The following is from a speech at an SGI world youth training course in Tokyo on Oct. 14, 1990. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 29, installment 6, pp. 363–65.
As practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism, Ikeda Sensei says, it’s important that we use our wisdom to freely create value in response to the diversity of society and the changing times.
In one of his letters, Nichiren Daishonin praises his young disciple Nanjo Tokimitsu for admirably inheriting the spirit of faith of his deceased father, saying: “Blue dye is bluer even than indigo itself,[1] and ice is colder than water. How wonderful it is, how wonderful!” (“Offerings in the Snow,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, p. 809).
All of you, wherever you reside, are following in the footsteps of dedicated pioneer members and freely and spontaneously carrying out activities for kosen-rufu. This is most reassuring.
I feel that Nichiren also teaches us in this passage how important it is in Buddhism that we grow to surpass our predecessors and strive to develop and advance our movement even more than they have.
Children following their parents’ lead and younger members repeating the words of older members may, from one perspective, seem like a fine example of inheriting tradition. And it is, of course, true that the fundamental spirit of Nichiren Buddhism and of faith in the Mystic Law is eternal and unchanging. The times, however, are constantly changing. Society is in a state of rapid transformation. The world is endlessly diverse, and real people are endlessly complex and fragile. Reaching another’s heart is no easy feat.
In response to such human diversity and the rapidly changing times, we need to be able to bring forth abundant wisdom to lead others to enlightenment and realize kosen-rufu. Such wisdom is also an expression of compassion.
You may talk about the most profound theories, but doing so will have little meaning if no one understands them. And insisting on using old language and expressions and old ways of doing things often will give people the wrong impression about Nichiren Buddhism and its true greatness. That not only constitutes a lack of compassion for others but, quite frankly, violates the spirit of the Daishonin, who sought to lead all people to enlightenment.
Buddhist terminology developed over long centuries of Buddhist history. But you can’t expect people in cultures without that tradition to understand its true meaning. In cases like this, we need to come up with expressions that more accurately and understandably convey the intent and meaning.
This is one of the great challenges of worldwide kosen-rufu. I am confident that this path accords with the spirit of the Daishonin, who taught the principle of progress expressed as “bluer than indigo itself.”
uddhism teaches the precept of adapting to local customs and the manners of the times as long as they do not violate the fundamental teachings of Buddhism. In addition, among the four ways of preaching,[2] we find “to teach Buddhism in secular terms” and “to teach according to people’s respective capacities.”
Because Nichiren Buddhism teaches life’s fundamental truth, we can create value without limit. And because it is grounded in reason, it offers a practice that anyone can understand and accept. That is the essence of the correct teaching.
April 17, 2026 World Tribune, p. 3
References
- The simile “blue dye is bluer even than indigo itself” derives from the Chinese philosopher Hsün Tzu’s writing. It expresses how cloth repeatedly dipped into blue dye from an indigo plant becomes a deeper color of blue than the original dye. Nichiren Daishonin often employs this simile not only in the context of deepening one’s Buddhist practice but also growing as successors. ↩︎
- The four ways the Buddha expounds his teaching is explained in the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom. They are: 1) to teach Buddhism in secular terms; 2) to teach according to people’s respective capacities; 3) to help people abandon their illusions and free themselves from the three poisons of greed, anger and foolishness; and 4) to reveal the ultimate truth directly, causing the people to awaken to it. Compared to this last way, the first three are regarded as temporary means. ↩︎
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