Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Osaka Campaign
Osaka Campaign
BREAKING BARRIERS!
“I will do it”
J ust how does one make one’s mentor’s vision a reality? The
answer lies in the actions of the disciple. How does a disciple
struggle to realise his or her mentor’s great desire to achieve
kosen-rufu? What were the thoughts of President Ikeda during
his youth?
The following entry dated
March 29, 1956 (Thursday) app-
ears in A Youthful Diary:
of his mentor’s great desire shines out clearly. The following is also
written. “The next three years … will determine the outcome of my
life.”
Two years after President Ikeda made this entry, his mentor
passed away. It was without a doubt the true moment of struggle.
Only one genuine disciple was aware that the time for kosen-rufu
had come, and “exerting one hundred million eons of effort in a
single life-moment”, he delved into the Osaka Campaign.
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“There are only two things which I should rely on, the Gohonzon
and the Gosho” (The Human Revolution).
President Ikeda started the struggle with study as the basis.
Both on his first day of battle in Osaka, January 4, and during his
second stay there (from January 14 to 16) he held energetic
office I saw him reading the Gosho at his desk. He was there
holding it with both hands, studying very intensely.
Having seen me hesitating as to what to say, he said,
“Thank you for your trouble,” then immediately went back to
his reading. I put the documents on the desk and left the office.
His attitude towards study made me realise the real meaning of
“a great swordsman’s discipline”.
**********
January 5. On the second day of his stay in Kansai, what was it that
President Ikeda did first with all his might? It was to give personal
guidance, which he engaged himself in from morning till night.
“The reason why Shin’ichi Yamamoto intended to give
heartfelt guidance to each Kansai member was that he knew it
was the key to winning all struggles. To achieve the most difficult
aim, first and foremost, the carrying out of each activity with a
full sense of joy is indispensable. To fulfil this, all the Kansai
members must stand up with faith, then it will be accomplished”
(The Human Revolution).
go and see at the station what will happen to you if you take up
this faith.” It was awful.
We needed two buckets of water to make a living and to
cook. The neighbours didn’t even give us that much water.
President Ikeda actually visited us in this tent.
After a while my husband, who had just returned from a
summer training course, said that when he met President Ikeda
and reported to him about living at the station, Sensei said, “I
know. I visited you there.” He even remembered our home at the
station.
**********
Reminiscing about those days, the then local leader said: “If
a local leader was young, he would team up with a senior leader
from Tokyo. If the local leader was senior in age, the leader from
Tokyo would be young. In this way, Sensei thought everything
out carefully. I was trained by his instruction, ‘One must bear in
mind the two keywords in handling human resources:
‘conservation’ and ‘innovation’. Soka Gakkai aims to put both
into practise. In order to win a victory, we must first be successful
with human resources.’”
**********
President Ikeda told leaders at the time about what counts in giving
guidance. He said, “When you talk at a big meeting, keep three
things in mind: first, talk about the benefits of taking faith. Second,
talk about hopes for a bright future. And third, talk about the
strictness of faith. The audience will become strained listening to a
difficult talk. But talking only about hope tends to sound fishy.
Therefore, it’s important to talk combining all three points.”
President Ikeda also advised leaders that they must be
capable of giving guidance in accordance with one’s own mind
(zuijii), as well as with the minds of others (zuitai).
“Leaders must conduct guidance sessions in accordance with
both one’s own mind and according to the minds of others. In the
beginning, you must be a good listener and follow the member’s
pace. This constitutes preaching in accordance with the minds of
others. Then, in turn, advise him to pray to the Gohonzon and
devote himself to Gakkai activities in order to change his karma.
This constitutes preaching according to one’s own mind. Leaders
must be able to use both methods.”
A cherry tree
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In January 1956, taking the lead and setting the finest example
himself, President Ikeda started to give members guidance to take
action. As a result, the energy of faith spread across each area of
Kansai.
“Giving members guidance in faith thoroughly for two
months awakened them to a sense of joy in their practice” (The
Human Revolution). At every meeting the number of members
gathering at a district was increasing remarkably.
In early March, a group of senior members were newly
dispatched. “The time to fight” was ripe at last.
Though he was extremely busy, President Ikeda took a train
every Friday to Osaka for the sake of Kansai’s victory. He stayed in
Kansai mainly on Saturdays and Sundays. At Kansai headquarters,
he led the members in gongyo early in the morning and gave
guidance centred on the Gosho. He also gave guidance on how to
practise. These meetings were eventually named ‘Early Morning
Gosho Lectures’.
[To be continued]
One local leader reminisced that President Ikeda was strict with
leaders. Sensei’s guidance was based on the Gosho passage, “For
example, if a commanding general is fainthearted, his soldiers will
become cowards” (WND-1, 464). He went on to say, “Because
you try hard to fulfil your responsibilities as a leader, you can
manifest the power of faith and the power of practise. Likewise,
the power of faith and practise will bring forth the power of the
Buddha and the power of the Law. When the mentor is near,
everyone will practise in earnest. Yet the true disciple is one who
makes serious efforts when the mentor is away.”
Referring to this Gosho passage — “The situation is like the
joints in a piece of bamboo: if one joint is ruptured, then all the
joints will split” (WND-1, 512) — President Ikeda said: “If the
central figure gives in, his organisation will end up losing. Soka
Gakkai leaders should shoulder the responsibility for leading
each and every member towards happiness. Leaders must take
action on their own initiative towards that end.
“Everything falls into the ultimate law of life and death.
Growth leads to life, while retreat leads to death. Therefore, the
Daishonin says, ‘Strengthen your faith day by day and month
after month. Should you slacken in your resolve even a bit, devils
will take advantage’” (WND-1, 997).
...you had better cut short your sleep at night and curtail
your leisure by day, and ponder this! You must not
spend your lives in vain and regret it for ten thousand
years to come (WND-1, 622).
Ikeda Sensei: Let’s carry out a fight without any regrets.
Let’s do our best together. This is going to be the first
historic struggle in Kansai. If you ‘cut short your sleep’
then you have engaged in the struggle earnestly.
**********
Once he realised his real nature, a joyous feeling surged from within
himself. From the following day, he worked to his heart’s content.
After that, President Ikeda never again made this comment to him.
To receive Sensei’s guidance with your mind is one thing. To
understand it with your whole being is quite another. You can
work in perfect harmony only when you chant daimoku
vigorously and make a resolve.
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Every member was poor. We could not even serve him tea
or refreshments. Still, President Ikeda listened to each member
attentively, asking in a frank manner, “How many children do
you have?”
All of us were deeply impressed. One Youth Division member
who was deeply moved by President Ikeda’s attitude said, “President
Ikeda, shall I massage your shoulders?” We were like a family.
From then on, every member walked around doing
shakubuku with joy, from morning till night. As a result, we
shakubukued 73 households in just one month. We were so
surprised with the results.
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It had been decided that the Joint General Meeting of Osaka and
Sakai chapters would be held in the Osaka stadium on April 8,
1956 and that Toda Sensei would participate in that meeting. All
the Kansai members wanted to do their best because Toda Sensei
was coming.
Despite torrential rains, all the 20,000 participants who filled the
ballpark for the joint meeting were undaunted. The “torch of
faith” lit by President Ikeda could not be extinguished by the rain.
Members of Kansai developed a strong conviction after the
general meeting. “We can do anything if we are determined.” Now
they knew that there was nothing impossible for them as long as they
followed President Ikeda’s guidance (cf. The Human Revolution).
But no one knew at the time that the heavy rain would seriously
affect President Ikeda’s health as he was suffering from exhaustion.
“Day and night I reported every little thing about our battles to
President Toda, while I made a tireless effort to carry out many
things for the victory,” writes President Ikeda (cf. The Human
Revolution).
Mr Shiraki, then Osaka chapter chief, says, “President
Ikeda reported each result of the struggle to President Toda over
the phone. When we saw President Ikeda on the phone, he
would sit up straight, as if President Toda was actually in front
of him.”
“Everything begins and ends with the mentor-disciple
relationship” (cf. Thoughts on ‘The New Human Revolution’).
This is the foundation of the “Ever-victorious Kansai” spirit.
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I WOULD FEEL TERRIBLY SORRY FOR THE MEMBERS OF KANSAI
IF WE ARE DEFEATED
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A CAPABLE PERSON IS AN IMPORTANT
TREASURE OF GAKKAI
How was “the heart of eternal victory” engraved into the heart
of Kansai members? This spirit was developed through a close
relationship between President Ikeda and the members.
The warmhearted bonds between President Ikeda and the
Kansai members are tied by human-to-human interchange, an
atmosphere where people could talk freely about anything they
wanted to. President Ikeda strengthened the faith of many
members through frank conversations with them.
told that the children of the house were sleeping in the closet because
the family didn’t have enough space to accommodate members.
“You will eventually live in a house with lots of space, enough
to have a study room too,” President Ikeda said. In addition to this
guidance, he penned a poem to encourage the children.
Two years later, the family’s wish became true and they
moved to a larger house.
Win by chanting
[To be continued]
Wholehearted hospitality
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There were some new members who were swayed by the false
articles written against the Gakkai. After the early morning
Gosho study meeting, President Ikeda asked the leaders of each
area how the members were doing. One of them answered,
“This incident has affected us tremendously. Some members
have left us.”
President Ikeda asked the same question of another leader;
“I’m afraid there is some influence.” And he asked yet another
leader, who answered, “The members are quite frightened.”
At that moment, President Ikeda pointed out in a clear and tense
voice. “What are you talking about? It’s you who is frightened!”
Last, he asked one more leader. The leader answered, “You
don’t have to worry!” After hearing this, President Ikeda said,
“Right. Just as the Daishonin said, ‘Nichiren’s disciples cannot
accomplish anything if they are cowardly’ (WND-1, 481). You
should tackle problems at lightning speed.”
11,111 HOUSEHOLDS
Signs of victory
Full of vitality
Members from local areas with application cards rushed into the
rooms of the statistics division at the Kansai Headquarters. The
numbers had been increasing by hundreds every day. The
headquarters was filled with heat as if it was mid-summer, even
though it was still May. “I’ll never forget members who came
rushing in with cards, their expressions full of vitality,” says a
person who was then a member of the organisational statistics
division.
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FOCUS ON
ENCOURAGEMENT
TO MEMBERS!
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President Ikeda, even after making the rounds of the local meeting
places, always sent postcards, letters or poems to members, to
continuously encourage them, writing:
The letter said, “The great fight of this century is for the
Mystic Law. Please take a brilliant lead as a great soldier. Please
treasure your work and your wife.”
He was taken aback. It reminded him of the Second
President Toda’s guidance — “How is your work?” “There are
no problems. I entrusted it to others.” “You shouldn’t leave your
work to others. Work is a part of practising faith. You have to
take responsibility for it yourself.”
That night he apologised to his family for his behaviour and
pinned a large piece of paper on a wall in his house, pledging to
achieve his human revolution. On the paper was written this
message: “We, the Okamoto family, have been saved and
fostered by the Soka Gakkai. We will never forget this debt of
gratitude.”
Day-and-night struggle
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‘STILLNESS IN MOVEMENT’
Listen to music
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three bicycles one after the other as each bicycle broke down
during the Osaka Campaign.
One time, Sensei was resting after visiting six meeting
places. One of the members who was good at massaging tried
to take the stiffness out of Sensei’s shoulders, but they proved
too stiff to relieve.
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rather than desiring to attain fame for myself, only hope that
all the Kansai members, without exception, will become
happy.”
Uttering these words, Sensei departed from Osaka.