The first headquarters leaders meeting to be held after Ikeda Sensei returned from his maiden voyage to the U.S. in October 1960 was on Oct. 30 in Tokyo. The leadership appointments for the America General Chapter had been formally announced, and a new Overseas Department was established at the Soka Gakkai Headquarters to facilitate communication with members living abroad.
Yet in his speech, Sensei barely mentioned his overseas visit. The main focus of his speech, rather, was to “go out among the people and touch their hearts.” The Soka Gakkai was now surging toward its goal of 3 million households practicing Nichiren Buddhism in Japan.
Sensei, who appears in The New Human Revolution as Shin’ichi Yamamoto, shares his thoughts at the time:
The greater the number of people introduced to Nichiren Buddhism, the greater the need to provide them with guidance in faith. The task of propagation is complete only when new members can proceed in their Buddhist practice with self-motivated independence and firm conviction in faith. …
Shin’ichi’s greatest fear was that current members would lose sight of this fundamental point, creating a fragile organization that would crumble easily, like a castle built on sand. They had also just taken the very first step toward world kosen-rufu, an action comparable to setting a tiny flame to an infinitely vast plain of grass. Whether that flame would spread and grow into a blazing fire or be extinguished overnight by rain hinged solely on how the organization developed from this point on. The most pressing task right now, therefore, was to offer guidance in faith to each member and raise that person to become genuinely capable of taking responsibility to spread the Daishonin’s teachings throughout the world.
Introducing new members and fostering capable people are like the two wheels of a bicycle. Only when both are moving in unison can kosen-rufu develop and grow. (The New Human Revolution, vol. 2, revised edition, p. 162)
During the SGI-USA’s Summer of Shakubuku, some 1,000 new members joined the SGI-USA and countless others were introduced to the humanistic principles of Soka humanism in their local communities.
With this wonderful milestone as the basis, September is Member Care Month, a time for us to check in with the new members in our districts to see how they’re progressing in their Buddhist practice. As part of this effort, we are encouraging new members and guests to create a foundation of study by taking the SGI-USA Introductory Exam in October (see p. 9 for more details).
Sensei wrote in November 2013: “I understand that the SGI-USA members are encouraging one another, saying that helping people begin their practice is not complete until the new members take the study exam. This gives me great joy” (Tentative translation, Nov. 15, 2013, Seikyo Shimbun, p. 2). In addition, he encouraged the members to take care of their health and expressed great appreciation for those teaching and supporting the examinees.
In this feature, the World Tribune compiled some common questions about member care, with encouragement from Sensei regarding the challenges we encounter enabling others to stand up in faith.
Q: A new member joined our local district. What are some practical steps I can take to support them?
Ikeda Sensei: How delighted I was when I finally convinced someone to embrace Nichiren Buddhism! I could never describe my elation. I decided that I would thoroughly look after them and make sure that they triumphed in life. I invited them to my apartment before work in the morning, and we did gongyo and read Nichiren Daishonin’s writings. I also remember how I used to stop by their place after work and teach them gongyo.
The development of kosen-rufu lies in repeating such patient, painstaking efforts to awaken one friend after another to faith. That is true Buddhist practice. …
Propagation must always be a process of deepening friendship and earning trust. In today’s world, superficial conversations abound, but genuine dialogue is rare. Sharing Nichiren Buddhism, however, is genuine dialogue—a stimulating exchange based on deep consideration for our friends as we invite them to walk with us on the path of true and complete happiness. (The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, pp. 265–66)
Q: A new member was enthusiastic about Buddhism when they first joined, but now they’re not so interested in chanting or attending SGI activities. What should I do?
Sensei: It’s important to encourage members to chant and share Buddhism with others, but you first need to open others’ hearts and befriend them if you want to win their sympathy and understanding. For example, you can start by just inviting someone over to your house for a friendly visit. Or talk about a book you read recently that you enjoyed. Or ask about their father or mother. Everything starts from opening up and coming to know and understand one another as people. Then you can gradually shift the conversation from everyday topics to the philosophy needed to live a good life, and from there you can suggest studying Buddhist philosophy together, or suggest they attend a Soka Gakkai meeting. (The New Human Revolution, vol. 22, p. 270)
Q: What’s key in helping our new members become self-empowered practitioners?
Sensei: Prayer is most fundamental in raising capable people. You should pray earnestly to the Gohonzon that the person … will become an able person important to the SGI-USA. Then, with this prayer, you take the utmost care to help that person develop. …
I have never allowed … anyone whom I decided to raise to fall out of the ranks. Once I have found capable people, even among older individuals who were disciples of the first and second Soka Gakkai presidents, I have done my best to thoroughly protect and develop them. The capable people I have raised are now active as pillars of our movement in all areas of society.
You should sincerely respect capable people and raise them with the determination to make them even more outstanding and capable than you are yourself. Looking down on one’s juniors or exploiting them for personal gain is an offense comparable to that of slandering the Law. Please remember that one who raises capable people is great. Such a person is truly capable and important. (My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, p. 7)
Q: What’s most important when it comes to supporting the members, regardless of how long they’ve been practicing?
Sensei: In one sense, introducing another person to Buddhism does not stop with that person joining the Soka Gakkai. Truly enabling others to practice means consistently guiding and encouraging them until they surpass oneself in ability.
Meetings are of course important, but not everyone can attend them. There are usually at least twice as many members in a local organization as the number who regularly participate in any given discussion meeting. Only by personally visiting and encouraging each member in our area can we solidify our organization. This will lead to the Soka Gakkai’s growth and development and, in turn, to the advancement of kosen-rufu. Soka Gakkai activities without personal guidance are like a masterpiece without the finishing touches.
Offering personal guidance is of course easier said than done. The Soka Gakkai is made up of all kinds of people. Some may refuse to meet or speak with other members, while others perhaps joined as children along with their parents but do not consider themselves believers. We may even come across members highly critical of the Soka Gakkai. Others may be suffering so deeply from financial difficulties or illness that they have lost all hope.
It is no easy task to visit the homes of such members, to try and make conversation, forge bonds of friendship, talk about the importance of faith and teach them about chanting and Buddhist principles. Doing so is far more challenging than talking with members we see at meetings or organizing various activities.
But it is these very efforts that enable us to polish ourselves. In striving to help others grow, we grow, too. Furthermore, struggling in this way constitutes true Buddhist practice. Promoting activities together with those who regularly attend meetings is simple, but this in itself will not enable Nichiren Buddhism to spread. To concern ourselves only with such members would be comparable to the captain of a ship bound for a distant shore being content with sailing around the harbor. Leaders must realize that the main stage of Soka Gakkai activities is not meetings themselves but the hard work that takes place beyond the meetings.
The network of life-to-life bonds that is the Soka Gakkai was built through the efforts of individuals to visit and personally encourage their fellow members. Just as a broad interwoven network of roots that sink deep into the earth supports a mighty tree, it is the consistent and painstaking actions of members to offer personal guidance at the grassroots level that hold up the Soka Gakkai. (NHR-8, revised edition, 86–87)
Q: How do I impart to a new member the spirit of sharing Buddhism with others?
Sensei: Bodhisattva Never Disparaging’s practice of showing respect to others is, in fact, the same as our practice of introducing people to Nichiren Buddhism.
My mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, always taught us that if we had problems, we should share Buddhism with others, and that in so doing, we would be able to change our own karma.
Sharing Buddhism is not about debating or defeating others in argument. It is encouraging and urging another person to awaken to the fact that we are all supremely respectworthy beings who possess the Buddha nature. This is precisely what Bodhisattva Never Disparaging did. It is also a struggle to break down the icy walls of darkness or ignorance in our own lives, which take the form of apathy, passivity and other negative emotions.
When we talk with others about Buddhism, we are actually grappling with our own ignorance and earthly desires. That’s why it gives us the strength to surmount our own problems, enabling us to solidly transform our state of life and change our karma. (June 2019 Living Buddhism, p. 53)
September 13, 2024, World Tribune, pp. 6–7
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