The Essence of a Creative Life from the Heart...

I wanted to share with you this profound piece, that is inspirational, motivating and touches my heart in a different way each time I read it. I have had this guidance for over 9 years and came across it today again and wanted to share how I feel about my life right now, today... I love My Life - Life is beautiful, Life is transformational, Life when in rhythm with the Universe is mystically sweet, a priceless jewel to be treasured and shared...

I sincerely hope you enjoy this extract from SGI's President Daisaku Ikeda Speech 1974 and that is resonates with your heart..

"The times when I feel most deeply that I have done something creative are the times when I have thrown myself whole heartedly into a task and fought it through unstintingly to its conclusion. At such times. I feel that I have won out in the struggle to enlarge myself.

It is a matter of sweat and tears. The creative life, in short, is achieved by a constant effort to improve one's thoughts and actions, or perhaps we could say it is the dynamism involved in this effort.

You will pass through storms and heavy rains, and at times you may suffer defeat. The essence of the creative life, however, is not to give up in the face of defeat, but to follow the rainbow that exists within your heart. Indulgence and indolence are not creative. Complaints and evasions are cowardly, and they corrupt life's natural tendency towards creation. The person who gives up the fight for creativeness is headed ultimately for the hell that destroys all life. You must not for one instant give up your effort to build yourselves new lives. Creativeness means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. This is not an easy struggle. Indeed, it may be the most difficult task in the world. For opening the door to your own life is in the end more difficult than opening the door to the mysteries of the universe. But to do so is to vindicate your existence. At the same time it makes life worth living for you. I say to you that there is no one lonelier or more unhappy that a person who does not know the pure joy of creating a life for himself. To be human is not merely to stand erect and manifest intelligence or knowledge. To be human in the full sense of the word is to lead a creative life. The fight to create a new life is a truly wonderful thing. In it you find a wisdom that causes your intelligence to shine, the light of intuition that leads to an understanding of the universe, a strong will and determination that challenge all attacking evils, the compassion that enables to take upon yourself the sorrows of others, the sense of fusion with that energy of compassion that gushes forth from the cosmic source of life and creates an ecstatic rhythm in the lives of all men. As you challenge evil and polish that jewel which is life you will learn to walk that supreme pathway of true humanity. Of this I am confident, and I am confident too that he who leads a creative life from the present into the future will stand in the vanguard of history. I myself think of this flowering of the creative life as a human revolution. This human revolution is your mission now as it will be throughout your lives."

written by Daisaku Ikeda