Win through courage, triumph with valour

SSA Times
Issue 338
SGI President Ikeda

Live life to the fullest, aiming to excel in everything you do. That's what life is all about. Do not be swayed by those around you, don't be timid or hesitant - act without reservation. Strive to surpass your predecessors, gaining capability and strength. This will lead to your development. In a struggle for survival, you must have a powerful life force.

Not letting your mistakes or troubles defeat you, but picking yourself up and triumphing over them, using everything as a springboard for growth, for fresh success or greater achievement - that attitude itself is truely commendable.

One's strong lifeforce determines everything. With a strong life force, we will never be defeated. The source of our invincible life force is chanting the daimoku of the Mystic Law, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

SGI President Josei Toda also stressed the importance of extending a hand of friendship to people when they experience hard or challenging times and of warmly encouraging and supporting them, standing by them with unchanging sincerity and goodwill. This is the soka spirit of friendship.

Zhuge Liang, one of the leading characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms said, "When men of true integirty get to know and understand each other, their friendship endures without fading throughout the four seasons, neither blooming extravagantly in the warmth nor dropping its leaves in the cold... it becomes stronger with each passing period of fortune or adversity". We must strive to forge these kind of lasting friendships.

One can achieve great things only by putting down deep roots and laying a strong foundation. Don't lose sight of yourself by enving or resenting others or always being concerned with how others look. Your happiness, your success or failure in life, is up to you. People who have forged a solid foundation always win out in the end. Live with the spirit that you will definitely succeed in your endeavours. Don't be impatient; just advance with confidence and assurance.

Courage is ultimately compassion. People lacking courage become cowardly and self-serving. We must win through courage, triumph with valour, for valour is the ultimate spiritual virtue where the strength of mind of a person enables him/her to encounter challenges with firmness.

Struggle of Life is Struggle Against Own Weaknesses

SSA Times
16 Jul 2008
Adaptation from SGI President Ikeda's speech at the graduation ceremony for Soka Junior and Senior High Schools on March 16 1995)

The Steep Slope, a book by Russian author, Aljbert A Likhanov, tells a srtory of a young boy living in Russia at the height of WWII. There is a memorable scene when the young boy's father, a soldier came home on a 3-day leave, afyer which he would return to the batterfield. The day before departure, he takes his son skiing. They ended at a steep slope, which the young boy has never been able to conquer.

"Can you ski down that slope? Go ahead and give it a try!" urged the father to his son. But no matter how many times the boy tried, he falls miserably. The father offered no consolation, but instead speaks to his son as if he was uttering his last words, "You'll be able to do it!" You just have to conquer the sense that you can't succeed... Believe that you're strong! That's the important thing!"

Everyone has his or her own "steep slope" to conquer. The most fearful thing is one's own cowardice, as well as the weaknesses of character to always worry about failure and how others view us. The struggle of life is and will always be a struggle against one's own weaknesses.

Will you become weak and think,"I can't do this. I'm certain to fail?"

Or will you challenge the difficulties that lie ahead with the conviction, "I'm strong and I can become stronger still?"

Your destiny in life will vary greatly depending on the spirit that you maintain.