CategoryIkeda Sensei

In a crucial passage from “On the Buddha’s Prophecy,” in which he boldly proclaimed his vision of worldwide kosen-rufu, Nichiren Daishonin stresses the importance of people who embrace and transmit the teachings (see The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 401). My mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, sternly instructed me: “Without people

The following essay from Ikeda Sensei’s series “Thoughts on The New Human Revolution” was translated from the Aug. 27, 2003, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun.  In June 1989, I addressed the Institut de France in Paris, delivering a speech titled “Art and Spirituality in the East and the West.” I have

The following excerpted essay, from Ikeda Sensei’s series “Thoughts on The New Human Revolution,” was originally published  in the Feb. 5, 1999, World Tribune. It is translated from the Dec. 16, 1998, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. This has been another remarkable year of triumphs for the Soka Gakkai—a year in

The following are from Ikeda Sensei’s April and May 1951 diary entries, prior to his mentor, Josei Toda, being inaugurated as second Soka Gakkai president. Until then, Sensei had struggled alongside Mr. Toda to resolve his financial struggles so that he could focus all his energies on the Soka Gakkai’s growth as its president. These

In 1981, which the Soka Gakkai designated as the Year of Youth, I traveled throughout Japan and the world, presenting many poems to our youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth. I fondly recall writing these lines for my young friends in America: Faith is the engine that propels usin the thrilling voyage of life,a life victorious

The following essay by Ikeda Sensei was translated from the May 18, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. On May 3, Soka Gakkai Day, we made a joyful, united fresh start in our journey for kosen-rufu with our fellow members around the world.  It was in May 750 years ago that

The following excerpts are from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at the 33rd Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting held at the Tokyo Makiguchi Memorial Hall in Hachioji, Tokyo, on May 1, 1999. Video footage of the speech was broadcast during the 13th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting Toward Our Centennial held on May 3, 2023. The excerpts

Ikeda Sensei sent the following message to SGI-USA student division members, which was read at a meeting held in Laguna Hills, Calif., on May 24, 2023.  Nichiren Daishonin states, “These great bodhisattvas [who emerged from the earth] are particularly suited to bring benefit to people in the Latter Day of the Law, like fish who

The following essay from Ikeda Sensei was translated from the April 14, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun.  My treasures are my inspiring fellow members who devote themselves with unwavering faith to realizing kosen-rufu and the ideal of “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land.” Nichiren Daishonin, the

Originally published in the May 2023 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. All of you, my treasured fellow members, engage in dialogue throughout the four seasons to realize Nichiren Daishonin’s ideal of “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land.” You embody the principle that “where there is unseen virtue, there will

Ikeda Sensei sent the following message to the 13th Soka Gakkai Headquarters Leaders Meeting Toward Our Centennial held on May 3, 2023, at the Toda Memorial Auditorium in Sugamo, Tokyo. The meeting commemorated May 3, Soka Gakkai Day and the 35th anniversary of  Soka Gakkai Mothers Day. This message was originally published in the May

This essay by Ikeda Sensei was published in the March 27, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. Part one is published in the May 3, 2023, World Tribune.  This March marks the 12th anniversary of the devastating March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. I wish to offer my sincerest prayers once

This essay by Ikeda Sensei was published in the March 27, 2023, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun.  The power to create history is born of deep life-to-life connections. In particular, the courageous efforts of successors who respond to the trust placed in them by their predecessors open a new age.  In

Originally published in the April 2023 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. The spiritual bond of mentor and disciple is profound and unfettered. The final encounter between Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda was a brief moment following their arrest for their religious beliefs. Passing each other in the corridor of the police headquarters as

The following essay was written by Ikeda Sensei as part of the series “The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin and the Mentor-Disciple Relationship.” It was originally published in the Nov. 13, 2009, World Tribune.  “Nichiren declares that the [shared] sufferings that all living beings undergo … all these are Nichiren’s own sufferings.” (“On Reprimanding Hachiman,” The

The following was written by Ikeda Sensei as part of the series “The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin and the Mentor-Disciple Relationship.” It was originally published in the Oct. 16, 2009, World Tribune. Part one, “Soka: Never Being Defeated,” appears on pp. 2–3 of the April 7, 2023, World Tribune.  “Employ the strategy of the Lotus

The following was written by Ikeda Sensei as part of the series “The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin and the Mentor-Disciple Relationship.” It was originally published in the Sept. 4, 2009, World Tribune.  “Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other. ‘All others who bear you enmity or malice will … be wiped out.’ These

Originally published in the March 2023 Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. What good fortune we have to journey throughout the three existences—past, present and future—with Nichiren Daishonin, the Mystic Law and our fellow members, forever walking the path of eternity, happiness, true self and purity. In a letter to Soya Doso, who exerted

The following are excerpts from Ikeda Sensei’s speech at a Soka Gakkai headquarters leaders meeting, held at the Tokyo Makiguchi Memorial Hall in Hachioji, Tokyo, on Jan. 8, 2002. The speech was originally published in the Feb. 8, 2002, World Tribune, pp. 6–7.  Today, January 8, is a solemn day of mentor and disciple. It

The following essay excerpts were published in the Dec. 28, 2022, issue of the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper, Seikyo Shimbun. At the November headquarters leaders meeting commemorating the Soka Gakkai’s founding [held on Nov. 12, 2022], the Soka Gloria Wind Orchestra and Kansai Wind Orchestra gave a stirring performance of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s