The following are excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at the First Nationwide Young Men’s and Young Women’s Division Leaders Meeting held at the Tokyo Toda Memorial Auditorium in Sugamo, Tokyo, on Jan. 11, 1997. Video footage of the speech was broadcast during the most recent Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting on Jan. 11, 2025. It was translated from the Jan. 27, 2025, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun.
The Soka Gakkai is a wondrous organization that accords with the Buddha’s intent. Embracing a great philosophy, its 10 million [now 12 million] members are actively contributing to peace and culture. They are striving for kosen-rufu, for lasting peace, based on the profound principles of Nichiren Buddhism. Nowhere else can we find such an extraordinary organization of ordinary people. Nothing like it has ever existed before and nothing ever will again. You, my young friends, are the Soka Gakkai’s true successors. The grand stage of the 21st century belongs to you.
I am praying each day that you will be able to take the lead and carry out activities freely in your respective areas all around the world. And I am working with my entire being to lay the foundations for you to do so.
What is true happiness in life? Everyone thinks they know the answer to that question, but in fact very few really do.
There is a Thai saying: “False happiness makes people become haughty and arrogant. Real happiness makes people joyful and fills them with wisdom and compassion.”[1]
These words may seem simple, but they are actually very profound. False happiness is superficial happiness, deriving from external sources. Real happiness is happiness that wells up from inside, from the innermost depths of our being—the ultimate form of which is revealing our inner Buddhahood.
Real happiness comes from the desire to become a better person. In other words, it is human revolution.
I believe that true stability, peace and happiness will remain elusive for people in our country unless they pursue absolute happiness—in other words, human revolution.
You, the youth of Soka, taking action with the unexcelled philosophy of the Mystic Law as your guide, are the pioneers of such change. You will create an age when all people can enjoy lives that are joyful and filled with wisdom and compassion.
We are the only ones who know the path to take to achieve this.
Youth is characterized by infinite hope, infinite strength and infinite treasures. Being young in itself is to possess the greatest wealth, even if you don’t have a penny.
Youth is filled with hope. It holds the future. It has boundless potential. There’s no need for you to rush to become successful or wealthy. If you earnestly dedicate yourself to fulfilling your mission, everything you need will come to you in due course.
If you continue to make steadfast efforts, good fortune and benefit will adorn your life, just as naturally as fruit ripens.
Your awareness is important. Having such awareness will expand your world and enable you to live a much more profound and meaningful life.
In my youth, I decided that, having the fortune to have second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda as my mentor, I would put all of his words into action and receive his training and instruction.
Because I strove with this awareness, this commitment, I do not have any regrets.
he Buddha is described as having a diamond-like body. We can interpret this to mean a life state that is as strong as a diamond, brimming with indestructible good fortune and benefit and radiating noble character.
How do we develop such a state of life? That is the theme running through Nichiren Daishonin’s writings. And his conclusion is to thoroughly denounce error, or slander of the Law. In other words, it is shakubuku—refuting the erroneous and revealing the true. It is our ongoing struggle for kosen-rufu.
Refuting slander of the Law is key to attaining a diamond-like body, to becoming a Buddha—this is the essence of Buddhism. Shakyamuni taught this and the Daishonin himself put it into practice.
In “The Opening of the Eyes,” Nichiren cites the following passage [from the Nirvana Sutra where Shakyamuni says to one of his leading disciples]:
Kashyapa, because [in the past] I devoted myself to [defending] the correct teaching [amid persecution from evil persons], I have been able to achieve this diamond-like body that abides forever and is never destroyed. … The monks [whom you are speaking of] preach various teachings, but still they are not able to utter “the lion’s roar.” … Nor are they able to refute and convert evil persons who go against the correct teaching. Monks of this kind can bring no benefit either to themselves or to the populace. (“The Opening of the Eyes,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 285)
The Daishonin repeatedly teaches this principle. It can be found throughout his writings. For instance, he states, “To hope to attain Buddhahood without speaking out against slander [of the Law] is as futile as trying to find water in the midst of fire or fire in the midst of water” (“The Essentials for Attaining Buddhahood,” WND-1, 747).
This well-known passage attests that the way to accumulate benefit, attain Buddhahood and gain a diamond-like body is to speak out against slander of the Law, the correct teaching. The Soka Gakkai’s true greatness lies in faithfully acting in accord with these golden words.
Buddhism is strict.No one can deceive the Mystic Law, which pierces through all pretense, all external trappings.
The Lotus Sutra states, “This sutra is hard to uphold” (The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, p. 220). Those who embrace its teachings will inevitably face hardships.
Without battling obstacles, one cannot attain Buddhahood. It would be a shame not to gain a diamond-like body, for it is a source of unsurpassed, absolute happiness. No matter what happens, one will shine like a diamond, be filled with joy and stand firm with unshakable dignity. I hope that every one of you, without exception, will achieve that. That is the purpose of our Buddhist practice, our faith and all our efforts.
Nichiren Daishonin boldly proclaimed: “I will be the pillar of Japan. I will be the eyes of Japan. I will be the great ship of Japan” (“The Opening of the Eyes,” WND-1, 280–81).
Inspired by the Daishonin’s great conviction, President Toda declared: “Today, the Soka Gakkai is the pillar of Japan!”
The authorities of the Kamakura military government tried to bring down Nichiren, the “pillar of Japan.” At the time of the Tatsunokuchi Persecution, which resulted in the Daishonin’s exile to Sado Island, the de facto ruler Hei no Saemon-no-jo led several hundred armed warriors to arrest him alone.
The entire country treated Nichiren as if he were the most heinous villain, yet he declared to his captors “in a loud voice”: “How amusing! Look at Hei no Saemon gone mad! You gentlemen have just toppled the pillar of Japan” (“The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra,” WND-1, 766). His words convey his towering conviction.
We live in troubled and uncertain times. The Soka Gakkai is the world’s only hope. Leading thinkers around the world have affirmed this. With this great awareness, let us stand up and demonstrate the true power of our Buddhist practice as genuine disciples of Nichiren Daishonin!
Who are the ultimate victors in life? Those who work hard and triumph over difficulties. People who avoid hardship will suffer later on. Those who practice the essence of Buddhism in accord with Nichiren’s writings and with the Soka Gakkai spirit win in the end. Those who persevere in faith with dedication and sincerity are the ones who gain great benefit. They become happy. This is my conclusion from having observed countless individuals over the past five decades.
I am looking forward to your victory!
February 21, 2025, World Tribune, pp. 2–3
References
- Translated from Thai. Ngeakhit khamkhom lea khamuayphon (Thai Proverbs and Maxims), compiled and edited by Anusorn (Bangkok: Ruamsan, 1993), p. 207. ↩︎
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