Song of the Unity of Mentor and Disciple—An Ode to My Mentor Josei Toda

His life
always glowed
with lofty conviction.
I sensed a burning compassion
in his profound spirit of faith.

Each day
was a series of hardships,
a struggle against 
ill will and betrayal,
a struggle to follow 
the path of one’s beliefs,
as the waves of slander 
and criticism
pounded relentlessly.

The mere mention 
of the name Soka
brought curses and abuse
from many.
Out of ignorance, 
the narrow-minded people of Japan—
a nation that tends to abhor
individuals of principle and conviction,
who by rights should be valued above all—
treated us with aversion 
and mocking contempt.

Yet, in that climate,
my mentor, Josei Toda,
took the lead for kosen-rufu,
sometimes with a gentle smile,
sometimes with stern words
and sometimes exuberantly,
giving his hearty laugh.
He feared nothing.

He was a mentor 
of penetrating vision.
He never missed 
a single falsehood or lie.
And when he let forth
his lion’s roar of condemnation,
even the most arrogant and corrupt
would tremble in fear.

He was a mentor 
with a smile like a spring breeze, 
warming and melting 
the hearts of the people
that were frozen 
with misery and despair.
Like the sun,
he generously embraced all.
Shining with the light 
of courage and hope,
he gave people boundless strength 
to go on living.

The unity of mentor and disciple— 

this bond is the key

to kosen-rufu.

Whatever may be said, 
the mentor-disciple relationship
is eternal and indestructible.
Mentor and disciple
are joined by diamondlike 
life-to-life bonds extending
from the past to the present
and on into the future.

“The Parable of the Phantom City” chapter 
of the Lotus Sutra unmistakably speaks 
of disciples constantly being reborn 
in company with their teachers 
in various Buddha lands.^[1]

We will always,
in every existence
and every age,
be born together with our mentor,
strive together with our mentor,
triumph together with our mentor,
as we forever advance 
along the great and noble path 
of kosen-rufu.

Mr. Toda selflessly served
and devotedly supported
his mentor, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi,
who practiced in accord 
with Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings,
embodying the words,
“Without tribulation 
there would be no votary 
of the Lotus Sutra.”^[2]

Mr. Toda gladly 
accompanied Mr. Makiguchi 
even to prison, 
enduring adversity 
for the sake of the Law. 
During World War II, 
my just and righteous mentor
was imprisoned for two years,
the nation ruthlessly persecuting 
this man dedicated to great good
and the highest truth.

Mr. Makiguchi,
the Soka Gakkai’s first president,
died in prison.
My mentor, Josei Toda,
vowed to vindicate his name
without fail. 
Angered and outraged,
this champion of humanity
declared that he would become 
an indomitable crusader for truth 
and wage an unremitting battle 
against the unscrupulous fiends 
who had persecuted his noble mentor.
This is a famous fact of history.

Experiencing a great awakening 
in his prison cell—
perceiving that the Buddha 
is life itself
and realizing his own identity 
as a Bodhisattva of the Earth—
he stepped forth all alone
on his release
into the devastated ruins of Tokyo,
making a great vow to 
widely propagate the Mystic Law.

The mentor—
resolved to spread 
the Mystic Law
with selfless devotion—
sought young people
who would carry aloft 
the banner of truth and justice; 
he waited eagerly for
the appearance of disciples
who would strive 
without begrudging their lives. 

My life has been shaped

by my beloved mentor

and the Mystic Law.

August 14, 1947,
marks our encounter 
as mentor and disciple 
in this lifetime. 
On that day, at that moment,
the hearts of this mentor and disciple
from the remote past
were powerfully joined, 
and the wheel of the Law 
of Soka
began to turn anew,
a song of shared commitment
flowing forth.

The curtain opened
on my proud and glorious youth.
For 11 years—
3,885 days—
I served my mentor 
with single-minded devotion
until April 2, 1958,
the day of his death.

Year by year,
the number of disciples grew,
and in direct proportion,
unprovoked persecution
increased in intensity.

“Once you become a disciple …
of the votary who practices 
the true Lotus Sutra 
in accord with the Buddha’s teachings,
you are bound to face 
the three types of enemies.”^[3]
The path of mentor and disciple
is one of great trials and adversity.

How frightening 
the human heart can be!
Mr. Toda’s businesses failed,
unleashing an avalanche of debt.
At the barrage of public criticism, 
top Gakkai leaders,
for whom he had done so much,
were the first to desert him,
abruptly turning their backs
in an act of blatant ingratitude,
mocking and sneering
as they left.

All his other disciples, too,
were shaken and filled with doubt. 
Deplorably, 
even many who were leaders
abandoned him.
With tears of bitter frustration, 
I disdained them, thinking:
“They’ll regret their actions one day!”

His one most beloved disciple vowed:
“Whatever hardship may be imposed on me,
I will do everything in my power
to protect my mentor
to the end of my days.
I don’t care about wealth.
I will dedicate my life 
to carrying out my mentor’s instructions.”

What fainthearted disciples!
What faithless disciples!
What arrogance and folly!
What human baseness!
There was nothing 
even remotely noble or decent
in their behavior;
crazed by cowardice,  
they acted with utter depravity.

The disciple cried out,
making a solemn pledge
like a lion roaring
to the heavens.

O foolish and ignoble wretches,
the heavenly deities will never 
lend you their assistance!
How miserable,
how pitiful you are! 
You will forever suffer 
even greater shame and agony
than one publicly
condemned as a thief.

Lacking true faith,
these individuals were unable 
to esteem Mr. Toda as their mentor.
Scorning his spontaneous 
and unaffected character,
they never tried to comprehend
his true identity 
as a mentor of kosen-rufu. 

Nikko Shonin declared: 
“The Daishonin teaches 
correctly following the path
of mentor and disciple
to attain Buddhahood.”^[4]

As my mentor’s direct disciple,
I was outraged.
Alone I made a profound resolution.
I would give my all
to rigorously protect my mentor! 
I would lay down my very life, 
leaving a model for future generations
of what it means to be a true disciple.

Although I had a lung condition
and often coughed up blood,
I fought like a demon 
with every ounce of my being. 

Sensing my resolve,
Mr. Toda remonstrated:
“Daisaku!
You’re going to kill yourself!
You’re trying to give your life for my sake.
I don’t want that. You must survive!
I will exchange my life for yours!”

The mentor 
cherished his disciple 
with all his heart;
the disciple
esteemed his mentor 
with all his heart.
Ours was a noble drama
of mentor and disciple.

Mahatma Gandhi said:
“A disciple
is more than a son.
Discipleship
is second birth.”^[5]

I was proud to be
my mentor’s disciple.
I didn’t care whether anyone else
noticed or knew of my efforts. 
I charged ahead with the pride
of correctly carrying out
the supreme Buddhist teaching
and fighting wholeheartedly
under the leadership of
my great mentor of kosen-rufu.

I have no regrets.
I have absolutely no regrets,
for I fought in every struggle
to the very end, 
faithfully upholding the path 
of mentor and disciple. 
I have won!

On one occasion one day,
walking with my mentor
in the pouring rain,
at a loss over how to solve
the crisis at hand,
I said:
“In the future,
I will buy a car 
for you to ride in.
And I’ll see to it that 
the Gakkai
has its own buildings!”

Mr. Toda
silently nodded.
Tears
shone in his eyes.

I pledged:
“I will pay off
all your debts.
And I will see you
take the lead for kosen-rufu
as the Soka Gakkai’s president.”

We faced an endless series 
of the most indescribable difficulties.
Those were days 
of stormy seas and bitter gales,
of never knowing whether
tomorrow would come.

All that time, 
the mentor had faith 
in his one and only disciple. 
Soaring on the wings
of his grand vision for kosen-rufu,
he shared his dreams
one after another, 
entrusting me with their realization.
“Let’s start a Gakkai newspaper!” he said.
“Let’s build a university—Soka University!”
The absolute trust of one’s mentor—
what greater glory can there be?

O!
Then finally it arrived,
the day of Mr. Toda’s inauguration 
as second president—
May 3, 1951, 
bathed in glorious sunshine!
The mentor’s triumph was 
the disciple’s greatest joy. 

Mr. Toda declared
his resolve to accomplish
a membership of 750,000 households.
Realizing that goal
became the burning vow of my youth. 

A mentor’s expectations 
for his true disciple
are great indeed.
And so, with the tough love
of a lion teaching its cub to survive,
Mr. Toda trained me rigorously,
with strict compassion,
day after day.

My mentor
was engaged in his struggle 
24 hours a day.
On countless occasions,
he called me to his home 
in the middle of the night,
and I always flew there
as swift as a falcon.

After summoning me to his side,
we would hold planning sessions
for our movement’s future success,
just the two of us,
in the spirit of working to “assure 
victory a thousand miles away.”^[6]

He charged me with 
the most challenging assignments. 
“If you are my disciple,
you will win!
I expect success!”
There was never a word
of praise or thanks for my efforts,
because the mark of a true disciple
is to triumph in every struggle.

I strove tirelessly, 
giving my all, 
fighting with wholehearted devotion.
In Kamata, Bunkyo and Sapporo, 
in Osaka, Yamaguchi and Yubari,
wherever I went,
I raised victory banners 
in unprecedented numbers
and made fresh breakthroughs 
for kosen-rufu.

My mentor said
to a close circle of top leaders:
“Every place where Daisaku has been
is realizing tremendous growth
and achieving great victory.
Look at that actual proof!”

When you advance together 
with your mentor,
your life burns 
with passion and energy!
When you think 
of your mentor,
you feel brave,
you feel strong
and you can tap
wisdom without end!  

Mr. Toda initiated a struggle 
to establish the correct teaching 
for the peace of the land
so that all people might enjoy
happy and secure lives.
It was a fierce struggle
against the devilish nature
of authority,
mirroring the Daishonin’s words,
“As mountains pile upon mountains
and waves follow waves,
so do persecutions add to persecutions
and criticisms augment criticisms.”^[7]

Great persecutions befell the Gakkai
in the summer of 1957—
the Yubari Coal Miners Union Incident 
in the north
and the Osaka Incident 
in the west.
The young warrior
brought a paean of the people’s victory
to resound in the northern land of Hokkaido
before appearing for questioning
at the summons of the Osaka police. 

I will never forget
stopping on the way to Kansai
at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport,
where my frail and ailing mentor,
nine months before his death,
said to me, his disciple,
who faced 
almost certain imprisonment,
“If, by any chance,
you should die,
I will rush to your side,
throw myself on your body
and die along with you.”
What noble and compassionate words!
Such is the heart of the mentor.

I wept inside.
I firmly resolved
to prevent the authorities 
from laying even a finger 
on my mentor. 
Arrested on trumped-up charges,
I bore the full brunt 
of oppression. 

But the disciple proved 
the integrity of the Soka movement 
for all the world to see:
several years after Mr. Toda’s death,
in January 1962,
I prevailed in court,
winning a verdict of not guilty.

Faith in Nichiren Buddhism 
means a proud and noble life
of shouldering total responsibility
for the important mission of kosen-rufu;
it means a life of no regrets. 

Confident of my victory,
my mentor,
a great champion of the world, 
cried that all the vile 
and envious falsehoods
would be disproven.

Many of those disciples
who achieved a degree of fame
and fell victim to avarice
abandoned Mr. Toda. 
Though some had become
national lawmakers 
through the sincere support 
of fellow Gakkai members, 
or had risen to 
important leadership positions 
within the Gakkai,
they revealed themselves
as cowardly and dishonorable,
forsaking their mentor
and repaying great kindness
with the basest ingratitude.

My mentor often said,
“A disciple who joins the ranks
of people of overbearing arrogance
is no longer a disciple
but an ungrateful enemy.”

Among the Daishonin’s disciples, too,
Nikko Shonin alone 
preserved the pure stream 
of his mentor’s teachings.
The other five senior priests
were swept away by corruption.

During the war,
fearing the militarist authorities 
of the day,
many Gakkai leaders
recanted their faith.
Mr. Toda alone
took his mentor’s heart 
as his own
and rose up resolutely 
to protect the Law.

As the disciple 
of my great mentor, Mr. Toda,
from the moment I met him 
at the age of 19
to the day of his death,
I always served him
faithfully and closely,
day in and day out
from morning till late at night.

While supporting my mentor,
who was undergoing truly
formidable struggles,
I also built the foundation 
for the remarkable present growth
of the Soka Gakkai.
This, I wish to loudly proclaim,
is the true way 
of mentor and disciple.

Now I 
entrust to the youth
the path of true disciples 
for future generations,
because that is the formula
for ongoing great development.

Amid the furious onslaughts 
of the three powerful enemies
in every shape and form,
I overcame all obstacles
and won total victory,
wishing to see
my mentor’s smiling face
when I had triumphed.

That is why, for me,
the days I spent 
with my eternal mentor, Mr. Toda,
sharing his sufferings and joys
and creating history,
are all colored in victory
and shine with dazzling brilliance.

I have achieved decisive victory!
I have triumphed over all!  
This is a testament
to the power of faith 
and the power of practice
of mentor and disciple
who share the same commitment.

Ah!
Every day and hour
I spent with my beloved mentor—
all of them
without exception
are for me
shining golden memories.

My mentor
was a champion of Buddhism,
a champion of battle,
a champion of truth.
He indeed
was a man of great wisdom 
and a leader of the people. 
In the months and days
I spent 
with this incomparable champion,
I was able to create
an immortal record of achievement 
in my youth.

My beloved mentor 
was a man of towering stature.
I was truly fortunate. 
Indeed, both mentor and disciple
are certain to enjoy lives 
of eternal and indestructible
happiness and victory,
shining forever,
in lifetime after lifetime. 

Thinking of my mentor,

speaking of my mentor,

I went throughout the world.

I have fulfilled my every pledge.
From the seeds of my mentor’s ideas,
I have fostered tall, mighty trees,
branches green and lush,
reaching high into the heavens.

Our Soka community centers
have become noble citadels of the people,
standing in large numbers 
across the country and the world.
Our newspaper, the Seikyo Shimbun, 
has become a great bastion of journalism.
Soka University and the Soka schools
have become lofty fortresses of education
that have won admiration and acclaim
around the globe.

The Soka Gakkai,
which Mr. Toda declared 
was more precious to him 
than his own life,
has grown into a grand movement
for peace, culture and education
encompassing 190 countries and territories^[8]
in a feat that will go down 
in the history of Buddhism—
nay, the history of humankind!

Shakyamuni’s prophecy
of worldwide kosen-rufu
and Nichiren Daishonin’s cherished wish
for the “westward transmission 
of Buddhism”^[9]
have been fulfilled.

As you know,
a new dawn of peace
for humankind
has begun to sparkle brightly—
the ultimate vision of Buddhism
known as worldwide kosen-rufu.

I am a graduate 
of “Toda University.”
There was one teacher—Mr. Toda,
and one student—me.
For some 10 years,
Mr. Toda instructed me
in a wide array of subjects.

As a graduate 
of “Toda University,”
I have now received 
more than 200 academic honors
from universities and other
institutions around the globe,
along with 460 awards
of honorary citizenship.^[10]
Eminent minds
have praised this
as an achievement 
unprecedented in the world.

All of these honors
are tributes attesting to the victory 
of my beloved mentor, Mr. Toda.

The victory of the mentor
is the victory of the disciple.
The victory of the disciple
is the victory of the mentor.

The person who,
his whole life long,
dedicates his entire being
to serving his mentor,
becomes the next mentor.
This is an unchanging formula
in Buddhism;
such are the indivisible bonds
of mentor and disciple.

Nothing can surpass 
the way of mentor and disciple.
Without a mentor in life,
one can easily succumb to folly. 
Without a mentor in life,
one can easily become
self-centered, capricious
and arrogant.

Just as we see
parents raising children
in families, 
we invariably find
teachers instructing students,
mentors fostering disciples,
in human society. 
This has been true 
of every field of endeavor
from time immemorial.

I have finally repaid

the debt I owe my mentor

in this lifetime.

A brightly smiling Mr. Toda
is in my heart
at all times.
Even now,
day after day,
I carry on an inner dialogue 
with my mentor, asking, 
“What would you do in my place?”

No matter how dark the times,
whenever I think of my great mentor,
a path illuminated by a ray of light
opens up before me.

Ah!
A mentor is a mirror.
A mentor is hope.
A mentor is strength.
When a mentor lives in our heart,
we will never waver. 
When a mentor lives in our heart,
we will never be defeated.

Ah!
My beloved mentor,
Mr. Toda!
The world’s greatest mentor,
Mr. Toda!
My eternal mentor in life,
Mr. Toda!

Your disciple, Daisaku Ikeda, 
has triumphed brilliantly.
In my life’s song
of unity of mentor and disciple,
I have left behind
an immortal history.  

My commitment

to the path of mentor and disciple

grows ever stronger.

Today again, in high spirits,
I advance along 
the noble and righteous path 
of propagating the Mystic Law!
I will never 
make my life one of regret.
With vibrant courage,
I will boldly continue to create
a record of valuable 
and triumphant achievements. 

For this is 
the way of Buddhism.
For this is
the way of mentor and disciple.

February 4, 2007,
the first day of spring,^[11]
commemorating the 107th anniversary 
of my mentor, Josei Toda’s birth.^[12]

Mentor-Disciple Hall, 
Soka Gakkai Headquarters
Daisaku Ikeda

December 6, 2024, World Tribune, pp. 2–7