Peace in Miniature

Together with a friend, she chanted softly at his bedside and reminded him of the time they chanted together and he received a benefit. He opened his eyes briefly and even moved his arms when prompted. She then asked him to chant again in his heart to speed up his recovery because he has a mission in life.

“I read him something about never giving up,” she said. “I wiped the tears from his eyes and told him I will be back to visit.” She and her friend departed with fresh hope in their hearts.

This one interaction shows what’s possible when the unbreakable alloy of women and young women stand in the vanguard of the kosen-rufu movement, with Ikeda Sensei in our hearts.

Sensei writes:

All around the world, the Age of Women has arrived. I hope that our women and young women will work together, inspire each other and demonstrate a combined strength far greater than what either could achieve alone.

We are living in a turbulent age. Separate, we are weak. Those who can join together like a powerful alloy will triumph.^[2]

We look forward to hearing about and seeing photos of your peace talks. Thank you, again!

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An Outbreak of Goodwill

The pioneering American social worker Jane Addams said, “What the world needs more than anything else at this moment is an outbreak of goodwill and human understanding.”^[3]

But where does this occur? We’ve learned from our history—from the actions of the three founding Soka Gakkai presidents—that the greatest change occurs at the smallest unit of communication. It occurs when people can speak one-to-one and life-to-life.

In fact, during the times of second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda and Ikeda Sensei, the moments when the shakubuku momentum suddenly took off had one thing in common: a focus was placed on consistent dialogues in small groups of people.

Sensei writes in The Human Revolution: 

The smaller the meeting, and the more free of formality and the more open-hearted it is, the closer is the contact into which the people’s lives come. This closeness serves as the axis around which firm solidarity forms, friends are made, camaraderie builds up and the Gakkai spirit vibrates. Faith, this invisible quality, manifests itself in animated discussion meetings in which the participants’ hearts fuse in perfect harmony.^[4]

As women and young women, we are launching these micro gatherings under the banner:

Peace in Miniature: “One is the mother of ten thousand.”
(#peacetalks)

The spirit here is that, every time we come together with our friends, with our neighbors and with one another, we can do so with the conviction that we are creating peace where we stand.

We, of course, are not suggesting discussing politics. This is not what we mean by having a peace talk.

What, then, do these peace talks look like? Recently, an SGI delegation visited the U.S. to celebrate the 65th anniversary of global kosen-rufu. During that time, we shared our plans to launch these “Peace in Miniature” talks with SGI General Director Yoshiki Tanigawa. 

And he said the following: “When we speak about small-group dialogues, it’s not about the scale. It’s about people being able to openly and fully express themselves and to have conversations that can bring about fresh understanding based on Sensei’s guidance. It’s not about someone coming in to give another person guidance but rather creating a space where people can come away feeling reinspired to carry out their Buddhist practice and transform their destiny. Even when people are fighting hard for kosen-rufu, somewhere, inside, they may still have questions. They fight because they have a sense of responsibility. Can people come away from these dialogues with a new understanding and fully determined to use their Buddhist practice?”

Hearing this encouragement felt almost like a challenge: Can we, as women and young women, create peace in a single dialogue? If so, imagine how that will ripple outward.

A small group of people can change the world 

Rev. James Lawson, the American Civil Rights leader who was considered “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world,” gave this hope-filled observation: “How many people do we need to change the world? Actually, we don’t need a majority of people. According to new scholarly studies, the world will change if 3.5% of people are committed to a nonviolent movement.”^[5]

He also said: “The world’s religions need to follow the SGI’s example of making peace and conversation. They need to follow its way, which inspires people to break down their own hidden inhibitions against truth and join the human family. I want to say that the SGI is on the side of history. The SGI is on the side of eternity.”^[6]

In The New Human Revolution, Sensei describes the stand-alone spirit needed to enact such underlying change.

Ultimately, whether a place achieves peace and prosperity depends solely on the determination of the people who live there. If people lose hope and give up, becoming apathetic and trying to escape from reality, society will degenerate. The key to building a land of happiness lies entirely in the development of human beings. We cannot hope to create such a place by relying on others; it requires each of us rising into action with a stand-alone spirit to work for peace and the happiness of all.^[7]

With this as our spirit, we are initiating a dialogue movement as women’s and young women’s division members based on the following:

• Hold “Peace in Miniature” talks with our friends, neighbors and members, with the conviction that: Each dialogue is peace itself. One interaction is everything.

• Share your dialogues! If you feel comfortable, submit a photo (link below) with the hashtag #peacetalks, because, well, Peace Talks. These photos will be featured in some fashion nationwide, so stay tuned for that.

• Invite our friends and neighbors to our district discussion meetings, where they can come into contact with the great warmth of our mentor’s philosophy of Soka humanism and the Soka family.

It can be difficult watching the news each day, with the onslaught of division in the world. Sensei told us this decade would be filled with challenges, writing:

The decade from the Soka Gakkai’s 90th anniversary to its centennial in 2030 will be crucial. We must be even more determined to show victorious proof of our own human revolution, to transform all great evil into great good and to effect a powerful change in the destiny of all humankind.^[8]

We now stand at the halfway point of this focus. Is this kind of change possible?

Sensei once wrote about his meeting with Andrei Borisov, the minister of culture of the Sakha Republic, which is one of the coldest regions in the world. During their dialogue, Borisov revealed a discovery he made in his youth while working as a gardener one winter:

In trying to break through a thick layer of ice that covered the garden, he noticed that when he struck the ice in various places, it only formed a few small cracks. But when he struck at one spot repeatedly, the ice suddenly broke, sending large cracks out in all directions. …

When we concentrate our efforts on one point, we are sure to make a breakthrough. Nichiren Daishonin offers this allegory: “The situation is like the joints in a piece of bamboo; if one joint is ruptured, then all the joints will split” (“Letter to Horen,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 512).^[9]

In short, we want to emphasize and instill members and our friends with the confidence that: What we do now will turn the tide.

And now is the time to have conviction that the human revolution of a single individual, as Sensei says, has the ability to change the world. 

In the deeply significant month of November, when we celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai’s founding and Sensei’s passing, we can think of no better time for women and young women to engage in peace talks and turn the tide! And keep turning the tide in 2026.

As Sensei’s disciples, we can and will create peace where we stand, rooted in the determination that “One is the mother of ten thousand” and one interaction is everything. Please join us.

Submit Photos Here

November 14, 2025 World Tribune, pp. 6–7