Hello and very Good Morning all. I Arnav would be presenting the concept “Live True to Yourself”.

Toda Sensei shares “Whether one is suffering because of poverty, a business failure, a bitter quarrel
with one’s spouse, an injury caused by tripping over a hibachi [a charcoal brazier]—ultimately, all
these things are a reflection of one’s life. That is, they are outward expressions of one’s inner state
of being. When viewed in this way, everything in our lives occurs as a result of the changes unfolding
within us. That’s why it is important for us to strive to change for the better and ceaselessly create
our own and others happiness. You therefore have to be true to yourself and take responsibility for
your own life. Indeed, it’s vital to recognize that you have no choice but to do so. It’s a mistake to
blame others or things outside you for your circumstances, to constantly think: ‘If only he or she
would do this or that’ or ‘I’d be happy if only the situation in society were such and such.’”.

Basing ourselves on this guidance by Toda Sensei, we need to take control of our own life and never
be defeated by our circumstances. This can be done by the following principles:

1. Appreciate and Develop Yourself

2. Strive for Self-Discipline
3. Forge a strong will
4. Let people know you care about them
5. Shift the Focus from Yourself

Appreciate and Develop Yourself

According to the Buddhist principle of cherry, plum, peach and apricot blossom, just as each fruit is
unique in its own way, for example, we cannot compare apples and oranges, similarly, every person
is unique in his/her own way. So, we should stop comparing ourselves with others and strive to be a
better version of yourself everyday by appreciating our strong points and working on our weak
points. For that, we should have an aim to strive for and also have the confidence to voluntarily take
charge of an activity, be it in workplace, in Gakkai or in a family event.

In order to achieve that we should chant abundant daimoku so that we can manifest our full
potential in fulfilling the assigned responsibilities successfully. We should also strive to support
someone in faith by chanting and studying Sensei’s guidance with them and also encourage them to
participate in Gakkai activities.

Strive for Self-Discipline

Developing a strong character is a requirement to survive in this ever-changing world. If we have a

strong character, then we can understand the feelings of others and brush aside our self-driven and
egoistic attitude to work with others in a team to achieve a specific goal that we have set for
ourselves. This can be achieved by having self-discipline, which means we have to control our
behavior, action and impulses to stop ourselves before doing something inappropriate or going too
far. For achieving self-discipline, we have to chant abundant daimoku for developing a strong life
force and also to bring forth our Buddhahood as when we bring forth our Buddhahood, we invoke
our passionate nature also, which will become an impetus for our progress, a strong sense of justice
and a burning desire to help other people. We can control our reflexes from doing something
inappropriate by channelizing it into something positive. For example, if we are angry/afraid of
criticism, we should strive to challenge to develop the ability to encourage and reassure others.
 Forge a Strong Will

We all have seen the cartoon “Popeye”, where the main character, Popeye, is so weak that he is
constantly being beaten up by others. But when he eats spinach, he instantly acquires strength and
easily triumphs over his adversaries. This is because he believes in the power of spinach.

Just as Popeye believed in the power of spinach, we should believe in the power of gohonzon by
having a firm conviction that I have the Gohonzon, so I would be able to overcome any problem and
everything will be fine. We should also chant abundant daimoku to become a person of strong will
who can tackle any problem with wisdom and determination. We should also try to take the
initiative to challenge ourselves in some task, for example, getting up early in the morning by
overcoming our laziness, reading at least two pages of Sensei’s guidance every day from “The New
Human Revolution”, raeding gosho daily. This practice will help us to achieve consistency in
whatever challenges we had strived to complete with conviction. Initially it may seem difficult, but
we can renew it every time we fail in it with a fresh determination with daily efforts to win over our
inner weaknesses and strive to continue it till we are satisfied that we have done our best.

Let People Know You Care About Them

We should have empathy and compassion for other people and not shy away from having a
conversation with anyone just because of our limitations. For example, if we are not very talkative,
we can be an active listener. In this way, we can let the people know the side which defines what we
really are and show our genuine care and concern for them.

Ikeda Sensei shares “In Buddhism, we say that the voice does the Buddha’s work. Fundamentally,
that means chanting Daimoku. Those who chant Daimoku are in essence the most eloquent of all
people. Try talking what you want to say to the Gohonzon first. It is also important to chant for
other’s happiness. Then, quite naturally, you will develop the ability to freely and confidently say
what you want to say to others.”

Shift the Focus from Yourself

Many a times, we shy away from pursuing our interests or even talking to people about anything
that’s in our minds due to the fear that what the other person would think about us, which means
we are very much self-obsessed in our daily lives.

In order to overcome that, we should stop caring about what others think of us as in reality, people
don’t pay that much attention to what others are doing as they don’t have that much time and
energy for it. We should also chant abundant daimoku for a high life state and to make opportunities
for teamwork in Gakkai activities. This would help us pursue our interests, be it in sports, cultural,
arts, etc., and also help us bond with the comrades in faith without any fear of being judged.

Sensei, I determine to make efforts to consistently exert myself in the three pillars of faith,
practice and study with the aim of becoming an individual with a strong will power to advance
kosen-rufu for the purpose of achieving absolute happiness. Thank You.