Nichiren Buddhist: April 2025

I first wrote about "The Spirit of May 3" in May 2014 and that version is still available, but this year I decided to update it with some more sources from the last ten years. All of the following are President Ikeda's own words taken from his diary, speeches, newsletters and other publications.

SOKA GAKKAI DAY

May 3, Soka Gakkai Day, is the New Year’s Day of the Soka Gakkai. It is a day when we return to our vow from time without beginning and make a fresh commitment to work for kosen-rufu, our hearts blazing like the newborn sun.¹[It] is the starting point for making our lives and those of others shine even more brightly.²

May 3, 1951 … was the day that Mr. Toda became the second Soka Gakkai president and the Soka Gakkai cast off its transient aspect and revealed its true identity as a harmonious community of Bodhisattvas of the Earth. On that day, it launched a great struggle to realize kosen-rufu by compassionately spreading the Mystic Law.³

“At last, Mr. Toda has become president. This was the long-awaited, common wish of all his disciples. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.”⁴

May 3, 1960—I became the third Soka Gakkai president and, at the age of 32—one in spirit and action with my mentor—took leadership with the determination to advance our movement another step toward the substantive realization of kosen-rufu.³

[Sensei wrote in his diary that day] “Shall begin my lifetime battle to spread the Law… Must take leadership for kosen-rufu in a way that befits a general, a human being and a youth.”⁵

May 3 is a day illuminated by the flame of the Soka Gakkai spirit.⁶

A General Meeting was held on May 3, 1957 [and] Mr. Toda called out to us: “To just chant daimoku ourselves is not practicing in accord with the time. Practicing in accord with the time means sharing the Daishonin’s Buddhism with others.”^7,8

Our goal is to actualize the vision of Nichiren Daishonin and bring about lasting peace and prosperity for all humanity.⁹

The practice most suitable for this age is to actively go out and meet with others and help them forge a connection with Buddhism based on a spirit of compassion and an earnest desire to share the Mystic Law with them.⁸

It is impossible for me to advance kosen-rufu without fellow members who struggle alongside me for this cause. It is not me who is important, but the members.¹⁰

I therefore hope you will become champions of faith who never retreat a single step, and that you will continue to struggle valiantly together with me as we advance into the future.⁹

President Toda declared that the essence of the Soka Gakkai spirit is "to return to the time of the Daishonin." What he meant by this, he said, is for each of us to take the Daishonin's spirit as his own and strive to help others embrace faith in the Mystic Law and realize genuine happiness.²

3 May is a day infused with commitment, action, unity, gratitude, hope, victory, fresh departure and new progress.⁸

We of the Soka Gakkai always greet this day by renewing our vow and resolve for kosen-rufu. Our lives, therefore, blaze with the same powerful life force as [Nichiren].¹¹

Whatever trials may descend upon us, we, the members of Soka, always embark anew toward victory from the starting point of May 3 [and] with our sights set on the next May 3, we forge ahead determined to raise a brilliant banner proclaiming our complete victory.¹²

Let us ensure that this vow of May 3 - embodying the Soka Gakkai spirit and directly connected to the spirit of the Daishonin - is transmitted to the future and endures for all eternity.²

Successors of Soka— powerfully ring in a new renaissance,

where all humanity can reveal the life state of Buddhahood!¹³

SOKA GAKKAI MOTHER’S DAY

May 3 is also Soka Gakkai Mother’s Day. The sincere daimoku of our women’s members, ‘the mothers of kosen-rufu’… paved the way for writing a history of indestructible glory for May 3. It is vital that we always remember to have the deepest respect and gratitude for the power of faith and practice – the lofty prayers and efforts – of our great Soka women.⁶

Whenever I hear of the wonderful efforts of our women’s division and young women’s division members, I cannot help but think how delighted Nichiren Daishonin would be, how heartily he would praise and encourage them.¹⁴

The first Buddhist “women’s organization” can be traced back to the time of Shakyamuni. It began with women linked by the bonds of mentor and disciple, with a circle of good friends. They offered care and support to other women who were confronting the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and together forged hope-filled connections.

I am reminded of the vow that Queen Shrimala made in the presence of the Buddha in the Shrimala Sutra: “If I see lonely people, people who . . . have lost their freedom, people who are suffering from illness, disaster or poverty, I will not abandon them. I will bring them spiritual and material comfort.” It was a pledge to leave no one behind.¹⁵

“I am grateful beyond measure particularly to our dedicated women of Soka, who show care and concern for each person with a Buddha-like compassion.¹⁶

A society filled with the smiles of women, mothers, and children living in happiness and peace is the vision at the heart of the ideal of ‘establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land.’¹⁷

The bright, confident voices of our women’s division members and the vibrant, unaffected actions of our young women’s division members have the power to revitalize and positively transform everything around them.¹⁴

“Women of Soka— shining suns of a century of life—

Open the gateway to peace, lighting the way to a brighter future!”¹⁸

Resources

I put this document together using President Ikeda’s words from his Youthful Diary (in 1951 & 1960), a New Human Revolution account of May 1967, articles from the Seikyo Shimbun (in 2004 & 2010) and Daibyakurenge (in 2023), and newsletters from 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023.

1 Newsletter - NL10204SM (May 2019)

2 Newsletter - NL8982SM (May 2014)

3 Newsletter - NL11443XT (May 2023 Daibyakurenge)

4 A Youthful Diary, p11

5 Ibid, p502

6 Seikyo Shimbun (2 May 2004): https://www.worldtribune.org/2024/glorious-may-3/

7 Translated from Japanese. Josei Toda, Toda Josei Zenshu (1989), vol. 4, p. 535.

8 Newsletter - NL8538SG (June 2012)

9 New Human Revolution – Vol. 12, p7 (events of 3 May 1967)

10 Kosen Rufu: Our Mission: Volume 2, p50 (2004 article about May 3^rd)

11 World Tribune – 24 Sept. 2004 (p3, Message from 3 May 2004)

12 Seikyo Shimbun (3 May 2010) https://www.worldtribune.org/2020/shine-on-brilliantly-our-may-3/

Nichiren Buddhist

Tuesday, 29 April 2025

Renewing Our Vow on May 3rd