Skip to main content

Ikeda Sensei

Celebrating 90 Years of the Soka Gakkai

November 23, 2020

Namibia, Region Khomas, near Uhlenhorst, Astrophoto, RIsing moon and Planet Venus embedded in glowing Zodiacal Light during dawn, constellation Orion upside down
The moon and Venus (above and to the left of the Moon) at dawn, Namibia. Ikeda Sensei in his essay writes of fall: “At this time of year, the morning star, Venus, shines brightly in the eastern sky before dawn. Sometimes it sits companionably alongside the moon, as they wait together for the sun to rise. ... In the same way, the benefits of the Mystic Law shine their brightest in the Latter Day of the Law, when the darkness of human suffering is its deepest” (p. 2). Westend61 / Getty Images

Ikeda Sensei composed the following poems to commemorate Nov. 18, the 90th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai’s founding. The poems were originally published in the Nov. 18 issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper.

Through the oneness of mentor and disciple,
we have realized the Buddha’s intent,
our Soka movement spreading boundless hope
across the globe.

May your encouraging, sunny voices,
brimming with
the sound of revitalization
and the light of peace,
touch people’s hearts even more deeply.

Young lions, filled with the joy
of Bodhisattvas of the Earth
from time without beginning,
win and forge vibrantly onward,
transforming great evil into great good.

Spreading Waves of Hope and Victory

Keeping Our Founding Spirit Alive Forever