The New Human Revolution, vol. 22

By Daisaku Ikeda

Through this novelized history of the Soka Gakkai—one of the most dynamic, diverse, and empowering movements in the world today—readers will discover the organization's goals and achievements even as they find inspiring and practical Buddhist wisdom for living happily and compassionately in today's world. The book recounts the stories of ordinary individuals who faced tremendous odds in transforming their lives through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism and in bringing Buddhism's humanistic teachings to the world. This inspiring narrative provides readers with the principles with which they can positively transform their own lives for the better and realize enduring happiness for themselves and others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
• Release date: Apr 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781946635570

Book preview

A New Century

A NEW CENTURY—a century of peace, of humanity, of victory, of glory; a century without war, a century of life.

Shin’ichi Yamamoto stood up and, as he spoke these words aloud, had his wife, Mineko, write them down.

Having returned from his second visit to the Soviet Union on May 30, 1975, Shin’ichi was filled with an ardent resolve to shape the coming century.

The Soka Gakkai was brimming with a fresh spirit of progress, with global peace as its aim. The strength of the Soka Gakkai is found in the unity and wisdom of the people. The movement for kosen-rufu is an alliance of ordinary people, unconcerned with social status, educational background, or titles, working together as fellow human beings to take the initiative in building a new world by advancing joyously, courageously, and harmoniously.

The renowned Japanese educator and reformer Yoshida Shoin also hoped that the Japanese people would rise up in a grassroots movement. Without doubt, Yoshida would have been deeply impressed to see the Soka Gakkai’s vigorous alliance of the people expanding around the globe.

My friends, stand up for the sake of justice, for kosen-rufu, and for your own happiness! My friends, exert yourselves for the sake of the people’s victory! Take courageous action to raise the curtain on a new age.

New advances require fresh and inspiring goals. It’s important to unite, plan carefully, and consult with one another.

At this juncture, Shin’ichi focused especially on top leaders conferences in each ward of Tokyo and every other region to propel the organization into the new century. As Nichiren Daishonin writes, Within the tents of command they were able to devise strategies that assured victory a thousand miles away (WND-2, 391).

Through such meetings, Shin’ichi wished to get to know the core leaders of each ward and prefecture, personally assess their leadership roles, and seek out new capable individuals.

THE EVENING of May 30, the very day that Shin’ichi returned from the Soviet Union, he attended a vice presidents conference, during which he conferred with the Soka Gakkai’s top leaders about a fresh departure for the organization. Without resting a single day, he poured his full energies into activities for kosen-rufu.

On June 5, he conducted a conference with fifty representatives from Tokyo’s Ota Ward, which was held in nearby Minato Ward. Shin’ichi was born and raised in Ota, and it was there that he had first encountered his mentor, second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda. It was also the arena of Shin’ichi’s first major effort for kosen-rufu, the February Campaign of 1952. That was a dynamic propagation drive, during which Shin’ichi took the lead as the newly appointed advisor of Kamata Chapter and established the then unprecedented record of one chapter introducing Nichiren Buddhism to 201 new households in a single month. That campaign broke through the stagnation that had stymied the entire organization’s propagation efforts until then and opened the way to realizing Toda’s lifetime goal of achieving a membership of 750,000 households.

Also, Shin’ichi lived in Ota Ward’s Kobayashi-cho when he became the third president of the Soka Gakkai in 1960 and embarked on his first overseas trip later that year. The history of worldwide kosen-rufu had begun when Shin’ichi departed from the small, modest home in Ota that he had purchased with a bank loan.

Ota is the site of the countless groundbreaking accomplishments that Shin’ichi realized through dedicated action. It stands as a precious repository of the indispensable Soka spirit. If such significance should fade, the significance of these magnificent achievements would be reduced to tired myths and clichés, and their spirit would grow faint and disappear. The remarkable achievements of Shin’ichi and his fellow members in Ota will continue to brilliantly shine through the efforts of disciples who inherit this spiritual legacy and take on new challenges.

Shin’ichi wanted the members in Ota to pave the way toward a new age with the same determination and passionate commitment that he’d felt as a young man when he took the lead in the February Campaign. He hoped that, in his stead, they would work together to build Ota into a model region that would advance kosen-rufu more than any other.

Shin’ichi attended the Ota Ward conference with the sincere prayer in his heart that an unending stream of capable individuals would follow in his footsteps.

WHILE LISTENING to leaders’ opinions at the conference, Shin’ichi offered numerous proposals of his own. At the meeting, it was decided that the Soka Gakkai’s community center in Kamata would be renovated to become a new bastion for Ota Ward as the Kamata Culture Center; the community centers in Omori and Yukigaya would also be rebuilt as culture centers; and an activity center would be established on the island of Hachijojima, ¹ which, within the Soka Gakkai organizational structure, was a part of Ota Ward.

Until this point, the Soka Gakkai had given top priority to building branch temples for Nichiren Shoshu across Japan, as well as carrying out all the general renovations on the grounds of the head temple, Taiseki-ji. Work on Soka Gakkai community and culture centers had been assigned a lower priority. With the completion of the Grand Main Temple at the head temple in 1972 and the refurbishment of the surrounding areas, the following five years were to be dedicated to building community and culture centers and establishing the foundation for the new growth and development of the Soka Gakkai.

When he thought of Soka Gakkai activity centers, Shin’ichi couldn’t help remembering an episode with his mentor, Josei Toda. Since the time when Toda had launched his struggle to rebuild the Soka Gakkai immediately after the war, his cherished dream had been to construct a center that could serve as the Soka Gakkai’s headquarters. Toda would often lament to Shin’ichi that there were no stand-alone activity centers for the members. But from about the autumn of 1949, Toda’s businesses ran aground, and he found himself in dire circumstances. He stepped down as the general director of the Soka Gakkai in 1950 in order to shield the organization from any possible negative repercussions that could arise from his business difficulties. It was certainly not a situation in which one could consider building a headquarters structure.

One day, Toda and Shin’ichi were walking toward Hibiya in central Tokyo. As rain poured down, they had no umbrellas and could not hail a cab. Looking at his mentor soaked to the skin, Shin’ichi felt a sharp pang in his heart. The headquarters building of the supreme commander for the Allied Powers towered before them. Looking up at the impressive edifice, Shin’ichi said: Sensei, I’m so sorry you have to wait like this in the cold. In the future, I’m going to buy a car that you can be driven around in. I’ll also build magnificent facilities for kosen-rufu. You can count on me.

Toda deeply sensed his disciple’s earnest resolve and smiled.

IN ALL his efforts and actions, Shin’ichi was solely motivated by a determination to triumph in every endeavor and give joy to Toda. His mentor was in his heart at all times. Shin’ichi spent each moment of each day engaged in an inner dialogue with him. He was convinced of Toda’s unremitting awareness of his every action and his innermost feelings, and he was determined to live in such a way that he could always report proudly to his mentor.

As he chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each morning, he vowed in his heart: Sensei! I will do my very best again today! I’ll triumph, for your sake. Please watch me as I take action as a true and faithful disciple.

But Toda and Shin’ichi were buffeted by the harsh and bitter cold winds of fate. Moreover, Shin’ichi was ill with tuberculosis and ran a constant fever. There were nights when he felt boxed in by the thick walls of adversity. At such times, Toda’s stern words rang out in his heart: This is the crucial moment! Don’t be defeated! Be confident and boldly press forward! You’re my disciple, after all! You’re the cub of a lion king! When Shin’ichi thought about Toda, he felt renewed courage and strength. On those days when he was able to thoroughly exert himself in line with his intentions, he envisioned Toda in his mind, smiling and saying: Excellent! Well done!

Shin’ichi saw any laziness and compromise on his part not only as personal failure but also as something that would sadden and disappoint his mentor.

The mentor-disciple relationship is not mere formality or lip service—it exists only when disciples constantly have their mentor in their hearts. Self-discipline and independence arise from having a mentor in one’s heart.

Through Shin’ichi’s struggles behind the scenes, Toda finally emerged from his dire business difficulties, and on May 3, 1951, he was inaugurated as the second president of the Soka Gakkai. That day, Shin’ichi wrote in his diary: I sat by myself in the center of the meeting, quietly listening to my mentor and the other senior leaders, thinking that no one but Mr. Toda is aware that a lone youth’s sights are firmly set on the Soka Gakkai’s path ten years into the future.²

EVEN AFTER Josei Toda became the Soka Gakkai’s second president, the financial base of the organization remained unsteady, and it was still impossible to build a separate headquarters. Therefore, during this period, the Soka Gakkai set up its headquarters on one floor of the building housing Toda’s business offices in the Nishi Kanda section of Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward.

Toda hoped to build a large, spacious headquarters for the members as soon as possible, and he felt very bad about his inability to do so. Unaware of his feelings, some leaders complained that things were hopelessly inconvenient without a dedicated headquarters building, and that a fine structure that would astonish the public should be constructed without delay. Toda responded firmly: We don’t need a building. That’s just a superficial thing. Wherever I am is the headquarters! That should be good enough, shouldn’t it? Spend more time thinking about strengthening our organization first.

Whenever he heard Toda say something like that, Shin’ichi silently pledged: Sensei, I’ll do my best. I’ll see to it that we have a full-time headquarters building where everyone feels free to gather.

In November 1953, when the Soka Gakkai Headquarters was established in Shinanomachi in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward, Toda was as gleeful as a child: We’ve built it! It’s wonderful! It’s a great citadel of Soka. From now on, I’ll lead our movement from here. Members can gather here unhindered from morning to night. Kosen-rufu will advance with tremendous dynamism!

The new headquarters was the realization of a disciple’s vow.

Yet the main Gohonzon room was about 1200 square feet. Nevertheless, kosen-rufu did gain ever-increasing momentum with the establishment of the new structure. I’d like to build Soka Gakkai facilities like this throughout Japan, Toda said to Shin’ichi.

Shin’ichi engraved those words in his heart. And today, there are numerous magnificent facilities, much larger than that original headquarters, in many places throughout Japan.

AT THE OTA Ward conference, Shin’ichi spoke of his plans for establishing new culture and community centers: Until now, we haven’t been able to concentrate on building new facilities for our members, and I know it’s been hard for you. All our centers are small and plain, and most are old-fashioned wooden buildings. But we’re entering a new phase now, and we’re going to begin constructing fine, new, modern buildings in every ward in the Tokyo metropolitan area. These will be your centers, precious citadels for the creation of peace and culture in your communities.

The vision Shin’ichi articulated far exceeded the leaders’ expectations, and their faces gleamed with joy. Shin’ichi, as if sensing their thoughts, said: You may be wondering if it’s appropriate to have such unexpectedly magnificent buildings in your community, but from the perspective of the future spread of kosen-rufu, they are absolutely essential. Compared to other religious groups, there are clearly far too few Soka Gakkai facilities right now.

It was true that, as Shin’ichi stated, other Japanese religions and Buddhist schools had many more churches, temples, and other facilities. For example, the Tendai schools had more than 5.4 million followers and more than 4,200 temples. The True Word schools, with about 12 million followers, had more than 12,400 temples and related facilities. The Pure Land schools, with slightly more than 20 million followers, had more than 30,500 temples and meeting places. The Zen schools, with slightly more than 10 million followers, had some 20,000 temples.³

The Soka Gakkai had some 10 million members by this time, but fewer than four hundred meeting facilities, which were small and modest. Moreover, Soka Gakkai members assembled at their activity centers on a daily basis for prayer sessions, study meetings, guidance meetings, training courses, and other activities, so their facilities were used much more frequently than those of the other religions and Buddhist schools.

Considering the situation, Shin’ichi was deeply convinced that it was absolutely necessary for the Soka Gakkai to construct many more facilities throughout the country to ensure that activities for kosen-rufu would advance in a smooth and efficient manner.

GAZING OUT at the leaders at the Ota Ward conference, Shin’ichi continued to speak: "In order to advance kosen-rufu within the community, we should ensure that Soka Gakkai activity centers become a source of pride for all the neighboring residents. And when we hold activities there, we always need to be considerate about such things as parking and noise, so that the neighbors will not be bothered or inconvenienced. It’s important that we conduct ourselves in such a way that residents feel that a Soka Gakkai center makes their communities brighter, more vibrant, and prosperous.

Another reason to build large, structurally sound activity centers is so that residents can use them as evacuation centers in the event of natural disasters, such as earthquakes or typhoons. Our facilities should offer protection to the community, help it flourish, and give its residents joy. Soka Gakkai centers should be like lighthouses contributing to the development of the local area. We should protect and care for our centers as if we were the keepers of a lighthouse.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Shin’ichi’s voice grew more passionate: Ota is the starting point of the Soka Gakkai. It’s a crucial bastion of kosen-rufu. Therefore it should grow and develop significantly year after year. In the future, we’ll build an even larger center here in Ota. I intend to work many times harder than I am now to make that happen. Let’s all join forces to build a castle of Soka in Ota.

Everyone enthusiastically applauded Shin’ichi’s suggestion.

These plans to build or refurbish local Soka Gakkai centers provided hope-filled objectives, inspiration, and encouragement to the members who were striving day and night for kosen-rufu. And this became reflected in their expanding hopes and dreams. In the words of the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, To seek new paths in a constant renewal of strength—that has always been the secret of progress.⁴

Those attending the Ota conference spoke with Shin’ichi freely and without hesitation, posing numerous questions about such things as ways to promote friendship within the community and how to support young women’s division activities. It was a joyous atmosphere of sharing thoughts and feelings, exemplifying the spirit of Soka humanism.

MEETINGS OF VARIOUS sorts, whether they be called representative meetings or executive conferences, were sequentially held for leaders of every ward of Tokyo and neighboring areas—including Setagaya Ward on June 6, the day after the Ota conference; the Tokyo No. 2 Headquarters on June 10; Kanagawa Prefecture on June 12; Shinagawa Ward on June 14; Saitama Prefecture on June 15; Minato Ward on June 16; Nerima Ward on June 17; Koto Ward on June 19; and Nakano Ward on June 20. At all of these meetings, fresh goals were presented, such as building new centers, refurbishing present ones, and conducting various commemorative events.

Creating hope is creating value, and it ignites the flame of courage.

Shin’ichi finished his circuit of Tokyo-area conferences with a joint meeting of Shibuya and Meguro Wards on July 5. Though his schedule was very tight, filled with university group general meetings and dialogues with various public figures and thinkers, he attended all these local conferences as well. He took action with tremendous speed and dynamism.

As the nineteenth-century Italian thinker Giuseppe Mazzini observed, Rapid movement is the secret of all great victories.⁵ Speed is the key in any struggle, and it is the secret for victory. Being slow to act or failing to take action when action is called for is an invitation for defeat. The great victory of kosen-rufu comes about when each person takes swift action, focuses on each day’s objectives, and resolves the tasks at hand fully and completely.

July 3, 1975, marked the thirtieth anniversary of second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda’s release from prison, where he was incarcerated by Japan’s militarist authorities during World War II. On that day, Shin’ichi attended a commemorative meeting in Minato Ward. More than three hundred members attended, including many of Toda’s original disciples, who were personally trained by him and fought together with him in the organization’s pioneering days following the war. Shin’ichi chose to hold the meeting over dinner as a way of showing his appreciation to those members who had made such important contributions.

Listening to the remarks from the Soka Gakkai’s top leaders, Shin’ichi felt tears well forth as he thought how happy Toda would have been to be able to see that, just thirty years after his release from prison, the Soka Gakkai had become one of the largest religious organizations in Japan.

SHIN’ICHI COULDN’T help but recall the day that Toda had stepped down as general director of the Soka Gakkai to prevent his business difficulties from negatively affecting the members. The day was August 24, 1950, the third anniversary of Shin’ichi’s joining the Soka Gakkai, and it took place following one of Toda’s lectures on the Lotus Sutra at the Soka Gakkai Headquarters in Nishi Kanda in Tokyo.

After declaring his intention to resign, Toda announced the name of the new general director. There was no president of the Soka Gakkai at the time, and the general director was the top position in the organization. Shin’ichi was deeply shocked to hear Toda’s decision, and he couldn’t hide how shaken he was by it. He worried about what would happen to the Soka Gakkai and kosen-rufu. Shin’ichi went to the room where Toda was and asked whether the new general director would become his mentor. Toda immediately responded: No, not at all. I may cause you nothing but hardship, but I’ll always be your mentor.

Shin’ichi felt a thrill of delight run through him. All his confusion and doubt evaporated. He made up his mind.

The essence of the conviction of the Soka Gakkai springs from Toda’s enlightenment in prison, where he read with his very life the passage from the Lotus Sutra Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers (LSOC, 178). The Soka Gakkai spirit derives from Toda’s awakening to his mission as a Bodhisattva of the Earth. By following in this mentor’s footsteps, the Soka Gakkai as a whole can be considered as Soka Gakkai Buddha, a gathering of believers dedicated to achieving kosen-rufu.

At that instant, Shin’ichi thought to himself: Mr. Toda is the great leader of kosen-rufu. Unless he can exercise leadership freely, there will be no kosen-rufu. That means no happiness for the people and no world peace. I’ll work and work until I’ve repaid all his debts, and Mr. Toda can be inaugurated as the second president. This is my struggle as his disciple!

Shin’ichi regarded Toda as though he were a Buddha, and he believed that he should support him.

DESPITE HIS tuberculosis, Shin’ichi threw himself completely and unsparingly into his work, determined to support Toda. As a result, he found a way out of the problems afflicting Toda’s businesses, and on May 3, 1951, Toda was inaugurated as the second president of the Soka Gakkai. At the inauguration ceremony, President Toda proclaimed his lifetime goal of increasing Soka Gakkai membership to 750,000 households. A revitalized Soka Gakkai set forth on a new departure in its voyage of kosen-rufu.

President Toda always said to his disciples: I’ll take care of kosen-rufu. I’ll achieve this membership goal of 750,000 households through my own efforts. Do you want to help me? He never said, You take care of it! He had decided to achieve this goal on his own, and he rose up alone. His disciples chose to assist him and joined in his struggle for kosen-rufu.

But on one occasion, Toda said to Shin’ichi: Kosen-rufu is up to you. Initiate a campaign to establish the correct teaching for the peace of the land, just as Nichiren Daishonin teaches. Even if tens of thousands may want to assist in the struggle, they won’t really be able to do anything unless they each have the spirit to stand alone for the sake of kosen-rufu.

Toda was trying to foster a disciple who, like him, was a true champion and who could rise up on his own and achieve this goal. He entrusted Shin’ichi with the mission of serving as a role model of such a disciple.

The power to achieve kosen-rufu is found in the solidarity of true champions. Victory cannot be attained by a crowd of bystanders or a disordered collection of people who lack self-reliance; it can be achieved only through the unity of champions who each resolve to take full responsibility on their own. Courage and strength well up in those who consciously take on everything as the protagonist and person responsible for achieving their goals. Unlimited wisdom and ardent resolve also surge forth. And by striving with unstoppable vigor and boldness, they will experience vitality, fulfillment, and joy.

As the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy once wrote, Those who live for a lofty purpose experience constantly increasing goodness.⁶

SHIN’ICHI had an endless store of memories of his mentor, Josei Toda.

On July 3, 1957, twelve years after Toda’s release from prison, Shin’ichi was arrested on false charges of violating Japan’s election laws, in what came to be known as the Osaka Incident. Toda was outraged when he heard that Shin’ichi had been paraded in handcuffs in full public view as he was transferred to a separate wing of the Osaka District Prosecutor’s Office. Toda repeatedly called the Soka Gakkai’s Kansai Headquarters. When the attorney representing Shin’ichi came to the phone, Toda demanded, Get those handcuffs off Shin’ichi, and get him released right away!

Then he roared: Tell the prosecutor that if their aim is to crush the Soka Gakkai, he should arrest me. I will not keep silent and let them arrest my dear disciple and throw him in jail. Tell them I’m not trying to escape or hide from them.

Toda even went to the Osaka District Prosecutor’s Office himself to argue with the chief public prosecutor. Toda was in poor physical condition at the time, just nine months before his death. With the aid of accompanying leaders, he laboriously climbed the stairs to the prosecutor’s office, one agonizing step at a time.

How long do you intend to keep my innocent disciple locked up? he cried out in impassioned anger and outrage.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor told the jailed Shin’ichi that unless he confessed to the crime, they would arrest and imprison Toda. Shin’ichi knew that in light of Toda’s frail condition, this would be tantamount to death. He felt that if Toda were to die, kosen-rufu would lose its mighty supporting pillar, and the path to peace and happiness would be closed off. Because of that, Shin’ichi decided to initially admit culpability and then take the battle to court.

When he heard about Toda’s actions after his release, Shin’ichi wept at this expression of his mentor’s deep love and concern for him. He also keenly felt the loathsomeness and dishonesty of the devilish nature of the authorities, intent on their quest to suppress the power of ordinary citizens. He resolved to spend the rest of his life fighting for human rights. I will defang the devilish nature of oppressive authorities, he said to himself. It’s a fight to the bitter end, but I will triumph through the power of the people. I cannot afford to lose!

WHEN SHIN’ICHI stood up to speak at the event commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of Toda’s release from prison, he declared in a resounding voice: "On this occasion, we have arrived at a moment of fresh departure! The Soka Gakkai pulses with an indomitable spirit of advance and fresh hope. In the light of Nichiren Daishonin’s writings, we know that we will face bitter storms of persecution and raging waves of attack. But in order to protect freedom of belief, human rights, and the peace and happiness of the people, we must persevere in our struggle.

"The Soka Gakkai is a bastion of peace and human rights. It is a flower garden for the revitalization of the people. It is a microcosm of the ideal human community. To realize our goals, I will spend my entire life protecting and nurturing the Soka Gakkai with all my might. I believe this is the way for me to live up to my pledge to Mr. Toda.

At a youth division study seminar held in February 1952, Mr. Toda proposed the visionary idea of global citizenship. This was in the midst of the Cold War. Now, I am resolved to realize his grand vision for world peace as long as I live, giving it my all. In order to praise my mentor’s achievements and ensure that they are remembered and appreciated forever, I propose that we erect a monument in his honor in Atsuta Village, his hometown in Hokkaido.

Shin’ichi’s words were a powerful expression of his vow as President Toda’s disciple.

By making our mentor’s achievements widely known to the public, we shed light on the starting point of our movement, because the aims of our movement are embodied