| Daisaku
Ikeda
by
Maiko Yasuno
"A great revolution in just one single individual
will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society
and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of
humankind."
Daisaku Ikeda is an honorary president of Soka Gakkai
in Japan, a lay Buddhist organization which embraces the
fundamental aim and mission of contributing to peace,
culture and education based on the Nichiren Buddhism.
He is also President of Soka Gakkai International which
includes members in 183 countries and regions (as of 2002).
The word soka means value creation. Ikeda once explained
the meaning of the phrase "value creation,"
as "the power to find out the meaning of the situation
in which you are placed, strengthen yourself, and contribute
to the well-being of others whatever the circumstances
you are in." He added that "the person who is
capable of creating value on a global scale is truly a
world citizen." Ikeda himself is a model world citizen
who indeed strengthens his self and contributes to the
well-being of others.
President Ikeda was born on January 2 in 1928 in the
Ota area of Tokyo which faces Tokyo Bay. His family’s
business produced an edible form of seaweed. He lived
through the Pacific War as a teenager and the loss and
grief that he experienced affected him profoundly. He
lost his eldest brother, who died on a battlefield, and
he watched his mother mourn her beloved son. During these
very personal experiences, Ikeda became aware of the senseless
horror and stupidity of war, and he deepened his determination
to work for world peace and the happiness of humanity.
Prisoners of Conscience
A high point of Ikeda’s life occurred when he met
Josei Toda, the previous president of Soka Gakkai. Ikeda
was 19 years old when they met, and Toda became his life-long
mentor. Inspired by Toda's teaching, Ikeda deepened his
faith in Nichiren Buddhism. During World War II Toda argued
against Japan’s military government with the first
president of Soka Gakkai, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi. Both
were arrested and imprisoned as "thought criminals"
because of their religious and pacifist beliefs. Maintaining
those beliefs firmly and continuing to struggle against
what they called "the evils of power," Makiguchi
died in prison. When Toda was eventually released from
prison, he renewed his commitment for peace and affirmed
his desire to live the remainder of his life fighting
against the evils of power. He became the second president
of Soka Gakkai.
The basic beliefs of Makiguchi and Toda concerned the
sanctity of life and the meaning of human happiness. Makiguchi
had defined life as the only meaning of value (remember,
soka means value creation). After World War II, Toda issued
a Declaration Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs stating
that the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances
was a totally unacceptable violation of the right to live.
He blamed the "demon nature" of people in the
use of these weapons and, thus, defined the nuclear weapon
as absolute evil. He pointed out the need to change the
evil nature of the people who try to use nuclear weapons.
This is the declaration that shows members of SGI in a
very fundamental way how to create lasting peace.
SGI Area of Peace
The man who has firmly succeeded in the spirit of his
mentors by working for peace is, indeed, the third president
of SGI, Daisaku Ikeda. The many great works that have
been achieved by Ikeda as president of SGI deserves admiration
as he furthered the global efforts of SGI for peace, culture
and education, based on Nichiren Buddhism.
The Area of Peace was an SGI peace movement that had
its origins in Toda’s Declaration Against Atomic
and Hydrogen Bombs. In 1982 SGI sponsored an exhibition
called Nuclear Arms: Threat to Our World which was first
exhibited at UN headquarters in New York, and since then
has been presented in major cities around the world. More
than 12 million people in 16 countries have visited the
exhibition and viewed displays presenting the horrors
of nuclear weapons and war. In addition, SGI initiated
humanitarian relief efforts, held fundraising campaigns,
and made donations to the office of the UNHCR for refugee
relief. In 1993, at the request of the UN, young Japanese
SGI members collected nearly 300,000 used radios and presented
them to the people of Cambodia through UNTAC. These radios
played a great role in helping to facilitate the first
domestic elections in that country.
Annual Peace Proposals
Every January 26 since 1983, President Ikeda has published
an annual Peace Proposal on the anniversary of the founding
of SGI. In the Peace Proposals, Ikeda consistently emphasizes
the importance of the UN and appeals for the reform of
the UN as "the congress of humanity." Praising
President Ikeda’s long-term support for the UN and
several global peace movements, the United Nations has
honored Daisaku Ikeda with the UN Peace Award, a UN Special
Commendation for Outstanding NGO Activities, and the UN
Peace Medal.
It is notable that several propositions presented in
the Peace Proposals have been realized in international
society. For example, Ikeda called for "a global
conference renouncing war" and "the adoption
of a Declaration for the Renunciation of War." The
Hague Appeal for Peace (HAP), the largest civil society
international peace conference in history was held in
May 1999 in The Hague and created new partnerships between
citizens, governments, and international organizations.
At the HAP attendees adopted a global statement supporting
a culture of peace, urging the abolition of war and the
elimination of nuclear weapons, and stating that peace
is a human right. The Hague Appeal for Peace and Justice
for the 21st Century, and planned continuing actions to
achieve their goals. Moreover, the HAP agenda became an
official UN document.
President Ikeda founded several institutions that engage
in the peace research. The Institute of Oriental Philosophy
(1962) , and The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy
Research (1996) have attracted the attention of intellectuals
all over the world as institutes whose studies contribute
to world peace.
The SGI campaign against nuclear weapons began in 1975
collected 10 million signatures on a statement calling
for the abolition of nuclear weapons were collected by
young Soka Gakkai and presented to Secretary-General of
the United Nations Kurt Waldheim at the UN Headquarters.
In September 1997 David Krieger of the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation met Daisaku Ikeda and asked for the cooperation
of SGI in collecting Abolition 2000 petition signatures.
SGI youth collected "13 million voices of hope"
within three months, from Dec 97 through Jan 98 on the
Abolition 2000 petition calling for the elimination of
nuclear weapons, a monumental effort achieved by young
people, under President Ikeda’s strong leadership.
Arts and Education
Daisaku Ikeda is a founder of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum
and the Min-On Concert Association in Japan. The Tokyo
Fuji Art Museum has brought art collections to Japan that
are national treasures from all over the world, some of
which had never before left their countries. Their safekeeping
was entrusted to Ikeda. The Min-On Concert Association
has hosted internationally renowned musicians and national
dance groups, ballets, and choruses which transcend national
boundaries, playing a great role in promoting cultural
exchange between Japan and the world.
President Ikeda says education is the last and the most
important work in his life. His passion toward education
is far from ordinary. The following message was given
to the graduates of a school he founded and which shows
his great passion for education, "I will be there
for you who graduate from my school. Some of you will
become great figures; but, unfortunately, some of you
will become criminals. The moment will come when some
of you are jailed and even your parents desert you. But
I will be there for you! Throughout my life, I will always
continue to be there for you all!" What other founder
in the world could say such a thing? This could only be
said from someone who profoundly thinks about each individual
with his whole heart. In this respect, President Ikeda
is indeed a true "humanistic educator."
To protect peace in the future, SGI believes that we
should nurture the younger generation. Ikeda has devoted
his life to educating young people, world citizens who
will create peace. Ikeda founded the Soka education system
which extends from the kindergarten level (in Japan, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Malaysia) to university (Japan, USA).
The graduates from Soka schools are now taking active
parts in many fields and places all over the world. Recognized
as the founder of Soka University, President Ikeda has
been invited as a lecturer at the world’s most prestigious
institutions of higher learning, such as Harvard University,
Columbia University, University of Bologna, Moscow State
University, Beijing University, and so on. Ikeda has received
84 honorary doctorates from universities; and in addition
nearly 126 cities all over the world have presented him
with honorary citizenship.
As SGI President, Ikeda has visited more than 50 countries
and encouraged many people regardless of their being a
member of SGI or not. During these visits, he also has
met a lot of international leaders. Through dialogues
with the people of the world, including national leaders,
politicians, and scholars, President Ikeda has continued
to work for global peace. What is surprising is his vast
accumulation of knowledge; one day he talks about politics,
the next day he talks about economics; sometimes he discusses
education, and other times he talks about a theory of
the leadership by examining the lives of great men. Occasionally,
he also mentions literature, and those talks are full
of poetic sentiments.
So far, I’ve discussed Ikeda's qualities as a leader
of SGI and an educator. However, as I mentioned above,
he is also an internationally recognized poet, scholar,
writer, and photographer. His poems give us courage, hope
and tranquility. He writes novels, fairy tales, essays,
and he also edits dialogues. More than 350 of Ikeda's
books have been translated into 30 languages and internationally
published (as of 2002). As a photographer, he takes pictures
between intervals of pressing work. Pointing to Ikeda’s
photos, a professional photographer once commented that
"Mr. Ikeda takes photographs as freely as he writes
poems and stories. I feel as if his camera functioned
in tune with the rhythm of the universe and breathed like
plants. I am impressed with what I find in each of his
photographs --- poetry, philosophy and peace of mind."
President Ikeda’s photo exhibition "A Dialogue
With Nature" has toured the world, giving viewers
profound impressions that transcend language barriers.
Each one of his works is, I would say, an expression of
his inner peace and the fruit of his passion to "scatter
seeds of hope and peace in people’s field of mind!"
World Citizenship
In March 2000 the World Citizenship Award was presented
to President Ikeda from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Ikeda has defined three models of world citizenship, "People
as wisdom to perceive the interconnectedness of all life
and living things; courage not to fear but to respect
differences and strive to learn from people of different
cultures; and compassion that extends beyond the near
and familiar to all those suffering far away."
Ikeda is a personal example of the Buddhist principle
of the law of esho funi ("oneness of life and its
environment"), "the dynamic pulsing of creative
life that prevails between human life (esho) and the objective
environmental world (funi) that surrounds it" very
well, he engraves the ideal of "sanctity of entire
life" and its "equality" on his mind. He
works constantly to protect lives. He believes that human-to-human
exchange beyond nations and races is the true path toward
peace. This conviction might be symbolized by his great
contribution toward the normalization of diplomatic relations
between China and Japan. He was outspoken about Japan
and China normalizing relations, and he received public
criticism for his opinions. Similarly, he was publicly
criticized for visiting the Soviet Union just after visiting
China and he was asked, "Why do Buddhist like you
go to a country where your ideology is banned?" Then,
a true humanist President Ikeda asserted that "I
go there because there are human beings, the same as us."
Only a true courageous person could say such a thing.
Since Ikeda is a man of compassion, his wisdom and courage
spring from his heart.
In response to the violence of our times, he stated that
the root of conflict is "our failure to focus on
humanity in all our endeavors, " adding that "these
problems will not be solved without a human transformation
-- a human revolution." To make a new millennium
as a peaceful century, we have to focus on "human
beings." A transformation at the level of the inner
lives of individuals has to be fostered now as world citizens
who devote themselves to a human revolution. It is work
that together with President Ikeda, we should carry out
with all our might.
In conclusion, I would like to share a poem by Daisaku
Ikeda:
People who live in the 21st century
don’t aspire only for outer revolution
they also aspire for sound inner revolution
an individual's peaceful and moderate revolution
with their philosophy and thought
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Links
More biography info and photos of Daisaku Ikeda
During Mr. Ikeda's presidency of Soka Gakkai, he was
instrumental in establishing various institutions related
to peace, culture and education which reflect Buddhist
principles. Among these are Soka University with eight
campuses around the world and other Soka schools, from
kindergarten through high school; the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum
and the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research
which is a independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit institute
for research into peace issues. Among the subjects it
addresses are disarmament and nonviolent conflict resolution;
global governance, the United Nations and human rights;
and sustainable development, employment and the environment
About Soka Gakkai Soka means value creation; Gakkai,
society. Soka Gakkai is a Nichiren Buddhism lay association
founded on the principle that life is inherently respectworthy.
It is their belief that with Buddhist practice an individual
can develop wisdom to create value and live a meaningful
life, actively engaged in society. Rooted in the life-affirming
philosophy of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, members of
SGI share a profound commitment to the values of peace,
culture, and education. A non-governmental organization
(NGO) with formal ties to the UN, SGI is active in humanitarian
relief, public information and education, with a focus
on peace and human rights.
Soka Gakkai International in Japan
Soka Gakkai International in the United States. The SGI
organization in the United States was officially established
in 1960 by a handful of Japanese immigrants, members of
the Soka Gakkai of Japan, which was founded in 1930. In
less than 40 years the American organization has grown
to a multi-ethnic membership of 330,000, with members
in every state and with more than 60 community centers
around the country. The Soka Gakkai International (SGI)
was founded in 1975 to link the efforts of members worldwide.
All of the SGI's activities are devoted to the promotion
of peace, culture and education, based on the Buddhism
of Nichiren Daishonin.
Soka University of America (SUA). Daisaku Ikeda is the
founder of SUA. The theme of this university is to "Be
philosophers of a renaissance of life -- Be world citizens
in solidarity for peace-- Be the pioneers of a global
civilization." There are two campuses in Southern
California.
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