Why the Soka Spirit?

Achieving kosen-rufu, from one perspective, is a war of words. We struggle to convince people of the truth of this Buddhism through the words we speak and write. And we have all probably experienced just how hard this can be, whether in explaining our Buddhist practice to our family members or in discussing matters regarding Nichiren Shoshu.

We have worked especially hard over the last several years to find the best words to spell out the temple issue: the SGI's stance toward Nichiren Shoshu's determined efforts to confuse people about Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. Sometimes we have used language that has been too emotional, and our point has been lost on our listeners. Other times, we have not emphasized the seriousness of the issue enough; our way of introducing it has caused people to see it as unrelated to their daily practice.

We have learned that there are certain words and terms that we must be careful to explain fully or use sparingly or even avoid. If we say that the priesthood is evil, for instance, it helps to explain what we mean each time by the word evil; we have to share how the Daishonin uses this word to refer to priests who promote distorted versions of Buddhism.

A few years ago, many members expressed dissatisfaction with the term temple issue. They felt that it did not reflect our spiritual basis for this movement. Temple issue did not really capture what we are doing, they argued. This is why, in December 1999, SGI-USA's Central Executive Committee adopted Soka Spirit, a name that New York members had come up with, as a suggested new name for this movement.

The name Soka Spirit derives from the "Soka Gakkai spirit" that SGI President Ikeda often cites. After all, educating people about Nichiren Shoshu's true intent is synonymous with the Soka Gakkai spirit to counter selflessly any forces that threaten this Buddhism and to make sure that we protect the Law for the people, for the future, based on the example set for us by the Daishonin. This has been the spirit of the successive Soka Gakkai presidents, who have withstood great persecution, including unjust imprisonment, for their kosen-rufu activities.

Our war of words must always begin with the resolve to make the Soka Gakkai spirit our own, to live the Soka Gakkai spirit, to move with this spirit.

This one sentence sums up what Soka Spirit is all about:

It is to continue, to the best of our ability with our words, with our hearts, with our actions the struggle for the Law in America. (Originally published, World Tribune, Feb. 18, 2000)