ONMENTORANDDI

SCI
PLE

Goodmor ningever
yone,wewelcomey oual
ltothisbeaut
if
ulmorni
ng.I
t’
sa
matterofgr eathappi
ness,pr
ideandf atethatweal lhavegather
edto
rd
cel
ebrat
eDi st
ri
ctGeneralmeeting commemor ati
ng May3 -TheSoka
GakkaiDay-ANewYear’ sDayofSGI.
Sincetodayisadayofprofoundsi
gni
fi
cancef
orallofus,
wehav
edeci
ded
totakeupt heconcept,whi
chsumsupt hespi
ri
tofMay3.Aconcepton
“MentorandDisci
ple”
Tounder
standclearl
yinsi
mpletermstherelat
ionshi
pbet
weenament or
anddi
sci
ple,l
etustakeupt
hisconcepti
nquesti
onsandanswerf
ormat

Q.Whydoweref
ertoPresi
dentI
kedaas“
ment
or”or“
Sensei
”?Iwoul
dli
ke
t
oknowmoreabouthi
m.
A.1)Pr esi
dentIkeda,aBuddhistphilosopher,peacebui
l
der
,educat
or,
authorand poet,isthe t
hir
d presi
dentofSoka Gakkaiand foundi
ng
presi
dentofSokaGakkaiI
nter
nat
ional(SGI)
2)“
Sensei
”inJapanesemeans“
teacher
”or“
ment
or”
3)Thement
or–di
sci
plespi
ri
tist
hel
i
febl
oodofBuddhi
sm.
4)Presi dentI kedai sregardedasourment orbecauseofhi sprofound
understandingofBuddhi sm andthegreatactualproofhehasshowninhis
ownlifet hroughpr acti
cingt
hisli
fephi
losophycor r
ectl
y.Hehaschangedis
fi
nancial karma, heal
thkarmaandl i
festatecompletely
.
5)Iti
sduet oPresi
dentIkeda’
str
emendouseffor
tsandencouragementwe
havebeenabletoapplywr i
ti
ngsofNi
chir
enDaishonincor
rectl
yinourl
ives,
exper
iencethegreatpowerofBuddhahood.Andtransf
orm ourdest
ini
esto
becomet r
ulyhappy.
Q.Whyi
sitnecessar
ytohav
eament
ori
nBuddhi
sm?
1)Asaclassi
snotacl
asswi
thoutat
eacher
,soapr
act
icei
snot
hing
wit
houta“
ment
or”
2)Ament orai
dsthedevel
opmentofhisdi
scipl
e,empower
shi
m,bel
i
eves
i
nhim andencour
agehimtouncoverhi
svastpotent
ial
3)Thedi
sci
plel
ear
nsf
rom t
hement
orhowt
opr
act
iceBuddhi
sm cor
rect
ly.
4)Thebestpar tinSokaGakkaii
sthatment
oranddi
sci
plest
andsonan
equalfoot
ing,shar
ingthesamegoalofmaki
ngpeopl
ehappythr
ought
he
pract
iceofmy st
icLaw.
5)Mor
eover,amentori
nBuddhism teacheshisdisci
plet
hecor
rectwayof
l
if
e.Amentorinf
ait
hguidesusalongtherightpat
h
6)Thosewhohaveament orinlif
ear
efor
tunat
e.I
fwedonothav
ea
gui
dingst
art
henwebecomeaimless
7)I
tisbyint
ernali
zingthementor
’sspi
ri
t;t
hedi
sci
plegr
owsanddev
elops
bey
ondhisself
-percei
vedli
mit
s.
Q.HowcanIr el
atet
oament
orwhoi
ssof
arawayandwhom Ihav
enev
er
metorseen?
1)Thementor-
disci
plerel
ati
onshipi
nSGIi
snotanemot
ionalone,nori
sit
basedonphysi
calnearnesst
ot hement
or
2)I
tisar
elat
ionshi
pdependentont
heseeki
ngspi
ri
toft
hedi
sci
ple.
3)Thr
oughreadi
ngSenseiwrit
ings,gui
dance’
sonr egul
arbasi
s,appl
yi
ng
eachwor
dandchanti
ngst r
onglytoseekSenseiandunderst
andhisheart
wewil
lbeabl
etoconnectwit
hourment orwit
houtev
enhav et
oseehim.
4)Whatconnectst
heheart
softhement
oranddi
sci
ple,
ist
hegr
eatv
owt
o
accompl
ishkosenruf
u,t
hati
s,t
ohel
ppeopl
ebecomehappy.
Q.Whyar
ethet
hreepr
esi
dent
sref
err
edt
oaset
ernalment
orsofKosen
Ruf
u?
1) The three founding presi
dents of the Soka Gakkai-
Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi
,JoseiTodaandDai sakuIkeda-hav
eselfl
essl
yspreadtheMy st
ic
Law and have est abl
ished and expanded the worl
d ofSoka Gakkai
thr
oughoutthewor l
d.
2)Weof ferappreci
ati
onandgrat
it
udet
othem andhonourthem aset
ernal
mentorsast heyhaveinher
it
edandspr
eadtheLaw,passi
ngitontofutur
e
gener
ations.
3)Sinceourbondwi t
hourmentorIkedaSenseii
skar
micandet
ernal,i
tis
alsoourresponsi
bil
i
tytoeter
nali
zesokagakkaimovementbyspreading
theLawforhumanity’
shappi
ness

Q.Whati
sonenessofMent
orandDi
sci
ple?
1)Theonenessofment
oranddi
sci
plei
sthekeyt
ovi
ctor
yinl
i
feandi
n
Buddhi
sm
2)Fol
lowi
ngthepathofmentoranddi
sci
pleenabl
esust
olear
nhow t
o
pr
acti
ceBuddhi
sm cor
rect
ly
3)Theonenessofment
oranddisci
plel
i
esi nful
fi
ll
ingthegreatVow t
o
accompl
i
shKosenRufu-tohel
potherst
ransfor
mt heirst
ateofli
feand
becomehappy.
4)Pract
ical
l
yspeaki
ng,li
vingthegr
eatVow meanstoreadthementor’
s
gui
danceandtakeact
ionbasedonit-
whichi
stochantNam MyohoRenge
Kyoandwor kf
ort
hehappinessofot
hers
5)Wemaychantal otandworkver
yhardf
orKosenr
ufubuti
fwedonot
haveourment orinourheartsandar
enottaki
ngacti
onbasedont he
mentor’
s gui
dance,then we wi
l
lnotbe abl
eto make anysi
gni
fi
cant
progr
ess
6)Wearel
inkedwi t
hSenseii
nthedept
hsofourhear
tst
otheext
entwe
pr
ayandworkforkosenr
ufu.
Solet
’smakethespir
itofonenessofment
oranddi
sci
plecor
espiri
tofour
l
iv
es,chantear
nest
lytoseekSenseiandmakehi
sVowandheartourown.
Letshav
efai
thdi
rect
lyconnect
edt
oSenseiandbr
ingv
ict
orycheer
sinour
l
ives.
Thanky
ou