A Piece of Mirror and Other Essays

Description

Daisaku Ikeda was born in Tokyo, Japan, on january 2. 1928, the fifth of eight children, to a family of seaweed farmers. As a teenager he lived through the devastation of World War II, and its senseless horror left an indelible mark on his life. His four older brothers were drafted into military service; the eldest was killed in action. These experiences, along with the human suffering and turmoil he witnessed during and after the war, continue to fuel his lifelong quest to root out the fundamental causes of human conflict and build a lasting peace. In 1947, at the age of 19, he met Josei Toda (1900-1958), educator and 2nd president of the Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist society whose activities are based on the philosophy of the 13-century Buddhist teacher and reformer, Nichiren. Ikeda found in Toda an open and unaffected person, a man of unshakeable conviction with a gift for explaining profound Buddhist concepts in logical, accessible terms. He displayed an insatiable thirst for knowiedge and, despite poverty, ill health and full-time work, he continued his studies under the tutelage of Toda who became his lifelong mentor. ISBN:9789833152230