CategoryIkeda Sensei

4th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting

This essay, which was originally published in the July 2, 2005, Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, can be found in Men Shining With Youthful Brilliance: Guidance to the Men of the SGI-USA, pp. 18–23. The nineteenth-century English poet Anne Brontë wrote: “While Faith is with me, I am blest; / It turns my

This monthly encouragement by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the July 2021 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. When I was young and struggling with illness, my mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, once encouraged me by having me read this passage from The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings: Our head

This is Ikeda Sensei’s essay, originally published in the June 21, 2021, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. June 23 is Okinawa Memorial Day [a public holiday in Okinawa Prefecture and a day of remembrance for those who lost their lives during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II]. It was

This Ikeda Sensei’s essay was originally published in the June 10, 2021, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. In this year celebrating the 800th anniversary of Nichiren Daishonin’s birth, I am reminded of his profound connections to Tokyo, an area then known as part of Musashi Province and the Musashino Plain. The

This essay from Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the “Thoughts on The New Human Revolution” series in the April 11, 2000, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. It was also previously published in the June 16, 2000, World Tribune. Part 1 was republished in the June 18, 2021, World Tribune. In

Songs of Light

This monthly encouragement by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the June 2021 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. Those who practice Nichiren Buddhism just as Nichiren Daishonin teaches are certain to become happy and win in life. That is the essence of the Soka Gakkai’s “faith for absolute victory.” Our founding president, Tsunesaburo

Abutsu-bo and the Lay Nun Sennichi

Part 1 of 2

Message From Ikeda Sensei and Kaneko Ikeda

Translated from the September 24, 2019, Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper. At this time of the autumn equinox [when the deceased are traditionally remembered in Japan], I visited the Soka Gakkai Mentors Hall in Shinanomachi, Tokyo, and offered my sincere prayers in memory of the deceased (on September 21). I also chanted wholeheartedly

Abutsu-bo and the Lay Nun Sennichi

In Hall Caine’s epic novel The Eternal City, the youthful revolutionary David Rossi cries out: “Be brave, be strong, be patient.” Our youthful revolutionaries of kosen-rufu are forging ahead with courage, abundant self-confidence and steadfast perseverance. As the young men’s division marks its 55th anniversary this month (July 2006), I am thrilled with the vigorous

This essay from Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the April 29, 2021, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. My mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, treasured and took great pride in the happy, smiling faces and the bright, compassionate voices of the women of Soka. In an age when there

Ikeda Sensei's Guidance for the Future Division

This monthly encouragement by Ikeda Sensei was originally published in the May 2021 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. My mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, declared: “The reason for our appearance in this world is to hold high the great banner of kosen-rufu.” These were the closing words of his article titled

This was translated from the April 10, 2021, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. In April 20, the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai newspaper in Japan, will celebrate its 70th anniversary. Nichiren Daishonin writes, “A person of wisdom is not one who practices Buddhism apart from worldly affairs” (“The Kalpa of Decrease,”

This essay from the Treasures of the Four Seasons series first appeared in the Sept. 1, 2019, issue of Boys and Girls Hope News, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly newspaper for the elementary school division. Summer vacation has flown by, and school has begun again [in Japan]. You might feel nervous or anxious returning to school

Ikeda Sensei composed the following poems in celebration of May 3, 2021—Soka Gakkai Day and Soka Gakkai Mother’s Day—a date that also marks the 70th anniversary of Josei Toda’s inauguration as second Soka Gakkai president and the 61st anniversary of Sensei’s inauguration as third president. The poems were first published in the May 3, 2021,