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Daisaku Ikeda

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Daisaku Ikeda (池田大作, Ikeda Daisaku, born January 2, 1928) is president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a Buddhist association with about 12 million members in more than 190 countries and territories, and founder of several educational, cultural and research institutions. Also an honourary member of the Club of Rome (members)

Life and establishment of SGI

Daisaku Ikeda was born of poor origins into a family of seaweed farmers at Ōta, Tokyo. He was the fifth son. He had four elder brothers who fought in World War II and also had younger brothers , and a sister. Ikeda's family endured the hardships of the war, as many did. In his youth, he lost his eldest brother Kiichi Ikeda (1916 -1945) to World War II , which developed in him a strong opposition to war. In his late teens, in August 1947 , he learned of Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism through Josei Toda, a Nichiren Shōshū Buddhist, peace activist[citation needed], and then president of Soka Gakkai. As a disciple of Toda, Ikeda took on Toda's dream and mission to spread the teachings of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and its principles of developing a peaceful world through the spread of the True Teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Following Toda's death in 1958, Ikeda became president of the Soka Gakkai, serving from 1960 to 1979.

From its beginnings in the 1930s, the Soka Gakkai was a lay organization whose role was to support the laity in their practice of Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism. After World War II, as Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism began to spread throughout the world, Soka Gakkai responded by developing an international outreach program, the SGI (Soka Gakkai International). Ikeda took a lead role in this development and became president of SGI upon its founding in 1975[citation needed]. In 1979, Ikeda resigned as president of Soka Gakkai to take responsibility for Soka Gakkai’s deviations from Nichiren Shoshu doctrines and the accompanying conflict with the priesthood[1] and was succeeded by Hiroshi Hojo. He was excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu on August 11, 1992[2][3]. Even so, he remained president of SGI, and the position of Soka Gakkai Honorary President, which he still maintains, was created for him[4].

By May 2007 he had received 211 honorary doctorates[citation needed]). He has used the principles of Nichiren Buddhism throughout his own life[citation needed], and in his role as president of SGI, he acts to support the membership in a number of ways, including providing support and encouragement through his writings and lectures, by striving to promote a dialogue on Nichiren Buddhist principles as they apply to today's global challenges with many of today's world leaders. As such, the SGI membership views him as a great role model for how to apply this practice in their own lives. He is referred to by some members as their "mentor in life" (jinsei no shishō, 人生の師匠)[5], and is frequently referred to in the third person as sensei (先生, "our teacher" or "master").

Nichiren Buddhism is a form of Buddhism based on the final teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, in what is called the Lotus Sutra. The basic premise of this teaching is that Buddhahood and enlightenment are states of being that are as innate to each and every human being, as are the more commonly experienced states of, say, anger, hunger (as in greed, thirst, or insatiable desire), or tranquility (as in calm, complacent, or satisfied). According to the Lotus Sutra, not only are all living beings equally endowed with the potential for enlightenment, but so are they potentially capable of attaining this state, within the current lifetime. According to Nichiren Buddhists' interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, one may awaken one's Buddha Nature through a practice of chanting the phrase Nam myoho renge kyo to develop one's sense of compassion, wisdom, and clarity of mind, and through the development of a sense of the interconnectedness of all life—the "oneness of man and environment," or esho funi—and the ways in which one's thoughts, actions, and deeds—karma—affect one and one's environment throughout the past, present, and future.

Ikeda and his predecessors in Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, and the founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, a 13th-century priest called Nichiren Daishonin, all strove to live according to these and other Buddhist principles and to encourage others to do the same. Through the study of their teachings, the practice of chanting, and the practice of active involvement in the world at large, one is thought to be able to develop the innate Buddha Nature within, leading to a happier, more fulfilling life for oneself and others. Daisaku Ikeda has had dialogues with many people including Arnold J. Toynbee, Linus Pauling, Rajiv Gandhi, Wangari Maathai, Nelson Mandela, Marianne Pearl, Mikhail Gorbachev, Zhou Enlai, M.S.Swaminathan, Alexei Kosygin, Henry Kissinger, Roberto Baggio and Rosa Parks. Though not a statesman or politician himself, followers credit him with having strengthened the relations of Japan with China and Russia[citation needed] by discussions with their leaders (as mentioned above) with Zhou Enlai and Mikhail Gorbachev and Alexei Kosygin.

He lives in Tokyo with his wife, Kaneko. He has two sons.

Accomplishments

Ikeda is a prolific writer, poet, peace activist,and interpreter of Nichiren Buddhism. His hobbies include photography, and playing the piano. He has signed the Earth Charter, and is has supported environmentalism. He has travelled to more than 60 countries to hold discussions with many political, cultural, and educational figures, as well as to teach, support, and encourage practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism living in these countries. Topics he has addressed include the transformative value of religion, the universality of life, social responsibility, and sustainable progress and development.

As a mentor of SGI, he has founded several institutions, such as the Soka schools (from kindergarten through university level), the Min-On Concert Association, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, the Institute of Oriental Science and the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research , and the Min-on Concert Association to promote educational, cultural, and artistic activities and to conduct exchanges with like groups and institutions on a global scale. In addition, he has guided the Soka Gakkai's support of, and involvement in Komeito ( a Japanese Political Party which as of 2007 is part of the ruling coalition in Japan together with the LDP, which is currently mired in a string of scandals[citation needed]). Ikeda has also initiated a wide range of grassroots exchange programs and delivered speeches at a number of institutions of higher learning around the world, including Harvard University, the Institut de France and Beijing University. Gandhi, King, Ikeda exhibition showcases Mahatma Gandhi's, Martin Luther King Jr's, and Daisaku Ikeda's peace activism. Another exhibition is Dialogue with Nature showcasing Ikeda's photographs. He has also produced the documentary film about the environment, A Quiet Revolution.

Ikeda purports to share his honors with SGI members, saying that they are proof of the outstanding lives that ordinary people around the world are living, based on the practice of Nichiren Buddhism. He also acknowledges that these honorary degrees honor the greatness of his mentor Josei Toda, as well as Toda's mentor Tsunesaburo Makiguchi.[citation needed]

For his humanitarian endeavors in a range of fields, he is the recipient of numerous awards, including the United Nations Peace Award , and the Rosa Parks Peace Award.[citation needed],National Order of the Southern Cross of the Republic of Brazil, Honorary Cross of Science and the Arts from the Austrian Ministry of Education, Medal of the Grand Officer of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture, the Grand Officer award from the President of the Italian Republic and the World Poet Laureateship from the World Poetry Society.[citation needed]

Founder of Soka University, the Soka School System, the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, and the Toda Institute for Global Peace Policy and Research, Ikeda is also author of numerous books and has held dialogs on peace, education, and culture with numerous scholars and world leaders. Each year he authors and submits to the United Nations a Peace Proposal. Most notable are his dialogs, such as Choose Life: A Dialogue (English edition, Oxford University Press, 1976), in which Ikeda and historian Arnold J. Toynbee discuss "humanity's predicament in all its aspects." More recently, in Planetary Citizenship: Your Values, Beliefs, and Actions Can Shape a Sustainable World (Middleway Press, 2003), futurist Hazel Henderson and Ikeda "explore the rise of 'grassroots globalists,' ordinary citizens all over the world who are taking responsibility to build a more peaceful, harmonious and sustainable future." He is also the recipient of the most honorary doctorates awarded to a single individual[citation needed], including the United Nations Peace Award, the International Tolerance Award of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the Rosa Parks Humanitarian Award. Daisaku Ikeda's many children's books have even been animated into cartoons.

Criticism

In 1995, Daisaku Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai were negatively reported on in Time magazine[6]. In 1999, The New York Times also did a piece on the uneasy rise of the New Komeito party in Japan funded largely by Ikeda and the Soka Gakkai.[7]

The Ross Institute has labeled Soka Gakkai as a cult and Ikeda as a dictator who doesn't tolerate dissent in an articles such as Daisaku Ikeda -- statesman, billionaire, god.[8]

Criticism exists that Daisaku Ikeda, in his mission to create a worldwide organization has not always selected friends based on the shared ideals of world peace, including the dictator Manuel Noriega. Allegations by Yoshihiro Tsurumi in a book titled 'Unconventional Method for Killing America' are that Ikeda was involved in supporting and profiting from the cocaine trafficing of Noriega with donations made by members of Soka Gakkai.[9] This allegation comes from Manuel Noriega's own confessions after being captured by the U.S. in Operation Just Cause in 1989, see United_States_invasion_of_Panama. This would indicate that Daisaku Ikeda in his dreams of Kosen Rufu, or worldwide religious dominance by Soka Gakkai, permitted himself to go against the ideals of Buddhism for the benefits of economic gain and power.

Threats and Alleged Attacks

There have been incidents where extremist organizations have threatened Ikeda's life and the lives of Gakkai members[citation needed]. The Aleph organization (then known as Aum Shinrikyo), which was responsible for a sarin-gas attack on Tokyo subway system in the 90s, led an operation against the SGI.[citation needed] In one incident, Aleph gassed one of the Gakkai's buildings, the Makiguchi Hall.[citation needed] No people were in the building at the time. Makiguchi Hall is where Ikeda makes his Headquarters Leaders Meeting messages once a month. Many assume the gassing was aimed at Ikeda.[citation needed].


Books

  • The Human Revolution (12 volumes)
  • The New Human Revolution (10 Volumes)
  • Choose Life: A Dialogue with Arnold J. Toynbee
  • Dawn After Dark with René Huyghe
  • Before It Is Too Late with Aurelio Peccei
  • Human Values in a changing world with Bryan Wilson
  • A Lifelong Quest for Peace with Linus Pauling
  • Dialogue of World Citizens with Norman Cousins
  • Choose Peace with Johan Galtung
  • Planetary Citizenship with Hazel Henderson
  • Moral Lesson of the Twentieth Century with Mikhail Gorbachev
  • A Quest for Global Peace with Joseph Rotblat
  • Global Civilization: A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue With Majid Tehranian
  • One By One
  • For the Sake of Peace
  • A Youthful Diary
  • The Living Buddha
  • Buddhism, the First Millenium
  • The Flower of Chinese Buddhism
  • The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra (6 volumes)
  • Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth and Death: A Buddhist View of Life
  • Life: An Enigma, a Precious Jewel
  • The Snow Country Prince
  • The Cherry Tree
  • The Princess and the Moon
  • Over the Deep Blue Sea
  • Kanta and the Deer
  • The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life's Questions (with a foreword by Duncan Sheik)

Academic Honours

Notes

  1. ^ Shimada, Hiromi: Kōmeitō vs. Sōka Gakkai ("Conflicts between Komeitō and Sōka Gakkai"). Asahi Shinsho, Tokyo: May 2007. ISBN 978-4-02-273153-1. p. 114. Template:Ja icon
  2. ^ Mizoguchi, Atsushi: Ikeda Daisaku: Kenryokusha no Kōzō ("Daisaku Ikeda: The structure behind a man with power"). Kōdansha, Tokyo: September 2005. ISBN 4-06-256962-0. p. 396 Template:Ja icon
  3. ^ Taisekiji: Nichiren Shōshū Nyūmon ("An introduction to Nichiren Shoshu"). Fujinomiya, 2002. p. 332 (chronology) and p. 240 Template:Ja icon
  4. ^ Shimada, Hiromi: Kōmeitō vs. Sōka Gakkai, p. 116. Template:Ja icon
  5. ^ Shimada, Hiromi: Kōmeitō vs. Sōka Gakkai, p. 120–121. Template:Ja icon
  6. ^ http://www.time.com/time/international/1995/951120/japan.html
  7. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFDF153DF937A25752C1A96F958260
  8. ^ http://www.rickross.com/reference/gakkai/gakkai40.html
  9. ^ http://www.prevensectes.com/chambre/noriega-francais.html

References

  • Huges Seager, Richard: Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhism. University of California Press, 2006.
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