Daily Gosho - A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering

In our district, we often speak of long-standing members who positively welcome obstacles, seeing them as just another opportunity to show the power of this practice and their actual proof. Inspiring eh? So no matter what obstacles we are currently facing, let's keep advancing, knowing the key to our future victory is perseverance,  consistent practice and  the absolute faith that daimoku can transform anything. Anything!

"The greater the hardships befalling him, the greater the delight he feels, because of his strong faith."

(A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering - The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 33) http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=33 Selection source: SGI President Ikeda's guidance, Seikyo Shimbun, September 9th, 2012

Podcasts at Part 1 and Part 2 from http://abuddhistpodcast.com/


Background
Nichiren Daishonin wrote this letter at Kamakura in the first year of Kocho (1261), about two weeks before he was exiled to Ito in Izu. Virtually nothing is known about the recipient, Shiiji Shiro, other than that he lived in the province of Suruga and was acquainted with two of the Daishonin’s leading disciples, Shijo Kingo and Toki Jonin.
The title of this letter is drawn from a passage in the “Medicine King” chapter of the Lotus Sutra that speaks of “a ship in which to cross the water.” In this letter, the Daishonin teaches that the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is the “ship” that can unfailingly transport one across the sea of life’s inevitable sufferings to the distant shore of enlightenment.