History of the Soka Gakkai Flashcards
33) What significant event took place on November 18, 1930, involving Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda? (See The Basics, pp. 86–87)
On November 18, 1930, Makiguchi published the first volume of his Soka kyoikugaku taikei (The system of value-creating education). This work systemized his views and ideas on education and was intended as the first of twelve volumes. His disciple, Toda, personally helped fund the publishing project and collaborated in every aspect of its production, including organizing and editing Makiguchi’s notes into a manuscript and dividing the content into chapters. T he publisher’s imprint listed Tsunesaburo Makiguchi as the author, Josei Toda as the publisher and printer, and the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society) as the publishing house. This was the first time the name Soka Kyoiku Gakkai had appeared in public, and for this reason the date of the work’s publication, November 18, is celebrated as the date of the Soka Gakkai’s founding.
34) What is the meaning and significance of the word soka? (See The Basics, p. 87)
Soka means creation of value. The purpose of education and the purpose of life are the pursuit of happiness, and the name Soka expresses Makiguchi’s thinking that the creation of value is integral to building happiness. T he conception of the word soka itself came about in the course of a discussion between the two innovative educators. We could say that the birth of the Soka Gakkai, then, was itself a crystallization of the united spirit of mentor and disciple.
35) What did the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood do in June 1943 that constituted complicity in slander of the Law (slander of the correct Buddhist teaching)? (See The Basics, pp. 88–89)
The militarist government, in its reckless rush to expand its war footing with State Shinto3 as its spiritual pillar, endeavored to coerce uniformity of thought among Japan’s populace. The posture of Nichiren Shoshu in accepting the government’s demand to enshrine the talisman to the Sun Goddess constituted complicity in slander of the Law (slander of the correct Buddhist teaching). It was a violation of the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin and his successor, Nikko Shonin, from whom Nichiren Shoshu claimed lineage.
36) While in prison, in addition to exerting himself in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Josei Toda from early 1944 began to read the Lotus Sutra and pondered it deeply. In the process, he experienced two awakenings. What were they? (See The Basics, p. 90)
In the process, he experienced an awakening—a realization that the Buddha is life itself. As he continued to chant and engage in profound contemplation, Toda also became aware that he himself was a Bodhisattva of the Earth who had been present at the Ceremony in the Air described in the Lotus Sutra and who was entrusted with the widespread propagation of the sutra’s teaching in the age after Shakyamuni Buddha.
37) When did Josei Toda become the second Soka Gakkai president and what did he resolve to do on that occasion? (See The Basics, p. 95)
His inauguration as the organization’s second president took place on May 3, 1951, and on that occasion, he declared his vow to achieve a membership of 750,000 households.
38) What did Josei Toda do on September 8, 1957? (See The Basics, p. 98)
On September 8, 1957, Toda delivered his Declaration for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons,9 which would become the start and keynote of the Soka Gakkai’s peace movement. In it, based on the Buddhist principle of the sanctity and dignity of life, he identif ied nuclear weapons as a devilish creation that threatens to usurp humanity’s inviolable right to live, calling use of such weapons an act of absolute evil.
39) Daisaku Ikeda was inaugurated third Soka Gakkai president on May 3, 1960. What did he do just five months later on October 2? (See The Basics, p. 99)
On October 2 that year, Ikeda Sensei left Japan for North and South America, the first step in a journey to spread the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism around the world.
40) In 1965, Ikeda Sensei began writing the novel The Human Revolution, which would eventually extend to twelve volumes. His purpose in doing so was to correctly transmit the history and spirit of the Soka Gakkai to future generations. As described in its preface, what is the main theme of the novel? (See The Basics, p. 99)
“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.”
