Poem

Buddhism teaches us the means 

to overcome life's fundamental pain 

- the suffering of birth, aging, 

sickness and death - 

which none can escape, 

and which no degree of wealth 

and fame can relieve in the slightest.

Everyone, anyone -

when returned to 

their solidarity human existence, 

is but a karma-laden "reed," 

trembling before the onslaught 

of the four sufferings.

Buddhism describes the connective 

threads of dependent origination. 

Nothing in this world exists alone; 

everything comes into being 

and continues in response to causes and conditions. 

Parent and child. Husband and wife. 

Friends. Races. Humanity and nature. 

This profound understanding of coexistence, of symbiosis - 

here is the source of resolution for the most pressing 

and fundamental issues that confront humankind in the chaotic last years of this century.

Seeking eternity within impermanence, 

crossing over delusion to nurture confidence, 

building happiness from anguish  

rush forward from today forward tomorrow 

in the prodigious battle that is our human revolution. 

Daisaku Ikeda

Photo of the Himalayas and Poem

"Human revolution is the work of transforming our lives at the very core. It involves identifying and challenging those things which inhibit the full expression of our positive potential and humanity."