The following excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s lecture to the student division members can be found in the March 2020 Living Buddhism, pp. 51–59.
The Soka Gakkai student division was established at a time when our organization was being viciously attacked by the authorities.
On June 30, 1957, with second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda in attendance, some 500 university students gathered at the Azabu Civic Hall in Tokyo for the new division’s inaugural meeting. Mr. Toda was overjoyed, stating that he had long been eager to create this group.
As I was still in Hokkaido, I sent a telegram, which read: “Congratulations on the inaugural meeting of the student division, a gathering of talented youth who will shoulder the next century! Under President Toda’s leadership, please embark on your journey in high spirits.”
Creating an Age of Respect for the Dignity of Life
The student division’s mission, deeply imbued with the Soka Gakkai’s history at that time, is to develop leaders of the Mystic Law who are committed to living their lives together with the people, protecting the people and fighting for the people.
My mentor solemnly wrote: “One of the fundamentals of Buddhism is to not inflict harm on anyone and to help free all people from suffering. Another is to bring joy to all people. This is the heart of the Buddha’s compassion.”[1]
Indeed, our wish as practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism and the eternal starting point of my beloved student division is to realize human happiness and world peace, and to create an age of respect for the dignity of life with our humanistic philosophy and compassionate spirit of relieving suffering and imparting joy. (March 2020 Living Buddhism, p. 52)
•••
Be People Who Champion Justice and Human Dignity
Nichiren Daishonin states that kosen-rufu is achieved through the “authority and supernatural power” of Bodhisattva Universal Worthy (The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 190), which represent courage, sincerity and wisdom borne from a sense of responsibility and passion to spread the Mystic Law. The source of these qualities is faith.
Mr. Toda said: “Great feeling gives rise to great reason. … Our feelings for our fellow citizens and the rest of humanity stem from the highest reason. Nichiren Daishonin’s spirit is itself the highest feeling and reason.”
Our ardent wish to actualize Mr. Toda’s dream of eliminating misery and suffering from the world enables us to develop our wisdom and abilities and grow into compassionate leaders.
Our great, unyielding passion for kosen-rufu brings forth the universal wisdom to elevate and enrich the life state of humanity as a whole.
Our unremitting struggle, based on our vow, against all that inflict suffering on the people causes the light of wisdom for justice to shine.
Our belief in the Buddha nature of the person in front of us becomes the wisdom to respect all human beings.
This wisdom is never self-righteous. I hope that student division members will thoroughly study Nichiren Daishonin’s writings and the humanistic principles of Nichiren Buddhism, while at the same time devoting themselves earnestly to their learning and humbly absorbing insights from diverse sources of knowledge past and present.
Please strive to forge links between the vast, profound sea of Buddhism and the world’s foremost streams of thought and philosophy, thereby revealing the brilliance of universal wisdom that has the power to protect the people. This is our role as a global religious movement. Your self-development and growth will create a new era. (March 2020 Living Buddhism, p. 56)
Orienting Our Lives Toward Humanism
Name: Olive Wang
City: Champaign, Ill.
School: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Living Buddhism: Can you tell us how you started practicing Buddhism?
Olive Wang: Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic started during my senior year in high school. I was trying to figure out where all my friends were going to college and since we weren’t seeing each other in person, I went to their social media profiles. One classmate mentioned “SGI-USA” on hers. I looked it up and found that it was a Buddhist organization. At the time I was agnostic, but I thought Buddhism might be a good fit, so I reached out and she invited me to some SGI-USA Zoom meetings. I started chanting right away, and I received the Gohonzon in 2022, once the centers reopened.
You stumbled across it yourself. What were you looking for at the time?
Olive: I was interested in the Buddhist idea that while everyone suffers, we can do things in our lives to become happy. I had just been diagnosed the year before with ADHD, which explained my prior depression and anxiety. The next step was for me to work through the self-doubt that had accumulated over the years. I had to relearn who I was, and Buddhism made a tangible impact in my life during this time of rediscovery.
What was the inspiration for starting a campus club at the University of Illinois?
Olive: I went to the University of Washington (UW) for undergrad, where we started club meetings the year before I graduated. When I moved to Illinois to pursue my Ph.D. in informatics, it was great because I already had experience starting a campus club. We began that process at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and became official in February.
Our district has a core group of five youth members who are also students at UIUC. We have been planning the meetings together and it’s been great so far. Usually, we do an introduction of Buddhism, chant and have a discussion. It’s similar to our discussion meetings, but different because we can relate to each other’s struggles as students.
Why do you feel it’s important to have Buddhist campus clubs?
Olive: I was introduced at the end of high school, but going through my undergraduate program with my Buddhist practice and challenging myself based on the concept of human revolution helped me become a successful student. Chanting helped me get great research opportunities, it helped me become a much better researcher and accumulate so much fortune. I can see how much my life has transformed in just five years. Everything I do has meaning, everything has purpose now.
In college, people struggle a lot with their identity and mission in life. College is a starting point for our entire lives. Basing your life on a strong foundation can help steer you in the right direction.
What are your hopes and dreams?
Olive: For the club, I really want to grow and introduce new students. I want youth to be inspired to know that they can create happiness in their life and in the lives of the people around them. In terms of my personal life, my goal is to research accessible technologies that help people with disabilities. Buddhism has oriented me toward humanism—so I chose a path that will allow me to help people. I am determined to become an expert in my field so that I can truly make a difference in the world.
From the June 2025 Living Buddhism
References
- Translated from Japanese. Josei Toda, Toda Josei zenshu (Collected Writings of Josei Toda), vol. 1 (Tokyo: Seikyo Shimbunsha, 1992), p. 27. ↩︎
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