Grade 2 Study Material 2013

Grade 2 Study Course 

2013 

SGI-UK

▼ 

STUDY MATERIAL • SGI-UK grade two study course 2013 

A warm welcome to the SGI‐UK Study Courses in 2013 

This Grade 2 study course is intended to build on the 

understanding that was established through studying 

the Grade 1 course. It will cover some more of the 

important aspects of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism. Our 

starting point to understand the significance of study is 

this passage from the Gosho: ‘Exert yourself in the two 

ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, 

there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere 

yourself; you must also teach others. Both practice and 

study arise from faith. Teach others to the best of your 

ability, even if it is only a single sentence or phrase’. 

(WND-1, p. 386) SGI President Ikeda commented on this 

passage: ‘The main elements of the practice of Nichiren 

Daishonin’s Buddhism are summed up in this passage. 

What is important is first faith, second practice and third 

study. Strong faith leads us directly to Buddhahood. And 

it is practice and study that strengthen and deepen that 

faith. For us study must never be a mere accumulation of 

knowledge. It must be strictly a practical study to deepen 

one’s own faith and elevate one’s own state of life.’ 

(Foreword to The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol 1 p.xii) 

The Grade 2 course will equip members who follow the 

course with a deeper understanding of various practical 

examples of how Buddhism explains the workings of life. 

Please note that whereas in Grade 1 we were just looking 

for the right answer, in Grade 2 we also want people to 

be able to refer back to the source study material as they 

express the right answer. 

Section A is based on the Gosho ‘On the Treasure 

Tower’ and SGI President Ikeda’s lecture on it (which 

all of SGI-UK will study in our monthly Gosho lectures 

in August 2013). This is an opportunity to deepen our 

understanding of the Gohonzon and what it means for us 

in the SGI. 

Section B considers five principles which help us to 

understand the practice of Nichiren Buddhism. We will 

look at the respectful approach of Bodhisattva Never 

Disparaging; the concept of unity explained by ‘many in 

body, one in mind’, the goal of Buddhism in the principle 

of kosen-rufu; the explanation of enlightenment through 

the mutual possession of the ten worlds and the 

difference between relative and absolute happiness. 

The material in Section C will be familiar from Grade 1, 

but we are looking for more detail in the answers at this 

level. The material looks at the more recent history of 

the SGI, with the significant contributions of the three 

presidents to the kosen-rufu movement. We also look at 

the priesthood issue and what this can teach us about 

Nichiren Daishonin’s true intention for kosen-rufu. We also 

look at the start of the kosen-rufu movement in Europe 

with President Ikeda’s first visit to our continent in 1961. 

First Soka Gakkai president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi 

wrote at length about the true function of education 

being not the mere transferal of knowledge but rather 

the guiding of students through the learning process. 

This study course, based on small local meetings where 

members can discuss the material, investigate the 

questions and share experiences based on what emerges 

in discussion, is developed with this aim in mind. 

Members following this course with others in the local 

area will develop the qualities and capacities to explain 

Nichiren Buddhism to others, having deepened their 

understanding of key points first. 

In his message to members who decided to take the 

exam at the end of the course last year, SGI President 

Daisaku Ikeda expressed his appreciation for the effort 

and sincerity of members studying this course. He said: 

My dear comrades in SGI-UK, I can see how earnestly, 

courageously and tenaciously you are walking the path 

of the ‘two ways of practice and study’. There is no 

doubt that Nichiren Daishonin is praising all of you to 

the highest degree. You are so noble to have studied 

and practised the great Law, creating time in your busy 

schedule to do this. 

In the realm of faith, all challenges will come to shine 

as the best memories of your life and will continue to 

sparkle throughout the three existences of past, present 

and future as your eternal good fortune. 

Nichiren Daishonin says: ‘To uphold the Lotus Sutra 

is to uphold belief in the fact that our bodies are the 

Buddha’s body.’ (The Record of the Orally Transmitted 

Teachings, p. 96) 

There is nothing greater than your existence as you 

live out your life for kosen‐rufu and chant the Mystic 

Law. Because you are already a Buddha, there is no 

reason for you to be defeated or fail to become happy. 

Regardless of the result of the exam, I ask each one 

of you without exception to become ‘an expert in hope’, 

‘an expert in happiness’ and ‘an expert in victory’.

▼ 

Exam Questions • SGI-UK grade two study course 2013 

Contents: 

Please win in this respect and open up a triumphant 

life for yourself and others. 

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the noble members 

of the support team and the people who have worked 

hard behind the scenes, encouraging those who are 

taking the exam. 

Thank you very much for supporting the tradition of 

study in SGI by taking this course in 2013. I hope you 

enjoy the material, and the challenge, and the journey 

together. 

Please remember that in addition to having the 

material for the study courses in this written form, it is 

also available to listen to as downloadable audio files 

on our website: www.sgi-uk.info/study 

With best wishes to you, 

Robert Harrap 

SGI-UK Study Department Leader 

Grade 2 exam questions 

p.4-5 

Section A: ‘On the Treasure Tower’ p.6 

Section B: Principles of Nichiren Buddhism in SGI 

Bodhisattva Never Disparaging p.15 

Many in body, one in mind p.15 

Kosen‐rufu p.16 

Mutual possession of the ten worlds p.17 

Relative and absolute happiness p.18 

Section C: The History of SGI 

The priesthood issue p.19 

The three presidents p.21 

Extracts from SGI President Ikeda in Europe 

Volume 1 p.23 

Application form for the Grade 2 exam p.25


SGI-UK Grade 2 EXAM QUESTIONS 2013 

There are three sections in this exam (A-C) and you should prepare answers for all questions set, although in the exam 

you will not be required to answer all the questions. Each section contains instructions explaining how you should 

answer the questions. The answers can be found in the 2013 Grade Two Study Course material, which contains 

the following: 

Section A (worth 30%) SGI President Daisaku Ikeda’s Lecture on ‘On the Treasure Tower’, Part 1 

Section B 

Section C 

(worth 40%) Principles of Nichiren Buddhism in SGI 

(worth 30%) The History of SGI: 

• The priesthood issue 

• The three presidents 

• SGI President Ikeda in Europe 

NB: All members wishing to take the Grade 2 Study Exam on Sunday 3 November 2013 should complete the 

application form at the back of this material and give it to their HQ study leader by 20 September 2013. 

SECTION A: 

‘On the Treasure Tower’ 

All your answers should be based on the material 

in Section A: ‘On the Treasure Tower’. This lecture is 

included in the 2013 Grade Two Study Course Material, 

and will also appear in the August 2013 issue of the Art 

of Living, as the Gosho study for that month. 

The length of your answers will vary for each question, 

but you will not need to write more than 400 words for 

any of them. 

In the study exam, you will be set three questions from 

section A. 

A1 From the sections entitled ‘Introduction’ and 

‘Everything begins with our inner human revolution’: 

What is President Ikeda’s belief about religion in 

the 21st century and how does he suggest we can 

change society for the better? 

A2 From the section entitled ‘The magnificent drama 

of the emergence of the Treasure Tower’: Describe 

the scene in which the Treasure Tower appears in 

Chapter 11 of the Lotus Sutra. 

A3 From the section entitled ‘Perceiving the Treasure 

Tower within our own life’: In what ways do Nichiren 

Daishonin and President Ikeda explain the profound 

significance of the emergence of the treasure tower? 

A4 From the section entitled ‘Those who embrace 

the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law are 

themselves the treasure tower’: How does President 

Ikeda explain Nichiren’s statement that the lives 

of all are the treasure tower, “whether eminent or 

humble, high or low” (WND-1, 299)? 

A5 From the section entitled ‘Attesting to the greatness 

of the Mystic Law through our actions and example’: 

Why does Nichiren state ‘those who chant Nammyoho-renge-kyo 

are themselves the treasure tower, 

and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come One 

Many Treasures’? 

A6 From the section entitled ‘The bright mirror of the 

Gohonzon’: President Ikeda refers to the Gohonzon 

as a bright mirror. Using this analogy, how does he 

explain the function and purpose of the Gohonzon? 

A7 From the section entitled ‘We ourselves are the 

Treasure Tower of the Mystic Law’: Nichiren tells 

Abutsu-bo that he is the treasure tower and the 

treasure tower is Abutsu-bo. Why does he then 

say that ‘no other knowledge is purposeful’? What 

impact can his insight have in people’s lives? 

A8 From the section entitled ‘The seven kinds of 

treasures are the efforts we make in Buddhist 

practice’: What are the seven treasures for us as 

practitioners of the Daishonin’s Buddhism? How do 

we manifest them? 

A9 From the section entitled ‘The treasure tower stands 

in our life where we are right now’: What does 

Nichiren mean when he says ‘Then the place where 

you chant daimoku will become the dwelling place 

of the treasure tower’? 

A10 From the sections entitled ‘The Daishonin’s praise 

and aspirations for his loyal disciple’ and ‘Bringing 

a great paean to humanity and life to resound’: 

In praising Abutsu-bo’s staunch faith and selfless 

practice, why does Nichiren refer to him as the 

‘leader of this Northern province’? How can we 

follow Abutsu-bo’s example? 

4


SECTION B: 

Principles OF NICHIREN 

BUDDHISM IN SGI 

All the material for Section B is found in the 2013 Grade 

Two Study Course Material. The length of your answers 

will vary for each question, but you do not need to write 

more than 400 words for any of them. 

In the study exam, you will be set four questions from 

section B. 

Bodhisattva Never Disparaging: 

B1 Describe the actions of Bodhisattva Never 

Disparaging. What can we learn from his attitude to 

other people? 

Many in body, one in mind: 

B2 Explain the concept of ‘many in body, one in mind’. 

Why is ‘many in body, one in mind’ important? How 

can we realise ‘many in body, one in mind’? 

Kosen‐rufu: 

B3 Explain the concept of kosen‐rufu. How does 

Nichiren Daishonin teach us to pray? 

Mutual possession of the ten worlds: 

B4 What are the ten worlds? What are the ten factors? 

What are the three realms? Explain the mutual 

possession of the ten worlds. 

B5 How does the mutual possession of the ten worlds 

explain the attainment of Buddhahood? How do we 

put this teaching into practice in our own lives? 

Relative and absolute happiness: 

B6 What is the difference between relative and 

absolute happiness in Nichiren Buddhism? How 

can we and our fellow members develop absolute 

happiness? 

SECTION C: 

THE HISTORY OF SGI 

THE HISTORY OF SGI 

All your answers should be based on the material in 

Section C: The History of SGI. 

Write a paragraph (maximum 400 words) in answer to 

the following questions. 

In the study exam, you will be set three questions from 

section C. 

The priesthood issue: 

C1 Describe the events leading up to, and following 

November 1991. 

C2 How does the Lotus Sutra explain the events of 

1991? 

C3 Explain three differences between the SGI and the 

Nikken priesthood’s practice of Nichiren Buddhism. 

C4 How can we, as members of SGI, respond to the 

events described in this material? 

The three presidents: 

C5 Describe three significant achievements in the life 

of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi 


of Josei Toda 


of Daisaku Ikeda 

C8 How has the spirit of oneness of mentor and 

disciple lived in the hearts of the three presidents? 

Illustrate your answer with examples from their lives 

and actions. 

SGI President Ikeda in Europe 

C9 Why did President Ikeda embark on his first trip to 

Europe? What was his goal? 

C10 What were President Ikeda’s thoughts as he 

travelled? 

5

SECTION A • STUDY MATERIAL • SGI-UK grade two study course 2013 

SECTION A: ‘On the Treasure Tower’ 

SGI President Ikeda’s Study Lecture Series (SGI Newsletter No. 8397, 12 December 2011) 

LEARNING FROM THE WRITINGS OF NICHIREN DAISHONIN: THE TEACHINGS FOR VICTORY 

[33] ‘On the Treasure Tower’ 

This lecture will also appear in the August 2013 issue of the Art of Living magazine as the Gosho 

study for that month. 

The Treasure Tower resides within us 

I [Nichiren] have read your [Abutsu-bo’s] letter with 

great care. I have also received your offering to the 

treasure tower of one thousand coins, polished rice, 

and other articles. This I have respectfully reported 

to the Gohonzon and to the Lotus Sutra. Please 

rest assured. 

In your letter you ask, ‘What is signified by the 

Thus Come One Many Treasures and his treasure 

tower, which appeared from beneath the earth?’ The 

teaching on the treasure tower is of great importance. 

In the eighth volume of his Words and Phrases of 

the Lotus Sutra, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai explains 

the appearance of the treasure tower. He states that 

it has two distinct functions: to lend credence to 

the preceding chapters and to pave the way for the 

revelation to come. Thus the treasure tower appeared 

in order to verify the theoretical teaching and to 

introduce the essential teaching. To put it another way, 

the closed tower symbolises the theoretical teaching, 

and the open tower, the essential teaching. The open 

tower reveals the two elements of reality and wisdom. 

This is extremely complex, however, so I will not go into 

further detail now. 

In essence, the appearance of the treasure tower 

indicates that on hearing the Lotus Sutra the three 

groups of voice-hearers perceived for the first time the 

treasure tower within their own lives. Now Nichiren’s 

disciples and lay supporters are also doing this. In the 

Latter Day of the Law, no treasure tower exists other 

than the figures of the men and women who embrace 

the Lotus Sutra. It follows, therefore, that whether 

eminent or humble, high or low, those who chant 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves the treasure 

tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus Come 

One Many Treasures. No treasure tower exists other 

than Myoho-renge-kyo. The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra 

is the treasure tower, and the treasure tower is Nammyoho-renge-kyo. 

At present the entire body of the Honourable Abutsu 

is composed of the five elements of earth, water, fire, 

wind, and space. These five elements are also the 

five characters of the daimoku. Abutsu-bo is therefore 

the treasure tower itself, and the treasure tower is 

Abutsu-bo himself. No other knowledge is purposeful. 

It is the treasure tower adorned with the seven kinds 

of treasures – hearing the correct teaching, believing 

it, keeping the precepts, engaging in meditation, 

practising assiduously, renouncing one’s attachments, 

and reflecting on oneself. You may think you offered 

gifts to the treasure tower of the Thus Come One 

Many Treasures, but that is not so. You offered them 

to yourself. You, yourself, are a Thus Come One 

who is originally enlightened and endowed with the 

three bodies. You should chant Nam-myoho-rengekyo 

with this conviction. Then the place where you 

chant daimoku will become the dwelling place of the 

treasure tower. The sutra reads, ‘If there is any place 

where the Lotus Sutra is preached, then my treasure 

tower will come forth and appear in that spot.’ Faith 

like yours is so extremely rare that I will inscribe the 

treasure tower especially for you. You must never 

transfer it to anyone but your son. You must never 

show it to others unless they have steadfast faith. This 

is the reason for my advent in this world. 

Abutsu-bo, you deserve to be called a leader of this 

northern province. Could it be that Bodhisattva Pure 

Practices has been reborn into this world as Abutsubo 

and visited me? How wonderful! How marvellous! I 

do not understand how it is that you have such faith. 

I will leave it to Bodhisattva Superior Practices when 

he appears, as he has the power to know these things. 

I am not saying all this without good reason. You and 

your wife should [offer prayers before] this treasure 

tower privately. I will explain more later. 

With my deep respect, 

Nichiren 

(WND‐1, pp. 299-300) 

6


Introduction 

None are more noble or perceptive than the ordinary 

people. The times are clearly moving in the direction of 

an age of the people. However, the negative tendency 

to regard people as the means to an end and trample 

on their humanity and dignity still continues unabated. 

That is precisely why, at this critical crossroads, fostering 

individuals of unwavering conviction is so vital. 

I firmly believe that one of the most crucial concerns of 

religion in the 21st century should be to foster individuals 

who are able to positively transform the spiritual climate 

of society, create a current of respect for all people, and 

establish respect for the dignity of life as a universal 

value. For it is individuals who will open the way to 

creating this age of the people. Such a triumphant age 

will start to dawn when we each awaken to the treasure 

that exists within our life. 

Everything begins with our inner human 

revolution 

What is the true treasure of the nation, of society, that will 

create a new age? 

Former South African president Nelson Mandela, who 

spent more than twenty-seven years in prison for his 

beliefs, triumphed over the evil of apartheid and ushered 

in a new dawn of victory for the people. Speaking of his 

faith in human beings, he said: ‘[My country’s] greatest 

wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest 

diamonds.’ 1 Just as he says, people are truly the greatest 

wealth. 

The emergence of principled, steadfast people will 

unfailingly change society for the better. Each individual 

is indeed a supreme treasure. Hence, the spiritual 

revitalisation of each individual is important as the 

starting point for all positive change. 

Our great human revolution as an individual begins 

when we awaken to the true potential of our life. When 

we become aware of the immense and worthy potential of 

our own life, we will naturally also come to recognise the 

same in others. 

By developing genuine respect for the dignity and 

worth of self and other, humanity as a whole can elevate 

its state of life. By breaking through the fundamental 

darkness or ignorance 2 that shrouds both self and other, 

humanity can transform its karma of conflict and discord. 

When we stand up and take action with the awareness 

that our life itself is the supremely noble ‘treasure tower’, 

it is possible for us to raise great towers of peace and 

happiness all over the world. This is the aim of Nichiren 

Daishonin’s Buddhism. 

Our inner revolution is the key to everything. 

Awakening to our true, original self – that is the subject 

of Nichiren Daishonin’s writing ‘On the Treasure Tower’, 

addressed to his follower Abutsu-bo. In this instalment, 

let us look at how the Daishonin taught Abutsu-bo this 

essential principle. 

*** 

I [Nichiren] have read your [Abutsu-bo’s] letter with 

great care. I have also received your offering to the 

treasure tower [i.e., the Gohonzon or Nam-myohorenge-kyo] 

of one thousand coins, polished rice, and 

other articles. This I have respectfully reported to the 

Gohonzon and to the Lotus Sutra. Please rest assured. 

In your letter you ask, ‘What is signified by the 

Thus Come One Many Treasures and his treasure 

tower, which appeared from beneath the earth [in 

the “Treasure Tower” (eleventh) chapter of Lotus 

Sutra]?’ The teaching on the treasure tower is of great 

importance. In the eighth volume of his Words and 

Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai 

[of China] 3 explains the appearance of the treasure 

tower. He states that it has two distinct functions: to 

lend credence to the preceding chapters [of the sutra] 

and to pave the way for the revelation to come. Thus 

the treasure tower appeared in order to verify the 

theoretical teaching [the first fourteen chapters of the 

sutra] and to introduce the essential teaching [the last 

fourteen chapters]. To put it another way, the closed 

tower symbolises the theoretical teaching, and the 

open tower, the essential teaching. The open tower 

reveals the two elements of reality and wisdom. 4 This 

is extremely complex, however, so I will not go into 

further detail now. 

In essence, the appearance of the treasure tower 

indicates that on hearing the Lotus Sutra the three 

groups of voice-hearers 5 perceived for the first time the 

treasure tower within their own lives. (WND‐1, p. 299) 

The magnificent drama of the emergence of 

the treasure tower 

It is uncertain whether the Daishonin wrote ‘On the 

Treasure Tower’ during his exile on Sado 6 or after he had 

taken up residence at Mount Minobu. Recent research 

has suggested that, based on its content, it was the 

latter. 

The opening passage of the letter acknowledges Abutsubo’s 

sincere offerings of one thousand coins, polished 

rice, and other articles. It also tells us that Abutsu-bo had 

written to the Daishonin asking the doctrinal question, 

‘What is signified by the Thus Come One Many Treasures 

and his treasure tower, which appeared from beneath the 

earth?’ (WND‐1, p. 299) 

To clarify the meaning of this question, let’s begin by 

reviewing the scene in which the treasure tower comes 

forth in the ‘The Emergence of the Treasure Tower’ 

(eleventh chapter) of the Lotus Sutra. 

The chapter begins with the treasure tower suddenly 

appearing before the eyes of those gathered at the 

7


assembly on Eagle Peak. The huge tower rises out of the 

earth and stands suspended in the air. Then, a loud voice 

is heard issuing forth from within it: ‘Excellent, excellent! 

Shakyamuni, World-Honoured One, that you can take 

the great wisdom of equality, a teaching to instruct the 

bodhisattvas, guarded and kept in mind by the Buddhas, 

the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law, and preach it for 

the sake of the great assembly! It is as you say, as you 

say. Shakyamuni, World-Honoured One, all that you have 

expounded is the truth!’ (LSOC, pp. 209-10 [LS, p. 171]) 

The voice is that of Many Treasures, a Buddha of the 

past from the land of Treasure Purity in the east who 

made a pledge to appear with his treasure tower in order 

to attest to the validity of the Lotus Sutra, wherever it 

might be taught. 

At this point, however, the door to the tower remains 

closed, and no one has yet seen the Buddha Many 

Treasures seated within. 

After the voice has spoken, numerous miraculous 

events take place, such as the ‘three-time purification 

of the lands’, 7 which prepares the way for the gathering 

of the emanation Buddhas 8 of the worlds of the ten 

directions. Once they have arrived, Shakyamuni rises 

to open the door to the treasure tower and sits next 

to Many Treasures Buddha inside the tower. With this 

series of extraordinary events, the Ceremony in the Air 9 

commences. This magnificent ceremony all starts with the 

appearance of the treasure tower. 

The treasure tower is of a mind-staggering scale. It is a 

massive 500 yojanas 10 in height and 250 yojanas in width 

and depth – estimated, according to one calculation, to be 

around one-third the size of the Earth in diameter. 

The tower is adorned with the seven kinds of treasures: 

gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl, and 

carnelian. 

Imagining this colossal, sparkling tower suspended in 

the air right before one’s eyes, a vision of incomparable 

magnificence and grandeur, Abutsu-bo no doubt felt 

compelled to ask the Daishonin to explain its meaning 

– hence, his question, ‘What is signified by the Thus 

Come One Many Treasures and his treasure tower, which 

appeared from beneath the earth?’ (WND‐1, p. 299) 

Perceiving the treasure tower within our 

own life 

From old, there have been many explanations and 

interpretations of the meaning of the treasure tower that 

appears in the Lotus Sutra. However, Nichiren Daishonin 

declares incisively that we ourselves are the treasure 

tower, and that the treasure tower is also the Gohonzon. 

Because the emergence of the treasure tower has such 

enormous and profound significance, the Daishonin 

says: ‘The teaching on the treasure tower is of great 

importance.’ (WND‐1, p. 299) 

He begins his explanation by referring to the Great 

Teacher T’ien-t’ai’s Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, 

stating that the emergence of the treasure tower has two 

functions: (1) to lend credence to the preceding chapters 

[the theoretical teaching] of the sutra, and (2) to pave the 

way for the revelation to come in subsequent chapters 

[the essential teaching]. Or put another way, he says, ‘the 

closed tower symbolises the theoretical teaching, and the 

open tower, the essential teaching’. (WND‐1, p. 299) But 

the Daishonin states: ‘This is extremely complex, however, 

so I will not go into further detail now.’ (WND‐1, p. 299) 

The reason for this, we can surmise, is that he wanted 

to go directly to his own conclusion, thereby getting 

right to the heart of the matter. He says: ‘In essence, 

the appearance of the treasure tower indicates that on 

hearing the Lotus Sutra the three groups of voice-hearers 

perceived for the first time the treasure tower within their 

own lives.’ (WND‐1, p. 299) 

The ‘three groups of voice-hearers’ refers to 

Shakyamuni’s voice-hearer disciples whose future 

enlightenment is prophesied in the theoretical teaching 

(first half) of the Lotus Sutra. The Daishonin states that 

the significance of the emergence of the treasure tower is 

that these disciples, on hearing the teaching of the Lotus 

Sutra, ‘perceived for the first time the treasure tower 

within their own lives’. (WND‐1, p. 299) In other words, 

they came to realise that the giant treasure tower that 

they thought had emerged outside them had in actual fact 

emerged within them. This was to them as revolutionary, 

in a certain sense, as the geocentric worldview of Ptolemy 

being overturned by the heliocentric view of Copernicus in 

the Middle Ages. For example, in his Words and Phrases of 

the Lotus Sutra, T’ien-t’ai explains that the treasure tower 

is the Buddha’s Dharma body 11 and was seen by those at 

the assembly on Eagle Peak, but he stops short of saying 

that they perceived the treasure tower in their own lives. 

As the full title of the eleventh chapter of the Lotus 

Sutra indicates, the treasure tower ‘emerges’ or 

‘manifests’ within us. A resplendent treasure tower 

stands majestically in the inner universe of our life, and 

we see and awaken to its presence. In other words, the 

emergence of the treasure tower means recognising that 

the treasure tower is a representation of the true reality of 

our own life. 

What kind of treasure tower do we, as people living in 

the Latter Day of the Law, perceive within us on hearing 

the teachings of the Lotus Sutra? The Daishonin goes 

on to explain the significance of this great inner treasure 

tower in more detail. 

*** 

Now Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters are also 

doing this [i.e., perceiving the treasure tower within 

their own lives]. In the Latter Day of the Law, no 

treasure tower exists other than the figures of the 

men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It 

8


follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, 

high or low, those who chant Nam- myoho-renge-kyo 

are themselves the treasure tower, and, likewise, 

are themselves the Thus Come One Many Treasures. 

(WND‐1, p. 299) 

Those who embrace the Lotus Sutra in the 

Latter Day of the Law are themselves the 

treasure tower 

‘Now Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters are also 

doing this’ (WND‐1, p. 299) declares the Daishonin, 

meaning that just like the voice-hearers of Shakyamuni’s 

day, his followers in the Latter Day of the Law are now 

seeing and awakening to the treasure tower within their 

own lives. 

Next comes the well-known passage: ‘In the Latter Day 

of the Law, no treasure tower exists other than the figures 

of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra. It 

follows, therefore, that whether eminent or humble, high or 

low, those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves 

the treasure tower, and, likewise, are themselves the Thus 

Come One Many Treasures.’ (WND‐1, p. 299) 

Incidentally, founding Soka Gakkai president 

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi underscored in red in his copy of 

the Gosho this passage and numerous other lines and 

phrases in ‘On the Treasure Tower’, indicating that he also 

studied this letter closely. 

How surprised and moved Abutsu-bo and his wife 

Sennichi must have been to read these words of the 

Daishonin, who explained the meaning of ‘the treasure 

tower within’ not only in terms of the sutra passages, but 

also directly identified it with their own lives. Perhaps the 

elderly couple smiled at each other, sharing their profound 

appreciation for the Daishonin’s explanation. 

The Daishonin declares that the lives of all are the 

treasure tower, ‘whether eminent or humble, high or low’. 

(WND‐1, p. 299) Social status is irrelevant in Buddhism. 

In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the 

Daishonin says: ‘When one looks at one’s own body, one 

can see that that body is a stupa [i.e., tower] endowed with 

the three thousand realms. 12 And when one looks at one’s 

mind, one can see that it is a Buddha endowed with the 

three thousand realms.’ (OTT, p. 229) We can interpret this 

to mean that our body is the treasure tower, and that Many 

Treasures Buddha seated inside the tower is our mind. 

This represents a philosophy that upholds supreme 

respect for all human beings. Those who fail to recognise 

the dignity and worth of the lives of all people and 

discriminate against others are actually denigrating 

themselves. Valuing and respecting others is the way to 

make our own inner treasure tower shine its brightest. 

Attesting to the greatness of the Mystic Law 

through our actions and example 

In this passage, the Daishonin also refers to ‘the figures 

of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra’. 

Here, the word ‘figures’ encompasses such things as 

our outward form and actions. It does not refer to some 

abstract or ideal, but to the actual concrete reality of our 

life as we earnestly go about our daily affairs here and now. 

The Daishonin declares that there is no treasure tower 

other than real, living human beings. The lives of those 

who embrace faith in the Gohonzon, chant Nam-myohorenge-kyo, 

and propagate the Daishonin’s Buddhism shine 

moment after moment as entities of the Mystic Law. We 

ordinary people, while undergoing the joys and sufferings 

of this world, are each an infinitely noble treasure tower, 

just as we are. 

And there are no treasure towers that shine as brilliantly 

as our SGI members, who are striving tirelessly in this 

suffering-filled world to transform their own karma and 

contribute to the happiness of others, undaunted by the 

negative comments of mean-spirited individuals. 

The Daishonin states that ‘those who chant Nammyoho-renge-kyo 

are themselves the treasure tower, 

and likewise, themselves the Thus Come One Many 

Treasures’. (WND‐1, p. 299) The reason he says that 

those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are themselves 

Many Treasures Buddha is that, like the latter, they attest 

to the validity of the Lotus Sutra. Those who testify are 

by no means passive bystanders. Eagerly committed to 

going to where the Buddhist teaching is being explained 

or shared, they actively attest to the Mystic Law as the 

highest truth and the key to attaining Buddhahood. 

I cannot help but be reminded of the heroic efforts of 

our esteemed pioneering members, the members of the 

Many Treasures Group, who certainly embody this ideal. 

My mentor, second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda, 

also often praised our elderly members who possessed 

a wealth of life experience as ‘those who testify like 

Many Treasures Buddha’ and ‘our noble Many Treasures 

comrades’. The Many Treasures Group members have 

sincerely persevered in their Buddhist practice for 

twenty, thirty, or fifty years. Striving alongside me, they 

have overcome numerous vicissitudes in our struggle 

for kosen‐rufu and in their personal lives. And they have 

continued to proclaim and prove through their own actions 

and example the greatness of the Daishonin’s Buddhism 

and the Soka Gakkai. Though unheralded, from the 

perspective of Buddhism, none are more noble or heroic 

than they are. Their confident words carry the weight of 

long years of rich life experience. Their lives themselves 

are proof to the truth of the Mystic Law. 

Amid the suffering and heartbreak in the aftermath of 

the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck 

northeastern Japan, a member of the Many Treasures 

Group wrote these lines of verse, vowing to rise again and 

rebuild her life. Her words brought tears to my eyes: 

9


Though everything 

has been wrenched away 

from me, 

one thing remains: 

the flame burning in my heart. 

Elderly members in the affected areas are forging ahead 

with an invincible spirit, determined not to be beaten. 

They are loved and trusted by their fellow members 

and others in their communities for their unwavering 

confidence and conviction. Each of them is indeed a 

magnificent treasure tower and a Many Treasures Buddha 

who attests to the truth of the Daishonin’s teachings. 

My wife and I are praying earnestly for the health and 

long life of all our members who are in their golden years 

in Japan and around the globe. 

*** 

No treasure tower exists other than Myoho-renge-kyo. 13 

The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is the treasure tower, 

and the treasure tower is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. 

At present the entire body of the Honourable Abutsu 

[Abutsu-bo] is composed of the five elements of earth, 

water, fire, wind, and space. 14 These five elements are 

also the five characters of the daimoku. Abutsu-bo is 

therefore the treasure tower itself, and the treasure 

tower is Abutsu-bo himself. No other knowledge is 

purposeful. It [the treasure tower of Abutsu-bo] is 

the treasure tower adorned with the seven kinds of 

treasures – hearing the correct teaching, believing 

it, keeping the precepts, engaging in meditation, 

practising assiduously, renouncing one’s attachments, 

and reflecting on oneself. (WND‐1, p. 299) 

The bright mirror of the Gohonzon 

From this passage, the Daishonin emphasises that 

Abutsu-bo is himself the treasure tower of Myoho-rengekyo, 

sparkling with the seven kinds of treasures, and 

that Abutsu-bo is himself a Buddha. He then goes on to 

explain why he says that Abutsu-bo is the treasure tower. 

He begins by stating: ‘The daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is 

the treasure tower, and the treasure tower is Nam-myohorenge-kyo.’ 

(WND‐1, p. 299) The treasure tower of the 

Lotus Sutra is none other than Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The 

daimoku of the Lotus Sutra is the treasure tower, which 

the Daishonin inscribed in the form of the Gohonzon, the 

object of devotion. 

In The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, the 

Daishonin says: ‘Now when Nichiren and his followers 

chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, they see and understand the 

ten thousand phenomena as though these were reflected 

in a bright mirror. This bright mirror is the Lotus Sutra. 

And in particular it is the “Treasure Tower” chapter.’ (OTT, 

p. 149) 

Without a mirror, we can’t see our face. Similarly, we 

also need a bright mirror in order to see the treasure 

tower within our own life. The Daishonin inscribed the 

Gohonzon to serve as that mirror. The Gohonzon is a 

depiction of his own enlightened state as the Buddha of 

the Latter Day of the Law. Therefore, when we chant Nammyoho-renge-kyo 

with the Gohonzon as our bright mirror, 

our own inherent Buddhahood emerges powerfully. The 

purpose of the Gohonzon is to bring forth this treasure 

tower within each of us. 

We ourselves are the treasure tower of the 

Mystic Law 

Next, the Daishonin states: ‘The entire body of the 

Honourable Abutsu is composed of the five elements of 

earth, water, fire, wind, and space. These five elements 

are also the five characters of the daimoku [Myoho-rengekyo].’ 

(WND‐1, p. 299) In short, our body itself is an entity 

of Myoho-renge-kyo, or the Mystic Law. The treasure tower 

represents each of us who chants Nam-myoho-rengekyo. 

This is the meaning of the Daishonin’s statement: 

‘Abutsu-bo is therefore the treasure tower itself, and the 

treasure tower is Abutsu-bo himself.’ (WND‐1, p. 299) The 

essence of these golden words can be called the ultimate 

conclusion of the Daishonin’s Buddhism, which is why the 

Daishonin next says: ‘No other knowledge is purposeful.’ 

(WND‐1, p. 299) 

This is the profound insight of the Buddha of the Latter 

Day of the Law. For the Daishonin, the infinitely precious 

treasure tower shines nowhere more brightly than in the 

lives of the ordinary people of this troubled latter age. 

If all humanity possessed the ability to perceive the 

supreme dignity and worth of each person, the direction 

of history would change for the better. The essential point 

is recognising the dignity of each person’s life, of opening 

our eyes to just how precious and respectworthy each 

individual is. 

The American philosopher Henry David Thoreau (1817- 

62), speaking of the gradual evolution of political systems 

towards democracy, described this course of development 

as ‘a progress towards a true respect for the individual’. 15 

In other words, humanity can only realise genuine 

progress when society respects, values, and empowers 

each and every individual in a manner appropriate to the 

true dignity and worth with which they are originally and 

inherently endowed. 

Thoreau looked to the future for the attainment of 

that social ideal: ‘There will never be a really free and 

enlightened State, until the State comes to recognise the 

individual as a higher and independent power, from which 

all its power and authority are derived, and treats him 

accordingly.’ 16 

The ‘Treasure Tower’ chapter teaches us that each 

person’s life has a worth and brilliance equal to the 

universe itself, far surpassing those of any nation or even 

10


the world as a whole. Each individual is the embodiment 

of such dignity. The true significance of the emergence of 

the treasure tower in the Lotus Sutra is awakening people 

to this sublime inner potential that we all possess. 

The seven kinds of treasures are the efforts we 

make in Buddhist practice 

The Daishonin then goes on to say: ‘It is the treasure 

tower adorned with the seven kinds of treasures – hearing 

the correct teaching, believing it, keeping the precepts, 

engaging in meditation, practising assiduously, renouncing 

one’s attachments, and reflecting on oneself.’ (WND‐1, 

p. 299) 

If the treasure tower is the life of ordinary people 

themselves, then what are the seven treasures that 

adorn the lives of those who embrace the Mystic 

Law, corresponding to the seven kinds of precious 

materials such as gold, silver, and lapis lazuli that adorn 

the treasure tower in the Lotus Sutra? They are, the 

Daishonin says here, the seven indispensable elements 

of Buddhist practice – ‘hearing the correct teaching, 

believing it, keeping the precepts, engaging in meditation, 

practising assiduously, renouncing one’s attachments, and 

reflecting on oneself’. (WND‐1, p. 299) 

For us as practitioners of the Daishonin’s Buddhism, 

these seven treasures represent (1) hearing the teaching 

of the Mystic Law, (2) believing in the Mystic Law, (3) 

observing the precept of the Mystic Law [i.e., embracing 

and upholding the Lotus Sutra (the Gohonzon) (cf. 

OTT, p. 37)], (4) focusing our mind on the Mystic Law 

[i.e., chanting to the Gohonzon], (5) exerting ourselves 

diligently in faith and practice, (6) casting aside our selfcenteredness 

by putting faith first, and (7) engaging in 

honest self-reflection and continually trying to improve 

ourselves day after day. The Daishonin teaches that all of 

these elements are encompassed in faith in the Mystic 

Law. Indeed, if we look at our daily SGI activities, we can 

see that this is in fact true. 

With regard to the seven treasures, ultimately it is not 

jewels or precious stones that adorn our life and the 

treasure tower (Buddha nature) within us, but rather our 

heart and our actions. 

*** 

You [Abutsu-bo] may think you offered gifts to the 

treasure tower of the Thus Come One Many Treasures, 

but that is not so. You offered them to yourself. You, 

yourself, are a Thus Come One [a Buddha] who is 

originally enlightened and endowed with the three 

bodies. 17 You should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 

with this conviction. Then the place where you chant 

daimoku will become the dwelling place of the 

treasure tower. The [“Treasure Tower” chapter of the] 

sutra reads, ‘If there is any place where the Lotus 

Sutra is preached, then my treasure tower will come 

forth and appear in that spot’ [cf. LSOC11, p. 210 

(LS11, p. 171)]. 18 Faith like yours is so extremely rare 

that I will inscribe the treasure tower [i.e., in the form 

of the Gohonzon] especially for you. You must never 

transfer it to anyone but your son. You must never 

show it to others unless they have steadfast faith. This 

is the reason for my advent in this world. 

Abutsu-bo, you deserve to be called a leader of 

this northern province [of Sado]. Could it be that 

Bodhisattva Pure Practices 19 has been reborn into this 

world as Abutsu-bo and visited me? How wonderful! 

How marvellous! I do not understand how it is that 

you have such faith. I will leave it to Bodhisattva 

Superior Practices [the leader of the Bodhisattvas of 

the Earth] 20 when he appears, as he has the power 

to know these things. I am not saying all this without 

good reason. You and your wife should [offer prayers 

before] this treasure tower [i.e., the Gohonzon] 

privately. I will explain more later. 

With my deep respect, 

Nichiren 

(WND‐1, pp. 299-300) 

The treasure tower stands in our life where we 

are right now 

Next, the Daishonin writes: ‘You [Abutsu-bo] may think you 

offered gifts to the treasure tower of the Thus Come One 

Many Treasures, but that is not so. You offered them to 

yourself.’ (WND‐1, p. 299) The offerings we make to the 

treasure tower – in other words, to the Gohonzon – are 

actually offerings we make to ourselves. 

The Daishonin also says that Abutsu-bo himself is 

a ‘Thus Come One who is originally enlightened and 

endowed with the three bodies’ (WND‐1, p. 300) – 

meaning a complete and perfect Buddha. This is a 

monumental declaration that each of us is originally such 

a Buddha. 

The Gohonzon enables us to elevate our life and shine 

our brightest. This is what distinguishes the Buddhism 

of Nichiren Daishonin as a truly humanistic teaching. In 

addition, we are the ‘Thus Come One who is originally 

enlightened and endowed with the three bodies’ and the 

treasure tower; hence, wherever we are is the site of the 

treasure tower. As the Daishonin writes in this letter, ‘the 

place where you chant daimoku will become the dwelling 

place of the treasure tower’. (WND‐1, p. 300) This 

also means that we need not seek the treasure tower 

anywhere else. 

Whenever or wherever we chant with strong faith in the 

Gohonzon, that time and place immediately becomes the 

Ceremony in the Air and Eagle Peak, and the treasure 

tower stands aloft. 

11


The Daishonin’s praise and aspirations for his 

loyal disciple 

Nichiren Daishonin visually depicted the treasure tower 

of the Lotus Sutra in the form of the Gohonzon. He tells 

Abutsu-bo, ‘I will inscribe the treasure tower especially 

for you.’ (WND‐1, p. 300) To ‘inscribe the treasure tower’ 

signifies inscribing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as the object of 

devotion, the Gohonzon, by which means the Daishonin 

established the way for all people to attain Buddhahood 

in the actual reality of their daily lives. This is the true 

fundamental purpose of his appearance in the world as 

the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. 

Praising Abutsu-bo’s staunch faith and selfless practice, 

the Daishonin calls him the ‘leader of this northern 

province [of Sado]’ (WND‐1, p. 300). Abutsu-bo was 

indeed a truly noble leader of kosen‐rufu. 

Those who have awakened to the fact that they are the 

treasure tower also naturally realise that the treasure 

tower exists equally in the lives of others and, because 

of this, they seek to help others open that treasure 

tower within themselves in the same way. Starting with 

Abutsu-bo, many people all over Sado and neighbouring 

areas throughout northern Japan would one day go on 

to embrace faith in the Daishonin’s Buddhism and shine 

as treasure towers. We can read these words of the 

Daishonin as earnest encouragement to Abutsu-bo, urging 

him to stand up and strive together with him as a true 

disciple and leader of kosen‐rufu. 

This is also why the Daishonin says ‘Bodhisattva Pure 

Practices has been reborn into this world as Abutsubo’. 

(WND‐1, p. 300) The Daishonin no doubt felt that 

the support and protection offered him by Abutsu-bo, 

at the risk of his own life, must have been due to some 

wondrous Buddhist bond from the past connecting them. 

Expressing his appreciation for Abutsu-bo’s sincere 

devotion, the Daishonin says: ‘How wonderful! How 

marvellous! I do not understand how it is that you have 

such faith. I will leave it to Bodhisattva Superior Practices 

when he appears, as he has the power to know these 

things.’ (WND‐1, p. 300) 

In closing, the Daishonin encourages Abutsu-bo and 

his wife Sennichi to carefully protect the Gohonzon and 

chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo before it. He writes: ‘You and 

your wife should [offer prayers before] this treasure tower 

privately.’ (WND‐1, p. 300) The reason he says ‘privately’ 

is that most likely even after his being pardoned from 

exile on Sado, the situation may still have remained 

difficult for his followers on that remote island. This is 

perhaps why he calls on them to take the greatest care 

of the Gohonzon and to chant daimoku before it, out of a 

wish that they will maintain steadfast faith based on the 

Gohonzon throughout all. 

Bringing a great paean to humanity and life to 

resound 

In 1991 – exactly two decades ago this year – during 

a time when we were fighting to secure our spiritual 

independence in the wake of the second priesthood 

incident, we of the SGI studied the Daishonin’s writing ‘On 

the Treasure Tower’ again and again. 

‘My life is the treasure tower!’ – I firmly believe that 

the time has come for this spirit of universal humanism 

based on the respectful and life-affirming philosophy of 

Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism to bring a great paean to 

humanity and life to resound throughout the world. 

The treasure tower resplendent with seven kinds of 

treasures symbolises our own essential dignity and 

nobility. Our life itself is a majestic treasure tower. 

The Daishonin teaches us: ‘If we examine the nature of 

Myoho-renge-kyo, we see that the treasure [tower is] none 

other than all living beings, and all living beings are none 

other than the complete entity of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.’ 

(OTT, p. 230) 

By always striving to see the treasure tower in ourselves 

and others, we can cause an unceasing number of 

treasure towers to appear in our communities and the 

world. Let us also erect treasure towers of kosen‐rufu in 

our communities, leaving an eternal monument to our 

achievements in this world. Let’s adorn our own life with 

the pride and joy, ‘Here stands my treasure tower!’ Let’s 

bring forth the treasure tower within us and help many 

others do the same. The sparkling brilliance of the tower’s 

seven kinds of treasures directly reflects the radiance 

of our human revolution. Those making efforts always 

shine. The lives of those dedicated to the great vow for 

kosen‐rufu emanate an undying light like a precious gem. 

Each member of the SGI is a valiant champion and 

hero of kosen‐rufu possessing a mission to cause great 

treasure towers of human dignity and respect to appear 

all over the world – something for which all humankind is 

yearning. That time has come at last! 

(From SGI Newsletter, No. 8397, 12 December 2011.) 

Footnotes for President Ikeda’s lecture: 

1. Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The 

Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Boston: Little, 

Brown and Company, 1994), p. 542. 

2. Fundamental darkness or ignorance: The most deeply 

rooted illusion inherent in life, said to give rise to all 

other illusions. The inability to see or recognise the 

truth, particularly, the true nature of one’s life. 

3. T’ien-t’ai (538–597): Also known as Chih-i. The 

founder of the T’ien-t’ai school in China. Commonly 

referred to as the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai. His 

12


lectures were compiled in such works as The 

Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, The Words and 

Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, and Great Concentration 

and Insight. He spread the Lotus Sutra in China, and 

established the doctrine of three thousand realms in 

a single moment of life. 

4. Regarding the two elements of reality and wisdom, 

President Ikeda writes: ‘This is a crucial principle 

explaining the Buddha’s enlightenment. “Reality” 

means the objective reality or truth, and includes 

all things spiritual and physical. “Wisdom” means 

the subjective wisdom to perceive or illuminate 

that truth. The towering wisdom of the Buddha not 

only illuminates the true nature of all universal 

phenomena, but also makes us aware that we 

ourselves are entities of the Mystic Law. The 

essential point regarding the two elements of reality 

and wisdom is illuminating our true self with the 

light of great wisdom. This is the fusion of reality 

and wisdom, through which means we can attain 

the expansive and perfectly serene state of mind 

of a Buddha.’ (SGI Newsletter No. 7640) In ‘On the 

Treasure Tower’, the two elements of reality and 

wisdom are represented, respectively, by the Buddhas 

Many Treasures and Shakyamuni seated together 

within the open treasure tower. 

5. Three groups of voice-hearers: Also, three groups of 

voice-hearer disciples. Shakyamuni’s voice-hearer 

disciples, whose enlightenment is prophesied in the 

theoretical teaching (first half) of the Lotus Sutra. 

There, Shakyamuni teaches that the sole purpose of 

the Buddha’s advent is to expound the one Buddha 

vehicle, or the teaching that leads all people to 

Buddhahood. He explains that the three vehicles, 

or the teachings directed at voice-hearers, causeawakened 

ones, and bodhisattvas, set forth in earlier 

sutras, are not ends in themselves but only means to 

lead people to the supreme vehicle of Buddhahood. 

This concept is called the ‘replacement of the three 

vehicles with the one vehicle’. Shakyamuni Buddha’s 

disciples are divided into three groups according to 

their capacity to understand that teaching: those 

of superior, intermediate, and inferior capacity. This 

traditional division of capacity was employed by T’ient’ai 

and others in interpreting the Lotus Sutra. 

6. Sado Exile: The Daishonin’s exile to Sado Island 

in the Sea of Japan from October 1271 through to 

March 1274. When the priest Ryokan of Gokuraku-ji 

temple of the True Word Precepts school in Kamakura 

was defeated by the Daishonin in a contest to 

pray for rain, he spread false rumours about the 

Daishonin, using his influence with the wives and 

widows of high government officials. This led to the 

Daishonin’s confrontation with Hei no Saemon, deputy 

chief of the Office of Military and Police Affairs, who 

arrested him and manoeuvered to have him executed 

at Tatsunokuchi in September 1271. When the 

execution attempt failed, the authorities sentenced 

him the following month to exile on Sado Island, 

which was tantamount to a death sentence. However, 

when the Daishonin’s predictions of internal strife and 

foreign invasion were fulfilled, the government issued 

a pardon in March 1274, and the Daishonin returned 

to Kamakura. 

7. Three-time purification of the lands: Also, threefold 

transformation of the land. Shakyamuni’s act of three 

times purifying countless lands in preparation for the 

Ceremony in the Air to make room for the assembling 

Buddhas from the worlds in the ten directions who 

are his emanations, described in the ‘Treasure Tower’ 

chapter of the Lotus Sutra. 

8. Emanation Buddhas: Also called emanations of the 

Buddha, or simply emanations. Buddhas who are 

separate manifestations of a true Buddha. According 

to Mahayana belief, a true Buddha can divide his 

body an infinite number of times and appear in 

innumerable worlds at once in order to save the 

people there. Hence, ‘the emanation Buddhas of 

the ten directions’ and other similar expressions. 

In the ‘Treasure Tower’ chapter of the Lotus Sutra, 

Shakyamuni summons the Buddhas who are his 

emanations from the ten directions in order to 

commence the Ceremony in the Air. 

9. Ceremony in the Air: One of the three assemblies 

described in the Lotus Sutra, in which the entire 

gathering is suspended in space above the saha 

world. It extends from the ‘Treasure Tower’ (eleventh) 

chapter to the ‘Entrustment’ (twenty-second) chapter. 

The heart of this ceremony is the revelation of the 

Buddha’s original enlightenment in the remote past 

and the transfer of the essence of the sutra to the 

Bodhisattvas of the Earth, who are led by Bodhisattva 

Superior Practices. 

10. Yojana: A unit of measurement used in ancient India, 

said to equal the distance that the royal army could 

march in a day. According to one explanation, it 

corresponds to about 10 kilometres (6 miles). 

11. Dharma body: Also, body of the Law. One of the 

three bodies – the Dharma body, the reward body, 

and the manifested body. The Dharma body means 

the essence of Buddhahood, the ultimate truth or 

Law, and the true nature of the Buddha’s life. It also 

means a Buddha per se, whose body is the Law itself. 

12. Three thousand realms: The three thousand realms, 

or the entire phenomenal world, exist within a single 

moment of life. The number three thousand here 

13


comes from the following calculation: 10 (ten worlds) 

x 10 (ten worlds) x 10 (ten factors) x 3 (three realms 

of existence). Life at any moment manifests one 

of the ten worlds. Each of these worlds possesses 

the potential for all ten within itself, and this mutual 

possession of the ten worlds is represented as a 

hundred possible worlds. Each of these hundred 

worlds possesses the ten factors, making one 

thousand factors or potentials, and these operate 

within each of the three realms of existence, thus 

making three thousand realms. 

13. In his writings, the Daishonin often uses Myohorenge-kyo 

synonymously with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo 

as the daimoku of the Lotus Sutra. Myoho-renge-kyo 

is written with five Chinese characters, while Nammyoho-renge-kyo 

is written with seven (nam, or namu, 

being comprised of two characters). 

14. Five elements: According to ancient Indian belief, 

the five constituents of all things in the universe. 

They are earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The first 

four are also known as the four basic elements and 

correspond respectively to the physical states of 

solid, liquid, heat, and gas. Space is interpreted as 

integrating and harmonising the other four elements. 

15. Henry David Thoreau, Walden and Civil Disobedience 

(New York: Penguin Books, 1983), p. 413. 

16. Ibid. 

17. Three bodies: Three kinds of body a Buddha may 

possess. They are the Dharma body, the reward 

body, and the manifested body. The Dharma body 

is the fundamental truth, or Law, to which a Buddha 

is enlightened. The reward body is the wisdom to 

perceive the Law. And the manifested body is the 

compassionate actions the Buddha carries out to 

lead people to happiness. Generally, a Buddha was 

held to possess one of the three bodies. In other 

words, the three bodies represented three different 

types of Buddhas – the Buddha of the Dharma body, 

the Buddha of the reward body, and the Buddha 

of the manifested body. On the basis of the Lotus 

Sutra and the principle of three thousand realms 

in a single moment of life derived from it, T’ien-t’ai 

maintained that the three bodies are not separate 

entities but three integral aspects of a single Buddha. 

From this point of view, the Dharma body indicates 

the essential property of a Buddha, which is the 

truth or Law to which the Buddha is enlightened. The 

reward body indicates the wisdom, or the spiritual 

property of a Buddha, which enables the Buddha to 

perceive the truth. It is called reward body because 

a Buddha’s wisdom is considered the reward derived 

from ceaseless effort and discipline. The manifested 

body indicates compassionate actions, or the 

physical property of a Buddha. It is the body with 

which a Buddha carries out compassionate actions 

to lead people to enlightenment, or those actions 

themselves. In discussing the passage in the ‘Life 

Span’ (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra that 

reads, ‘You must listen carefully and hear of the Thus 

Come One’s secret and his transcendental powers,’ 

T’ien-t’ai, in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, 

interpreted ‘secret’ to mean that a single Buddha 

possesses all three bodies and that all three bodies 

are found within a single Buddha. 

18. A rephrasing of the Lotus Sutra passage: ‘If, after I 

have become a Buddha and entered extinction, in the 

lands in the ten directions there is any place where 

the Lotus Sutra is preached, then my funerary tower, 

in order that I may listen to the sutra, will come forth 

and appear in the that spot to testify to the sutra 

and praise its excellence.’ (LSOC11, p. 210 [LS11, 

p. 171]). 

19. Bodhisattva Pure Practices: One of the four leaders 

of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, who appear in 

the ‘Emerging from the Earth’ (fifteenth) chapter 

of the Lotus Sutra. The Supplement to ‘The Words 

and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra’ by Tao-hsien, an 

8th-century priest of the T’ien-t’ai school in China, 

says that the four bodhisattvas represent the four 

virtues of the Buddha’s life – true self, eternity, purity, 

and happiness. Of these virtues, Bodhisattva Pure 

Practices represents purity. 

20. Bodhisattva Superior Practices: The leader of the 

Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Shakyamuni entrusts 

Superior Practices with propagating the Lotus Sutra 

during the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law. In 

his writings, Nichiren Daishonin associates himself 

with Bodhisattva Superior Practices, saying that he 

is fulfilling the mission entrusted to the bodhisattva 

by Shakyamuni, and he refers to his propagation 

efforts as the work of Bodhisattva Superior Practices. 

Nichikan Shonin, the twenty-sixth high priest, regarded 

the Daishonin as the reincarnation of Bodhisattva 

Superior Practices in terms of his outward behaviour, 

and as the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, in 

terms of his inner enlightenment. 

14

SECTION B • STUDY MATERIAL • SGI-UK grade two study course 2013 

SECTION B: Principles OF NICHIREN BUDDHISM 

IN SGI 

Bodhisattva Never Disparaging 

Material from SGI Newsletter No. 8111XY (26 November 2010): 

The Indomitable Spirit of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging 

Sato: Bodhisattva Never Disparaging appears in the 

‘Bodhisattva Never Disparaging’ (20th) chapter of 

the Lotus Sutra. Based on his belief that all people 

possess the Buddha nature, he bowed and recited 

the ‘24-character Lotus Sutra’ to each person he met. 

Namely, he would say: ‘I have profound reverence for 

you, I would never dare treat you with disparagement 

or arrogance. Why? Because you will all practise 

the bodhisattva way and will then be able to attain 

Buddhahood.’ (LSOC20, p. 308) 

President Ikeda: These words express the essential spirit 

of dialogue. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging bowed in 

respect to the Buddha nature inherent in all people’s lives 

and recited the ‘24-character Lotus Sutra’ to them. He 

actively reached out to others, even to those he saw in 

the distance, to speak with them. 

President Ikeda: This is what makes Bodhisattva Never 

Disparaging so admirable. He courageously sought out 

arrogant people who were contemptuous of others. He 

never gave up. He kept on striving. In short, he had great 

perseverance. These are not actions of one who is passive. 

*** 

President Ikeda: Our humanistic behaviour is the most 

important aspect of our Buddhist practice. It can have a 

deep, positive impact on the lives of others. The key is to 

always act with sincerity, to have unwavering commitment, 

and to be in complete earnest. And, above all, it is to 

have courage. Only through this can we genuinely move 

the hearts of others. By persevering in his practice with 

sincerity and conviction, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging 

was able to win ultimate victory. 

Many in body, one in mind 

Material from SGI Newsletter No. 8091XY (14 October 2010): 

Advancing with the Spirit of ‘many in body, one in mind’ – Part 

1 [of 2] and from SGI Newsletter No. 7536XG (30 April 2008): 

Lecture on ‘The Dragon Gate’. 

From SGI Newsletter No. 8091XY 

All disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should 

chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many 

in body but one in mind, transcending all differences 

among themselves to become as inseparable as 

fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual 

bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the 

ultimate Law of life and death. Herein lies the true 

goal of Nichiren’s propagation. When you are so united, 

even the great desire for widespread propagation 

[kosen‐rufu] can be fulfilled. (WND‐1, p. 217) 

President Ikeda: This is an unforgettable passage that 

Mr Toda also lectured on many times. It contains an 

important message for all disciples of Nichiren Daishonin. 

He declares that the heritage of the ‘ultimate Law of 

life and death’ pulses and flows precisely in the efforts 

we make to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and strive for 

kosen‐rufu with the spirit of ‘many in body, one in mind’. 

The Daishonin says: ‘When you are so united, even the 

great desire for widespread propagation can be fulfilled.’ 

Indeed, working together in unity of purpose is the 

lifeblood of kosen‐rufu. If we are united in this way, we will 

definitely realize that lofty goal. 

The Daishonin declares that ‘we win through perfect 

unity [i.e., the unity of ‘many in body but one in mind’]’. 

(cf. WND‐1, p. 618) At the same time, victory is also proof 

of solid unity of purpose. 

President Ikeda: That’s a very important point. After all, 

our goal is unity in the spirit of ‘many in body, one in 

mind’, not ‘one in body, one in mind’. Everyone has their 

own precious individuality. We are all different in a myriad 

of ways – in our professions, age, gender, personality, and 

so forth. 

From SGI Newsletter No. 7536XG 

Precisely because it is so difficult to carry out faith in 

the Mystic Law in such an age, the bonds of mentor and 

disciple in Buddhism take on a decisive importance. 

Likewise, a harmonious community of fellow practitioners 

solidly united in purpose – in what the Daishonin terms 

as ‘the spirit of many in body, one in mind’ – is also 

indispensable. The Soka Gakkai possesses the bonds of 

15


mentor and disciple that are strong enough to withstand 

any adversity. And its members – noble ordinary people 

who are polishing their lives by striving in faith with the 

same commitment as their mentor – are allied together 

in solid unity. Moreover, countless members, like 

magnificent dragons born through the triumphant ascent 

of the waterfall, are leading lives of profound dignity 

and confidence forged through continually challenging 

themselves in their faith and self-development. 

Kosen‐rufu 

Material from The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 344 

Kosen‐rufu means wide proclamation and 

propagation. The ‘Medicine King’ (twenty-third) 

chapter of the Lotus Sutra reads ‘After I [Shakyamuni 

Buddha] have passed into extinction, in the last 

five-hundred-year period you must spread it [the 

Lotus Sutra] abroad widely (kosen‐rufu) throughout 

Jambudvipa [the entire world] and never allow it to 

be cut off.’ [LS23, p. 288] (WND‐1, p. 398) 

Material from The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra (Volume VI, p. 117) 

President Ikeda: Our lives are like a flower. They are 

entities of Myoho-renge-kyo. Only by taking action for 

kosen‐rufu can we cause this lotus flower to blossom. To 

just pray without taking action for kosen‐rufu is like trying 

to raise a flower on water without sunlight. Under such 

circumstances, there is no true blossoming of the self. 

Material from The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra (Volume VI, p. 128) 

President Ikeda: When we take action for kosen‐rufu with 

a selfless spirit, the microcosm of our lives fuses with the 

macrocosm of the universe and our prayers are answered. 

*** 

Nichiren Daishonin’s teaching is about making a vow. In our 

present situation we need to pledge to the Gohonzon: ‘I will 

advance kosen‐rufu to the best of my ability! I will realize 

victory without fail!’ Our prayers start from this vow. 

16


Mutual possession of the ten worlds 

Material: Extract from footnotes to SGI Newsletter No. 8466XV 

(6 March 2013) 

Mutual possession of the ten worlds: A principle 

formulated by T’ien-t’ai (538-597). The principle that 

each of the ten worlds possesses the potential for all ten 

within itself. ‘Mutual possession’ means that life is not 

fixed in one or another of the ten worlds, but can manifest 

any of the ten – from hell to the state of Buddhahood – at 

any given moment. The important point of this principle 

is that all beings in any of the nine worlds possess the 

Buddha nature. This means that every person has the 

potential to manifest Buddhahood, while a Buddha also 

possesses the nine worlds and in this sense is not 

separate or different from ordinary people. 

Material from: SGI Newsletter No. 8397XV (12 December 2011): 

Lecture on ‘On the Treasure Tower’ 

Three thousand realms: The three thousand realms, or the 

entire phenomenal world, exist within a single moment 

of life. The number three thousand here comes from the 

following calculation: 10 (ten worlds) x 10 (ten worlds) x 

10 (ten factors) x 3 (three realms of existence). Life at 

any moment manifests one of the ten worlds. Each of 

these worlds possesses the potential for all ten within 

itself, and this mutual possession of the ten worlds is 

represented as a hundred possible worlds. Each of these 

hundred worlds possesses the ten factors, making one 

thousand factors or potentials, and these operate within 

each of the three realms of existence, thus making three 

thousand realms. 

The ten worlds: hell, hunger, animality, anger, tranquillity, 

rapture, learning, realisation, bodhisattva, Buddhahood. 

Material from SGI Newsletter No. 6154XO (27 August 2004): The 

teaching hidden in the depths of the sutra 

In discussing the concept of three thousand realms in a 

single moment of life, there is a tendency for people to 

become fixated on the number ‘three thousand’, but the 

heart of this principle in fact lies in the mutual possession 

of the ten worlds – that is, the hundred worlds. 

*** 

With pure, strong faith in our own Buddha nature and that 

of others, we can break through fundamental ignorance 

and illusion. With deep, earnest prayer, we can tap the 

life‐force of Buddhahood that is one with the Mystic Law. 

And with consistent daimoku, through continuing to chant 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we can ceaselessly manifest the 

power of Buddhahood in our lives and set ourselves on a 

course towards attaining enlightenment in this lifetime. In 

this way, the Daishonin secured the means for actualizing 

the mutual possession of the ten worlds by establishing 

the ‘actual practice of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo’. This actual 

practice, encompassing faith, prayer, and daimoku, 

spans the three categories of action – thoughts, words, 

and deeds. 

Material from SGI Newsletter No. 7851XV (9 September 2001): 

Lecture on ‘The Supremacy of the Law’, part 1 

In short, the Lotus Sutra, by expounding the principle 

of the mutual possession of the ten worlds, is the only 

teaching that reveals that all people possess within them 

the potential to become Buddhas. It is by bringing forth 

our inner Buddhahood that we attain enlightenment. The 

Lotus Sutra, therefore, is the great ship for all humankind, 

possessing infinite passenger capacity and unlimited 

maximum range. 

The ten factors: appearance, nature, entity, power, 

influence, internal cause, relation or external cause, latent 

effect, manifest effect, consistency from beginning to end. 

The three realms: 1) the realm of the five components, 

2) the realm of living beings, and 3) the realm of the 

environment (or land). 

17


Relative and absolute happiness 

Material from SGI Newsletter No. 8217HN (20 April, 2011), 

‘Vigilant Safeguarding’, 48 

Referring to a passage from ‘The True Aspect of All 

Phenomena’ that reads ‘I feel immeasurable delight even 

though I am now an exile’ (WND‐1, p. 386), Shin’ichi 

spoke of the life-state of absolute happiness. 

‘Nichiren Daishonin was an exile, living in circumstances 

of great hardship and adversity. His life was threatened, 

and he never knew when he might be attacked or killed. 

Normally, a person in such circumstances would feel 

miserable and hopeless. Most people would look at his 

situation as real misfortune. But that is a view based on 

the perspective of mere relative happiness. 

‘The Daishonin’s rich inner state of being was beyond 

compare, brimming with great joy and an expansive, 

unshakeable happiness. Such is the life-state of absolute 

happiness. 

‘Generally, the requirements for happiness are regarded 

as being financially secure, healthy, and loved and valued 

by others. Many people seem to enjoy these conditions in 

their lives. But even so, they are not necessarily completely 

happy. Often they still feel anxious and worried. This is 

relative happiness, and such happiness is fleeting.’ 

No matter how wealthy a person may be, he or she 

can be reduced to absolute poverty overnight by some 

drastic social change. The most seemingly healthy 

person can have a terrible accident or suddenly fall ill. 

And as people grow older, they all experience illnesses 

of one kind or another. 

Relative happiness is based on the condition of our 

circumstances. When circumstances change, that 

happiness can also easily crumble. 

In addition, though we may possess all we desire, as 

long as we can’t control our desires, our happiness at 

attaining new things will only be momentary. Extreme 

attachment to wealth and such can actually make one 

poor of spirit. 

Material from SGI Newsletter No. 8219HN (22 April, 2011): 

‘Vigilant Safeguarding’, 49 

We have observed many people grow and improve 

themselves through the process of wanting, seeking 

and striving for relative happiness in such forms as 

wealth, social status, health and fame. Through strong 

faith, we who uphold this Buddhism that enables us to 

fulfil all our wishes can also achieve those desires, and 

doing so is proof of the power of faith. However, true 

and indestructible happiness is not found in relative 

happiness, but in absolute happiness. 

With powerful conviction, Shin’ichi Yamamoto affirmed: 

‘Absolute happiness is not simply an extension or a higher 

degree of relative happiness. One can seem to be quite 

unfortunate in terms of relative happiness, but can actually 

have a firmly established absolute happiness. An example 

of this is the life-state of Nichiren Daishonin when he said: 

‘I feel immeasurable delight.’ (WND‐1, p. 386) 

‘Absolute happiness is not controlled by our everchanging 

external circumstances, but is a feeling of 

fulfilment and satisfaction at the deepest level of one’s 

being, born from taking action to fulfil the mission and 

purpose that one has freely chosen in life. 

‘The critical thing here is that the missions and 

purposes we choose for ourselves need to be in accord 

with the eternal and unchanging Law that permeates 

the entire universe. Ultimately, the way to build true and 

absolute happiness is to awaken to one’s mission for 

kosen‐rufu and dedicate one’s life to that great vow.’ 

When we dedicate our lives to kosen‐rufu, the vast 

life-states of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and the 

Buddha well up within us. So that even though we may be 

living in exile or in prison, or we may be battling illness, 

none of those circumstances will bother us and we’ll be 

able to enjoy a life-state of immense joy, fulfilment and 

satisfaction. That’s absolute happiness. 

Many members striving earnestly in their Buddhist 

faith and practice have experienced a taste of absolute 

happiness. When they bravely share this Buddhism with 

others, burning with the mission of the Bodhisattvas of 

the Earth, they experience a life-state of vitality, joy, and 

fulfilment, even though they may be poor or ill. When they 

encounter people who have no desire to learn anything 

about Buddhism and may even disdain the Soka Gakkai 

and disrespect its members, they are able to perceive the 

misery of that person’s inner reality, even if for example 

they live in a gorgeous mansion, and genuinely feel a 

strong desire to show them the way to true happiness. 

That’s the great path to a state of absolute happiness. 

18

SECTION C • STUDY MATERIAL • SGI-UK grade two study course 2013 

SECTION C: THE HISTORY OF SGI 

The priesthood issue 

Introduction – The struggle against delusion 

What would cause the relatively small Nichiren Shoshu 

clergy of a few thousand priests to call for the dissolution 

of the Soka Gakkai International lay organisation of more 

than ten million members? Why would a clergy with a 

negligible presence outside Japan cut itself off from a 

laity that is growing in more than 190 countries? 

One answer might be the influence of what sociology 

calls ‘institutionalisation’. It means that once a 

bureaucracy of ritual and formality is created – in this 

case, around Nichiren Buddhism – ‘There is the possibility 

of substantial deviation in values,’ according to sociologist 

B Guy Peters. 

When a bureaucratic infrastructure grows up around 

a religion, powerful forces within human nature come 

into play that can work against the original intent of the 

founder’s teaching. Ultimately, the power, prosperity and 

survival of the infrastructure can take priority over the 

very teaching it was supposed to protect and propagate. 

This can lead to adapting or distorting the teachings 

to support the continued existence of the religious 

bureaucracy and those in authority. But there is a deeper 

view of the priesthood’s opposition to the SGI found in 

Buddhist scripture. 

The Lotus Sutra tells us that those propagating its 

revolutionary teachings will encounter opposition because, 

‘…this Lotus Sutra is the most difficult to believe and 

the most difficult to understand’. (The Lotus Sutra, 

trans. Burton Watson (Columbia University Press, 1993, 

p. 164) One reason for this difficulty is its revelation that 

all people without exception are fundamentally worthy 

of respect because they possess the Buddha nature. 

Another reason is that it provides the foundation for a 

people-centred religion, something unprecedented in 

history. The history of the Soka Gakkai International 

attests to the validity of encountering opposition as the 

foremost proponent of the sutra’s principles embodied in 

Nichiren Buddhism. 

When the Soka Gakkai was founded in 1930 by 

first and second presidents Tsunesaburo Makiguchi 

and Josei Toda, they embraced the lineage of the Fuji 

school founded by Nichiren Daishonin’s successor, 

Nikko, and represented by Nichiren Shoshu, a small and 

impoverished school of Nichiren Buddhism. For the next 

sixty years, the progressive lay movement of the Soka 

Gakkai struggled to maintain a harmonious relationship 

with the priesthood. From the beginning, it was clear that 

the two had conflicting priorities. The priests of Nichiren 

Shoshu, with a nearly 700-year history, were focused on 

maintaining their order. The Soka Gakkai, inspired by its 

founders, was focused on Nichiren Daishonin’s mandate 

to accomplish kosen‐rufu, the widespread propagation of 

his teachings. 

It was President Makiguchi who first proposed the 

creation of a format for reciting the Lotus Sutra as part 

of the daily practice of lay believers. The appearance 

of a proactive laity that embraced the mission to 

accomplish kosen‐rufu was a huge departure from the 

approach of previous followers of the Nichiren Shoshu 

priesthood. 

By the 1970s and 1980s, Nichiren Shoshu had 

become very wealthy through the support of the Soka 

Gakkai lay believers. Eventually, it became clear to the 

priesthood that the self-empowering practice of Nichiren 

Buddhism precluded the laity and its resources ever 

being controlled by priests, and they made a desperate 

attempt to seize control. 

In November 1991, the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood, 

under the leadership of its high priest, Nikken Abe, 

excommunicated all of the more than ten million SGI 

members. Their hope was to pull a large percentage of 

Soka Gakkai members into their temples. That didn’t 

happen. 

On one level, the crux of the conflict was the clergy’s 

insistence that priests are necessary intermediaries 

between lay believers and the power and teachings of 

Nichiren Buddhism. Emphasising ritual and formality 

not found in Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings, the priests 

sought to make veneration and obedience to themselves 

and their high priest in particular the most important 

aspect of a practitioner’s faith. 

They stressed, for example, that funeral services must be 

officiated by priests in order for the deceased to become 

enlightened, and they demanded increasing donations 

from ordinary believers for those simple services. They 

upheld the view that, without venerating the high priest, 

practitioners could not attain enlightenment. 

Nichiren Daishonin clearly denounced such views in 

his writings, emphasising the empowerment of ordinary 

believers to attain enlightenment. ‘Never seek this 

Gohonzon [Buddhahood] outside yourself,’ Nichiren 

instructs a lay believer. ‘The Gohonzon exists only within 

the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the 

Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.’ (WND‐1, 

p. 832) 

The priesthood claimed that faith was infused with 

power and validated only through the authority of the high 

priest. The SGI stressed a faith based on the inherent 

power of the individual. This is the difference between 

dependency and self-reliance, between deference and 

empowerment. 

19


All people are equally endowed with the power 

of the Law 

On another level, this issue originates in the spiritual 

struggle between opposing forces within the human heart. 

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda states: ‘Chanting in terms 

of faith refers to the spiritual aspect of our practice. 

This essentially consists of the struggle we wage in our 

hearts against our inner delusion or darkness – a battle 

against the negative and destructive forces within us. It 

means that through the power of faith – in other words, 

through strengthening our conviction that we possess 

the Buddha nature – we can break through the darkness 

obscuring this awareness, thus revealing the life state of 

Buddhahood.’ (Living Buddhism, September 2006, p. 79) 

‘Correct faith is grounded in the realisation that 

“Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment 

countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all 

people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are 

in no way different or separate from one another.” (WND‐1, 

p. 216) This is a crucial point concerning the substance 

of faith in the Mystic Law. In this writing, Nichiren 

Daishonin states that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with 

this belief is “a matter of the utmost importance” for 

his disciples. (WND‐1, p. 216) The core message of this 

statement is to believe that our present self is an entity 

of Myoho-renge-kyo and that we can attain Buddhahood in 

our present form in this lifetime.’ (Living Buddhism, May- 

June 2008, p. 46) All people are equally endowed with the 

power of the Law – clergy and laity alike. 

From the early days of the Soka Gakkai, under founding 

president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and second president 

Josei Toda, the priesthood benefited enormously in 

material gain and prestige. 

In spite of those gains, as the laity grew into a 

worldwide force of millions of believers, the priesthood 

continued to demonstrate authoritarianism. 

Whenever Soka Gakkai members challenged these 

attitudes and irresponsible behaviour by priests, calling 

for reform, the priesthood only became more adamant in 

enforcing the subordination of Soka Gakkai members. The 

more the Soka Gakkai grew, the more authoritarian the 

priesthood became. 

Finally, in 1990, after having amassed a huge financial 

foundation from the donations of Soka Gakkai members, 

Nikken formulated a plan called ‘Operation C’ designed 

to ‘Cut’ the Soka Gakkai members off from their mentor, 

President Ikeda, and disband the organisation. 

He implemented that plan by taking a series of 

unilateral actions against President Ikeda and the Soka 

Gakkai. Ultimately, Operation C sprang from Nikken’s 

incorrect understanding and distortion of Nichiren 

Daishonin’s teachings. 

The priesthood excommunicated the entire 

organisation in 1991, under the assumption that 

members would then be compelled to leave the SGI 

and become directly affiliated with a local temple if they 

wished to receive Gohonzon. 

The opposite occurred: The vast majority of members 

continued to practise within the SGI, under the 

leadership of President Ikeda. In short, the priesthood 

excommunicated itself from the body of practitioners 

sincerely devoted to achieving kosen‐rufu. 

In the decades since, President Ikeda has led the 

propagation of Nichiren Buddhism into 192 countries and 

territories; more than twelve million SGI members chant 

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in places as diverse as the United 

States, Brazil, Denmark, Russia, India and South Africa. 

One of the reasons the SGI is so diverse is that it 

refuses to tolerate structures that value one human being 

more than others. These can be institutional structures 

like the priesthood over the laity, or they can be racist 

structures. Separation from the priesthood was a valuable 

process for sensitising SGI members to issues of 

structural injustice and institutional inequality. 

(Extracts from Spiritual Independence: An Introduction to Soka Spirit, 

SGI-USA, 2008.) 

20


The three presidents 

Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is the organisation that 

has inherited Nichiren Daishonin’s spirit and has been 

earnestly taking action for the sake of the Law based on 

a deep sense of mission to achieve worldwide kosen‐rufu. 

The three presidents of Soka Gakkai (first president 

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, second president Josei Toda and 

third president Daisaku Ikeda) have established this sense 

of mission and taken action to achieve it. In this section 

we will examine the history of SGI through studying the 

three presidents and the spirit of the oneness of mentor 

and disciple. 

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi 

The Soka Gakkai originated in the spirit of oneness of 

mentor and disciple between Mr Makiguchi and Mr Toda. 

Both men were educators. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi was 

born on 6 June 1871, in Niigata Prefecture. His childhood 

was not easy and he started working at an early age 

but didn’t give up studying. Despite his hardships, he 

attended teacher training college in Sapporo, Hokkaido 

and became a teacher. He spent a few years as a teacher 

in Hokkaido and then moved to Tokyo. 

Mr Makiguchi published his first book The Geography 

of Human Life in 1903 and later became head teacher of 

several primary schools in Tokyo. He made great efforts 

to establish a teaching method that would enable children 

to become independent individuals, happy with their 

own efforts. He developed a unique teaching method 

but continued to search for a spiritual philosophy to 

underpin it. He eventually encountered Nichiren Buddhism 

and started practising in 1928. He later described this 

experience, saying that in starting to practise, ‘With 

indescribable joy, I transformed the way I had lived my 

life for almost sixty years.’ (SGI Newsletter 3354, 19 

September 1997) Mr Makiguchi took Nichiren Daishonin’s 

teaching as a ‘way of life’ and he believed that Nichiren 

Daishonin’s Buddhism had the power to create value in 

society. Explaining why he took faith, he said, ‘I could find 

no contradiction between science, philosophy, which is the 

base of our modern society, and the teaching of the Lotus 

Sutra.’ (Daibyaku Renge, October 2010) 

Mr Makiguchi published the first volume of Soka 

Kyoikugaku Taikei (The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy) 

on 18 November 1930. It was published by the Soka 

Kyoiku Gakkai (Value Creation Education Society), the 

forerunner of the Soka Gakkai. This, therefore marks the 

founding of the Soka Gakkai by Mr Makiguchi and Josei 

Toda. In other words, the spirit of oneness of mentor and 

disciple was the founding spirit of Soka Gakkai. 

The word soka means ‘value creation’ in Japanese. 

It expresses the essence of Mr Makiguchi’s ideology. 

He believed that the purpose of life is the pursuit of 

happiness and that this creates value. The term soka was 

also created through dialogue between Mr Makiguchi and 

Mr Toda. 

Soka Kyoiku Gakkai began as a group of teachers who 

followed Nichiren Buddhism, but it grew steadily and as 

non-educators also started to join, it naturally became a 

group focused primarily on Buddhism. Soka Kyoiku Gakkai 

was a unique Buddhist group from the beginning. It was 

not just following the formality of traditional Buddhist 

practice, but was seeking to change the daily lives of each 

member and transform society though establishing the 

happiness of individuals. Furthermore, it believed that 

Nichiren Buddhism could contribute to world peace and 

enable human society to flourish. 

The organisation grew through many discussion 

meetings and the efforts of its members to reach out 

to others and introduce them to Buddhism. At its peak, 

membership stood at 3000, before the Second World War. 

However, the military government tightened its control 

on religion and ideology. It promoted the display of the 

national Shinto religion’s talisman for Buddhist orders. In 

June 1943, unable to resist pressure from the authorities, 

the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood asked that Soka Kyoiku 

Gakkai members display the Shinto talisman, as the 

government had ordered. Mr Makiguchi refused to do 

so, on religious grounds. The government had started to 

monitor the discussion meetings and activities of Soka 

Kyoiku Gakkai, and as a consequence of his refusal, Mr 

Makiguchi was arrested during a Buddhist activity in July. 

Until the end, Mr Makiguchi made no compromises. He 

died on 18 November 1944 in Tokyo’s Sugamo prison. He 

was 73 years old. 

Josei Toda 

Josei Toda was born on 11 February 1900, in Ishikawa 

Prefecture. His family moved to Hokkaido when he was 2 

years old. He started to work at an early age but did not 

give up his studies. He passed the teaching test without a 

formal education and qualified as a primary school teacher. 

Mr Toda moved to Tokyo when he was 19 years old and 

met Mr Makiguchi, when the latter was 48 years old. Mr 

Toda decided to take Mr Makiguchi as his mentor, and 

continued to support him in various ways throughout Mr 

Makiguchi’s life. He started practising Nichiren Buddhism 

in 1928 together with Mr Makiguchi. 

As well as being a teacher, Mr Toda was a successful 

businessman and had become famous as the writer of 

Suirishiki-Shido-Sanjutsu (A Deductive Guide to Arithmetic), 

which was one of the most popular maths textbooks in 

Japan before the Second World War. 

He supported Mr Makiguchi in publishing Soka 

Kyoikugaku Taikei (The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy) 

– not only by financing it but also by gathering Mr 

Makiguchi’s notes and editing them. This book was created 

from the mentor and disciple relationship between Mr 

Makiguchi and Mr Toda. Mr Toda’s name was given as the 

21


publisher and the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai was given as the 

publishing office. It was published on 18 November 1930, 

and this is the origin of the SGI movement. 

Mr Toda’s mentor, Mr Makiguchi, was arrested on 6 July 

1943 because he refused to follow the religious policy of 

the Japanese military government. Mr Toda was arrested 

at his own house on the same day. Twenty-one people 

were arrested in total. They were treated severely, and it 

was only Mr Makiguchi and Mr Toda who did not give up 

their faith. 

Mr Toda continued chanting in prison and he started to 

exert himself to chant ten thousand daimoku every day 

and read the Lotus Sutra in 1944. Through these efforts 

he had the realisation: ‘Buddha is life itself.’ 

He continued chanting and realised that he was none 

other than one of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who 

attended the Ceremony in the Air, which is described in 

the Lotus Sutra. This was in November 1944. He was 

firmly convinced of his mission to carry out kosen‐rufu 

through these realisations, and this is the root of the 

great development of Soka Gakkai after the war. 

On 3 July 1945, after two years of prison life, Mr 

Toda was released from prison. He started to build the 

kosen‐rufu movement from that day on his own. The 

organisation and his life had been totally destroyed 

by the authorities, but his determination was firm and 

unshakeable. He changed the name of the organisation 

from ‘Soka Kyoiku Gakkai’ to ‘Soka Gakkai’ and started 

activities immediately. 

Mr Toda realised many great achievements in the 

years from his release from prison to his death in 1958. 

Examples of his major achievements are: 

• July 1949: Daibyakurenge (monthly Buddhist magazine) 

launched. 

• 20 April: Seikyo Shimbun (Buddhist newspaper) 

launched with the first instalment of Mr Toda’s novel The 

Human Revolution within it. 

• 3 May 1951: Inaugurated as second president of Soka 

Gakkai. 

• April 1952: Soka Gakkai published Gosho Zenshu (The 

major writings of Nichiren Daishonin) 

• September 1952: Soka Gakkai was registered as an 

official religious organisation. 

• 8 September 1957: Mr Toda’s Declaration for the 

Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. 

• December 1957: Soka Gakkai achieved a membership 

of 750,000 households. 

• March 1958: Soka Gakkai donated the Great Lecture 

Hall (Daikodo) to Taisekiji temple. 

Mr Toda held a ceremony on 16 March 1958 in order to 

transmit the responsibility for the kosen‐rufu movement 

to his young disciple Daisaku Ikeda, together with 6,000 

youth division members. 16 March is now celebrated as 

Kosen‐rufu Day. Mr Toda passed away on 2 April 1958. He 

fulfilled his mission and established the firm foundation of 

the kosen‐rufu movement. 

Daisaku Ikeda 

Daisaku Ikeda was born on 2 January 1928, in Tokyo. The 

Second World War started when he was thirteen years 

old and his four elder brothers were all drafted and sent 

to the front line. Young Daisaku Ikeda worked hard to 

support his family, while suffering from tuberculosis. It 

was a terminal illness at that time so he thought deeply 

about life and death. He and his family lost their house 

in an air raid and they also suffered the eldest brother’s 

death. Through his own experience in his youth, Daisaku 

Ikeda came to the view that war is evil. 

Seeking a profound philosophy, on 14 August 1947 

Daisaku Ikeda attended a Soka Gakkai discussion 

meeting and encountered his lifetime mentor, Josei 

Toda. On this day Mr Toda was giving a lecture on ‘On 

Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the 

Land’. After the lecture Daisaku Ikeda asked him a 

number of questions, including, ‘What is the correct way 

of life?’, ‘What is a true patriot?’ ‘What is Nam-myohorenge-kyo?’ 

He asked many questions, and Mr Toda 

answered them all clearly and with great conviction. Young 

Daisaku Ikeda was deeply inspired by him and he felt that 

he could trust Mr Toda. 

Ten days later, on 24 August, he joined the Soka Gakkai. 

He was nineteen years old and Mr Toda was forty years 

old. He started working for Mr Toda’s publishing company 

as a boys’ magazine editor. 

His achievements and events as a youth division leader 

include: 

• Osaka campaign: He lead a propagation campaign in 

Osaka and the Osaka chapter achieved 11,111 new 

member households in one month under his leadership. 

• Yubari coal miners’ union incident: the Yubari coal 

miners’ union violated Soka Gakkai members’ right to 

freedom of religion, removing Gakkai members from the 

union because of their membership of the Soka Gakkai. 

In June 1957, Daisaku Ikeda visited Yubari and rebuked 

the union’s violation, protecting members from this 

persecution. 

• Osaka Incident: He was arrested by the Osaka Police 

under suspicion of violating election laws but it was 

a rootless accusation. He led an election campaign 

in Osaka and achieved a miraculous victory. The 

establishment was shocked by this victory and they 

tried to threaten the Soka Gakkai by arresting him. A 

court judgment proved his innocence in 1962. 

Daisaku Ikeda was inaugurated as the third president 

of the Soka Gakkai on 3 May 1960. In same year on 

2 October, he took the first step towards worldwide 

kosen‐rufu. He visited the North and South American 

22


continents. In the following year, 1961, he visited Hong 

Kong, India and other Asian countries in January. On 

5 October 1961, he arrived in Europe for the first time, 

beginning his visit in Denmark. He visited the UK on 

13 October on this trip. 

Examples of his major achievements are: 

• He began writing the historical novel The Human 

Revolution (12 volumes) in 1965. He continued the 

novel as The New Human Revolution publishing 23 

volumes so far. 

• He developed the Education Division, Academic Division, 

Arts Division, Writers Division, International Division and 

the Medical Science Division. 

• He established the Institute of Oriental Philosophy, Min- 

On and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. 

• He established the Komei Party in 1964. 

• He established the Soka education system from primary 

education through to university level. 

• He announced the ‘Japan-China national relations 

normalisation proposal’ in 1968. 

• He started to have dialogues with world academics 

and leaders in the seventies. The first dialogue was 

with Dr Toynbee in 1972. Since then he has held many 

historical dialogues with leaders in various fields. 

• Soka Gakkai International was founded on 26 January 

1975 and Daisaku Ikeda was inaugurated as SGI 

President. 

The SGI worldwide network has expanded into 192 

countries and territories. President Ikeda has published 

a ‘Peace Proposal’ on 26 January every year since 1983, 

gaining considerable attention from various academic 

institutes and world leaders. The SGI movement is 

gaining trust and recognition from many organisations 

under his leadership and is growing from strength 

to strength as a great movement of the people for 

happiness and world peace. 

Extracts from SGI President Ikeda in 

Europe, Volume 1 

Rissho Ankoku 30 

… Shin’ichi Yamamoto spent most of the month of 

September 1961 in Tokyo, except for a visit to the head 

temple on the 15th, followed by a trip to the Kansai 

Region to encourage Osaka members affected by Typhoon 

No. 18 (also known as the second Muroto Typhoon). 

He needed the time to prepare for a twenty-day visit to 

Europe, with his scheduled departure date on 4 October. 

His main destinations were Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, 

West Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Madrid, Zurich, 

Vienna and Rome. The main purposes of the trip were to 

offer guidance to local members, purchase construction 

materials and fixtures for the Grand Reception Hall, and 

observe the state of religion in Europe. 

It was the people of Germany Shin’ichi was most 

concerned for at this time. In the predawn hours of 

13 August 1961, the communist government of East 

Germany had built a more than forty-kilometre, barbed-wire 

wall along the border between East and West Berlin. Ever 

since the partition of the German state, the city of Berlin 

had existed as a forlorn and sundered atoll in the vast sea 

of the East German state. For it, too, had been divided into 

East and West. Yet despite this, until the wall appeared, 

people had been free to pass between the two sides. 

An endless stream of refugees fleeing from communist 

East Germany to the West via West Berlin, however, had 

prompted the East German government to physically divide 

the city with a wall, thereby sealing off all access to the 

West. Most of the roads linking East and West Berlin were 

closed off with tanks and armoured cars. Checkpoints 

were set up at those roads that remained open, and free 

passage between the two sides was no longer permitted. 

The underground trains, too, now ran only to the boarder. 

From 13 August onwards, the barbed-wire wall grew 

longer and more fortified day by day until finally a cruel 

and unyielding barrier of concrete and brick was in firmly 

place. The sudden closing of passage between East and 

West Berlin split families, relatives and lovers. It was 

small-scale model of the Cold War itself, in which people 

were oppressed and cast asunder by opposing ideologies. 

With his visit to Europe imminent, Shin’ichi vowed that 

now was the time for a humanistic philosophy that would 

foster bonds among people to spread widely and take 

root in the human heart. He would blaze way to secure 

peace in the world by establishing the right principles of 

Buddhism – the way of rissho ankoku. 

Shin’ichi was about to take flight into the clear blue 

skies of the twenty-first century on a monumental journey 

for peace. 

23


Great Light 1 

The ageless sun rises anew, calmly sending forth its 

golden rays. 

As an organisation committed to the great Law of 

Buddhism, the Soka Gakkai is the sun for the entire world. 

The sun’s primordial brilliance dispels the darkness 

of mistrust and hatred, casting the bright light of peace 

upon the earth. Even into the darkest valleys of misery 

and despair, it sheds the light of hope, transforming the 

human realm that surges with suffering into a beautiful 

flower garden of joy. Nothing can stop the progress of the 

sun, which advances majestically on its own orbit, high 

above the black clouds of envy and jealousy. 

From the window of the Europe-bound plane, Shin’ichi 

Yamamoto watched as the sun began to make its ascent 

into the sky. 

Five hours earlier, at 10:30 in the evening of 4 October, 

1961, Shin’ichi and his party had left Tokyo’s Haneda 

Airport. Now their plane was on its way to Anchorage, 

Alaska, where it would stop briefly for refuelling. 

As the brilliant red sun made its appearance, the sea 

of clouds that spread out far below was dyed a soft 

pink while the sky began to turn violet. As the sun rose 

higher, the entire sky looked like molten gold, solemn and 

majestic. From this great source, countless brilliant shafts 

of light ran in all directions. The sky became bluer by the 

second and the clouds, like pure white puffs of cotton, 

began to glimmer brightly in the sunshine. 

As he took in this scene, Shin’ichi thought: ‘One sun 

illuminates the entire world. It is the same in the realm 

of kosen‐rufu. A resolute stand by just one person can 

protect all others and break through the darkness of 

society, heralding a new dawn of justice. What matters 

is the presence of one earnest person, of one fervently 

committed individual. 

‘Moreover, there is a sun in everyone’s heart. Those who 

embrace the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin become suns 

that illuminate the way to happiness for their family and 

friends. The success of my visit to Europe hinges on how 

many sun-like people I can find and nurture.’ 

The plane landed in Anchorage for refuelling at 

10:00 am local time and, after an hour, took off for 

Copenhagen, Denmark, the first destination on the group’s 

itinerary. As they flew close to the North Pole, darkness 

had fallen outside the plane window. A shimmering moon 

illuminated the night sky with its beautiful brilliance. 

Shin’ichi put his thoughts and feelings into a poem: 

At the North Pole, 

The Great Heavenly Moon 

Shines brightly, 

Yearning for kosen‐rufu 

On the distant Earth. 

24

SGI-UK Study Department Application Form 

Grade 2 Study Exam 2013 

Exam to be held between 14:00 - 16:00 on 3 November 2013 

(Precise start time & venue to be confirmed locally*) 

Please return this application form to your HQ study leader no later than 20 September 2013 so that 

appropriate preparations can be made in advance of the exam, such as booking venues and preparing the 

paperwork. 

Note to HQ study leader: 

Please fill in the applicant’s SGI-UK membership number here: …………………………………. 

We cannot accept the application without the membership number. 

Applicants must have passed SGI-UK Grade 1 exam in or before 2011. 

Area Name: 

HQ Name: 

District Name: 

Family Name: 

First Name 

Telephone: 

Email: 

Name on exam pass certificate if different from above: This is the name which will be put on the pass 

certificate, unless you request something different here. 

Please tick here 

if you have special requirements which need to be considered. 

Special Requirements: 

Please let your HQ study leader know if you any special requirements, including venue access requirements. 

If English is your second language, or if you have impaired vision, dyslexia or need a scribe to help you write 

your answers, you may have an extra hour’s exam time. If, because of special needs, you have to use a 

computer to sit the exam, please submit your paper on a CD or memory stick. 

Our communication with you is based on the information we hold on our database. However, every year we 

experience difficulty in communicating with some members because the information we hold is out of date or 

incorrect. This causes delays and in some cases, a candidate’s certificate has been sent to an old address. 

Please therefore inform your HQ administrator of any changes to the following information: 

• Address 

• Telephone number (home, mobile) 

• Email address 

• HQ, Chapter and District name. 

* Please note that whilst there is some local discretion in the start time so that venues can be found, the exam 

must be taken at the time set by the HQ which will be set as close as possible to the times above.

Grade 2 Study Material 2013

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