Gosho Passage - June 21, 2026

"Question: You may talk about fire, but unless you put your hand in a flame, you will never burn yourself. You may say “water, water!” but unless you actually drink it, you will never satisfy your thirst. Then how, just by chanting the daimoku of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo without understanding what it means, can you escape from the evil paths of existence? Answer: They say that, if you play a koto strung with a lion’s sinews, then all the other kinds of strings will snap. And if you so much as hear the words “pickled plum,” your mouth will begin to water. Even in everyday life there are such wonders, so how much greater are the wonders of the Lotus Sutra!"

From Gosho "The Daimoku of the Lotus Sutra" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 141)

Gosho Passage - June 20, 2026

"The moon’s reflection will not dwell in muddy water; no birds are to be found in the limbs of a dead tree. The Buddha will not inhabit the body of a heartless woman. But a woman who upholds the Lotus Sutra is like pure water; the moon of Shakyamuni Buddha will reside there. [...] When in one’s heart one takes faith in Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart becomes a dwelling and Shakyamuni Buddha takes up residence there. At first one is not aware of this, but gradually, as the months go by, the Buddha in the heart begins to appear as in a dream, and one’s heart becomes bit by bit ever more joyful. "

From Gosho "The Buddha Resides in a Pure Heart" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 885)

Gosho Passage - June 19, 2026

"Continue your practice without backsliding until the final moment of your life, and when that time comes, behold! When you climb the mountain of perfect enlightenment and gaze around you in all directions, then to your amazement you will see that the entire realm of phenomena is the Land of Tranquil Light. The ground will be of lapis lazuli, and the eight paths will be set apart by golden ropes. Four kinds of flowers will fall from the heavens, and music will resound in the air. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas will be present in complete joy, caressed by the breezes of eternity, happiness, true self, and purity. The time is fast approaching when we too will count ourselves among their number. But if we are weak in faith, we will never reach that wonderful place."
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From Gosho "The Fourteen Slanders" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, page 761)

Gosho Passage - June 18, 2026

"In essence, the appearance of the treasure tower indicates that on hearing the Lotus Sutra the three groups of voice-hearers perceived for the first time the treasure tower within their own lives. Now Nichiren's disciples and lay supporters are also doing this. In the Latter Day of the Law, no treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, high or low, those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.are themselves the treasure tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come One Many Treasures. No treasure tower exists other than Myoho-renge-kyo. The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is the treasure tower, and the treasure tower is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

From Gosho "On the Treasure Tower" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 299)

Gosho Passage - June 17, 2026

"Let us openly and clearly outline the virtues of Myoho-renge-kyo! Just as poisonous compounds are changed into medicine, so these five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo change evil into good. The Spring of Jewels is so called because, in this spring, stones are changed into jewels. In the same way, these five characters can change ordinary human beings into Buddhas. Therefore, because your beloved departed father chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo while he was alive, he was a person who attained Buddhahood in his present form, in the same way that stones change into jewels. The actions you have taken, then, are the very height of filial piety and concern."

From Gosho "White Horses and White Swans" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 1064)

Gosho Passage - June 16, 2026

"The foremost treasure of sentient beings is none other than life itself. Those who take life are certain to fall into the three evil paths. That is why the wheel-turning kings observed the precept of “not to kill” as the first of the ten good precepts, and why the Buddha taught the five precepts at the beginning of the Hinayana sutras and made “not to kill” the first of them. The Buddha also taught “not to kill” as the first of the ten major precepts in the Mahayana Brahmā Net Sutra. The “Life Span” chapter of the Lotus Sutra is the one that represents the merit of the Thus Come One Shakyamuni’s practice of the precept “not to kill.” Accordingly, those who take life will be abandoned by all the Buddhas of the three existences, and the gods of the six heavens of the world of desire will never protect them."

From Gosho "On Recommending This Teaching to Your Lord and Avoiding the Offense of Complicity in Slander " (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 460)

Gosho Passage - June 15, 2026

"How, then, are you to go about nurturing faith in the Lotus Sutra? For if you try to practice the teachings of the sutra without faith, it would be like trying to enter a jeweled mountain without hands [to pick up its treasures], or like trying to make a thousand-mile journey without feet. The answer is simply to examine the proof that is close at hand, and thus to take hold of faith that is far off."

From Gosho "Letter to Horen" (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume I, page 511)