CategoryIkeda Sensei

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

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an excerpt of his speech given at the First SGI-USA Women’s Division Meeting, held at Soka University of Los Angeles, Calabasas, California, February 27, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth

It was already late in the afternoon, but at that time of the year the European sky remains light until quite late. But suddenly the sky darkened with clouds, and heavy rain began to fall. It tapped on the rooftops with a thousand fingers, like a pianist playing a lively sonata. It fell like curtains

This essay originally appeared in the Jan. 26, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun, and the Feb. 10, 2023, World Tribune, pp. 10–11. My mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, placed deep trust in our pioneering members of Tohoku, centering around Sendai Chapter. He regarded them as a model for

The following are excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at the 73rd Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting, held in Tokyo, on Dec. 16, 1993. It was translated from the April 4, 2018, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun, originally published in the May 11, 2018, World Tribune. A Japanese intellectual recently remarked: “The

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an abridgement of his speech given at the Youth Training Session, held at the Malibu Training Center, Malibu, California, February 26, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 84–94.

November 3, 1995. I had just received an honorary doctorate of letters from Nepal’s Tribhuvan University. After the ceremony, we headed away from the city to a hilltop from which I could get a good picture of the Himalayas. … Just as our car pulled up, a young girl, her back laden with rice straw,

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was translated from the Dec. 11, 2009, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun, originally published in the May 2016  Living Buddhism. Youand I,joyful comradesfrom time without beginning,victorious champions. In his novel Elective Affinities written 200 years ago (in 1809), German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was translated from the Oct. 25, 2008, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Part one of this essay can be found in the Dec. 13, 2024, World Tribune, pp. 2–3. Proudly singing a paean of happinessand peace—my life is filledwith tremendous joy. Our communications technology is

The following is Ikeda Sensei’s message to the 3rd Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting of the New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu, held at the Toda Memorial Auditorium in Sugamo, Tokyo, on Jan. 11, 2014. It was translated from the Jan. 12, 2014, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Congratulations on this headquarters

The following are excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at the headquarters leaders meeting held at the Tokyo Makiguchi Memorial Hall, in Hachioji, Tokyo, on Dec. 16, 1996. Video footage of the speech was broadcast during the most recent Fifth Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting Toward Our Centennial, on Nov. 17, 2024. The excerpts were translated

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an abridgement of his speech given at the Youth Training Session, held at Soka University Los Angeles, Calabasas, California, February 25, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 76–83.

A single road, stretching limitlessly. If we follow that single road, that single path, it will link us to the land. And beyond the broad expanse of the land, it will link us to the world as well. If we never stop walking ahead step by step along the correct path in life, then the

Your voices resound and reach the heavens, bringing victory and glory and the protection of the heavenly deities. Buddhism is concerned with winning. This is a point that Nichiren Daishonin made emphatically clear. The law of cause and effect operating within our lives is very strict. We cannot fool ourselves; we know in our hearts

The following poem by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the Feb. 6, 2007, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. My mentorwas a man of great intellect.His life was oneof profound compassion.He was stern.He was gentle. His heart always blazed with an uncontainable fighting spirit againstcorruption and wrongdoing.He was a champion of justice. When

This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an abridgement of his speech given at the First SGI All-America General Meeting, held at the World Peace Ikeda Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, February 24, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America,

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the Sept. 22, 2020, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. My wife, Kaneko, and I did gongyo and chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo together in memory of the deceased on the occasion of the autumn equinox. We solemnly offered prayers for the eternal happiness of

At the turn of a new century, Ikeda Sensei composed his thoughts on his personal war-time experience and why he so adamantly opposed war. This excerpted essay from the “Thoughts on The New Human Revolution” series was originally published in the May 29, 2000, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. In 1937,

In this essay, Ikeda Sensei writes of the importance of promoting friendship in our communities. It was translated from the Sept. 21, 2009, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Part one of this essay was published in the Oct. 18, 2024, World Tribune. The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) stated, “Man misses

In this essay, Ikeda Sensei writes of the Soka Gakkai spirit of courageously breaking through self-imposed limitations. It was translated from the Nov. 4, 2003, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Revolution is the awakening of humanity,” said Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China. “When people realize that only they can