The Heart of Unity Is the Mentor-Disciple Bond
-From SGI President Ikeda´s question-and-answer session during an SGI training course held in Tokyo on March 8, 2010
Question: How do we regard the importance of unity?
SGI President Ikeda: Nichiren Daishonin writes, "If the spirit of many in body but one in mind prevails among the people, they will achieve all their goals, whereas if one in body but different in mind, they can achieve nothing remarkable."(*1)
Our movement cannot succeed if we are not united in purpose. "Many in body but one in mind" means solidly uniting our hearts in faith, in our commitment to the practice of the Daishonin´s Buddhism. The essence of "many in body but one in mind" is found in taking action, while never forgetting the beautiful, altruistic spirit of faith, the spirit of warm camaraderie and respect among fellow members, and the spirit to triunph in all struggles.
As leaders of kosen-rufu, we must never be arrogant, nor condescending or patronizing toward our fellow members. We should respect and learn from one another in a spirit of equality. And even if at times the results we hope for in various organizational activities are not forthcoming, we should remain patient and always warmly support and care for our members and juniors.
*1. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1
(Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 1999), p. 618