CategoryOur History

This is a translation of an installment of a Soka Gakkai Study Department series, published in August 2024 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. Installment 26: Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the Object of Devotion In the ninth month of 1278, one year before the Atsuhara Persecution—the persecution of his followers in Atsuhara Village

In February 1987, Ikeda Sensei met in Los Angeles with the journalist and humanist Norman Cousins, who was dubbed “the conscience of America” for speaking out tirelessly for nuclear abolition. Sensei referred to their meetings (in 1987 and 1990) in a commencement message to Soka University of America, providing this insight from their dialogue: Life

‘To My Beloved Young American Friends—Youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth’ In June 1981, Ikeda Sensei returned to New York for the first time in six years. It was there that he crystallized his hopes for the SGI-USA youth in the poem “To My Beloved Young American Friends—Youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth.” In the following excerpts,

How our Buddhist movement has expanded over the years.

In the mid-1970s, as the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War dominated the news, Ikeda Sensei delivered his first overseas university lecture, “The Enduring Self,” on April 1, 1974, at UCLA. Speaking to 600 students, he introduced Buddhist principles largely unfamiliar to Western society and urged a shift from a civilization focused on the “lesser

What Ikeda Sensei taught us about peace during his 27 visits to America.

Ikeda Sensei’s 27 Visits to America

This is a translation of an installment of a Soka Gakkai Study Department series, published in the July 2024 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. The previous installment is published in the May 2025 Living Buddhism, pp. 50–55. Installment 25: The Atsuhara Persecution  After 1277, when Nichiren Daishonin’s disciples such as

On Sept. 5, 2001, 41 SGI-USA youth representatives attended a headquarters leaders meeting in Tokyo with Ikeda Sensei in attendance. Ahead of the meeting, the youth had presented Sensei with the newly created SGI-USA youth division flag, solidifying their determination to advance kosen-rufu in the 21st century. They were surprised to find that Sensei had

On Aug. 14, 1947, Daisaku Ikeda, at just 19 years old, attended his first Soka Gakkai discussion meeting, encountering the man who would become his mentor, Josei Toda. Just 10 days later, on Aug. 24, the young Daisaku joined the Soka Gakkai. The day is of great importance not just as the day when Ikeda

On July 3, 1957, Daisaku Ikeda, the then-Soka Gakkai youth division chief of staff, was summoned to the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, where he was arrested on false charges of election law violations in a House of Councillors by-election held earlier the same year. The news of his arrest spread quickly throughout Kansai. Outraged, many

This is a translation of an installment of a Soka Gakkai Study Department series, published in the May 2024 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal.  Installment 24: Shijo Kingo and the Ikegami Brothers On behalf of his loyal disciple Shijo Kingo who was experiencing great hardship following the Kuwagayatsu Debate in

Installment 23: ‘Letter to Shimoyama’

Ikeda Sensei’s proposals could be said to have started in 1966, when in a speech he called for an immediate ceasefire in the Vietnam War. Then came his Proposal for the Normalization of Sino-Japanese Relations in 1968. Over the next two decades, Sensei submitted several other proposals, including two to the first and second U.N.

Installment 22: On the Four Stages of Faith and the Five Stages of Practice

On Jan. 26, 1975, a great wave of peace surged outward from the lush isles of Guam into the world. On that day, 158 representatives from 51 countries and territories gathered for the First World Peace Conference. It was here that the Soka Gakkai International was founded as the international body comprising Soka Gakkai organizations

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the SGI, Living Buddhism is reprinting this essay by Ikeda Sensei in which he writes about the SGI’s inaugural meeting in Guam on January 26, 1975, and the significant turning points that have marked the Soka Gakkai’s advancement every 25 years. This essay is part of

Installment 21: On Repaying Debts of Gratitude

Installment 20: ‘The Selection of the Time’

In June 1928, at the age of 57, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, a forward-thinking educator, took faith in Nichiren Buddhism with a friend’s urging. Writing of this decision, he said, “With an indescribable joy, I completely changed the way I had lived for almost 60 years.” With this inner awakening, he set out to realize “a bold