Part 3: Kosen-rufu and World Peace
Chapter 25: The Unity of “Many in Body, One in Mind” [25.6]

Unity of purpose is crucial in achieving anything worthwhile. President Ikeda emphasizes that it is especially important for leaders to respect their fellow members and work harmoniously with them. This, he says, will not only pave the way to kosen-rufu but allow everyone to enjoy lives filled with benefit and good fortune.

Nichiren Daishonin writes: “People can definitely attain their goal, if they are of one mind” (WND-1, 618).

Numbers are not the key to achieving goals, nor are titles or organizational positions. It all comes down to whether everyone can unite in purpose. Such unity provides a solid core for building a sound future.

Inability to achieve goals reflects an absence of the spirit of “many in body, one in mind.” This can be seen in leaders who think they’re all-important, that everything hinges on them, and who self-centeredly push ahead without conferring with and winning the agreement of others. Such an attitude can lead them to exploit the organization for their own personal gain—a behavior that is completely unacceptable in the realm of the Mystic Law.

It is crucial for our men’s, women’s, and youth division members to strive together in a spirit of mutual respect and trust. Young people have their own special qualities and strengths, and older members possess a rich fund of experience and wisdom.

Your SGI organizations in each country should hold executive conferences where, after everyone has had the opportunity to express their opinions and be heard, you decide on activities by consensus. Capricious, willful, autocratic behavior goes against the spirit of Buddhism.

The important thing is to get along and communicate well—that should be your guiding principle. Men’s division members should never patronize women’s division members or disregard the opinions of our youth division members. They should never emotionally reproach others merely because they feel their authority is questioned or their pride is wounded.

I hope you will always strive in a spirit of mutual respect and trust. Please be assured that when you warmly encourage one another and unite in one mind to work and advance together, you will build lives and ever-growing spheres of kosen-rufu that overflow with good fortune.

From a speech at an SGI general meeting, Tokyo, October 4, 1989.