I can still hear Mr Toda’s stern voice reverberating in my ears: “When you’re tired, that’s the very time to read the Daishonin’s writings! Even just a line or two is fine. Read the Daishonin’s writings and expand your life state further.”​

In my diary at the time, I wrote: “This evening read ‘The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind’ with others. Must not forget faith and study, no matter how badly the business goes.”​

After working hard each day, I dragged myself home late at night to study the Daishonin’s writings. I would read them aloud, copying into my diary passages that particularly resonated with me. This filled me with conviction and strengthened my prayers. My life brimmed with an indomitable fighting spirit.​

I can still hear Mr Toda’s stern voice reverberating in my ears: “When you’re tired, that’s the very time to read the Daishonin’s writings! Even just a line or two is fine. Read the Daishonin’s writings and expand your life state further.”​

By connecting with the Daishonin’s life state as we exert ourselves for kosen-rufu, we develop and expand our own life state. We can summon forth the heart of a lion king — a spirit as vast as the sky and as deep as the sea.