“Protectors of Life—The Lofty Spirit of Hope!”

Many do not fully realize
the demanding nature of your work,
your boundless empathy,
sharing others’ pain and tears.

At times,
you embrace a weary traveler
on the road to recovery
like a refreshing breeze,
warmly encouraging them:
“I see you are much better!”
“You’ll be well again soon.”

At times,
you urge like a loving parent
or cheer on like a caring sibling:
“Be strong!”
“Be brave!”

Your Buddhist philosophy—
with its deep insights
into the fundamental questions
of birth, aging, sickness and death—
helps you give patients the strength
to transform their fear and anxiety
over the vagaries of destiny
into passion for life.

No matter how tired you are,
your compassionate eyes
remain deeply focused
on your patients and their health.
While carefully measuring their pulse,
you exercise your special ability
to encourage and lead them
from darkness
into light!

When you together win
over illness,
the patient’s smile sparkles,
applauding your mission
overflowing with honor
deep in your heart.

The Shirakaba [White Birch] Group,
the young women’s nurses group in Japan,
was founded on June 6, 1969—
the anniversary of founding Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi’s birth.

Like Bodhisattva Medicine King,
who burned his body
as an offering of light to the Buddha,
Mr. Makiguchi gave his life
in selfless dedication to Buddhism.
The lives of our nurses,
the Bodhisattvas Medicine King of Soka,
are always shining brightly
together with the founder of our movement.

On the day
the Shirakaba Group was established,
my wife and I
shared a profound determination
and powerful prayer:

“May our precious, precious
nurses group members
enjoy superlative health and longevity,
and lead truly wonderful lives!”

And to celebrate
the nurses group’s new beginning,
I sent this message:
“Please make it your mission
to encourage the sick
and the suffering.
Your noble voices
overflow with a genuine compassion
that no politician or celebrity
could ever match.”

Now, to my great delight,
thousands and tens of thousands of
nurses of Soka, protectors of life,
are standing up to serve,
striving gallantly
with a deep commitment to purpose,
day after day.

Your spirit of
tireless, unwavering dedication—
transcending all nagging fears and doubts,
your gaze fixed on the horizon
of a sure recovery—
is revealed in all its profound magnificence
in your calm visage.

Countless people
benefit from your daily care,
immensely reassured
by your presence.

I once composed these poems
for our nurses group members:

“You are most certainly
bodhisattvas and Buddhas
who have appeared
in this human world
to create an age of hope.”

“Heavenly deities—
Staunchly protect
our nurses group members,
who have such a lofty mission,
and praise them eternally!”

In the dark hours of the night,
you make your rounds
through the quiet wards,
the rooms still, somber,
forgotten by the world.
In the solemn dawn,
tired after a busy shift,
you pray to regain your energy
to fight on.

Your eyes and bodies
are quickly alert,
responding to complex situations
with complete mastery;
you are the very embodiment
of true health professionals!

Our nurses—
infinitely strong,
infinitely kind,
infinitely embracing,
infinitely wise
and infinitely positive!

A poet once extolled
Florence Nightingale as a saint,
deeming her spirit
nobler than that of an angel
for the way she cared for life
with deep wisdom
and swift action.

Nurses call to mind
the birch tree,
growing straight and tall
in the cold winds—
noble,
unyielding, majestic.

How admirable you are,
our nurses!
Your achievements,
your honor,
your pride,
your times of painful struggle,
even your future happiness—
all are for the sake
of those in your care!

Looking at the face of each patient
with an attentive expert eye,
and warmly watching over each of them,
you work day and night
to realize your dream of
helping everyone fulfill their wish
of living long, healthy lives—
what paragons of love and
compassion you are!

Daisaku Ikeda
July 12, 2000