To mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Soka Gakkai women’s division on June 10, 1951, the SGI-USA women will reconfirm the purpose of our Buddhist practice through studying Ikeda Sensei’s lecture series The Five Eternal Guidelines of the Soka Gakkai at our America Victory Daimoku Group tosos from July to November. The World Tribune will print a passage monthly for the following month.
From the time when Ikeda Sensei rang in his first New Year’s Day as the third Soka Gakkai president in 1961, he began to emphasize at the start of each year the eternal guidelines set forth by his mentor, Josei Toda.
Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda had introduced three guidelines in December 1957, after accomplishing the grand vision of introducing 750,000 households to Nichiren Buddhism. In December 2003, Sensei proposed adding two guidelines for the future of kosen-rufu in the 21st century. Together they are known as the “Five Eternal Guidelines of the Soka Gakkai.” They are:
1. Faith for a harmonious family.
2. Faith for achieving happiness.
3. Faith for overcoming obstacles.
4. Faith for health and long life.
5. Faith for absolute victory.
Sensei writes: “Today, in this glorious new era of worldwide kosen-rufu, we have entered an important stage where the Soka Gakkai is making further great strides as a truly global religious movement. It is time for us to renew our vow to widely spread the Mystic Law throughout the world.”[1]
America Victory Daimoku Group Study for July
Family Harmony Is ‘Peace in Miniature’
How can we achieve family harmony, which Ikeda Sensei said represents world peace in miniature? He offers the following three points.[2]
“First, we ourselves must strive to be a bright, sunny presence in our homes, embracing all our family members in the light of compassion.
“Second, we need to respect one another, recognizing that the ties between parent and child, or between spouses or partners, are karmic bonds enduring throughout the three existences of past, present and future.
“Third, we need to make positive contributions to society and work to foster successors who will do likewise.”
‘The Family Is the Foundation for Society.’
Ikeda Sensei’s Guidance: I am very fond of the idea of the family being a place where each person can grow and create value. The family is a hub of security and hope, which are so necessary in life. It is a strong-hold of happiness and peace. It is a place for revitalization, for recharging one’s batteries each day. It is a place of warm bonds that foster progress and fulfillment. It is a castle of harmony and growth.
Even when living apart, a family is always a family. Nichiren cared deeply for his mother. In one of his writings, he candidly expresses his regret for not having listened to her words more often.[3]
The family is a central, recurring theme in Nichiren’s writings. That is why “faith for a harmonious family” is the first of the five eternal guidelines. Mr. Toda declared: “The family is the foundation for society. And faith for a harmonious family is the power source for building a strong family. Such faith is an indispensable condition for the happiness of individual families and the flourishing of society as a whole.”
The family and the home are the foundation for prosperous communities and societies. Each family member growing through mutual respect and encouragement, and each home, the smallest social unit, becoming a realm of harmony and cooperation—these are the starting points for peace.[4]
June 19, 2026 World Tribune, p. 11
References
- The Five Eternal Guidelines of the Soka Gakkai, p. 3. ↩︎
- Ibid., p. 5. ↩︎
- Nichiren Daishonin writes: “When my own mother was still living, I went too much against her words. Now that she has preceded me in death, I cannot help but feel deep regret” (”Reply to the Wife of Gyobu Saemon-no-jo,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, p. 898). ↩︎
- The Five Eternal Guidelines of the Soka Gakkai, pp. 3–4. ↩︎
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