CategoryIkeda Sensei

The following is from a speech at a Tokyo general meeting on Aug. 24, 1989. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 28, installment 2, pp. 244–46. Noting that founding Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi began practicing Nichiren Buddhism at a relatively advanced age, Ikeda

In the following, Ikeda Sensei discusses the lofty mentor-disciple spirit shared by the first three Soka Gakkai presidents. It is from Discussions on Youth, published in Japanese in March 1999 and can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 28, installment 1, pp. 241–44. Ikeda Sensei has

Ikeda Sensei gave this guidance from Watakushi no ningengaku (On historical personalities and society), published in Japanese in August 1988. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 27, installment 2, pp. 211–13. Ikeda Sensei explains through an easy-to-grasp example that the mentor-disciple relationship is not

The following is from an interview of Ikeda Sensei commemorating the publication of the Bulgarian edition of Utsukushiki shishi no tamashii (The beauty of a lion’s heart), published in Japanese in the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun, on Aug. 10, 2000. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an excerpt of his speech given at the SGI-USA Representatives Conference in Miami, Florida, February 2, 1993. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 246–50.  One of the Buddha’s titles

In the constant flux of human history, power is an illusion. So are gold, fame and even blood ties. Only through the legacy of mentor and disciple is an eternal history born, leaving the names of ordinary people to shine for 10,000 generations and more. My mentor loved castles. Therefore, he named himself Jogai, which

Ikeda Sensei gave the following speech at a meeting in Santa Monica, California, Sept. 18, 1993. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 26, installment 2, pp. 179–81. Ikeda Sensei notes that a defining feature of Soka Gakkai leaders is their noble spirit to value

Ikeda Sensei gave the following speech at an SGI general meeting, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, June 23, 1996. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 26, installment 1, pp. 175–78. The purpose of the Soka Gakkai and kosen-rufu is to enable everyone to lead lives

Ikeda Sensei gives the following guidance in The New Human Revolution, vol. 17, “Green Fields” chapter. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 25, installment 1, pp. 143–46. The unity of “many in body, one in mind” is a central pillar of Nichiren Buddhism, a

Ikeda Sensei gave the following speech at a general meeting of Toshima, Taito, Sumida and Meguro Wards in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 12, 1987. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 24, installment 2, pp. 110–13. In Buddhism, functions that direct people toward goodness and Buddhist

Ikeda Sensei gave the following speech at a general meeting of Toshima, Taito, Sumida and Meguro Wards in Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 12, 1987. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 24, installment 2, pp. 107–10. In Buddhism, functions that direct people toward goodness and Buddhist

Ikeda Sensei gave the following guidance at the Chugoku region youth peace general meeting in Tokyo, Japan, May 7, 1995. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 24, installment 1, pp. 105–07. The Soka Gakkai conducts various activities to promote kosen-rufu, including discussion meetings, planning

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an excerpt of his speech given at the World Peace Ikeda Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, January 31, 1993. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 240–45.  Lighting the Path for

I looked toward Mount Halla, a mysterious peak. It seemed as though the spirits of all living beings in the universe had gathered to form it. Holding a quiet dialogue with the heavens, this mountain, like a great loving mother, seemed to embrace all the immense joys of life, as well as the anguished cries

Ikeda Sensei gave the following guidance at the SGI general meeting in Maidenhead, England, June 11, 1994. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 23, installment 2, pp. 69–71. Striving to awaken all to their unique and precious missions, Shakyamuni never gave up on anyone.

Ikeda Sensei gave the following guidance at the Soka Gakkai headquarters leaders meeting in Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 6, 2006. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 23, installment 1, pp. 67–69. “Valuing each person”—kosen-rufu begins and ends with this. Convinced that a single life is

The following is from a speech at a nationwide representatives conference, Tokyo, Japan, March 29, 1996. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 22, installment 3, pp. 47–50. Ikeda Sensei discusses the virtues of the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth as they

The following excerpt from The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, vol. 5, can also be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, revised edition, chapter 22, installment 1, pp. 31, 37–40. Soka Gakkai members’ greatest pride is their mission and vow as Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Ikeda Sensei has described the

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an excerpt of his speech given at Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, California, January 29, 1993. The full speech can be found inMy Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 229–39.  How can we restore wholeness to the human

Motionless on the lotus bud, a red dragonfly rested its wings. Perfect stillness. I clicked my shutter five times, and still it did not move. Perhaps it was entranced by the shimmering of the water’s surface; or perhaps its wings, exhausted from flight, had not yet recovered; or could it have been waiting for the