Do not kill yourself for any reason.
Suicide will not make you feel at ease.
First of all, please read the words here and think again about the meaning of life.
May the hope of life light up in your heart.

From the teachings of Master Ryuho Okawa, I have selected a prescription for your heart to transform the suffering of life into joy.

You may go through painful experiences in your life

 

 

Some people lose their parents early in their childhood. During a period of economic downturn, many businesses go under, forcing the employees from their jobs. The family business your father runs could go bankrupt, and your father could commit suicide in despair. You could lose your loved ones in traffic accidents. Countless tragedies like these happen every day.

You may find a job after many rounds of interviews only to receive a phone call from your prospective employer telling you that the company has just gone bankrupt. This kind of thing is not uncommon these days, when thousands of businesses—more than ten thousand companies in Japan alone—go out of business every year. So it is very possible that a company that offers you a job will no longer be around by the day you were supposed to start work. This would definitely be a difficult experience. Even if you decide to start your own businesses with a vision of achieving a great success, if an economic recession hits, chances are that no matter how hard you try, you'll eventually have to close your business.

These are some of the painful experiences that you may have to go through. But no matter what circumstances you find yourself in, always remember that life in this world is like a school for training your soul, and that you were born into this world not to have a good time, but to accumulate various kinds of experiences.

From “The Strong Mind” by Ryuho Okawa

 

Everyone has a certain set of conditions to be born into this world

 

Most of you have a 3 or 400 year period between each life. The majority of you were then born into this world with the aim of learning a great deal during the new lifetime, in a new environment and an unknown age. Unless you learn everything you can in this life, you are wasting precious time, for each incarnation is such a rare opportunity.

For you to be born into this world, a certain set of conditions had to be satisfied. You were born into the circumstances and times that best suited the purpose of your spiritual development. You have probably read books of philosophy and literature, and come across ideas about life such as, “human beings are born into this world at random” or “we have no choice about who our parents are, we just happened to be born to those parents and are compelled to live out random lives.” This philosophy, known as existentialism, is quite plainly wrong. We are never thrown into this world accidentally; we always set up a purpose and a mission for each lifetime before we are born. We must abandon any ideas that life is merely accidental and replace them with a new perspective on life. Because it is an undeniable spiritual truth that we were born onto this Earth with a purpose and a mission.

From “The Starting Point of Happiness” by Ryuho Okawa

 

Abandon the "born by chance" view of life and live with a new outlook on life

 

 

We must abandon any ideas that life is merely accidental and replace them with a new perspective on life. Because it is an undeniable spiritual truth that we were born onto this Earth with a purpose and a mission.

My conversations with spiritual beings always confirm that this world was created as a training ground for souls. Whether or not you accept this truth will greatly affect the course of your life.

Some people think they were born into this world completely accidentally, without any choice about their parents or their circumstances. Others believe that their circumstances are the result of their choices, and are those best suited for refining their souls. Depending on which attitude you adopt, your life will have a different significance, and many people do not understand that everything hinges on the choices that the individual makes.

From “The Starting Point of Happiness” by Ryuho Okawa

 

The darker the darkness, the brighter the light can be seen

 

 

It does not really matter what sort of experiences you have had or what sort of circumstances you have been placed in; simply ask yourself how strong a light you are emanating from where you are right now.

I would like to ask those who complain about their miserable circumstances or physical ailments: “How bright is the light you are giving out?” The faint glow of a firefly is almost invisible in the daytime, but gradually it becomes visible at dusk and then, at night, it becomes very

clear. Similarly, the darker and more somber your life appears, the more brightly and clearly your inner light can be seen. So, if you think you are in deep darkness, determine to light a lamp to mark a new beginning, the light of your hope, the light of enlightenment. That light will gradually become clearer to your own eyes as well as to the eyes of others. In the future, when you look back, you will be proud of the great effort you made during difficult times.

From “The Starting Point of Happiness” by Ryuho Okawa

  

If you are tempted to commit suicide, go to a hospital or cemetery

 

If you are tempted to commit suicide, please go to a major hospital and see the hospitalized patients who are fighting against their illnesses. See them who are trying to live despite their illnesses, and the doctors and nurses who are trying to help them. I want you to see the people who are trying to live while fighting their illnesses in the hospital.

People who commit suicide have worries, but usually have excess energy.

They have a lot of life energy and activie energy, but they die because they cannot solve their problems.

Go to the hospital and see people who are sick. See how people with cancer, who have only one month to live or three months to live, are trying their best to "live." Before you try to end your own life, look at those who are seriously ill but are still doing their best.

 

 

And after the big hospital, go to the cemetery. You don't usually go there, but go to one of the cemeteries and take a walk. There are a lot of graves, and you will see a lot of "XX family graves" lined up in rows. Look at them.

The people who lie there were once alive. They had childhoods, youths, loves, jobs, competed for promotion, lost or achieved their goals, aged, got sick, and died. Everyone had dreams, made various efforts, and died.

If you die and go to the other world, you will have no earthly troubles. Therefore, the fact that we have problems is proof that we are alive. When you die and go to the other world, the troubles of this world will cease to exist. When you look at the graves of those who have died, feel the preciousness of the fact that you still have life. Think about how you must use the life you have left, and feel the preciousness of that life.

If you are tempted to commit suicide, look at those who are fighting against a disease or the graves of those who have died.

One hundred percent of all people will die. You don't have to be in a hurry, but you will eventually die, so think about how you will live until then.

 

From "The Laws of Life" by Ryuho Okawa

  

The World around You Is Really Overfilled with Light

 

Imagine the middle of a war zone. Such a situation would feel like you're inside a Hell. It would also feel this way in a storm of economic recessions and business bankruptcies. It would also feel this way in times of many family illnesses or repeated misfortunes among your relatives. These are situations without light.

In the midst of them, it's possible to grumble and to complain to others. You can blame society, politicians, and anything else. And you'll also have opportunities to voice these feelings. Sometimes, they'll be righteous feelings.

But before doing so, examine and check inside yourself for something you've not done yet. You must begin there. Most people in lightless circumstances are saying, “Give me light. I want light.” It's something we call selfish, self-preserving desires.

There indeed is light. It just seems as if there isn't because something's covering it.

You can indeed burn your inner light in your current circumstances. If this sounds untrue, then think of someone else in the same bad situation, or at the bottom of his or her life, or even worse than that, who lived in dedication to others and the world anyway. When feeling ill, ask yourself if someone with a worse illness or in worse physical condition made efforts anyway. When doing poorly in school, ask if there are others like you who have put in more effort and perseverance than you have. When these people are counted up, they'll number endlessly.

It's the same with family problems. I'm sure you have dissatisfactions. I'm sure that you have worries and that your income, brothers and sisters, and parents' personalities dissatisfy you. I'm sure you'll face such kind of problems. But how about people without any family? How about people who no longer have an income? Your workplace might feel dissatisfying, but it could be far more blessed than a bedridden patient's circumstances.

You may think that you're in the worst circumstances and you deserve sympathy, but you must realize that this isn't actually so. Your life is overfilled with light in the eyes of people going through much greater suffering. You just haven't noticed that.

 

From "The Laws of Hope" by Ryuho Okawa