Our
Mentor: Daisaku Ikeda
Sensei,
Sensei, forever Sensei
Mentor
Disciple relationship has been
the core of Buddhist practice.
In Buddhism, there's no such
thing as a superior existence,
instead we have mentors. The
mentor shows his vision and the
disciples strive together with
the mentor towards the ultimate
goal.
As
the president of Soka
Gakkai International (SGI),
Daisaku
Ikeda
is the
mentor of SGI members Indeed, he
himself is the discipleof the
last SGI president, Josei Toda.
Borned
in pre-war Japan, The young
Ikeda deeply understoodthe
terror that war could bring to
people. As a young boy, he had
determined to erase the
violence, injustice and
non-humanity in the world. After
meeting Josei Toda in a
gathering, Buddhism became his
solution.
In
the past 30 years, President
Ikeda has written thousands of
passages to encourage people to
live according to Buddhist
practice and to contribute to
the society. His writing has
inspired both Buddhists and
non-Buddhists. SGI also become
an organization actively
involved in peace, culture and
education under his lead.
There's suppression, and
opposition against him in the
past 30 years
and he managed to persist his
Buddhist belief and struggled
against the evil power at his most
difficult time. He has practiced
Buddhism through his own life.
Hence,
members of SGI usually
intimately called him,
"Sensei "
("teacher" in
Japanese)
A
great revolution of character in
just a 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
