Dialogue On Life, Vol. 2: Buddhist Perspectives on the Eternity of Life

by Daisaku Ikeda

The articles presented here in Dialogue on Life bring out the real, and very disturbing, dimensions of he crisis facing civilization, and offer a powerful case for guilt by blindness. The crisis stems from the failure to recognize and respect the dignity of life in full measure. Unfortunately most people only think of themselves as living but one life on earth, Such a superficial view of life is the prime cause of the critical impasse man finds himself in. In order to live in the most humane and worthwhile way, we must first of all turn our eyes toward the deeper spheres of life itself, in an effort to understand its true meaning.

Genres: Buddhism

268 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1980

About the author

Daisaku Ikeda was a Buddhist philosopher, peacebuilder, educator, author and poet. He was the third president of the Soka Gakkai lay Buddhist organization and the founding president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), which is today one of the world's largest and most diverse lay Buddhist organizations, promoting a philosophy of character development and social engagement for peace.

Ikeda was the founder of the Soka (value-creation) schools, a nondenominational school system based on an ideal of fostering each student's unique creative potential and cultivating an ethic of peace, social contribution and global consciousness. The school system runs from kindergarten through graduate study and includes a university in Tokyo, Japan, and another in California, U.S.A.

Ikeda was a staunch proponent of dialogue as the foundation of peace. Since the 1970s he has pursued dialogue with a wide range of individuals around the world in political, cultural, educational and academic fields. Over 50 of these have been published in book form, with people such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Elise Boulding, Joseph Rotblat and André Malraux. In furtherance of his vision of fostering dialogue and solidarity for peace, Ikeda has founded a number of independent, nonprofit research institutes that develop cross-cultural, interdisciplinary collaboration on diverse issues: the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research and the Institute of Oriental Philosophy. The Min-On Concert Association and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum promote mutual understanding and friendship between different national cultures through the arts.

Ikeda was a prolific writer who has published more than 100 works, ranging from Buddhist philosophy to biographical essays, poetry, children's stories and photographic collections.