This monthly encouragement by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the September 2021 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal.
Four decades have passed since I called out “Youth, scale the mountain of kosen-rufu of the 21st century!” in a poem of that same title I composed in Oita, Kyushu, a place so close to my heart.[1]
Since then, we have conquered numerous mountains of challenge and adversity, rising high above the clouds, and now our vision of worldwide kosen-rufu and “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land” unfolds before us in the distance, as far as the eye can see.
The golden achievements of each of our noble members who have striven with steadfast dedication alongside me on our ascent vividly appear in my mind. These dear members have surmounted youth’s daunting hurdles, as practitioners who “embrace this magnificent Buddhism of the sun”[2] and are always “communicating warmly” with others.[3] I would like nothing more than to celebrate each of their brilliant victories in human revolution. That is my most heartfelt wish.
To climb the mountain of kosen-rufu is to engage in “joyous and infinitely satisfying struggle on behalf of the Buddhist Law” and savor that “there is no higher path in life than this.”[4]
Nichiren Daishonin declares that he was able to overcome the numerous life-threatening persecutions he experienced because he recited passages from the Lotus Sutra daily and held fast to the vow he had made to the Buddhas and heavenly deities:[5]
So long as a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra remains unwavering in faith, free of all false alliances, entrusting himself wholeheartedly to the Lotus Sutra and practicing in accordance with the Buddha’s golden words, he will without fail be able to prevent disaster and prolong his life in this present existence, to say nothing of in the life to come. Splendid recompense will be his, and he will fulfill his great vow to broadly proclaim and propagate the Lotus Sutra [the great vow for kosen-rufu].[6]
Since the time of our first and second presidents, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda, the mentors and disciples of Soka have striven with “unwavering faith, free of all false alliances,” in exact accord with this passage and just as the Buddha teaches. And today, our members everywhere continue to show proof of good fortune and benefit in their daily lives and enjoy the “splendid recompense” of inner victory.
This is unquestionably the path of “faith for absolute victory,” borne out, above all, by each of our member’s personal experiences of gaining benefit through their practice of Nichiren Buddhism.
The great vow for kosen-rufu, as Mr. Toda said, is the challenge to elevate the life state of all humankind to the highest life state of Buddhahood.
Let us, the members of the Soka family of all ages, our hearts blazing with the youthful passion of Bodhisattvas of the Earth, invite our friends and others to join us in our great movement of hope, fulfillment, and happiness. Together, once again, let’s scale a new mountain of kosen-rufu—“to ring the bell of peace in the world and raise the flag of justice in society.”[7]
Triumphantly scale
a new mountain of kosen-rufu—
bringing countless “human flowers”
of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth
into glorious bloom.
References
- Ikeda Sensei presented the poem on December 10, 1981. The translation used in this essay is from the following source: Daisaku Ikeda, The Sun of Youth, pp. 77–100. ↩︎
- The Sun of Youth, p. 93. ↩︎
- Ibid., p. 90. ↩︎
- Ibid., p. 99. ↩︎
- In the passage immediately preceding the quote cited next, Nichiren Daishonin writes: “I myself, since the day I first took faith [in the Lotus Sutra], have recited these passages every day, making a vow and praying to the Buddhas and the gods, and although I have encountered great difficulties of various kinds, because of the profound influence of the benefits bestowed by the Lotus Sutra and the golden words of Shakyamuni Buddha, I have managed to survive until today” (“Letter Sent with the Prayer Sutra,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, p. 460). ↩︎
- Ibid., p. 460. ↩︎
- The Sun of Youth, p. 81. ↩︎
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