Not Relaxing For A Moment

“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation, and further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.” With this as his main theme, Daisaku Ikeda wrote his twelve-volume account of Josei Toda’s life and the phenomenal growth of the Soka Gakkai in postwar Japan. This work paints a fascinating and empowering story of the far-reaching effects of one person’s inner determination. Josei Toda’s awakening and transformation, his efforts to teach others the unlimited power of faith, his dedication in leading thousands out of misery and poverty, the efforts of his devoted disciple Shin’ichi Yamamoto—within these stories we find the keys for building lives of genuine happiness. (Please return here each Wednesday for a new passage.)

Excerpts from Volume 9, Rising Tide Chapter, pp. 1249-50

The monthly conversion target of fifteen thousand households that she proposed equaled nearly 10 percent of the Soka Gakkai’s strength at that time. It seemed to be too great a goal, but no one flinched. They remembered how two months earlier, the Soka Gakkai had won a decisive victory in the Otaru debate. In April it had successfully sent all but one of its fifty-four candidates into metropolitan, municipal and ward assemblies. The two consecutive victories made the members burn with even more exhilaration than before. The organization at all levels showed a strong tendency toward expansion.

Toda perceived that the tide was rising. If he gave the members a specific target, the attainment of three hundred thousand households by the end of the year would be almost a certainty. He had assumed the presdency in May 1951, with three thousand members signing their names to the list of supporters. In only four years, the organization found itself riding this rising tide. This pleased him more than anything else. He foresaw that his lifelong goal—a membership of 750,000 households—would be attained in several years. He must be even more alert than before, he told himself; he must not relax his guard for even a moment.