CategoryIkeda Sensei

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

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 22, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 62–68. 

In this essay, Ikeda Sensei writes of the importance of promoting friendship in our communities. It was translated from the Sept. 20, 2009, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Dedicating my lifeto the eternally flowinggreat river [of kosen-rufu],I enjoy an unsurpassed missionand boundless benefit. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) wrote to

The following are excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at the 12th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting, held at the Tokyo Makiguchi Memorial Hall in Hachioji, Tokyo, on June 16, 1997. Video footage of the speech was broadcast during the recent Fourth Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting Toward Our Centennial, on Sept. 7, 2024. The excerpts

In this essay, Ikeda Sensei writes of the power source of victory—gongyo. It was translated from the Feb. 10, 2006, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Some members from Chiba sent me a photo of this year’s [2006] first sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. My wife, Kaneko, and I often admire this

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-USA Executive Conference, held at Soka University Los Angeles, Calabasas, California, February 21, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp.

Ikeda Sensei sent the following message to the 45th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting held at the Soka International Friendship Hall in Sendagaya, Tokyo, on Dec. 2, 2010. This message is translated from the Dec. 3, 2010, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. This year again, through the courageous faith and earnest

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was translated from the March 30, 2001, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda often said: “Any place where the Gohonzon is enshrined is an infinitely sacred place. Any place where there are people with faith dedicated to kosen-rufu is a

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was translated from the March 29, 2001, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. On the 12th day of the ninth month of the eighth year of the Bun’ei era (1271), a noisy mob surrounded Nichiren Daishonin’s dwelling at Matsubagayatsu in Kamakura. Hei no Saemon, the most

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 a Youth Division Training Session, held at the Malibu Training Center, Malibu, California, February 20, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp.

Ikeda Sensei composed poems throughout his life in diverse styles, expressing his thoughts, examining Buddhist concepts and encouraging readers across the world. In July 1981, he was named a poet laureate by the World Academy of Arts and Culture. This section of  Living Buddhism highlights poems from Journey of Life: Selected Poems of Daisaku Ikeda,