Statue of Buddha in Vietnam

Buddha says,

“We need to go out and mix with people every day. Making our local community the base for our activities, we need to forge ties of friendship with others and work with them to create peace. Staying connected in this way to our town, city and country is a practical manifestation of our lives permeating all things.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi taught people to live with lion-like courage, impressing upon them they could not afford to leave things up to others, that they had to stand up for themselves and fight for justice. Ultimately, the only way forward is by developing self-reliance, forging a stand-alone spirit. That is the only path to victory

From the teachings of Daisaku Ikeda

Bhagat Singh

Bhagat Singh, one of the greatest and well read revolutionary freedom fighters in the Indian Freedom Struggle said just before going to the Gallows in March 1931,

“To be a revolutionary one required immense moral strength, but one also required criticism and independent thinking. In the struggle for self-emancipation, humanity had to struggle against the narrow conception of religion as also against the belief in God. Anyone who stands for progress has to criticize, disbelieve and challenge every item of the old faith.”

This was written by Bhagat Singh in an article “Why I am an Atheist” a few weeks before he was sent to the gallows.

To blossom and give is to live

We loose focus of our lives in a world full of treachery, backstabbing, conflicting goals and hegemonic settings. We forget what we need to be. Should we become like the treacherous people who have been creating problems for or shall we be the light of hope. This life is a constant struggle against a lot of things. They can be based on principles, work, life, marriage and the list never ends. In this post, based on Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings, I try and answer these questions. It is a simple thumb rule that will in every adverse circumstance take us forward.

You should become the kind of person who is sought after by everyone. People should say of you, “There is a certain brightness about him. He makes me feel at ease, inspiring me and giving me a sense of courage.” Also, amid the harsh realities of society, you must raise your banner as victors in life.

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According to Lord Buddha’s teachings, This lifetime will never come again. It is precious and irreplaceable. For living without regret, it crucial for us to have a concrete purpose and continuously set goals and challenges for ourselves. It is equally important for us to keep moving forward those specific targets steadily, one step at a time.

Thus as we move forward, we need to keep on working for these goals by first setting them to live a life without regret and use every moment of this life.

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Lord Krishna in Gita says,

“When you keep thinking about sense objects, attachment comes. This attachment breeds desire the lust of possession that burns into anger. The anger resulting from the lust clouds our judgment thus making us unfit to learn from past mistakes. Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise and the life becomes utter waste.

But when you move amidst the world of sense that is free from attachment there is peace in which all sorrows end and you live in the wisdom of self. This realization of ourselves makes us wiser and fit to learn and tackle the problems without desire or attachment”

Attachment -> Desire -> Lust for Possession -> Anger -> Clouds our Judgment

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Unfazed by the petty jealousies of others please move forward boldly with joy and laughter ~ From the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin

I’ve personally faced the wrath of jealousy. The most common form of it is sarcasm and such sarcasm hurts. In my pursuit of happiness, I am trying to be unfazed by jealousy, because there is nothing else we can do about it. If we try and do something about it, we would moving away from our path and thus the jealous person will get what he or she wanted. Rather we should chant for a higher life state of the jealous person and stay unresolved on our path.

Life contains the capacity like flames that reach towards heaven, to transform suffering and pain into the energy needed for value creation, into light that illuminates darkness.

From the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin

We all enter a period in our lives when we are subject to suffering and pain. In such times we blame our surroundings for the misery. Understanding this misery as a cause for channelizing our energy can create value in our lives. All that frustration built up can be used to transform suffering into value. Bad phases don’t last long because we work to change them. The driving force for the work comes from need to change our condition.