Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

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(open to expansion as new leaders emerge), and (d) committed to both setting and
members (encouraging full participation and participatory decision making)
(p. 650).
Daisaku Ikeda was inaugurated in 1960 as the third President of the Soka
Gakkai, the largest organization of Buddhist lay believers based in Japan. Under
his leadership the organization has grown to more than 8 million households in
Japan and over 4 million in 176 other countries and territories around the world.
Ikeda founded the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), which he currently heads. He
has established Soka (Jap. Value Creating) educational institutions from kindergartens
to universities, a publishing house, a concert association, an art museum,
a research institute, a global policy institute, and cultural centers, among others.
His talented efforts have been recognized by the United Nations Peace Award and
numerous honorary doctorates, literary awards, and citizenship awards from universities
and institutions around the world. He is a distinguished author and poet
laureate with myriad books translated in the major world languages including
a number of published dialogues with world figures. He is an indefatigable global
peace educator, traveling the world to dialogue and build bonds of friendship with
world leaders in the fields of peace, education, art, and politics.
As the disciple and successor of the second Soka Gakkai President Josei
Toda, Daisaku Ikeda is passionate about the notion of “human revolution,” and
educational reform as essential keys for fostering a spirit of human solidarity
around the world. “I have decided to make education my final undertaking, and
I have poured all my energy into that goal” (Ikeda, 2001, p. 1). His vision has been
clear and he has role modeled the continuous achievement of that vision though
the Soka educational institutions he has established and the peace proposals submitted
to the United Nations each year, among other major accomplishments.
Shared leadership is evident in the many social and governmental leaders
supporting his efforts around the world, as well as his passing of responsibility
for leadership to the youth of the organization as successors of the legacy of the
Soka Gakkai presidents. His commitment to the organization and to the members
is reflected in his caring, compassion, and extraordinary efforts to develop the
membership through writing, lecturing, attending meetings, traveling the globe,
as well as his personalized acknowledgments of the suffering or successes of
members around the globe.
Implications for Research and Action
Kathleen H. Dockett
To further the study of empowering community settings, Maton and Salem
(1995) have made a set of recommendations for future research that is important
for theory development, social policy, and community action: (1) Do the
proposed organizational characteristics exist in other empowering community
settings? (2) Is there a relationship between empowering characteristics and