New Year’s Message

Congratulations on the brilliant start of the Year of Capable People and Dynamic Development! Let us set forth energetically into this second decade of the 21st century, aiming toward the centennial of the Soka Gakkai’s founding in 2030.

Nichiren Daishonin writes: “When the god of the sun rises at dawn in the east, he sends forth his rays of light, opens his heavenly eyes, and observes the [entire world]. If . . . he sees a votary of the Lotus Sutra, he rejoices in heart.”1

In the lands where our members are chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—the fundamental Law of the universe—and putting into action the wisdom found in the humanistic teachings of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, the heavenly deities are surely rejoicing. There, too, the hope-filled momentum for peace and prosperity that we call kosen-rufu is well under way.

In these increasingly troubled times in which we live, let us strive all the more to make our lives brim with the transformative, revitalizing, and harmonizing power of the Mystic Law.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the women’s division.2 The members of the women’s division, the suns of the SGI, play an especially invaluable role in their families, communities, and society as a whole. While warmly supporting and commending all our women’s division members, the mothers of kosen-rufu, let us continue to wisely and harmoniously expand our network of happiness and victory.

The Lotus Sutra describes the Bodhisattvas of the Earth emerging from the ground of “all the billion lands of the saha world”3 in response to the call of their teacher, Shakyamuni. These bodhisattvas joyously appear in the place of their mission and carry out their struggle in the land to which they have a karmic connection.

In exactly the same way, we of the SGI comprise a magnificent network of Bodhisattvas of the Earth that spans our blue planet and is dedicated to the promotion of peace, culture, and education. Each one of us voluntarily chose to be born in this troubled saha world and to enact a drama of human revolution. The script of each drama is different: some are about triumphing over illness, overcoming financial difficulty, or resolving interpersonal relationship problems. But all involve achieving victory through changing poison into medicine, thereby conveying the greatness of the Mystic Law to others, and giving them immeasurable courage and hope in the process.

In praise of the Ikegami brothers who valiantly surmounted challenging obstacles, the Daishonin writes: “Could there ever be a more wonderful story than your own?”4 There is no negative karma that cannot be transformed through the power of faith in the Mystic Law. I hope each of you will write your own triumphant story of human revolution that will continue to be told for endless generations to come.

The English word “history” contains the word “story.” I am presently engaged in a dialogue with the American historian Dr. Vincent Harding, who was also a close friend of American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We discussed how humanity’s power to create history arises from our capacity to narrate, to tell stories. Dr. Harding remarked:

These stories help us to understand how we are connected to each other. It is this thought that makes us understand that we are all part of one whole—that there is no real separation. This means that separation and division are nothing more than illusions. Our various stories, then, call attention to the connectivity that exists between human beings.5

The experiences in faith that our SGI members proudly relate to others are stories of awakening to the inherent dignity and worth of their own lives and the resulting emergence of the invincible power of the Buddha from the depths of their being. They are inspirational stories that allow us to reconfirm that beyond superficial differences such as race, ethnicity, language, or culture, we are all infinitely noble human beings who have the potential for Buddhahood. They are stories that encourage and spur us onward in our efforts.

On January 6, 1951, my mentor Josei Toda called me to his house. On that day, in the midst of great adversity arising from his business difficulties, he entrusted the future to me, then just 23 years old. He also went on to say: “No matter what happens, if you and I fulfill our life missions, the time will definitely come when the Daishonin’s cherished wish for kosen-rufu will be achieved. No matter what anyone says, you must advance strongly and purposefully for the sake of the Gakkai.”

When youthful disciples rise to action, sharing the same spirit as their mentor, they will write a powerful story and leave behind a profound history unrivaled anywhere in the world. Indeed, today we are seeing the youth of the SGI around the globe making outstanding achievements.

As the British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead observed: “The primary religious virtue is sincerity.”7 Nothing can surpass or compare with sincerity.

Let’s win in the coming year, each writing a new story of the triumph of human revolution and a fresh history of the dynamic development of kosen-rufu—through strong prayer, dedicated effort, and solid unity.

My wife and I are praying wholeheartedly for the health and long lives of our beloved fellow members and their families in 192 countries and territories around the world.

5 Dialogue published in Daisanbunmei, March 2010 issue. Not yet available in English.

6 The young men’s division was established on July 11, 1951, and the young women’s division on July 19, 1951.

7 Alfred North Whitehead, Religion in the Making (Cambridge, Massachusetts: University Press, 1927), p. 5.