, p.221)
5th week If they should encounter a good friend, then
the roots of goodness that they planted in their previous existences
will be revived.
if they encounter an evil friend, they will
lose their true mind. (Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, p.785)
