MessageDaisaku Ikeda

TO share in this opening moment of the “Lotus Sutra Manuscripts—
The World’s Spiritual Heritage” exhibition, cosponsored by theInternational Academy of Indian Culture, the Institute of Oriental
Philosophy and Bharat Soka Gakkai, I wish to offer my heartfelt congratulations and some reflections on the significance of this auspicious
occasion.
I should like first to pay tribute to Dr. Lokesh Chandra for his wholehearted support and assistance, and to all those who in their concerted
efforts have made the ideal of this exhibition a reality.
The collaboration between the Institute of Oriental Philosophy andthe St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of theRussian Academy of Sciences, set a precedent in 1998 with the previousexhibition, “The Lotus Sutra and Its World: Buddhist Manuscripts of theGreat Silk Road,” the first public showing of these rare and ancientworks, in Japan. The exhibition has since toured Austria and Germany.
Of similarly great import is the fact that it should be followed by theopening of the “Lotus Sutra Manuscripts—The World’s Spiritual Heritage” exhibition in the land where Buddhism itself began, in the ancestral home of the Lotus Sutra.
In our dialogues—published last year under the title A Dialogue on
Philosophies of the Orient—Dr. Chandra once said that originating inIndia, Buddhism was transmitted to China, the Korean peninsula andeventually to Japan over the course of several centuries. He noted that in
our times, the Lotus Sutra is known beyond Asia in every region of theworld, acknowledging the contribution of Soka Gakkai International inthis vein. Dr. Chandra also pointed to the illuminating metaphor that theLotus Sutra has traveled to western lands from the East, just as the sun
makes its way westward from the eastern skies.
And so we regard as both an honor and joy the opportunity to cosponsor the present exhibition on the Lotus Sutra in the land of its birth, forthe endeavor is but a small measure of appreciation toward repaying thegreat spiritual debt of gratitude we owe to your esteemed nation.
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MESSAGELet me mention here that the International Academy of Indian Culture figures prominently as a leading Indian institution in Buddhist andOriental studies. The Academy was founded in 1935 by the late Dr.
Raghu Vira, a world renowned scholar of Oriental studies and linguistics, with the aspiration of bestowing the spiritual heritage of the East tofuture generations.
Dr. Raghu Vira was convinced that it is through culture that life
thrives and sublimates humanity. He urged the necessity therefore tolearn about and understand the many cultures of the many peoples of theworld. We must look not only to the history of cultures created in thepast, he believed, but also to creating new cultures.
Placing focus on the research of Buddhist culture, Dr. Raghu Vira as aconcerned individual, a private citizen, set for himself a mission ofnational proportion and established the International Academy of IndianCulture.
An extensive collection of Oriental literature initiated by Dr. Raghu
Vira, the Satapitaka Series project, continues under the auspices of hisson, Dr. Lokesh Chandra, and has developed into the world’s peerless
cultural undertaking of its kind.
When in Japan in 1998 for the exhibition “The Lotus Sutra and Its
World: Manuscripts of the Great Silk Road,” Dr. Chandra was delighted
by the throngs of visitors who appeared. He commented that they camenot solely on the reputation of the rare Lotus Sutra manuscripts but also
on being moved by the spirit and passion of those who had organized
the exhibition.
It is hoped that as many people as possible should have the opportunity to view the present exhibition in India, so as to be inspired by the passion of the pioneers who devoted themselves to the Lotus Sutra and,above all, to be touched by the noble vision of the late Dr. Raghu Viraand Dr. Chandra.
I hope further that the exhibition will dispatch to the world the spiritual air and profound philosophy of the Lotus Sutra, providing nurturing
sustenance for the life-force of all humanity.
The etymology of the word “culture” which also appears in the Academy’s name, can be traced to the word “cultivate.” Thus it can be said
that the essence of culture is the cultivation and development of humanlife and human spirit.
On the relationship between culture and religion, my mentor and second president of the Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda, believed the Lotus Sutra
to be the quintessence of Buddhism. Through observation and study, hewas convinced of the beneficence of the Lotus Sutra throughout history

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to provide the spiritual flow in which people are rejuvenated and culture
flourishes.
Nichiren, the Buddhist reformer who appeared in 13th century Japan,
taught that Myo of Myoho-renge-kyo, the title of the Lotus Sutra inJapanese translation, has three meanings—“to open,” “to be endowedand perfect” and “to revive.”“To open” means to open and reveal in a person the Buddha nature,
the infinitely vast potential possessed equally by all human beings.
“To be endowed and perfect” describes the reality that no phenomenon in either the human or natural domain arises independently. The
phrase speaks of all phenomena existing in a state of symbiosis, aninterdependence vital to the evolving, universal weave of the macrocosm. By corollary, the microcosm of our lives is contained in the very
workings of the universal macrocosm; likewise, the macrocosm of universal life is reflected in the microcosm of the individual life.
“To revive” is, in a word, inner-motivation, which means that inherent
in human life is the constant force that breaks the lethargy of habit andpropels one toward the dynamic rhythms of a creative life. It is thesource that revitalizes all phenomena.
I believe that these principles found in the Lotus Sutra—“to open,”“to be endowed and perfect” and “to revive”—are the qualities by which
all human life may be elevated and, in turn, lead to flourishing culture.
We find, for example, that India, the first land of the Lotus Sutra, gavebirth to Gandharan art and the rise of Mahayana Buddhism in the timeof King Kanishka, thus contributing to the confluence and mutual prosperity of the cultures of East and West.
The China of the great teacher Chih-i (Zhiyi) saw the unifying influence of the T’ien-t’ai school which professed the Lotus Sutra, and so therise of cosmopolitan culture in the Sui and T’ang dynasties.
In the Japan of Prince Shotoku, who revered the Lotus Sutra, and thenof the Great Teacher Dengyo, who founded the Japanese T’ien-t’aischool, the Asuka and Heian cultures, respectively, flowered.
These remarkable achievements in the elevation of cultures bring tomind the late Dr. Arnold Toynbee, the 20th century’s leading historianof civilization, for he believed that “a civilization’s religion is the sourceof its vitality.”1I believe that the Lotus Sutra embodies a philosophy of unlimited
hope. Its brilliant light of wisdom emits rays of iridescence that reflect
and refract like a diamond, as it transforms decline into prosperity andconfrontation into harmony.
And so we join with you today cherishing the hope of humanity, of90

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creating diverse cultures in the 21st century for the harmonious bloomsof coexistence to emerge resplendent in the sunlight of the Lotus Sutra.
I pray from the bottom of my heart for the further development of theInternational Academy of Indian Culture as well as for the continued
good health and glorious victory of everyone here today.
Let me close on thought of the passage from the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs, found in the Lotus Sutra, that depicts a great land of coexistence, where all phenomena extol their existence from breathing in theair, the very life, of the Buddha:
The equality of the Buddha’s preachingis like a rain of a single flavor,
but depending upon the nature of the living being,
the way in which it is received is not uniform,
just as the various plants and trees
each receive the moisture in a different manner.
The Buddha employs this parable
as an expedient means to open up and reveal the matter,using various kinds of words and phrases
and expounding the single Law,but in terms of the Buddha wisdom
this is no more than one drop of the ocean.
I rain down the Dharma rain,
filling the whole world,
and this single-flavored Dharma
is practiced by each according to the individual’s power.
It is like those thickets and groves,medicinal herbs and trees
which, according to whether they are large or small,
bit by bit grow lush and beautiful.2Notes
Arnold Toynbee and Daisaku Ikeda, Choose Life: A Dialogue (London: Oxford UP,1976) 291.
2
Burton Watson, trans., The Lotus Sutra (New York: Columbia UP, 1993) 104.
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