GenerationThink

Education makes us free. The world of knowledge and of the intellect is where all people can meet and converse. Education liberates people from prejudice. It frees the human heart from its violent passions - Daisaku Ikeda

President Toda detested formality. And for this reason, as his disciple, I have tried to place foremost emphasis on substance. Formalities are important in certain cases, but mere formality without substance is evil. Formalities in and of themselves have no life; whereas substance is alive. Formality is provisional and substance essential. Formality is conventional and therefore conservative, but substance provides the impetus for progress and development.-Daisaku Ikeda

  Perhaps most of unhappiness comes from life’s uncertainties. If we have a sense of control by way of designing our lives based on the architecture we get for ourselves will give us sense of happiness by having had determined and identified certain points in life that seem important. The key is consistency. When you feel like running away from the reality that you are faced with, you realize that life becomes that escape at all times. We then condition ourselves to react or reflex to all of life’s circumstances in a fight-or-flight mode. This is definitely something I’m working on; like you said Sensei, life’s circumstances are not the defining factor of a person’s worth. These circumstances are simply opportunities to change the outcomes of life. I am a third year undergraduate student, majoring in psychology; with the aim to enter graduate school to work towards a PhD in social psychology directly after my BA. This is truly my passion. I plan to...