Journey of Life

Daisaku Ikeda is the President of Soka Gakkai International, a Buddhist network with some 12 million members in over 190 countries throughout the world. An accomplished poet, and the author of over 100 books on Buddhist themes, he received the United Nations Peace Award in 1983.

• ContentsPreface by Ronald A. BoscoTranslator’s Note by Andrew GebertPoemsBlossoms That Scatter (1945)Mount Fuji and the Poet (1947)Morigasaki Beach (1947)Offering Prayers at Mount Fuji (1950) I Offer This to You (1951)Travelers (1952)Spring Breezes (1950s)Autumn Wind (1950s)Daybreak (1966)Pampas Grass (c. 1970)To My Young Friends (1970–71)The People (1971)Weeds (1971)Mother (1971)The Crisp Day We Parted (1972)Song of the Crimson Dawn (1981)Youth, Scale the Mountain of Kosen-rufu of the 21st Century (1981)Days of Value (1985–87)My Mentor, Josei Toda (1986)Arise, the Sun of the Century — On the thirtieth anniversary of the kosen-rufu movement in America (1987)Toll the Bell of the New Renaissance — To My Dear Fellow Members of Italy (1987)Dunhuang — For Chang Shu Hong, director emeritus of Dunhuang Research Institute (1987)Like Mount Fuji — Recalling the late Eiji Yoshikawa (1987)The Lion’s Land, Mother India — To the Youthful Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi (1987)Youthful Country with a Shining Future — To my dear friends in Malaysia (1988)Be an Eternal Bastion of Peace — To my dear friends in Okinawa (1988)Embracing the Skies of Kirghiz — for Chingiz Aitmatov, standard-bearer of perestroika (1989)Banner of Humanism, Path of Justice — Dedicated to Nelson Mandela, sublime champion of humanism (1990)Mother of Art, the Sunlight of Happiness — To Nataliya Sats with affection and respect (1990)Shine Brilliantly! Crown of the Mother of the Philippines — Dedicated with profound respect to President Corazon Aquino (1991)May the Laurels of Kings Adorn Your Lives — To my beloved young friends in Germany (1991)Like the Sun Rising — Offered to Walt Whitman, poet of the people, on the centenary of his passing, with affection and respect (1992)Cosmic Traveler, Our Century’s Premier Violinist — To Sir Yehudi Menuhin, with my profound respect (1992)The Sun of Jiyu over a New Land — To my treasured friends of Los Angeles, the city of my dreams (1993)Salute to Mothers (1995)Unfurl the Banner of Youth — Ode to My Young Successors, Our Treasures of Soka (1998)The Poet — Warrior of the Spirit — Dedicated to Dr. Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali, a great poet fighting for human rights (1998)May the Fragrant Laurels of Happiness Adorn Your Life — Dedicated to my beloved young women’s division members (1999)The Noble Voyage of Life — Dedicated to my respected and esteemed friends in the SGI men’s division (1999)Standing Among the Ruins of Takiyama Castle — To my beloved Soka students and members of the student division nationwide (2000)The Path to a Peaceful World, a Garden for Humankind (2000) Together Holding Aloft Laurels of the People’s Poetry — Dedicated to Dr. Esther Gress, Poet Laureate, with affection and respect (2000)Eternally Radiant Champion of Humanity (2001)August 15 — The Dawn of a New Day (2001)Salute to the Smiling Faces of the Twenty-first Century — This poem is dedicated to my dear young friends of the Beyer Elementary School (2001)The Promise of a Majestic Peace (2003)The Triumph of the Human Spirit (2006)Pampas Grass, the Poet’s Friend (2007)In Praise of Morning Glories — A Flower Loved by All (2007)Salute to Poets — Offered with deepest respect to the wise members of the World Congress of Poets, who struggle daily for the cause of peace and humanity (2007)GlossaryAppendixThe Poems in This Volume and Their Japanese TitlesBibliographyAbout the Author

'The poetic mind is the source of human imagination and creativity. It imparts hope to our life...gives us dreams, and infuses us with courage. It makes possible harmony and unity and gives us the power...to transform our inner world from utter desolation to richness and creativity.' Daisaku Ikeda