Ever victorious, never defeated!

The Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin is a teaching of hope. It is a great philosophy affirming that we ourselves possess within us the infinite power to surmount all hardships and break through all obstacles. The Daishonin’s Buddhism also teaches the practice by which we can tap this infinite power in our lives, backed by solid examples of actual proof. As such, it is an inspirational teaching that has the power to generate unceasing hope in the hearts of all people.

Hope in Nichiren Buddhism is an expression of confidence and conviction rather than some vague yearning or wish for better times in the future. The editor of Hope is a Decision, a collection of essays by Daisaku Ikeda, writes that for President Ikeda:

Hope…is the starting point and endpoint of everything. It is the one thing that makes all the difference in the world. President Ikeda has always put questions of hope front and centre in his writing: How do we find hope in dark times that seem to be growing darker? How do we find hope when faced with personal problems that are seemingly impossible to overcome? How do we make a small glimmer of hope grow into a huge sun?[[1]]

Based on our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, hope is another word for faith. It is the belief that we can transform any situation through the process we call ‘human revolution’ in SGI. This internal transformation or revolution is the way to create lasting and enduring change that ripples outwards to encompass ever more people, having a greater impact on the world than other types of revolution. President Ikeda writes:

When we change our inner determination, everything begins to move in a new direction. The moment we make a powerful resolve, every nerve and fibre of our being will immediately orient itself towards the fulfilment of this goal or desire. On the other hand, if we think: ‘This is never going to work out’, then every cell in our body will be deflated and give up the fight. Hope, in this sense, is a decision. It is the most important decision we can make.[[2]]

As President Ikeda explains, hope is not something that is found outside our ourselves. It’s not created by a change in our external circumstances or given to us by someone else. Rather it is something that we generate from within using our Buddhist practice, even in the most challenging times. In his study lecture, President Ikeda shares:

The Daishonin composed these hope-filled writings for his followers and for all humankind in the midst of daunting and often life-threatening struggles. My mentor Josei Toda, the second Soka Gakkai president, once said: ‘The Daishonin, while himself experiencing serious illness and harsh persecution, exhorts us to forge ahead and shape our own destiny right in the midst of such obstacles. We are truly fortunate in this regard. I, too, have learned this from the Daishonin, who engaged in a life-and-death struggle to impart his teachings.’

On 28 April 1253[[3]], Nichiren Daishonin declared that the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the way for us ordinary people to tap into the limitless potential of Buddhahood that already exists in our lives. In his lecture, President Ikeda explores the three meanings of myo: to open, to be fully endowed and to revive. He clarifies that: ‘The Mystic Law is the fundamental and perfect Law that encompasses all phenomena…it also has the power to revitalise and invigorate even those facing the most adverse and intractable circumstances and enable them to attain Buddhahood (the principle of “reviving”).’

The three founding presidents of the Soka Gakkai, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda, based on their own conviction in the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, created a movement that enables others to chant and experience absolute joy in their lives. 

'We commemorate these anniversaries as a way to learn from his spirit…'

We are now in the second month of studying extracts from the ‘Determination’ chapter in volume ten of The Human Revolution, leading up to the seventieth anniversary of the historic Osaka victory in May. There are some beautiful extracts that are treasured by members all over the world. In one passage that I deeply treasure, President Ikeda writes:

As long as we look at our situation with only ordinary reason, there won’t be the slightest chance for us to win. But the Daishonin tells us plainly that the Gohonzon has infinite power. The only question is whether or not we believe him. If we think that we are really disciples of the Daishonin, we first have to pray powerfully to carry out the kind of courageous practice that can make the impossible possible.[[4]]

With these kind of powerful words, President Ikeda encouraged the members in Osaka to believe in their own infinite potential and taught them what it means to carry out the kind of courageous practice to make impossible possible. This led to a wave of joy – which he describes as a ‘whirlpool of joy’[[5]] – amongst the members as they exerted themselves like never before. 

President Ikeda’s intention in writing about the activities that he did alongside the members of Osaka in 1956 is to share what a person can achieve when they are connected to the Mystic Law and to a great mentor. We commemorate these anniversaries as a way to learn from his spirit and develop the same confidence that we too can achieve something incredible with our Buddhist practice.

We are not only praising President Ikeda’s achievements, or thinking of these events as something that happened in the past to a special group of people. Rather we should be convinced that he is showing us how to reveal our limitless potential by challenging something that seems impossible in our lives and experience the rush of joy when we see the positive result that immediately ripples outwards.

To go deeper, this year we have embraced the motto: ‘Ever victorious SGI-UK, Never be defeated SGI-UK!’, knowing that SGI-UK is only us and our fellow members in our local districts. Based on the spirit of President Ikeda, each of us can be ‘ever victorious’ and ‘never defeated’. 

Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada recently shared that the definition of being ever victorious and never defeated lies in just taking another step forward each day, regardless of whether we are feeling joyful or facing huge challenges. He encouraged us to keep putting one foot in front of another, not shying away from anything that we encounter in our path. If we do this, we will continue to advance victoriously and never feel defeated. In this respect, these are two sides of the same coin, as never being defeated means we are ever victorious. 

‘Ever victorious SGI-UK, Never defeated SGI-UK!’

This spirit of moving forward step-by-step fits perfectly with our current SGI Europe initiative, ‘One Step for Peace’, taking another step each day and creating vibrant discussion meetings every month. It’s also important to have wonderful experiences of how we have transformed seemingly impossible challenges to share at our meetings to encourage others. As President Ikeda writes in his study lecture:

We earnestly chant daimoku each day so that we can overcome all our problems and have everything go well in our lives without making mistakes we might regret. When we follow this solid path in life, then no matter what adverse circumstances or difficult problems we may encounter, all our worries, anxieties and mistakes will be burned up in the fire of wisdom in the same way that flames from a small spark can consume whole stretches of dry grass, one after another.

This month we also commemorate the passing of second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda, on 2 April 1958. Daisaku Ikeda was 19 years old when he met President Toda, in August 1947, and 30 years old when his beloved mentor passed away. He spent eleven years being directly encouraged and supported by President Toda and the remaining sixty-five years of his life responding to his mentor’s expectations. What he went on to achieve shows that the mentor and disciple relationship is not dependent on the disciple being with the mentor in person. 

Nichiren Daishonin wrote ‘The Drum at the Gate of Thunder’ for Sennichi-ama who sent her husband Abutsu-bo to Mount Minobu nearly every year while she stayed at home. Reflecting on this in his study lecture, President Ikeda writes:

The Daishonin writes: ‘Though you remain in Sado, your heart has come to this province.’ He is telling Sennichi that even though she hasn’t set foot outside of Sado, which is far away across mountains and sea, her heart has reached him at Mount Minobu. It may be that deep inside Sennichi felt sad at the thought that she might never see the Daishonin again in her lifetime, and the Daishonin may well have understood this. But in our Buddhist practice, there is no need to lament. Based on faith in the Mystic Law, our heart of faith can instantaneously cross any distance. The Daishonin’s words of encouragement convey the message: ‘You are fighting alongside me in spirit.’ We can easily imagine how much courage and hope they must have given Sennichi…As he indicates when he says, ‘Merely seeing each other’s face would in itself be insignificant’, faith is not determined by meeting face-to-face with the mentor. ‘It is the heart that is important,’ he asserts.

As he shares, ‘it is the heart that is important’ and, based on Nichiren Daishonin’s connection with his disciples and the relationship between the three founding presidents of the Soka Gakkai, we can have the same spirit or heart as our mentor, Daisaku Ikeda. Let’s use this month to forge an even stronger bond with our mentor, generate even more hope from within our lives and establish an ever victorious and never-defeated spirit. ●

References

[[1]]: Daisaku Ikeda, Hope is a Decision (Eternal Ganges Press, 2019) p. v.

[[2]]: Ibid, pp. 4-5.

[[3]]: Dates given in the writings of Nichiren Daishonin are according to the lunar calendar of pre-modern Japan.

[[4]]: Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution, abridged edition (World Tribune Press edition, 2004) Book Two, Vol. 10, p. 1321.

[[5]]: Ibid, p. 1311.