The following is a summary of Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada’s speech at the 7th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting Toward Our Centennial—commemorating May 3, Soka Gakkai Day and Soka Gakkai Mothers Day—at the Toda Memorial Auditorium in Sugamo,Tokyo, on April 12, 2025. It is translated from the April 20, 2025, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper.
Congratulations on this 7th Headquarters Leaders Meeting, held in celebration of May 3, Soka Gakkai Day and Soka Gakkai Mothers Day.
I would also like to warmly welcome the 156 members from 19 countries and territories who have traveled long distances to be with us today.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the designation of May 3 as Soka Gakkai Day—a date of profound significance, commemorating both Josei Toda’s inauguration as second president of the Soka Gakkai and Ikeda Sensei’s succession as the third president.
Soka Gakkai Day was officially designated in February 1980, the year after Sensei stepped down from his role as president.[1] In May of that year, following a visit to Kyushu, Sensei arrived in Kansai and led a gongyo meeting on May 3, marking the inaugural Soka Gakkai event held in celebration of this commemorative day. At that historic meeting, he shared the following guidance:
The road to kosen-rufu is an unending struggle against devilish functions. In his writings, the Daishonin stresses the importance of pressing ahead steadily on the great path of faith without being swayed by the “eight winds.”[2]
The “eight winds” are workings that agitate people’s minds and cause them to lose their faith—things such as short-term gain, worldly honor, praise, censure, suffering, pleasure and so forth.
Our human revolution, through which we cultivate self-mastery, is the key to establishing our own happiness and advancing kosen-rufu. Let us win over the “eight winds” with resolute faith and make fresh hope-filled strides toward the 21st century!
Sensei also visited the overflow venue, where many had gathered despite not having admission tickets. He called out: “You are the true champions of kosen-rufu. Let’s advance together, united in spirit!”
That evening, he famously inscribed a large calligraphy reading “May 3” and wrote in the right margin: “This date is the starting point of the Soka Gakkai.”
By clearly establishing May 3 as the most important day—a true “New Year’s Day”—of the Soka Gakkai, Sensei powerfully affirmed that the spirit of mentor and disciple constitutes the organization’s very lifeblood. As a tangible expression of this spirit, he emphasized that the most fundamental and steadfast attitude in faith is found in “our human revolution, through which we cultivate self-mastery.” He vowed to strive for eternity alongside the ordinary, unnamed individuals he regarded as his true comrades in the noble struggle for kosen-rufu.
Let us never forget the profound aspirations and fighting spirit that Sensei infused into the establishment of Soka Gakkai Day. As May 3 draws near, as proud disciples let us embrace it as a new beginning—a powerful opportunity for each of us to renew our vow with fresh resolve.
Nichiren Daishonin writes that “a strong wind makes a kalakula[3] grow larger” (“The Difficulty of Sustaining Faith,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 471). This serves as a reminder that adversity and hardships are proof that we are walking the path of justice; they are the springboard for achieving our human revolution. Like the soaring phoenix, let’s continue to press forward without retreating a single step, no matter what obstacles may arise. Let us expand and deepen our state of life all the more as the winds grow stronger, and triumph with absolute victory!
May 9, 2025 World Tribune, p. 8
References
- On April 24, 1979, Ikeda Sensei stepped down as Soka Gakkai president to shield members from the perverse machinations of the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, which had colluded with corrupt former Soka Gakkai leaders to wrest control of the lay organization. ↩︎
- Eight winds: Eight conditions that prevent people from advancing along the right path to enlightenment. According to The Treatise on the Stage of Buddhahood Sutra, the eight winds are prosperity, decline, disgrace, honor, praise, censure, suffering and pleasure. ↩︎
- Kalakula: Mythical insects whose small bodies were said to swell rapidly in a strong wind until they were large enough to swallow any living being. ↩︎
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