"Saturday, March 31. Clear.
March, too, is now over.  As we repeat the cycle of emotions, life passes
by in an instant. I cannot help feeling that the next ten, twenty or
thirty years will pass by in the space of a moment. Must value my time
every day. Again, the problem is how to spend these precious hours. This
is a society in which people with no conviction and no basis, who do
nothing but criticize others, are considered wise. Must remember that
although people with conviction and ideals may appear passive at first
glance, they are ultimately the strong and happy ones.
Whoever advances with an ideal is strong. Fiercest of all are the winds
and waves that buffet the sails of a king’s ship. Never falter or be
afraid."  From A Youthful Diary, p. 388.

March has now come to a close, and most of the March 16 celebrations have
been completed. But should the momentum created to spread the teachings of
Nichiren Daishonin end here? Many friends, co-workers, relatives, and
fellow students attended the March 16 meetings.  As reflected in President
Ikeda’s diary, now is the time to value each moment and sincerely ponder
how we can spend the precious time we have and create utmost value from
it.  As one student expressed recently about the effects of her efforts to
share Buddhism with others, "I was 'benefitting' BIG TIME!" 
Riding the wave of victory in the Seattle Incident Judgement and the
victories of our March 16 meetings, now is the time to overcome all fears
and never falter in our conviction to spread the Mystic Law.  Advancing
with this ideal, now is the time to test our perseverence based on
compassion to follow up with all the guests that took the time out to
attend our March 16 meetings.
While celebrating these victories, let's advance in unity with yet more
successive victories.

Let’s amaze the world!
Boston, Wendy, Daisaku, and Maggie

The 47th CEC was just completed this past weekend and one of the
highlights was an experience about shakubuku shared by SGI-USA YMD leader,
Cory Taylor. Cory shared his determination to overcome his fears and any
other ‘funkiness’ he was feeling prior to his involvement in the March
16th meetings. Corey introduced a woman he met on a plane to Buddhism
during a trip to New York. His wife then took her to a meeting in North
Hollywood.  Furthermore, a close friend of his began chanting after
witnessing the transformations in the lives of the youth during last
year’s SGI-USA Grand Youth Culture Festival.

Shakubuku fever is catching on!  In the Gosho the Daishonin states, "This
I will state. Let the gods forsake me. Let all persecutions assail me.
Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law…Whatever obstacles I
might encounter, so long as men of wisdom do not prove my teachings to be
false, I will never yield! All other troubles are no more to me than dust
before the wind."  With this kind of conviction, shakubuku can be an
exciting endeavor.
Lastly, in a recent speech (which will appear in the March 31 World
Tribune) President Ikeda stated the following, "To bring hope to those
suffering the most, to devote oneself to helping those experiencing the
greatest hardship, to thoroughly fight against injustices that trample on
the sincerity of good, honest, decent, people---This, I want to reconfirm,
is the Soka Gakkai’s prime point."

"Practicing Nichiren's Buddhism, Toda said, "is the means by which we can
transform our karma. When we do this, all intermediary causes and effects
disappear, and we can reveal the aspect of the common mortal enlightened
since time without beginning."
What Toda refers to as "intermediary" are causes which we have enacted and
which generate distinctions on the phenomenal plane–differences of
capacity, physical, mental and spiritual differences and the resulting
differences in circumstances such as education and occupation. These are,
together, the distinctions that make each of us the unique being we are. 
When Toda spoke of these intermediary causes and effects "disappearing,"
he did not mean that the distinctions between people would somehow be
obliterated and we would all lapse into sameness or uniformity. This
could, of course, never happen. Just as no two people will ever have
exactly the same face, differences are an integral, natural and necessary
aspect of human society. 
For Toda what "disappeared" was our attachment to differences, our
negative, limiting reactions to differences. This is an example of how a
practice of faith can enable the inner transcendence of difference."
Excerpt from "Peace through Dialogue: A Time to Talk" (1/26/00)

Check out President Ikeda's 2000 Peace Proposal on the SGI-USA website:
www.sgi-usa.org/PP/PeaceProposal/home.html

The following guidance is published in your upcoming March 31st World
Tribune:
"Great people are invariably envied and attacked. We must always be aware
of this. People are persecuted precisely because of their justness and
integrity. We could perhaps call this unvarying formula the inescapable
destiny of humanity. 
For we live in a realm governed by the Devil of the Sixth Heaven. That is
why we must protect and fight for the persecuted. Despite this being the
case, there are those afraid of being persecuted, who cunningly try to
hide in the shadows of great pople. You must absolutely not become that
sort of cowardly person." Excerpt from "Our Prime Point is Helping Others."

Highlights from this speech:
1) A person who speaks out is a messenger of the Buddha
2) If we let evil people triumph, we will be enslaved
3) Great people are invariably envied and attacked
4) Speaking out with a lion's roar---this is the Gakkai spirit
5) Let us make the suns of our lives rise afresh each day

Uniting with our Publications Team Captain Renu Jiandani, the YWD are
spearheading the campaign to promote our great publications, the World
Tribune and Living Buddhism. Towards this effort, the Student Division
would like to provide all Student Waves subscribers the earliest taste of
Sensei's most recent guidance to whet your appetite before you get your
own copy in the mail.

To obtain a World Tribune subscription/renewal form: call 1-800-835-4558,
fax 1-310-260-8970, or e-mail SGISUBS@aol.com. Please do NOT send credit
card information.