The Mentor-Disciple Journey for Peace Will Continue Forever

With the passing of Sensei, the Soka Gakkai revised the preamble to its Constitution to define the respective roles of the three founding presidents: 

•The three founding presidents of the Soka Gakkai—Makiguchi Sensei, who founded the Soka Gakkai; Toda Sensei, whose efforts led to the emergence of 750,000 Bodhisattvas of the Earth; and Ikeda Sensei, who then achieved the unprecedented by advancing kosen-rufu worldwide—appeared in this world with the mission to fulfill Nichiren Daishonin’s call to realize kosen-rufu. They shall be regarded as eternal mentors of worldwide kosen-rufu.

It also states:

•As the one and only SGI president, Sensei’s guidance will serve as the essential foundation of our global kosen-rufu movement after his death.

Based on these changes, the Soka Gakkai discontinued the role of SGI vice president and introduced the new roles of SGI general director and vice general director. The following appointments were then introduced:

SGI General Director: 
Yoshiki Tanigawa

SGI Vice General Director: 
•Shigeo Hasegawa
•Hiromasa Ikeda
•Danny Nagashima
•Hideaki Takahashi
•Yumiko Kasanuki
•Julio Kosaka
•Hiromichi Oyama
•Tariq Hasan
•Suzanne Pritchard
•Ida Gbodossou Adjévi
•Sueli Soyano Ogawa
•Lydia Salas Díaz
•Toshio Kanazawa
•Hirotsugu Terasaki 
•Shinji Shimizu

A kickoff toward 2025, the Year of Soaring Higher Toward a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide.

The Fifth Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting and SGI General Meeting, held on Nov. 17, 2024, at the Tokyo Toda Memorial Auditorium in Sugamo, Tokyo, served as a kickoff toward 2025—the Year of Soaring Higher Toward a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide. The meeting celebrated the 94th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai’s founding on Nov. 18, 1930.

In observance of the first anniversary since Sensei’s passing, Soka Gakkai Senior Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda presented three calligraphies from Sensei that seemed to define the path for advancing kosen-rufu toward 2030. They are:

“Eternal Life”
“Comrades in All Lifetimes and Existences”
“Great Vow”

Touching on the eternal aspect of the mentor-disciple bond, the debt of gratitude we owe to humanity and the vow we share to advance kosen-rufu, Mr. Ikeda cited one of Sensei’s final lectures on The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, in which he states:

The lives of those who dedicate themselves to the vow of kosen-rufu are completely at one with the Buddha. They can bring forth from within compassion as deep as the ocean, wisdom as vast as the sky and courage as dauntless and unshakable as a towering mountain.^[2]

“I truly feel that the Soka Gakkai’s three founding presidents are watching over us as we, the disciples who embrace the vow for kosen-rufu, cheerfully advance in the harmonious unity of ‘many in body, one in mind’ while sharing our sufferings and joy,” Mr. Ikeda said.

A new age is a time when disciples rise into action and create victory.

In an activity report, SGI-USA General Director Adin Strauss recalled speaking at the headquarters leaders meeting 10 years before, as the national men’s leader. As he stood onstage, he recalled looking out at the auditorium and seeing the portraits of the first and second Soka Gakkai presidents Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda, feeling a deep sense of awe mingled with great responsibility.

“Now, as I look up and see a third portrait there, that of Ikeda Sensei, my heart is filled with strong emotion, appreciation and determination,” he said.

Mr. Strauss shared about the amazing members he has encountered during his travels throughout the U.S. “The more I meet Sensei’s disciples, demonstrating a splendid stand-alone spirit in every corner of our country, the more I realize what a magnificent road of kosen-rufu in America Sensei paved,” he said.

In the past year, as members have been challenged with demonstrating the true meaning and spirit of being Sensei’s disciples, Mr. Strauss said he has made this passage from The New Human Revolution his foundation:

The infinite future is contained within the present instant. Our momentary decisions and actions are what will shape history. To ensure that we do not let crucial moments slip by, we must constantly put our all into what we are doing.^[3]

“During his 27 visits to America, Sensei put his all into every moment of every encounter and opened up an unlimited future for us,” Mr. Strauss said. “I resolved to continue with Sensei’s magnificent spirit and not allow even one crucial moment to slip by.”

 Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada said in a speech (see p. 9) that, given the present chaos in the world, the mission of our Soka movement to transform the karma of humanity is more important than ever. He then cited these words from Sensei in volume 19 of The New Human Revolution:

The necessary conditions for the kosen-rufu movement to really take off … have all been met. You are all in the driver’s seat now. I hope that, without depending on others, you will stand up with the same determination and awareness as me, taking full responsibility as you carry out activities for kosen-rufu. In other words, a new age is a time when disciples rise into action, when they demonstrate proof of their victory.^[4]

Constructing lasting peace based on Ikeda Sensei’s example.

These changes were made in advance of 2025, when the SGI will mark its 50th anniversary. On Jan. 26, 1975, Guam was chosen as the symbolic starting point of its endeavors to advance world peace, when 158 representatives from 51 countries and territories gathered in Tamuning for the First World Peace Conference at the International Trade Center Building.

Here, on the Pacific island of Guam, the site of intense fighting during the Pacific War, the group established the Soka Gakkai International, naming Daisaku Ikeda as its president.

On Nov. 18, 2024, at an SGI leaders meeting, President Harada spoke of Sensei’s efforts as a citizen diplomat in the year leading up to the SGI’s founding. Amid the increasing Cold War tensions between China and the Soviet Union, as well as the Vietnam War and armed conflict in the Middle East, suffering and terror rained down on ordinary people.

As chronicled in The New Human Revolution, Sensei traveled to Russia in 1974, where he asked the premier, Aleksey Kosygin, directly whether his country had plans of attacking China. When he said, “No,” Sensei delivered that message directly to the leadership in China several months later, thereby easing tensions between the two nuclear states that were building toward a third world war.

Then, in January 1975, Sensei met with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who asked Sensei where his allegiance lied in regard to the world powers. Sensei replied, “We are a force for peace, and we ally ourselves with humankind.”^[5]

On Jan. 26, 1975, at the SGI’s inaugural meeting on Guam, Sensei said: “If the peoples of all nations work together in unity, based on the principle of the sanctity of life, lasting peace will be achieved without fail.”^[6]

President Harada said that the SGI had grown to what it is today thanks to the truly staggering efforts Sensei made alongside the pioneers to spread Buddhism in the face of overwhelming challenges.

“Just like exactly 50 years ago, this meeting brings together the leaders of the SGI countries; this meeting is the world in miniature,” he said. “If we can come together in unity and spread solidarity to the world, an enduring peace will indeed be constructed. This is the work of construction.”

Paul Niihara, who attended the training course as an SGI-USA representative, recounted meeting a member from a small country in Central Europe, where there were only about two dozen members. “She was deeply determined to spread Buddhism in her country,” he said. “It was truly inspiring to see so many members from different countries gathered together with the spirit to advance worldwide kosen-rufu with Sensei’s heart.”

---

Fostering a Fresh Stream of Capable Individuals in 2025

Next year, will mark the 95th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai, 65 years since Ikeda Sensei’s inauguration as third Soka Gakkai president and his first visit overseas, as well as the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the SGI. In this truly significant year, in the spirit of making even greater progress toward a youthful Soka Gakkai worldwide and a truly global religious movement, the SGI’s activity guidelines are:

1. With the youth taking the lead, let’s continue to powerfully advance our efforts to introduce Buddhism to others.

2. Let’s deepen our bond of the shared commitment of mentor and disciple by studying Ikeda Sensei’s guidance and encouragement.

3. Based on Buddhist study and the daily practice of gongyo and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, let’s challenge ourselves in doing our human revolution.

4. Let’s encourage our members in the future division and youth division and foster a fresh stream of capable individuals.

5. Based on the shared struggle of mentor and disciple, let’s widely spread hope and trust in our communities.

Especially now, at this crucial moment, in the first anniversary of Sensei’s passing, the participants were encouraged to study Sensei’s guidance and make it the starting point and driving force of all activities. In that same vein, volume 30 of The New Human Revolution as well as the complete series of The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace are now available online at sokaglobal.org.

December 13, 2024, World Tribune, pp. 6–8