Stand Up for Hope and Respect!

by Daisaku Ikeda

World Tribune Press’ new title Stand Up for Hope and Respect! is a collection of brief comments by SGI President Ikeda from his series “Humanistic Teachings for Victory.” Through the series, he sought to convey the Soka Gakkai spirit to youth members by touching on various aspects of faith and practice, and drawing on his own experiences in life and faith.

Peace does not exist in some distant place. It begins with us. It starts with becoming friends with another person.

Youth have always been the ones sacrificed in war. That’s why it’s crucial for youth to strive vigorously for peace, for you to forge a growing network of youth committed to peace. I would like you, my friends, with the power of youth, to create a society free from the brutality of war, a world where everyone can feel glad to have been born and enjoy a happy life.

Peace is something that we must strive for and achieve. Kosen-rufu is nothing other than the highest expression of peace.

Nichiren Daishonin writes, “All people have the Buddha nature” (“The Fourteen Slanders,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 756). Everyone possesses the supremely noble life state of Buddhahood. Respecting one another is the truest way to peace. That’s why it’s so important for young people to share this great life-affirming philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism with other youth.

Genres: Buddhism

117 pages, Paperback

Published September 23, 2018

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.