Part 3: Kosen-rufu and World Peace
Chapter 24: The Organization for Kosen-rufu [24.10]

24.10 Ensuring That the Soka Gakkai Endures

In this selection from The New Human Revolution, the novel’s protagonist Shin’ichi Yamamoto (whose character represents President Ikeda) touches on the concept of Soka Gakkai Buddha and outlines three important requirements for ensuring the eternal development of the Soka Gakkai, which is dedicated to realizing the Buddha’s intent.

Josei Toda once said: “In this Latter Day of the Law, the Soka Gakkai has spread the Mystic Law to so many people and helped them become happy that in the Buddhist scriptures of the future, the name of our organization is sure to be recorded as ‘Soka Gakkai Buddha.’”

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Soka Gakkai Buddha is a network of members dedicated to the mission of realizing the great vow for kosen-rufu, a gathering of Bodhisattvas of the Earth1 following in the footsteps of the first and second presidents, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda, who were joined by the bonds of mentor and disciple.

What are the requirements for ensuring that Soka Gakkai Buddha lives on for all time?

The first requirement is that each member has a lifelong commitment to fulfilling the great vow for kosen-rufu. With a profound awareness that kosen-rufu is the fundamental purpose of life and empathizing with those who are suffering, each person must strive to put into practice the Daishonin’s words: “Teach others to the best of your ability, even if it is only a single sentence or phrase” (WND-1, 386).

The second requirement is to persist in walking the great path of the oneness of mentor and disciple. Inheriting the spirit of the mentor, who exemplifies selfless dedication to propagating the Law, the disciples must thoroughly study the mentor’s teachings and make them a guide for their actions and behavior. Each day, disciples should challenge themselves in their lives and in their efforts for kosen-rufu, always embracing and engaging in dialogue with the mentor in their hearts and reflecting on what the mentor would do in their place.

The third requirement is uniting in the spirit of “many in body, one in mind.” Nichiren writes, “[Chanting] Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind . . . is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and death” (WND-1, 217). The heritage of faith flows on vibrantly when members unite in purpose and demonstrate their full capacities for the sake of kosen-rufu.

Since the Soka Gakkai is the Soka Gakkai Buddha, it must continue to fulfill the great mission of kosen-rufu by creating an eternal flow of successors.

From The New Human Revolution, vol. 30, “Great Mountain” chapter.

The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace brings together selections from President Ikeda’s works on key themes.

  • *1Bodhisattvas of the Earth: An innumerable host of bodhisattvas who emerge from beneath the earth and to whom Shakyamuni Buddha entrusts the propagation of the Mystic Law, or the essence of the Lotus Sutra, in the Latter Day of the Law.