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The following are excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s book My Dear Friends in America, third edition, pp. 258–61. The Positive Life View Found Within a Single Moment of Life You are the playwright of your own victory. You are also the play’s hero. Shakespeare wrote: “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and

Bodhisattva Never Disparaging appears in the 20th chapter of the Lotus Sutra and is highly regarded for deeply respecting everyone he encountered. Nichiren Daishonin expresses that Never Disparaging’s practice of revering everyone is the “heart of the Lotus Sutra” and is the essential behavior that we should strive to embody (see “The Three Kinds of

When we do gongyo and chant [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] before the Gohonzon, the good and evil capacities of our lives begin to function as the exalted form of fundamental existence. Lives that are full of the pain of hell, lives that are in the state of hunger, lives warped by the state of anger—such lives, too, begin

by Mitch BogenSpecial to the Tribune There was nothing simulated or “less than” about the conversations that took place on June 11, when 250 participants from 19 countries gathered online for the Ikeda Center’s virtual panel discussion “Asking Questions Together: What Is Our Path Forward?” Panelist Ceasar McDowell, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared thoughts

The Books of My Youth by Ikeda Sensei explores some of the world literature he read as a young man that, as he says, helped to form his life’s “spiritual framework.” Discussing such works as The Divine Comedy, The Eternal City, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Les Misérables, to name a few, Sensei shares about heroes and heroines, revolutionaries

Words of Encouragement From Ikeda Sensei

Words of Encouragement From Ikeda Sensei

by Cameron WashingtonLos Angeles When I started chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in 2008, I had just gone through a breakup, graduated from college and felt the mounting pressure and expectation to get a job. All the while, I was at a loss as to what my future would hold. I was searching aimlessly for some sense of purpose and

by SGI Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda

Chapter Summary On February 2, 1974, Shin’ichi Yamamoto visited Okinawa for the seventh time, his first since the islands had been returned to Japan after 27 years under U.S. administrative control. On February 3, Shin’ichi traveled to Ishiga-kijima, one of the Yaeyama Islands. While there, he participated in a photo session with local members, donated

Chapter Summary On March 7, 1974, Shin’ichi Yamamoto departed for a guidance trip that would take him to North and South America. Unable to receive his visa to enter Brazil, however, he was suddenly forced to cancel his visit there, and he quickly made new plans to visit Panama. Shin’ichi arrived in Panama on the

Chapter Summary On March 28, 1974, Shin’ichi Yamamoto departed from Peru bound for Los Angeles, with a brief layover in Mexico. On March 29, he talked with representative youth division members and young interpreters at the Malibu Training Center. On April 1, Shin’ichi delivered a lecture at the University of California Los Angeles, titled “Toward

Chapter Summary After returning to Japan, Shin’ichi Yamamoto attended the Nagano Prefecture General Meeting on April 26. On April 28, he traveled to Ishikawa Prefecture for a general meeting commemorating 20 years of kosen-rufu in the Hokuriku Region. Around this time, progress was being made by the Soka Gakkai Youth Division Antiwar Publishing Committee to

Part 3: Kosen-rufu and World Peace—The Purpose of Buddhist Study

Toward a Century of Health: The Wisdom for Leading a Long Life of Good Fortune and Benefit—Part 3 [55]

If someone is about to kill your father and mother, shouldn’t you try to warn them? If a bad son who is insane with drink is threatening to kill his father and mother, shouldn’t you try to stop him? If some evil person is about to set fire to the temples and pagodas, shouldn’t you

The fundamental Buddhist concept of dependent origination teaches that, at the most profound level, all life is interconnected, that nothing exists in isolation. Simply put, it means that the real nature of individuals or events can only be correctly understood in the context of their connections with all others. In his 1993 Harvard University lecture,

Deeply committed to the education and development of children and youth, SGI President Ikeda, as the third Soka Gakkai president, established the high school division in June 1964, the junior high school division in January 1965, and the boys and girls division in September 1965—which together comprise the future division. The present generation of future

This monthly encouragement by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the July 2020 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. My journey of mentor and disciple began with Nichiren Daishonin’s treatise “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.” At a discussion meeting two years after the close of