SGI PRESIDENT IKEDA’S POEM
—With Deep Appreciation for All the Noble Mothers of the World
—Praying for the Happiness of All Women
By Shin’ichi Yamamoto [the name President Ikeda uses for his character in the Human
Revolution novels]
I know
And you know
The secret
To why we were born with
a shared destiny
As human beings
And became friends of
profound connection
And comrades in faith.
In our own unique way,
You and I
Strive to fulfill
The wondrous dream
And the wondrous mission
That pervade our lives
Across eternity.
We decisively embrace hope,
We feel no anxiety.
Toiling with every ounce of our beings,
Our hearts sing,
We who have stood up
For world peace,
For a philosophy of happiness
Based on the eternity of life.
Though nameless ordinary people,
We will be remembered in history
Under the noble name,
Victory.
My home
Is humble, but
It is one of true humanity,
Filled with many resolute dreams.
This is
My greatest source of pride.
I have no need
To look in a clouded mirror.
With the power to change my karma,
A bright future awaits me;
Once colored by a bleak outlook
on life,
The past and all its attendant
sufferings
Have now vanished.
I am living my life.
I am free of anguished dreams.
With high spirits,
I live in and gaze upon
A beautiful earthly kingdom.
I have many
Wonderful friends.
I have many
Wonderful books.
My life is removed
From the pitiful self-conceited.
Not for me
A life of vanity
That brings only darkness.
I will not fall into those insidious
Hidden traps.
We who gravitate toward happiness and good
Are greeted by friends who sympathize with our ideals,
Always respecting the beauty
within us,
And by a paradise tremulous
with hope.
Our doubt and anxiety
Toward a society rife with
contradictions
Have been replaced by
an unshakable faith
That we have always longed for.
We have won!
Our unimaginably painful struggles
Have also given way
To a state of life
In which we gaze upon all
from a lofty height.
Nichiren Daishonin writes,
“A woman who embraces
The lion king of the Lotus Sutra
Never fears any of the beasts of hell
Or of the realms of hungry spirits
and animals.”
(The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 949).
We are saddened
That many people
Lead miserable existences,
Allowing themselves
To be dragged about
In the pitch-black darkness
of delusion,
Slavishly following force of habit.
Our lives
Are always a vibrant dawn.
They are a realm
Of mothers’ youthful affection,
Forever harkening to morning’s song
Drenched in golden sunlight
And golden rain.
The eternal and unique power
of mothers.
Their great presence
Is more powerfully attractive
Than any adventurer.
Women are truth incarnate.
Mothers are victory personified.
No matter how they may be deceived
Or attacked by devilish forces,
They command the power to,
In the end, adamantly indict
the offender.
With mental wheels of wisdom
ever spinning,
They possess the courage to
see through deception.
This awe-inspiring beauty
Is the strength of mothers, of women,
That fills their lives with happiness.
Come!
The century of women
Has dawned,
The sun rises on the horizon.
Instead of the pallid,
Dim light of old,
Now the fiercely burning sun
Has begun to light the way ahead
For these extraordinary mothers.
These praiseworthy mothers
Must never be imprisoned
By the iron bars of misery.
Let us all live noble lives,
Brimming with golden affection,
Comforting these mothers in
their loneliness
And strongly supporting and
protecting each other!
Let us make mothers the queens
Of this empire of supreme happiness.
And
With a stylus,
Let us inscribe an epitaph
In tribute to these mothers
As great immortal nameless actors.
O the century of women!
Now we close the curtain
On a long history of misfortune,
Letting it sink
Beneath the tides of time,
And allowing a drama
Of genuine human happiness
To unfold without end.
Repeatedly
Throughout past ages,
An unjustifiable history
Of sadness
Has flowed continuously,
Like so much flotsam,
In the beautiful hearts of mothers.
No matter what insult
We suffer in society,
Our vision is
To vanquish without fail
The shadowy knaves of hell
And create everywhere
A world abloom with the flowers
Of love and laughter
Of mothers, those heavenly beings.
There are people who grow jealous
At the sight of others’wealth.
Jealousy has the power
Of a devil’s sword
To make people unhappy.
There are those who grow jealous
At the sight of mothers
enjoying success,
And who resort to spreading
false rumors,
Inflicting pain and anguish
On these golden-hearted ones.
But
Mothers are made of
greater substance.
They possess a profound,
abiding strength.
That is why
They pay no heed
To petty rumors or malicious gossip.
We must change this base, arrogant,
Almost insane society in which we live,
And
With a new spirit,
With a new philosophy,
Create an age
Which eternally honors mothers.
This
Is the century of women,
A wise person said.
Even if they are poor,
Even if they are sick,
Even if they have lost their partners,
In the dauntless hearts of mothers,
Citadels of happiness and victory
Are forged.
The Daishonin said,
“The woman who upholds the
Lotus Sutra
Is like clear water,
In which the moon of
Shakyamuni Buddha
Is reflected” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1395)
Mothers!
Clever mothers.
Mothers!
Gentle mothers.
Mothers!
Unlearned mothers.
Mothers!
Nagging mothers.
Mothers!
Wise mothers.
Mothers!
Mothers of strong faith.
Mothers!
Unaffected and talkative mothers.
But
In the hearts of mothers
Who have been buffeted by storms,
There is always
Fresh and passionate
Determination and love
Born of profound life experience.
Mothers unadorned
By expensive jewels—
Who instead wear only
A simple brooch,
Far from regal,
Yet rich in sentimental value.
Even so,
Stroking
Their children’s heads,
They possess the beauty of triumph,
Ever shining,
Towering over a life of misery,
And even more a life of folly.
Mothers!
You are great uncrowned queens of life
Living with a firm purpose
That nothing can destroy—
A life which shines
With awesome beauty.
The youthfulness of a mother
Who turns up at a meeting
In a hastily borrowed blouse
Of her daughter’s.
The endearing mother who,
After borrowing her daughter’s
high heels
With a quick “I’m sorry,”
Rushes to a meeting,
Only to complain for a week after
About how much her feet hurt!
Yet she doesn’t make
a single complaint
About not being able to afford
A new pair of shoes for herself,
She lives so frugally
That it is touching.
Late returning from a meeting,
She is scolded unreasonably
by her partner,
But she retains her dignity
And defends herself ably, saying:
“It’s for the sake of justice and
our good fortune”—
With a skill outrivaling
Any politician on the House floor.
The confident spirit of a mother,
Who is the embodiment of love itself.
Like the Count of Monte Cristo,
She finally draws an admission from her partner,
“All right, all right, I was wrong.”
A mother whom all praise
As being more eloquent
Than any prime minister.
Though her partner the scholar,
Her son the student,
And her daughter the genius,
Start out thinking they can best
Her in an argument,
In the end
They are no match
For her intelligence and wisdom.
The proud mother retorts:
“That is an argument
You’ve learned somewhere,
But it is not real life.
It has no flesh or blood.
Words you’ve read are just pouring
From your heads.
I am waging a real-life struggle
For survival
In daily life,
In actual society.
That’s why I am strong.”
As Goethe said:
“Trust in life!
It teaches us more
Than any orator or book can!”
How true!
Mothers
Are fearless.
They are invincible victors
Who have won the quintessential
triumph
Of the human spirit.
A famous poet asserted
That this formula—
In every time and place—
Is the hidden essence of
Human history.
Though a mother may
Be bedridden, exhausted and feverish,
She says to others,
“Please take care.”
Though no one pampers her,
She encourages
Her partner and children,
and her friends.
How noble these actions of
the Bodhisattva!
The infinite strength of mothers who,
Even if they have lost their partners,
Live courageously,
Like the immortal phoenix,
Working actively
Amid the harsh realities of society.
Children grow up
Looking at the example of
their mothers.
That is without a doubt
An eternal truth.
The century of women
Is truly a period
Of the ripening of democracy.
Elections are the first step
To the sovereignty of the people.
Elections are the right of all citizens
And their duty.
For the sake of kosen-rufu as well,
For the unbounded expansion
Of those who share our ideals,
Let us carry out a cheerful struggle
To redraw the face
Of Japan.
Mothers, living in the real world,
Work tirelessly to advocate our cause,
Talking cheerfully about many issues.
A learned scholar has praised
their efforts
As a movement to realize
True sovereignty of the people.
Seemingly foolish yet wise mothers.
Seemingly cranky yet pure-hearted mothers.
Mothers who, though on occasion
Incur people’s dislike,
Can be counted on in a crisis.
Mothers who put on airs
But privately reflect on their own folly.
Mothers whose lives are modest
But whose hearts
Are as rich as billionaires.
Mothers who are like queens.
Mothers who, deceived by seemingly valid arguments
Despite glaring contradictions,
Stubbornly set about proving
The righteousness of their position.
And mothers without children,
They, too, are not lonely in the least, exclaiming,
“I have so many friends;
There are so many young people
in my life
Who will carry on in the future.”
And, with cheerful laughter,
They say serenely:
“There are too many people in Japan,
Too many people on our planet.
We don’t need so many people!”
When mother is in a good mood,
Everyone is bright and happy,
Like the sun.
When mother is irritated,
It is like a sad and lonely night
Lashed by cold winds and heavy rain.
Glad when her children’s
grades go up,
Sad when her children’s
grades go down,
But in the end, she gives up and,
Turning the report card upside down,
Smiles and says with humor,
“Now these are good grades!”
Mothers who know
The rules for living
Honest and decent lives
With a spirit of generosity, enthusiasm
And diligence.
Mothers who treasure
Boys and girls who have no hope
or love
As if they were her own.
And life’s quintessential mothers,
Always strict yet compassionate,
Who, when children are suffering
Through disaster or disease,
Search for the cause
And fight against inhumanity.
The compassion of mothers
Who can love
Children who have lost hope
And been abandoned by society
As if they were their own.
Idealistic mothers
Filled with courage
Who, like great liberators,
Extend staunch protection to children
Who have fallen into cruel,
human hells.
These uncrowned mothers
Are far, far greater
Than those who stand
In the vanguard of the revolutions
Of the world’s renowned thinkers.
They are greater
Than any eminent political leader,
Yet nations do not bestow
Upon these mothers
Even a single medal.
O the courage of mothers
Who carry out orderly humanitarian efforts
In the cause of justice,
Naturally and without pretension,
On the world stage.
A certain distinguished educator noted
That even the president of a country
Has the highest respect for mothers.
I agree.
This is life.
This is humanity.
Those whose hearts
Are ruled by Animality
Are pitiful wretches
Who have strayed
From the path of humanity.
Mothers who are natural pacifists,
Opposed to war.
Mothers who hate cruel deception.
O the inner flame of love
With which mothers make their way
Through life’s sorrows and
disappointments,
Hurt by their partners,
Or weeping over the delinquency
of their children!
The vast, expansive realm
Of Buddhahood,
That enables all mothers
To lead truly happy lives
Is a global, borderless nation
Of genuine happiness.
There can be no discrimination
Among mothers.
Just because one has a luxurious house,
Or money,
Or social status,
Or smart children,
Or a partner with a prestigious job,
Or a noble lineage—
All such things
Are completely irrelevant.
Being alive
Is itself
The greatest joy.
This is true happiness.
This is a mother’s wish.
Not wealth.
Not honors.
Not vanity.
Not fame.
Not social status.
A true mother—
No matter how humble her existence,
Her love as a mother
Shines.
This is an eternal
And indestructible treasure.
There are occasionally
Mothers
Who commit terrible acts,
But this springs from immaturity;
It is not the true reality of motherhood.
Children
Respect their mothers
When they see
The beautiful way they exert
themselves
On behalf of others in society.
Mothers
Are the primeval sun.
And
Our deceased mothers
Are always alive in our hearts.
We converse with them
Throughout our lives.
Mothers desire
A world of eternal harmony and peace.
In Buddhism,
This is called kosen-rufu.
To achieve this
The SGI women’s division members
Have launched a momentous struggle.
The history
Of this strong and beautiful alliance
Now marks its glorious 50th year,
Now marks its proud 50th anniversary.
At times scolded by their seniors,
At times teased by their juniors,
At times criticized by people in
their community,
At times abused by their next-door neighbors,
At times ridiculed by their
old school friends
As “religious fanatics”—
Amidst all this,
They have worked tirelessly
To realize world peace,
The dream of all humanity.
This is the reality
Of our noble and lofty women’s
division members.
If the Buddha’s teachings are true,
How highly these hard-working women
Must be praised
By all Buddhas and bodhisattvas
Throughout the three existences
And ten directions.
The citadel of life that brings
Eternal prosperity, glory and victory
To their families and relatives
Is without a doubt
Everlasting and indestructible.
I have won.
You have won.
We have definitely won!
That is the declaration
Of the Daishonin and Shakyamuni Buddha.
We do not need
The praise of fools.
We do not need
The praise of the envious.
The wonderful praise
Of the Buddhas and heavenly deities
Is shining brightly,
Enfolding our mothers’ lives
In its brilliant illumination.
Our mothers are strong,
Our mothers are wise,
Our mothers have won!
May 8, 2001
In commemoration of Mother’s Day
And the 50th anniversary of the women’s division
SGI President Ikeda is recognized throughout the world as a poet laureate.
