CategoryIkeda Sensei

Originally published in the January 2023 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. At the time when his businesses were in dire straits, my mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, and I read “On the Buddha’s Prophecy” together. Amid the life-threatening challenges of exile on Sado Island, Nichiren Daishonin proclaimed in that letter his

Ikeda Sensei gave the following address on February 27, 1990, at the First SGI-USA Women’s Division Meeting, held at the former Soka University Los Angeles campus in Calabasas, California. In the speech, Sensei presented timeless principles for upholding correct faith in Nichiren Buddhism, becoming absolutely happy and developing a healthy and happy SGI community. This

This essay by Ikeda Sensei was published in the Jan. 4, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun.  The New Year’s Hakone Ekiden men’s relay marathon [on Jan. 2–3] inspired and thrilled people throughout Japan. I would like to wholeheartedly applaud the solid performance and unity of the members of the Soka

The following was written by Ikeda Sensei as part of his series “The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin and the Mentor-Disciple Relationship,” originally published in the Aug. 28, 2009, World Tribune. Part one appears in the Nov. 11, 2022, World Tribune, pp. 2–3. “Bound as we common mortals are by earthly desires, we can instantly attain

The following poems were published in the Jan. 1, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. We, as mentor and disciple,are unwavering champions“of heaven, earth, and humanity.” Let us illuminate the world with the brilliantmorning sun of time without beginning. • • • The seeds of happiness and enlightenmentsprout through life-to-life connections.May

Ikeda Sensei’s 2023 New Year’s Message

Originally published in the December 2022 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. Over the past year, all of you, our dedicated members everywhere—not least the uncrowned heroes who deliver the Seikyo Shimbun each day—have advanced steadily in your tireless efforts for the sake of Buddhism, the happiness of others and the welfare of your

This essay by Ikeda Sensei was published in the Nov. 5, 2022, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun.  November, the month we celebrate the glorious anniversary of our founding, is here once again! Today, Nov. 5, is Young Men’s Division Day. It commemorates the day in 1961, when we held a gathering

The following is SGI President Ikeda’s monthly encouragement published in the October edition of The Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s study journal. In this existence,joyfully walkthe unsurpassed way that isfragrant with beautiful flowers of humanity,together with smiling friends. We develop our characters and grow as individuals through our interactions with others. The Italian thinker Giuseppe Mazzini

The following excerpts are from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at the 13th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting held at the Tokyo Makiguchi Memorial Hall in Tokyo, on July 9, 1997. Video footage of the speech was broadcast during the 11th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting Toward Our Centennial held on Nov. 12, 2022. This was translated from

The following text is Ikeda Sensei’s Foreword to The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, the first volume of the Soka Gakkai’s official English translation of Nichiren’s collected works. The publication in a single volume of the translations of 172 writings of Nichiren Daishonin, including his five major works, is indeed wonderful news, not only

To my treasured friends of Los Angeles, the city of my dreams. A brilliant, burning sunrises above the newborn land,aiming toward a new century,raising the curtain on a new stageof humanity’s history.Shedding its light equally on all things,it seeks the sky’s distant midpoint. In this land wrappedin the limitless lightof the morning sun,my splendid American

11th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting

Originally published in the November 2022 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. Nichiren Daishonin writes, “The wish-granting jewel …, though only a single jewel, can shower all kinds of treasures upon the wisher” (“The Recitation of the ‘Expedient Means’ and ‘Life Span’ Chapters,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 69). Just like

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the Oct. 26, 2022, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Our movement for kosen-rufu is about building a culture of peace. As part of that endeavor, we hold a wide range of exhibitions around the world. Twenty years have passed since the

The following excerpt is from Ikeda Sensei’s essay “Be Champions of Wisdom, Diligently Training in Practice and Study!” published in the Oct. 21, 2022, World Tribune, pp. 2–3. Studying Nichiren’s writings rouses the Daishonin’s indomitable fighting spirit in our hearts and causes our beings to resound with his great compassion to alleviate the sufferings of

Message to the Nationwide Young Men’s Leaders Meeting

Originally published in the October 2022 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. Eight hundred years have passed since the birth of Nichiren Daishonin, who described himself as “the son of a commoner” and “the son of commoner parents.” The time has come for Nichiren Daishonin’s sunlike Buddhism of the people to dispel the darkness

Ikeda Sensei’s poem commemorates November 18, Soka Gakkai Founding Day. It was originally published in the February 2, 2001, World Tribune, pp. 4–5. The morning sun!O the morning sun shining in the eastern sky! The light illuminatingthe great stageof the 21st centurybeckons usto stride out exuberantlyinto the new age ahead of us. His gaze on

The following is an essay from Ikeda Sensei, originally published in the Sept. 29, 2022, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. I recall an evening not long after the Seikyo Shimbun had been founded, when I was busily preparing for Josei Toda’s upcoming inauguration as second Soka Gakkai president. A number of