Courageous Successors!

"This path is found where we are right now, not somewhere far removed from our daily lives."

SGI Newsletter No. 7579, 8th NATIONWIDE YOUTH DIVISION LEADERS MEETING--PART 2 [OF 2], Win through Courage, Triumph with Valour (Held in conjunction with the Future Division General Meeting and the Soka Alumni Meeting, at the Soka University Auditorium in Hachioji, Tokyo, on May 4th, 2008.) Translated
July 2nd, 2008.

"Everything depends on whether one can persevere in efforts to establish the correct teaching for the peace of the land and continue to uphold the banner of this noble cause. To practice in a spirit of oneness with the mentor means to carry on the essence of the mentor’s actions."

SGI Newsletter No. 7581, Dedicate Your Lives to the Great Path of Oneness of Mentor and Disciple --Learning from the Momentous Struggle of Nikko Shonin (A special feature in the May 2008 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai study journal, commemorating the publication of the journal's 700th issue.) Translated July 4th, 2008.

"Awakening to one's mission in life is to have a solid foundation as a human being. Such a person can rapidly develop their talents to the fullest degree.

Marie Curie wrote: 'You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for [our] own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.' She believed that each person should transform their own destiny, become aware of their responsibility to humanity as a whole, and extend a hand to assist those in suffering and need. This is a belief that resonates strongly with the Soka philosophy of human revolution."

SGI Newsletter No. 7580, ON THE LIFE OF MARIE CURIE, [2] Hardships Are a Springboard for Growth, from the February 15th, 2008, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, translated July 3rd, 2008.

"In my youth, as a student of 'Toda University', I studied the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in Japanese novelist Eiji Yoshikawa's retelling of the classic Chinese tale. Zhuge Liang (Chuko K'ung-ming, 181-234), one of its leading characters, left an indelible impression on my mind. On friendship, he once said: 'It is difficult to sustain associations motivated by ambition for power or profit. When men of true integrity get to know and understand each other, their friendship endures without fading throughout the four seasons, neither blooming extravagantly in the warmth nor dropping its leaves in the cold....It becomes stronger with each passing period of
fortune or adversity'. Let's strive to forge these kind of lasting friendships.

Second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda stressed to me the importance of extending a hand of friendship to people when they experience hard or challenging times, and of warmly supporting and encouraging them, standing by them with unchanging sincerity and goodwill. Please remember that this is the Soka spirit of friendship."

"I’d like to share with you some more words of Mr. Toda. During the war, many top Gakkai leaders quaked at the thought of persecution by the militarist authorities. For all their brave speeches, they were utterly terrified. Mr. Toda described this clearly in his novel The Human Revolution (under the pen name Myo Goku): 'They make bold pronouncements, but at a
crucial moment, what happens?...I've seen it all too well. When the authorities appear, they shrivel up like slugs that have been sprinkled with salt.' Please strive your hardest, so that no one can ever say that of you. I'm counting on you.

One's actions at a crucial moment are what matter. That's when a person's true worth is revealed. Don't be fainthearted. The stronger the opposition, the more powerfully, boldly, cheerfully we should speak out. This is the Gakkai spirit, it is the spirit that lives in the hearts of Soka mentors and disciples."

SGI Newsletter No. 7570, 18th SOKA GAKKAI HEADQUARTERS LEADERS MEETING--PART 3 [OF 3]. Advance with a Youthful Spirit, May 21st, 2008. Translated June 17th, 2008.

"British prime minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was a great leader who fought successfully against the Nazi onslaught. When the Nazi forces were bombing England, he looked up into the sky and encouraged his fellow citizens. And in one of his speeches, he declared: 'You must not weaken in any way in your alert and vigilant frame of mind.' It was his belief that defeat would only come from a weakening of vigilance; that one's own attitude--and not what the other side did--was the key to one's victory or defeat. We in the Gakkai also need to have this spirit."

SGI Newsletter No. 7570, 18th SOKA GAKKAI HEADQUARTERS LEADERS MEETING--PART 3 [OF 3]. Advance with a Youthful Spirit, May 21st, 2008. Translated June 17th, 2008.