Tradition : Nichiren Buddhism
Buddhist Lineage : Shakyamuni, Lotus Sutra, Nichiren
Organsiation : Soka Gakkai
Daisaku Ikea was born in Tokyo, Japan, on January 2, 1928 to a family of seaweed farmers. Mr. Ikeda passed away peacefully on November 15, 2023, at the age of 95.
He published more than 250 translated works, ranging from commentaries on Buddhism to biographical essays, poetry and children’s stories.
He was married to Kaneko and had two sons, Hiromasa and Takahiro. His son, Shirohisa died in 1984.
Daisaku Ikea grew up during World War II and endured firsthand the suffering and devastation of war, including the death of his eldest brother who was killed in action in Burma (present-day Myanmar). This experience as a teenager gave birth to a lifelong passion to work for peace and root out the fundamental causes of human conflict.
He encountered Buddhism In 1947 at the age of 19 when he attended a lecture by Jose Toda. At that time, Toda was engaged in the process of rebuilding the Soka Gakkai after it had been all but destroyed as a result of wartime persecution. Ikeda shared Toda’s conviction that the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism, with its focus on the limitless potential of the individual human being, could help revive society in the devastation of post-war Japan.
SGI is now a global network linking over 12 million members in some 190 countries and territories.
The central tenet of Daisaku Ikeda’s thought is grounded in Buddhist humanism, the fundamental dignity of life, a value he sees as the key to lasting peace and human happiness. In his view, global peace relies ultimately on a self-directed transformation within the life of the individual, rather than on societal or structural reforms alone.
A great inner revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.
Daisaku Ikeda
Links
Daisaku Ikeda Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
About Soka Gakkai HERE
History of Soka Gakkai HERE
Practise of Soka Gakkai HERE
Cosmic Consciousness 
Leave a comment