Ikeda Sensei’s message to the 50th anniversary of the World Tribune on Aug. 15, 2014.
I offer my heartfelt congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the World Tribune, a newspaper that is leading the worldwide kosen-rufu movement with words of truth and justice.
Already half a century has passed since the first issue was published on Aug. 15, 1964. And it gives me great joy to know that today the World Tribune serves as a beacon of boundless hope and courage that is beloved by its many readers as a publication through which they can share one another’s experiences and joys in faith.
Even now, I vividly recall the events leading to the publication of the World Tribune. In May 1964, I was traveling to Australia, Sri Lanka and India. During the flight from India’s Mumbai to New Delhi, the decision was made to begin publishing a newspaper for the sake of kosen-rufu in America.
In October 1960, I had initiated my global travels for peace from the land of America. The era for worldwide kosen-rufu had come, as waves of joy from sharing the Mystic Law were spreading throughout the United States. I keenly sensed a need for an English publication that would accord with this new era, one that could correctly convey to those unfamiliar with Nichiren Buddhism—new members, family and friends—its philosophy of respect for the dignity of life, its ideals of humanism, as well as the significance of the Soka Gakkai’s grassroots movement devoted to creating world peace.
I proposed, and the decision was made, to name the newspaper World Tribune. I couldn’t help thinking that the paper being given that name in the skies over India, the birthplace of Buddhism, heralded the great worldwide transmission of Nichiren Buddhism, which so clearly elucidates the essence of the Lotus Sutra.
World, in the paper’s name, embodies the determination to send the light of peace and hope to all humanity. And Tribune, which comes from the ancient Roman guardians of the people, signifies using our voices of justice to resolutely protect ordinary people.
Half a century ago, the World Tribune started as a semimonthly four-page tabloid-size newspaper. Today [in 2014], it has become a weekly with as many as 12 pages, featuring four-page inserts for both the elementary school division and the junior high and high school division. Illustrating the paper’s remarkable growth and its responsiveness to the changing times and needs of its readership, language supplements in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Spanish are also published every month.
To the editorial staff, to the readers who regularly support the paper and to all those involved in helping the World Tribune grow to the extent it has today, I offer my heartfelt appreciation.
Nichiren Daishonin teaches us that it is through words that we do the Buddha’s work. He states:
It is through the use of words and letters that the Buddha saves living beings. …
And the Sutra on Resolving Doubts about the Middle Day of the Law says, “It is through the use of words and letters that living beings are saved and can attain enlightenment.”
If one rejects the use of words and letters, then how can the Buddha’s work be done? (“Letter to Renjo,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, pp. 6–7)
In the passage above, “words” refers to the sutras. But one could say that the World Tribune—a publication of kosen-rufu that correctly teaches Buddhist ideals and conveys the SGI’s movement for peace, culture and education—is a newspaper that does the Buddha’s work through the power of the written word.
During Nichiren’s time, his disciples gathered to read and reread his letters, and they also relayed the content of those letters to others, encouraging one another as they carried out the Buddha’s work of teaching those around them about Buddhism.
Today, in the same manner, we study the World Tribune at discussion meetings and on our own, and we freely share with our family and friends the greatness of Buddhism and the inspiration we gain from faith. In so doing, we advance in our efforts to carry out the Buddha’s work of kosen-rufu.
The current of worldwide kosen-rufu that began in America has now become a great river, flowing vibrantly in 192 countries and territories. The father of our Soka movement and founding Soka Gakkai president, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, held high hopes for the potential of America, a great nation of democracy. He envisioned the U.S. thriving in the future. I, too, believe that the admirable traits of the American ideal—freedom, exuberance, kindness, diligence and a sense of humor—are among the ideal qualities for global citizens, qualities deeply connected to the humanism espoused by Buddhism.
I conclude my message by expressing my deep wish for the great advancement of the SGI-USA, a model for the world, and my hope that toward its 60th and 70th anniversaries, the World Tribune will create a history of progress while brightly illuminating the future with the beautiful light of peace and hope.
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International
August 15, 2014
August 15, 2024, World Tribune, pp. 1–2
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