FreshWrite is about my mentor who pssed away

Sometimes, gratitude wears the colours of sadness of clothes made of joy. 

This weekend, I have been thinking about how one ordinary man had such an extraordinary life that it touched millions of people so intimately and individually that his passing felt like losing a parent. 

Daisaku Ikeda, my life mentor, passed away peacefully on November 15th in Tokyo, surrounded by his immediate family. He was 95 years old. There was no fuss, but his family held a private funeral. We, who owe him a massive debt of gratitude, received the message late Saturday night.

Ikeda was the third president of the Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organisation founded in 1930 by his mentor, Josei Toda, and Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who was Toda's mentor. Ikeda took the baton of promoting peace, culture and education and fulfilled his mentor's wish to spread Buddhist humanism globally. He founded SGI (Soka Gakkai International) for that purpose in 1975. 

Under Ikeda's leadership, the organisation grew, and now we have over 12 million members globally in 192 countries. It was not a small feat for a man whose doctors told him that he would not live past thirty because of his tuberculosis and frail health. 

What does all this have to do with me?

I became a very active – and sceptical – Buddhist in October 1990. Being a curious person, I met a group of SGI members at the Coit Tower in San Francisco and asked them what they were doing there. They responded, 'We are having a picture-taking session to commemorate President Ikeda's first overseas trip and visit to the USA in 1960.' After that, I had to leave the group and rush to the airport to catch my flight to LA and back to Finland.

Coincidentally, my flight was cancelled, and at the airport, I was standing lost and not found (because, those days, I didn't have any credit cards), and I had spent my last dollars on the shuttle ride to the airport. But there was an announcement that we who had a connecting flight could book a charter flight to LA that was about to depart in 15 minutes. I ran to the counter and managed to get in.

The same happy and chatty SGI members I met at the Coit Tower filled the aeroplane. Coincident, my rear! I got a leaflet about the organisation Tina Turner on its cover, and once in Finland, I contacted the local members; ever since I have been a member.

President Daisaku Ikeda came into the picture when I wanted to learn more. His novel, Human Revolution, was his brilliant way to document the birth and growth of the Japanese organisation under the leadership of Toda after WWII. Because it was not in Finnish, I had to start learning English to find out more.

Night after night, I sat reading with a dictionary. I had to check every third word, but I kept going. I wanted to know more; I wanted to learn; I tried to find the secret of this remarkable man whom everybody called Sensei (teacher in Japanese). The first round of this, almost 2000 pages, took long, but I did it. Then, I started again to ensure I got every nugget of wisdom from the pages. I needed to use the dictionary less and less and kept reading. When I read it a third time, I didn't open the dictionary at all but let the content flow in me like pure water after a long drought into the barren land of my soul.

Daisaku Ikeda taught me not only English but also the essential Buddhist philosophical concepts, the movement's history, and what it means to make your human revolution – to transform your life from misery into unshakable happiness. He became the mentor of my life, and I keep going back to his writings almost daily.

Since those early days of my Buddhist practice, I have met Dr Daisaku Iekda a few times and listened to his lectures live. Every time, my encounter with him made me more of who I am and filled me with hope, determination and energy. The last time I met him was in 2010 in Tokyo. After that meeting, he withdrew from the public. That experience is one of the treasures of my life. It was great to be there with Sensei when he trusted the movement to the new generations. 

After no longer participating in the daily operations of the organisation he led so successfully, he completed his second series of the novelised history of the global movement under the name The New Human Revolution. He began writing it in 1993 and set himself a target of 30 volumes. He completed this colossal work a couple of years ago. 

Daisaku Ikeda was a global leader but a humble, ordinary man who touched the hearts of millions. His life was an extraordinary example of how you can transform your own life for the better and help others do the same. He met celebrities and political leaders, scientists, artists and thought leaders. He has written dozens of books, given thousands of lectures and received over 350 honorary doctorates from top universities globally. 

The phrase he wrote in the introduction of his first novel has been etched into my soul as an eternal light that always shone, giving hope when I have been down and almost lost:

“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.” – Daisaku Ikeda (1928-2023). 

I am still working on my human revolution, transforming my life, dreaming big, and becoming more of me. Thanks to Sensei, I have the tools to continue my journey and lean on the scaffolding he has built for me to stand tall and aim higher as an ordinary man, living an extraordinary life I once thought impossible. Without Sensei, I would not be writing these words of immense gratitude in a language I love and learned from reading his Human Revolution three decades ago.

RIP Sensei. I miss you, but you left your legacy with us to renew our spirits and shine like you so brightly. You gave us spiritual clothes woven with wisdom, wit and warmth – you were the tailor of exquisite life skills, and we wear them with pride and joy.  

I hope you have had the privilege and luxury to have a true mentor in your life.

Ngā Mihi

Jussi 

Book of the week: Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth & Death: . . . And Everything in Between, A Buddhist View Life

This is one of dozens of books written By Daisaku Ikeda. After reading The Human Revolution, I read this, and it is still one of my favourite books on Buddhism. 

Daisaku Ikeda has managed to distil the fundamental Buddhist concepts in an accessible and easy-to-understand way.

You can have it from Amazon here.

My articles from last week on Medium and Vocal