President Ikeda has said, “Courage is the driving force of our lives”. So, what does he mean by this? To what kind of courage does he refer?
The driving force he speaks of is when we stand up, and begin challenging those aspects of our life that are not working for the happiness of ourselves and others. Only when we make human happiness our intent can our buddha-state become our dominant life condition – and then, together with our friends and family, we find the courage to carve out a new life. Sometimes the challenges can seem daunting and difficult, but our Daimoku can generate the life force we need to tackle them head-on.
When this kind of courage becomes the driving force in our lives, we can let go of our fear of change – we can look at ourselves honestly, and start to aspire to our dreams – We can become the kind of person that our society needs today. Through our thoughts, words, and deeds we can begin to challenge our negative beliefs about ourselves and others. When we do this, we start to see that everyone has the potential for brilliance, and that our goal is to bring this forth from everyone we meet. We can see proof of this in our daily lives when we put this into practice.
We can see and feel this courage when we make human happiness our goal at this moment. Then, our lives are lifted beyond the prison of our karma and we are free to care about our true selves and the lives of those around us.
Have you experienced true courage like this, and if so, how has it affected your life?
N.B. (posted a few hours after my baby Grand Daughter, Georgia, had her first brain operation – I love you, honey bee)