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Leave behind the passive dreaming of a rose-tinted future. The energy of happiness exists in living today with roots sunk firmly in reality’s soil.

Where can we find happiness? Happiness is not found in a tranquil life free of storms and tempests. Real happiness is found in the struggles we undergo to realize our goals, in our efforts to move forward.
When we draw strength from within, our outlook undergoes a dramatic transformation; everything around us looks completely different. To be strong—that is the key to happiness.
If you want to build a happy life, you have to give careful thought to the foundations. Happiness certainly cannot be secured on appearances or affectation. Happiness comes down to the inner state of our life at a given moment.
When seen from the perspective of life’s true value, whether a person is rich or poor is a marginal issue at best. The truly impoverished are those who are wealthier than others who take themselves too seriously and look down upon the less affluent. Happiness will never be a handout; it’s something we create with our own hands.
Happiness doesn’t exist on the far side of distant mountains. It is within you, yourself. Not you, however, sitting in idle passivity. It is to be found in the vibrant dynamism of your own life as you struggle to challenge and overcome one obstacle after another, as you clamber up a perilous ridge in pursuit of that which lies beyond.
Genuine happiness is found in courage. Courage is the gateway to happiness.
As long as we are alive we will experience sufferings. But that does not mean we have to be unhappy. Unhappiness comes from allowing ourselves to be controlled by life’s ups and downs—from feeling defeated, from losing hope, losing courage, losing the will to advance.

Stories of Hope

What is Happiness?

Happiness remains the most cherished yet elusive of all human desires. Ikeda asserts that life can be complete with or without the usual requisites of happiness—family, wealth and recognition. The key, he says, lies within. Read here ...

Stories of Hope

The Teachers of My Childhood

Even as the storms of war darkened his childhood, Ikeda recalls those who helped brighten his life by planting the seeds of hope and courage.

Stories of Hope

Human Revolution

Revolutions have come and gone, but human revolution, a self-directed process of inner change for the better, is the most meaningful transformation there is. If Ikeda’s vision and values are defined by a single tenet, this is it. Read here ...