If teacher and disciple are of different minds, they will never accomplish anything.

Flowering and Bearing Grain, WND, 909

Written to Joken-bo and Gijo-bo in April 1278 from Minobu

If lay believers and their teacher pray with differing minds, their prayers will be as futile as trying to kindle a fire on water. Even if they pray with one mind, their prayers will go unanswered if they have long made the error of attacking greater teachings with lesser ones. Eventually, both lay believers and their teacher will be ruined.

The Eight Winds, WND, 795

Written to Shijo Kingo in 1277 from Minobu

The Nirvana Sutra states: "If even a good monk sees someone destroying the teaching and disregards him, failing to reproach him, to oust him or to punish him for his offense, then you should realize that that monk is betraying the Buddha's teaching. But if he ousts the destroyer of the Law, reproaches him, or punishes him, then he is my disciple and a true voice-hearer." You should etch deeply in your mind the two words "see" and "disregard" in the phrase "sees someone destroying the teaching and disregards him, failing to reproach him." Both teacher and followers will surely fall into the hell of incessant suffering if they see enemies of the Lotus Sutra but disregard them and fail to reproach them.

The Essentials for Attaining Buddhahood, WND, 747

Written to Soya Jiro Hyoe-no-jo Kyoshin on Aug. 8, 1276 from Minobu

The Sutra states, "Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers," and "If one stays close to the teachers of the Law, one will speedily gain the bodhisattva way. By following and learning from these teachers one will see Buddhas as numerous as Ganges sands."

The Essentials for Attaining Buddhahood, WND, 747-48

Written to Soya Jiro Hyoe-no-jo Kyoshin on Aug. 8, 1276 from Minobu

The Great Teacher Dengyo states, "In general, where unrighteousness is concerned, a son must admonish his father and a minister must admonish his lord. Truly one should know this: As is the case with lord and minister, or with father and son, so it is with teacher and disciple. A disciple must speak out when his teacher goes astray."

Letter of Petition from Yorimoto, WND, 809-10

Written to Shijo Kingo on June 25, 1277 from Minobu

Ikeda: The essence of "This is what I heard" is the oneness of mentor and disciple, and that is the quintessence of the transmission of Buddhism.

The drama of the oneness of mentor and disciple, in which there is a mutual resonance and response between the Buddha's resolve to save all living things and the resolve of the disciple who seeks to embody and propagate the Buddha's teaching, is epitomized in this expression, "This is what I heard."

Further, the Lotus Sutra is a scripture for the time after the Buddha's death. How are sentient beings to be saved after the Buddha dies? Who at that time will uphold and propagate the sutra? These basic themes already begin to be played out in "Introduction." One example is the account of how Bodhisattva Wonderfully Bright, the disciple of the Buddha Sun Moon Bright, preached the Lotus Sutra after his mentor's passing and brought others to enlightenment, starting with Sun Moon Bright's eight princely sons.

Saito: Buddhas wish to help all beings throughout eternity attain enlightenment, and that is the very purpose for their appearance in the world.

Ikeda: Yes. The Daishonin writes, "If Nichiren's compassion is truly great and encompassing, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will spread for ten thousand years and more, for all eternity..." (WND, 736).

It is also true in general that those who really care for the people retain the power to move people even after their death. Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, once declared that if his soul could serve as a light for humanity, then he would continue speaking even from the grave.

The struggle of disciples who share their mentor's passionate determination to save others far into the future does indeed contribute to doing just that. The Law truly does give rise to compassionate action. Things may be all right while one's mentor is still present. But it is when the mentor has gone that the bond between mentor and disciple is truly tested. Buddhism is that strict.

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Vol. 1, pp. 74-5

Inheriting the basic beliefs of Socrates, Plato established his Akademeia. Though he employed a definite locale, the kind of education he conducted there was of the humanistic kind that Socrates had favored. In Plato's day, it was customary in Athens to take mealtime as an opportunity for discussing all kinds of affairs. Plato followed this practice in teaching. In addition, he conducted lively symposiums on philosophical and humanistic subjects during strolls with his students.

The attitude reflected in dialogues between students and teachers can be seen in the search for truth conducted by Plato and his followers. It was the pride of the Akademeia that teacher and student together strove to attain one truth. Though entrance requirements were strict, and even though it included certain aristocratic elements, the institution rested on a foundation of faith in freedom and a desire to reform society through philosophy. Men and women studied together, and the school was vigilant against any attempts by secular authority to encroach on its academic freedom. Established in about four hundred B.C. and in operation until it was finally closed by a Roman emperor, for approximately nine centuries, the Akademeia was a major force in Western spiritual education and, through its methods of dialogue and cooperative search for truth, had a great influence on history.

The teaching method of Shakyamuni, the first historical Buddha, is a still older example of the thorough application of the dialogue. Shakyamuni employed questions and answers to impart to others the content of his enlightenment about the fundamental laws governing mankind and the entire universe. Almost all of the sutras are written in a dialogue form in which Shakyamuni comes into direct contact with human suffering and reveals the truth about his own enlightenment. In later times, vast amounts of Buddhist doctrinal material were compiled, but it must be borne in mind always that human contact leading to refinement of the moral character and the search for truth lies at the basis of it all.

A Lasting Peace, pg. 53

Nichiren Daishonin is also said to have been informed, by one of his female disciples, of the movements of the Nembutsu believers of Kamakura who attacked his dwelling at Matsubagayatsu in 1260. It is truly the effort of a single earnest individual that provides the much-needed advantage.

In this sense, whether or not one can win the ordinary people to one's side determines the outcome of each and every battle; thus one of the requisites for a superior leader is the understanding that reliable and up-to-date information can be found only on the front lines of reality.

Buddhism in Action, Vol. VI, p. 228

Though knowledge can be transmitted from one person to another, wisdom cannot. The only way to develop wisdom is to acquire it through personal experience. That is one reason the Lotus Sutra places such strong emphasis on the teacher-disciple relationship - a relationship in which both parties involve themselves wholly, with every facet of their being.

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Vol. 1, p. 15

"Whatever your position, always protect the Gakkai." I have endeavored to put my whole life into living my mentor's instructions. Oneness of mentor and disciple exists when one practices exactly as the mentor teaches. This is the Lotus Sutra. This is what it means to "practice the Buddha's teaching." This is the true meaning of "This is what I heard."

The word "thus" that starts the Lotus Sutra expounds the oneness of mentor and disciple. It is when we start to take action with the goal of realizing this state of "oneness" that we are able to "depart" from the fundamental darkness in our own lives. We "depart" from the sickness of earthly desires and delusions, and the sun of Buddhahood brilliantly rises within us. This is the significance of the final word of the Lotus Sutra, "departed."

The twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra passionately call on us to take action based on the oneness of mentor and disciple.

Living Buddhism, September 2000, page 43

It must be ties of karma from the distant past that have destined you to become my disciple at a time like this. Shakyamuni and Many Treasures certainly realized this truth. The sutra's statement, "Those persons who had heard the Law dwelled here and there in various Buddha lands, constantly reborn in company with their teachers," cannot be false in any way.

The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life, WND, 217

Written to Sairen-bo Nichijo on February 11, 1272 from Tsukahara on Sado

In the more than 2,220 years since the Buddha's passing, the heart of this treatise has never been revealed before. Despite the official persecution facing me, I expound it now in the fifth five-hundred-year period, when the time is ripe for its propagation. I hope those who read it will remain firm in their faith so that both teacher and disciples can together reach the pure land of Eagle Peak and behold with reverence the faces of Shakyamuni Buddha; Many Treasures Buddha, and the Buddhas of the ten directions.

The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind Established in the Fifth Five-Hundred-Year

Period after the Thus Come One's Passing, WND, 377

Written to Toki Jonin on April 25, 1273 from Ichinosawa on Sado

It is said that, if a teacher has a good disciple, both will gain the fruit of Buddhahood, but if a teacher fosters a bad disciple, both will fall into hell. If teacher and disciple are of different minds, they will never accomplish anything.

Flowering and Bearing Grain, WND, 909

Written to Joken-bo and Gijo-bo in April 1278 from Minobu

We are all linked together as disciples of the original Buddha Nichiren Daishonin, who experienced so many terrible persecutions. How deep is the meaning of that bond! If you keep always to your strong faith you will attain Buddhahood without fail. When we realize that, the small persecutions we may face now are like falling rain. Plants rejoice and grow when the rain falls. We, too, must make everything nourishment leading to our attainment of Buddhahood in this life, a wind at our backs pushing us on to a state of happiness.

From Today Onward, Vol. 78, pg. 52-3

Josei Toda spoke of the unbearable grief and outrage that seized him when, two months later, one of the judges bluntly informed him, "Makiguchi's dead." He spoke of moaning in solitude, of crying until his tears ran dry.

But from the depths of this despair a new hope was born.

Toda the disciple emerged alive from the prison where his mentor had died. Anger at the authoritarian forces that had robbed his mentor of life was transformed into a pledge and determination to create a new popular movement for peace.

In The System of Value-creating Pedagogy, Makiguchi wrote: "Driven by their instinct for self-preservation, evil-minded people band together, increasing the force with which they persecute the good. In contrast, people of goodwill always seem to be isolated and weak.... There is no alternative but for people of goodwill to unite." This was his penetrating insight based on personal experience.

As a disciple sharing profound unity of purpose with his mentor, Josei Toda began, amidst the postwar devastation, to construct a movement based on the solidarity of ordinary citizens of goodwill. Again, his methodology was grass roots - one-on-one dialogue and small-scale discussion meetings.

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's Addresses in the United States - June/July 1996, pg. 29

"Our deep relationship in the past has made you one of my disciples." Here again he stresses the mystic bond and reminds Sairenbo of his mission. A passage from Reply to Sairenbo reads, "In your letter you say, 'From now on I will forsake all the heretical teachers I have hitherto followed, and regard you, and you alone, as the teacher of the True Law.' But I do not understand this." Why does he say he doesn't understand it? He gives the reason in a fairly long paragraph that follows, but the heart of it is this: "We have been mentor and disciple ever since the infinite past. This is not a relationship which we just happened to form for the first time in this life. It is not an accidental encounter."

From the Buddhist viewpoint, "I do not understand this" has profound meaning. Sairenbo's words are fitting from a superficial standard. But the Daishonin delved much deeper into the Buddhist mentor-disciple relationship because he knew of the three existences of life.

This applies to us as well. We did not "just happen" to encounter the Daishonin's Buddhism in this lifetime. Nichiren Daishonin and we have been mentor and disciples since the infinite past. The members of the Soka Gakkai have always been brothers, sisters and friends. And now we have again come together in this world, assuming new personalities and positions, and are marching onward to accomplish our mission for kosen-rufu.

Selected Lectures on the Gosho, Vol. 1, pg. 91

But of all human relations, that between mentor and disciple is the deepest and most important. Only through the mentor-disciple relationship can we learn and teach each other how to develop ourselves as human beings and how best to deal with life. This is the only life-to-life bond which continues for all eternity and which remains firm no matter where we may be.

Selected Lectures on the Gosho, Vol. 1, pg. 174

Whenever I read the quotation from the Kejoyu chapter, my heart is rent by the memory of Mr. Toda's words to his late mentor at the second memorial service on November 17, 1946:

Even in prison, Mr. Toda visualized the Gohonzon and chanted daimoku to it sincerely. As a result, he discovered himself in perfect fusion with the Gohonzon as the passage from the Kejoyu chapter reads. Also, he realized his deep sense of mission, with which he would devote his remaining years to spreading faith in the Gohonzon. "Your mercy was so boundlessly great" and "Nothing could have made me happier" are the expressions of his pure, genuine faith in the Gohonzon. Mr. Toda's struggle reminds me that every individual can feel the statement of the Kejoyu chapter with his faith in true Buddhism.

Selected Lectures on the Gosho, Vol. 1, pg. 175

The "Entrustment" chapter is a chapter of transmission. "Transmission" here indicates succession; and "succession" defines the relationship of mentor and disciple. The "Entrustment" chapter could therefore also be termed the "Succession" chapter or the "Mentor and Disciple" chapter. It is the "Mentor and Disciple of Kosen-rufu" chapter for accomplishing widespread propagation of the Law in the Latter Day. Second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda also felt this was a highly significant chapter.

Living Buddhism, January 2000, Page 31

"Do not fear the powerful" (GZ, 177). "Each of you should summon up the courage of a lion king and never succumb to threats from anyone" (WND, 997). "Be prepared for the worst. Do not expect good times, but take the bad times for granted" (WND, 998).

Genuine disciples who would respond to the words of the Daishonin, even at the risk of their lives, at last appeared among the common people. These heroes of the ordinary people courageously demonstrated the spirit of faith of "not begrudging one's life" taught in the Lotus Sutra.

This even led the Daishonin to decide that the time had come to inscribe the Dai-Gohonzon for the sake of all humanity into the infinite future.

The Atsuhara persecution is the story of great disciples coming forth to fight in the spirit of the oneness of mentor and disciple. Up to that time, the Daishonin alone had borne the brunt of the persecution. In the Gosho, he writes: "if they were people who understood their obligations or were capable of reason, then out of two blows that fall on me, they would receive one in my stead" (WND, 828).

The Atsuhara Persecution was a momentous struggle in which the Daishonin's disciples for the first time stood up to take on those blows.

World Tribune, March 9, 2001, pg. 11

Immediately after learning of the deaths, the Daishonin wrote the letter "Replay to Sages and Others," in which he urged his followers: "You must not be afraid. I am sure that if you keep advancing strongly things are certain to become clear" (GZ, 1455). This was his lion's roar.

Nanjo Tokimitsu, a young local steward in his 20s and a lay follower of the Daishonin, carried out this injunction to the letter, stepping bravely into the fray to fight for his comrades. He became the target of much pressure from the government for protecting and giving shelter to the Atsuhara believers, but even in the direst of circumstances he staunchly defended the Daishonin and led the counterattack against the authorities in the cause of justice.

The fact that the local believers surmounted and emerged triumphant in the Atsuhara Persecution was due to the intrepid, tenacious efforts of this youth, who dedicated his life to the path of mentor and disciple.

World Tribune, March 16, 2001, pg. 8

Ikeda: In any event, the mentor's intent, as expressed in "Expedient Means," is "to make all persons equal to me, without any distinction between us" (LS2, 36). The Buddha's compassion is such that his goal it to bring all living beings to a state of life identical to his own. Another passage in this chapter tells us:

The "original vow" of the Buddha's is to enable all people to walk their same path toward enlightenment.

Of course, the practitioners of the three vehicles of the sutras before the Lotus Sutra also believed in and followed the Buddha. And in their fashion they followed the way of mentor and disciple. But these disciples always felt an unbridgeable gap between them and their mentor: the disciple was the disciple and the Buddha was the Buddha. The disciple did not know the mind of the mentor. The Lotus Sutra, however, broke through this deluded belief.

The replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle engendered a fundamental transformation in the mind and the way of life of the disciple - a transformation from the way of mentor and disciple to the way of the oneness of mentor and disciple.

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Vol. 1, pg. 156

I inherited this rigorous spirit of mentor and disciple from Pres. Toda. Therefore, I fear nothing. I advance solely in accord with my convictions.

It is also from this drama of mentor and disciple that the principles of Soka (value creating) education emerged.

There is no world more lofty, more profound, more powerful, or more full of human trust than the world of Soka education. There is no other realm like it.

Let us continue to cheerfully advance upon this most beautiful, strong, and profound path - the path of mentor and disciple; the path of justice, friendship, and conviction; the path of the SGI.

Joy of Living, Speeches to the YWD, page 38

Carrying on the spirit of our mentor, we help friends become happy through the Mystic Law and send brilliant waves of peace, culture and education across the globe.

Lectures on the "Expedient Means" & "Life Span" Chapters, Vol. 1, pg. 156

Our hearts must be in rhythm with one another, and we must have a profound sense of responsibility, we must pray, contemplate what must be done and then act. If our hearts are in accord, we can tap unlimited strength. If not, we can achieve nothing. Nothing magnificent can be created. ... Those who make the mentor's heart their own and put that into practice are truly great.

A Conversation with Youth, pp. 65-6

"Well, what do you think, Toda?" Makiguchi asked again, a little more calmly. Toda looked up. The sun blazed in the afternoon sky and Mount Fuji soared above them. He focused his thoughts and replied with quiet intensity.

"I'll fight with my whole life, sir. Whatever happens, I'm with you to the end.

Makiguchi nodded once or twice and then smiled. He wiped the perspiration from the back of his neck. The summer sun beat down on them, and their feet raised small clouds of dust along the road. Less than a month later, they were both were arrested.

The Human Revolution, Vol. 1., pg. 173-74

Endo: ... What is the wellspring of energy behind this unprecedented flourishing of Buddhism? As your remarks suggest just now, Mr. Ikeda, regarding President Makiguchi and President Toda, I am convinced it is because of the existence in the SGI of the "spirit of oneness of mentor and disciple" directed toward the realization of kosen-rufu.

Saito: My feelings are the same. Conversely, I think that we can trace any decline in Buddhism to the absence of this all-important spirit.

Ikeda: That's an important point. The oneness of mentor and disciple is in fact the essence of both the Lotus Sutra and the "Life Span" chapter.

Living Buddhism March 1998, pg. 26

Ikeda: It would be terrible if this spirit were to disappear from the SGI. What is the meaning of the oneness of mentor and disciple in Buddhism? Physically, mentor and disciple are of course two different entities. It is in the heart or spirit, in the Law upheld by each person, that they are inseparable. Therefore, it is important to seek a mentor who correctly practices the Law, and to forge ahead with the aim of becoming one in spirit with that mentor.

A relationship not based on the Law or spirit, but where one blindly follows the orders of another in a relationship of boss and underling, and where one claims to be the disciple of the other, but only in form, is not the correct way of Buddhism.

Buddhism is about the disciple taking on the spirit of the mentor to proceed boundlessly toward kosen-rufu. Without the mentor-disciple relationship, there can be no advancement. There can only be decline.

Saito: It goes without saying that our faith is grounded on Nichiren Daishonin's teachings. He is the original mentor. Based on that understanding, Nikko Shonin, the Daishonin's successor, emphasized that the mentor-disciple relationship is essential to one's Buddhist practice. He says:

Suda: And as proof that the relationship between mentor and disciple in Buddhism is not just a matter of form, Nikko Shonin clearly stated as his final words: "Do not follow even the high priest of the time if he goes against the Buddha's Law and propounds his own views" (GZ, 1618). All that matters is whether or not one practices the correct Law.

Ikeda: A disciple is one who carries on the faith of the mentor without any deviation. The important thing is to practice faith that grows ever stronger, without becoming arrogant. In his letters to his followers, the Daishonin repeatedly uses the words "more than ever" and "still more."

My mentor, Josei Toda, would often relate the following to me: "After I became second president of the Soka Gakkai, there was an arrogant group of troublemakers in the organization who declared they weren't Toda's disciples but the disciples of President Makiguchi. I had never particularly asked them to be my disciples in the first place. So why were they suddenly proclaiming themselves to be Mr. Makiguchi's disciples? In short, because it suited their vanity. 'Mr. Makiguchi's disciples' had an impressive ring to it. But were they actually doing anything in their actions and behavior to show that they were Mr. Makiguchi's disciples? No. They were simply running away from reality and living in a dream world. In other words, they were using Mr. Makiguchi. They weren't really his disciples at all.

"Had they been true disciples of Mr. Makiguchi, they would have inherited his spirit and joined me, the person who was doing his utmost to propagate the Daishonin's Buddhism. That was Mr. Makiguchi's profound guidance, after all.

"In Buddhism, mentor and disciple are one. Given this principle of the oneness of mentor and disciple, for Mr. Makiguchi's disciples to support and follow the second president who had inherited Mr. Makiguchi's spirit would have been a way of repaying the profound debt of gratitude they owed their departed mentor. I am not particularly referring to my case, but I believe that Buddhism must always be based on the mentor–disciple relationship as a core principle and as a formula for perpetuating the Mystic Law."

All those who called themselves Mr. Makiguchi's disciples and refused to follow Mr. Toda eventually abandoned their faith, betrayed the organization and drifted away from Buddhism. No matter what excuses they might have made to justify their behavior, their words were clearly nothing more than the false, empty arguments of shallow individuals ignorant of the true depth of the mentor-disciple relationship. ...

It goes without saying that we regard Nichiren Daishonin as the original Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law. Based on that foundation, the Daishonin's Buddhism teaches the importance of the mentor-disciple relationship.

The Daishonin's successor, Nikko Shonin, says: "The Daishonin teaches following the correct path of mentor and disciple to attain Buddhahood. If one makes even the slightest mistake in the way of mentor and disciple, then, even if one upholds the Lotus Sutra, one will fall into the hell of incessant suffering."

Consequently, not seeking out a mentor who practices the Law correctly, instead being intent only on getting others to obey and follow you in a relationship resembling that between a boss and his underlings, is not the correct path of Buddhism. This is because practitioners of the Mystic Law work together in the unity of "many in body and one mind" (itai doshin). All are equal.

For this reason, Buddhism is a teaching of mentor and disciple, expounding as it does the oneness of the Buddha (mentor) and living beings (disciples). The Lotus Sutra is great path that provides the underpinnings for the solemn principle of mentor and disciple - a path that, when this principle is faithfully followed, leads to our eternal development as human beings.

World Tribune, 06/25/99, pg. 7

People do not exist for the leader's sake. It is the exact opposite. Leaders - including politicians and clergy - exist for the people. Teachers, in turn, exist for the students. Yet many of those in leadership positions behave high-handedly and denigrate the people. ...I have no respect for arrogant people. This will never change.

What is it that I live and fight for? It is the people. It is for no one and nothing other than the stalwart, common people. I live only to protect them. It is for this alone, that I live and work and fight. I hope that you will inherit my spirit.

Joy of Living, Speeches to the YWD, page 36