Life is the foremost of all treasures. It is expounded that even the treasures of the entire major world system cannot equal the value of one's body and life. Even the treasures that fill the major world system are no substitute for life.

The Gift of Rice, WND, 1125 [MW-1, 267]

Date and recipient unknown

Life is the most precious of all treasures. Even one extra day of life is worth more than ten million ryo of gold.

On Prolonging One's Life Span, WND, 955

Written to Myojo in 1279 from Minobu

One day of life is more valuable than all the treasures of the major world system, so first you must muster sincere faith. This is the meaning of the passage in the seventh volume of the Lotus Sutra that states that burning a finger as an offering to the Buddha and the Lotus Sutra is better than donating all the treasures of the major world system. A single life is worth more than the major world system. You still have many years ahead of you, and moreover you have encountered the Lotus Sutra. If you live even one day longer, you can accumulate that much more benefit. How truly precious your life is!

On Prolonging One's Life Span, WND, 955

Written to Myojo in 1279 from Minobu

The precept against the killing of living beings is the first among all the various precepts. The five precepts begin with the precept against taking life, and the eight precepts, the ten precepts, the two hundred and fifty precepts, the five hundred precepts, the ten major precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra, the ten inexhaustible precepts of the Flower Garland Sutra, and the ten precepts of the Jeweled Necklace Sutra, all begin with the precept against killing. And among the three thousand penalties prohibited by the Confucian school, capital punishment stands in first place.

The reason is that "even the treasures of the entire major world system cannot equal the value of one's body and life," which means that even the jewels and treasures that fill the major world system are no substitute for life.

Letter to Akimoto, WND, 1019

Written to Akimoto Taro Hyoe on January 27, 1280 from Minobu

It is rare to be born a human being. The number of those endowed with human life is as small as the amount of earth one can place on a fingernail. Life as a human being is hard to sustain - as hard as it is for the dew to remain on the grass. But it is better to live a single day with honor than to live to 120 and die in disgrace.

The Three Kinds of Treasure, WND, 851

Written to Shijo Kingo on September 11, 1277 from Minobu

After having fielded about 10 questions, he brought the session to a close, saying: "All of you have stood up bravely for your beloved America and the happiness of your friends, embarking on a struggle to which you have pledged to dedicate your lives. You have persevered despite language or cultural barriers and endured countless hardships and obstacles with tenacity and fortitude. I have not the slightest doubt that all your efforts will adorn your lives with immense benefit and good fortune. We shine only to the extent that we take action and work hard ourselves. This is a principle of Buddhism.

"The present development of the organization for American kosen-rufu has been achieved through your admirable efforts," he went on. "But we are still in our movement's pioneering days. There are bound to be many difficulties on the road ahead. Yet the only way to ensure a truly happy, prosperous future for America is to spread this Buddhist philosophy of peace and human rights, of compassion and the sanctity of life, by sharing it with each person.

"So together let's continue to sow the seeds of the Mystic Law in the soil of America," he concluded, "and through our own efforts write a history of kosen-rufu's magnificent triumph! Let's adorn our lives with victory as well!"

World Tribune, 02/12/99, pg. 5

The SGI utterly rejects violence and the destruction it causes. Our organization is creating a culture of peace that respects and upholds the sanctity of life; it is an unparalleled champion of justice and truth. In this respect, I look on photography as part of my spiritual struggle, not as a hobby.

World Tribune, 11/19/99, pg. 4

The great writer Aldous Huxley had a profound interest and knowledge of Mahayana Buddhism. His belief was that genuine transformation comes not from without but from within the individual.

I express my appreciation for the youth division's Victory Over Violence signature-drive campaign, which has been held in localities throughout the United States. Through your efforts, you have shared the philosophy of nonviolence and respect for the sanctity of life with your friends, fulfilling your mission to create new waves of shared feeling and understanding.

Wholehearted commitment opens the path to victory. Earnest sincerity has the power to move people's hearts. Nothing is more potent than the solidarity of ordinary citizens. You, as young people dedicated to justice, have demonstrated this truth.

World Tribune, 10/15/99, pg. 4

Ikeda: Just what does the Lotus Sutra teach? The sutra is condensed into this twenty-four–character passage: "I deeply respect you. I would never slight you or behave arrogantly toward you. For if you carry out the bodhisattva practice you can become a Buddha without fail." All living beings have the Buddha nature, the world of Buddhahood. It is this world of Buddhahood that Never Disparaging reveres.

The twenty-eight–chapter Lotus Sutra does not explicitly state that all people have the Buddha nature, but this is without doubt what it is affirming. This is the highest philosophy of the sanctity of life.

While there are any number of religions that preach equality, often what they mean by this is that human beings are all equally sinful. But the Lotus Sutra teaches that all people are noble children of the Buddha; that they are equal as entities of the world of Buddhahood. This is a very important difference.

Living Buddhism, 08/99, pg. 20

Another significant project, and one the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century has supported in a variety of ways, is drafting the Earth Charter to be presented for deliberation by the Millennium NGO Forum at the United Nations in 2000. Many people hope that, in 2002, ten years after the Rio de Janeiro United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the U.N. General Assembly will adopt the Earth Charter. These two movements - to renounce war and to establish a charter for our planet - are expressions of global solidarity and the pooling of human wisdom. With these as our guides, we must make the twenty-first century an era free from nuclear weapons, the start of a new millennium of harmony and peaceful coexistence founded on respect for the sanctity of life. We can and must create a global civil society that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Courage and hope are essential; we must never lose these vitally human qualities. Each of us must awaken to our unique mission as protagonists in the transformation of history. And we must unite in a shared human struggle to confront and resolve the pressing problems facing our planet.

Living Buddhism, 05/99, pg. 43

The door to the modern age has been opened through revolutions of many kinds. These range from citizen revolutions, as occurred in the United States and France, to socialist revolutions, from the Industrial Revolution to the information revolution.

Each of these, however, was inherently limited in the extent to which it could win respect for the sanctity of life. But each did contain a valuable lesson. That is, that simply changing the current of popular opinion or the social systems that created the modern age is not in itself sufficient to ensure the healthy development of society.

World Tribune, 06/16/00, pg. 9

In the kind of age in which we live - an era of profound and sometimes violent transition - it is children and youth who are most exposed and vulnerable to these unhealthy trends. The responsibility for this lies entirely with adults and adult society.

For this reason, we must challenge head-on the fundamental pathology that undermines and destroys human happiness. And we must do so by upholding a philosophy rooted in commitment to the inviolable dignity and sanctity of life.

Mr. Makiguchi described this spirit thus: "A genuine educator, in order to respond to the society's expectations, must never be contented with mere passive goodness but must be a person of commitment, capable of taking courageous, active steps for good."

World Tribune, 01/01/00, pg. 16

However, spiritual nourishment is vital for society as a whole, in the form of such teachings as the sanctity of life, respect for the individual and the rejection of violence.

World Tribune, 12/01/00, pg. 8

In our dialogue Dawn after Dark, the distinguished art critic René Huyghe, to whom I am greatly indebted, commented that, "Art and religion travel the same path leading human beings outside themselves toward a [transcendent] reality" (p. 316). Both art and religion speak to and move the human spirit, seeking to liberate people internally. They enable people to appreciate the sanctity of life and develop a universal understanding of human rights. In that sense, they spring from the same profound dimension.

World Tribune, 05/19/00, pg. 7

The article also quotes the university's architect, Norman Pfeiffer: "It's an uncommon thing for a brand new university in America to be built from scratch on a raw piece of land." The article states that while the buildings are in the European style, the campus also incorporates "Buddhist values of appreciation of nature and concern for the land." It reports that the university will offer "courses that encourage respect for peace and the sanctity of life," and that the university's educational aim is to create global citizens.

A great deal of positive interest among Orange County residents has been generated by the article, with the university receiving many calls from the local community requesting further information. As this shows, the Orange County residents welcome the addition of SUA to their community. As the university's founder, nothing could make me happier. Construction is progressing according to schedule toward the university's opening next year [as a full-fledged liberal arts college].

World Tribune, 07/07/00, pg. 7

If we go back, we can trace the inspiration for Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence to the great Russian writer and thinker Leo Tolstoy, while Tolstoy in turn had been inspired by Henry David Thoreau, the noted American Renaissance thinker. Thoreau read the quintessential teaching of Mahayana Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra, in a French translation, and was powerfully influenced by its ideas. Here we see a grand chain of spiritual inspiration spanning the globe.

I am one of many who pray that we will make further progress in the coming century in expanding and strengthening this magnificent alliance of respect for the sanctity of life that enfolds our blue planet.

I want Soka University of America to shoulder this profoundly humanistic mission and to become a university capable of fresh, innovative value-creation for the benefit of humankind.

World Tribune, 10/13/00, pg. 1

The Daishonin says: "Life is the foremost of all treasures. It is expounded that even the treasures of the entire major world system cannot equal the value of one's body and life. Even the treasures that fill the major world system are no substitute for life" (WND, 1125). Our lives are more precious than all the treasures in the universe. The sanctity of life is the basis of Buddhist philosophy. It is vital that more and more people in the world embrace this fundamental belief.

World Tribune, 02/25/00, pg. 5

As we enhance our respect for the sanctity of life and human dignity through our daily behavior and steady efforts toward dialogue, the foundations for a culture of peace will deepen and strengthen, allowing a new global civilization to blossom. With women leading the way, when each and every person is aware and committed, we will be able to prevent society from relapsing into the culture of war, and foster and nurture energy toward the creation of a century of peace.

The SGI has always been committed to empowerment - of the people, by the people and for the people - a process we describe as human revolution. The essence of empowerment is to fully unleash the boundless potential inherent in every human being based on the Buddhist understanding that our own happiness is inextricably linked to the happiness of others.

Living Buddhism, 05/00, pg. 32

The true value of an individual who exerts himself on behalf of the people based upon his own philosophy is manifested in many ways. Such a person could be regarded as a great educator or person of action, as an individual who has contributed to the welfare of society on many different levels. A great example is always important in any field of endeavor. With respect to setting a standard to follow in faith, I hope you are proud of the fact that we are creating a starting point and showing a great example through our efforts to build the foundation of kosen-rufu in the Latter Day of the Law which will last for ten thousand years.

If a doctor knows only about medical science or if a politician knows only about politics, his way of living must be considered parochial. The Mystic Law permeates all phenomena in the universe. Therefore, I believe that the true way for a believer lies in making the effort to become familiar with all aspects of society.

Buddhism in Action, Vol. 4, Pg. 78

Galtung: Life itself is the only absolute; and there is only one absolute perspective: the dukka-sukha (suffering-happiness) dimension. Albert Schweitzer and Gandhi, as well as Buddhism, have all pointed this out and have argued for the negative option of suffering-reduction and the positive option of life-enhancement. ...

Ikeda: Throughout history, theories and knowledge, which are only symbols of parts of reality, have distorted human interpretations of the world as if they represented reality in its entirety. The tendency has been especially marked in Christianity. This is vividly evident in attempts to equate the part with the whole, as represented in the famous passage in the Gospel according to St John: 'and the Word was God'. In contrast, oriental philosophy - especially Mahayana Buddhism - has been extremely cautious about trying to define verbally the force of life that essentially subsumes all theories and knowledge. ...

Words always involve illusion. Realities fixed in verbal terms contain no certainties. Because its great teachers have realized this better than anyone else, Mahayana Buddhism is remote from the kinds of fanaticism and violence born of assigning absolute values to words and abstract concepts.

Reexamining everything in the light of the law of life, as you quite rightly insist, could make possible a revolution in our view of the world. We followers of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism believe in a law of life that is referred to in Japanese as Myoho, a term that includes the idea of a law of revival. Reexamining everything in the light of the Law of Life brings about a general revival of all things.

Choose Peace, Pg. 100-01

It goes without saying that the dignity of life is a fundamental concept in Buddhism. In the Gosho is a well-known passage that reads, "Life is the foremost of all treasures. It is expounded that even the treasures of the entire major world system cannot equal the value of one's body and life. Even the treasures that fill the major world system are no substitute for life." (WND, 1185 [MW-1, 267])

Nichiren Daishonin teaches that there is nothing more dignified than life, and herein lies the essence of his Buddhism. Our venerable task of kosen-rufu is to spread this concept of the dignity of life, and actualize it in society. No mere lip service offered to the concept of life's sanctity will be effective. Leaders for kosen-rufu are in a position to promote our daily activities with the greatest sense of responsibility and thoughtful consideration. As practitioners of Buddhism, which values life more than anything else, we must be ever mindful of even the minutest details in the actual circumstances of our daily existence.

Buddhism in Action, Vol. 5, pp. 263-4

Ikeda: In his book Jinsei chirigaku (The Geography of Human Life), Makiguchi discussed the relationship between plants and human life from various perspectives. After pointing out the practical uses of plants, he described the spiritual influence they have on human life. He wrote: 'In short, plants stimulate one's sensitivity to beauty, calm one's urge to kill, and enrich one's poetic spirit, thus cultivating one's sentiments.'

When we take into account the psychological and spiritual influence plants exert by nurturing peaceful feelings, together with the material aspect - the agricultural and medicinal products plants provide for human beings - and their role as producers in the global ecosystem, the meaning of Buddhism's emphasis on the preservation of plant life becomes clearer. Buddhists in Japan often quote the passages: 'All sentient beings possess the Buddha nature', which expresses the sanctity of human life, and 'The plants and the land all attain enlightenment', which shows the sanctity of all living things.

Space and Eternal Life, Pg. 164-5

Ikeda: Life is not some simple mechanism governed only by physical laws of cause and effect. Of course, since living things are made of matter, they do have a mechanical aspect. But they are not simply machines and nothing more. All life has a fundamental desire to create value. Value is a relative notion, and in this world, this tapestry of relationships, life is always seeking to create ever better relationships, that is, ever greater value. ...

The essential nature of life is to aspire for the perfection that is the state of Buddhahood. This aspiration is expressed in a passage that appears throughout the sutra: "pressing their palms together and turning toward the Buddha." In other words, all life, at the most fundamental level, seeks the Buddha.

The teaching of the true aspect of all phenomena, I think, reveals this truth that every living thing is an irreplaceably precious existence. Nichiren Daishonin proclaimed this essence of the Lotus sutra for all to hear.

The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra, Vol. 1, pg. 211-12