That would go against the true nature of hope, which is to move from within to without, from one person to another and another in wider and wider circles. In Ikeda’s view, hope is nothing like a secret you keep to yourself. It was not until after the war, when Ikeda first met his teacher, Josei Toda, that he heard the clear message that hope exists within-that he himself, at age nineteen, was a great hope for the future. Fortunately, his father found out and put a quick stop to it. Without telling his parents, Ikeda volunteered to serve in the youth air corps, in which he would likely have become a Kamikaze. The majority of what Ikeda heard in school was how great it was to be Japanese, a “superior race,” and how great it was to serve, even sacrifice one’s life for, the Japanese emperor. You may be weak now, but you’re sure to grow strong someday” (pp. It’s supposed to dislike salt, wind, and sandy soil, like what we have around here, but still it blooms and bears fruit every year. He shares in Hope Is a Decision how his mother once likened him to the pomegranate tree growing in their yard: “Look at that pomegranate tree. Ikeda probably never heard anything specifically like this hopeful message as a child, unless it was from his mother, who had a simple way of encouraging a boy who so often struggled with illness. He also wants young people to know that they themselves are hope-the aforementioned hope of the nation, for instance. Ikeda clearly wants young people to realize this basic point: No one is going to “give you hope,” and no one can ever take your hope away once you have it. But for Ikeda, the external cannot do anything for the individual unless the hope has already been waiting there, even if deep inside, unless the hope is part of our human DNA.Īt the same time, according to Ikeda, nothing external can ever completely extinguish hope-no terrible family situation, no bad teacher, no horrific experience. Of course, external influences, like caring parents, great teachers, and empowering experiences are crucial to awaken or strengthen this inner hope. Ikeda views the true source of hope as the internal life of the individual. His response was this inspiring look at what he sees as Daisaku Ikeda’s seven most essential teachings on hope, especially as they relate to young people. Of all the themes considered in these selected essays, it was the theme of hope that stood out the most, thus inspiring the book’s title, "Hope Is a Decision." Because the last year has been marked by so much conflict, polarization, and even despair, we asked our former publications manager Jeff Farr, who co-edited the project, to reflect on Daisaku Ikeda’s philosophy of hope and to share his thoughts with us.
Editor's introduction: Over the course of 2016 and early 2017, the Ikeda Center’s Dialogue Path Press worked with Middleway Press to produce a compilation of Daisaku Ikeda’s writings, arranged around major themes such as hope and happiness, friendship and poetry, good and evil, and life and death.
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