The following is Ikeda Sensei’s dedication on the monument that graces the entrance lobby of the Hall of the Great Vow for Kosen-rufu in Shinanomachi, Tokyo. This text first appeared in the November 18, 2013, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper.
Worldwide kosen-rufu is the will of Nichiren Daishonin, and the Soka Gakkai is fulfilling the unique mission of actualizing this noble vision in accord with the Daishonin’s true intent.
November 18, 1930—The Soka Gakkai emerged out of the efforts of a mentor and disciple who shared deep karmic bonds. Founding president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi spread Nichiren Buddhism and its teaching of respect for the dignity of life in wartime Japan. For these actions, he was arrested and jailed by the militarist authorities and died in prison for his beliefs. His disciple, second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda, was likewise imprisoned but survived the ordeal to devote the rest of his life to eliminating misery from the world.
Carrying on President Toda’s spirit of selfless dedication to propagating Nichiren Buddhism, I stood up as his disciple to become the third president of the Soka Gakkai. My fellow members and I, united in the struggle for kosen-rufu, have written a brilliant history of brave and vigorous exertion, sowing the seeds of happiness of the Mystic Law far and wide. These efforts have given rise to a magnificent flowering of peace, culture and education in 192 countries and territories around the globe.
November 18, 2013—Here in Shinanomachi, Tokyo—the home of the Soka Gakkai Headquarters, where President Toda took leadership for kosen-rufu in keeping with his mentor’s noble spirit—the Hall of the Great Vow for Kosen-rufu, which I proposed and named, has now been erected.
Enshrined herein is the Soka Gakkai Kosen-rufu Gohonzon, which bears the inscription “For the Fulfillment of the Great Vow for Kosen-rufu Through the Compassionate Propagation of the Great Law.”
This lofty citadel, dedicated to the shared vow of mentor and disciple, is a place for offering our profound prayers for the realization of a peaceful world through spreading the humanistic teachings and ideals of Nichiren Buddhism. It is a place for resolving anew to triumph in our personal human revolution, undaunted by all obstacles and challenges, and to help others do the same.
In “On Repaying Debts of Gratitude,” Nichiren Daishonin writes: “If Nichiren’s compassion is truly great and encompassing, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread for ten thousand years and more, for all eternity.”1
Kosen-rufu is the path to attaining universal peace and prosperity. It is our great vow from time without beginning for the enlightenment of all people. Today, a steady stream of Bodhisattvas of the Earth is vibrantly emerging and illuminating every corner of the globe with the great light of humanism of the Lotus Sutra.
It is my most heartfelt wish that all our precious members, directly linked to Nichiren Daishonin and following the lead of the three founding presidents of the Soka Gakkai, will unite in the spirit of “many in body, one in mind” to build an ever stronger groundswell for kosen-rufu, for world peace, into the eternal future.
With deepest gratitude to my mentors,
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda,
Daisaku Ikeda
Third President of the Soka Gakkai
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