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On Being Human

 | 
Daisaku Ikeda
, 
René Simard
, 
Guy Bourgeault

Chapter five. Dawn of the Century of Life

Texte intégral

1. Pathology of our Time

The end of universal values

1ikeda • At the end of the twentieth century, dramatic changes occurred in the world. With unexpected speed, the two Germanys were reunited and strategic nuclear weapons on both sides were dismantled. This would have been unimaginable during the Cold War.

2However, even in the wake of the democratization of the countries of Eastern Europe, problems abound. Ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia are just one example. The serious economic crises in Asia and other parts of the world in the past few years are another symptom of the menacing clouds on humanity’s horizons. I cannot help thinking our world is gravely ill.

3bourgeault • Yes, new chasms are opening up everywhere in our societies. Our dreams of solidarity and peace have been smothered in a thousand ways. For a time, we thought we had consigned the racism of Nazi Germany to the nightmares of the past. But the collapse of the Soviet Union revived the old demons—asleep but not gone—of interethnic rivalries. Blow by blow, we witnessed ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

4ikeda • The situation is tragic. We have lost the universal values that go beyond ethnicity. Never has it been more essential to transcend ethnic, religious, and cultural differences and think in terms of the whole human race.

5bourgeault • In Europe and particularly in France, the fear of fundamentalist Islam simultaneously demonstrates and conceals resistance to social acceptance of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity. What are things like in Japan in this connection?

6ikeda • Ever since the restoration of Meiji in 1868, Japan has consistently pursued a policy of assimilating ethnic minorities like the Ainu and other tribes in the northern part of the country. The rich Ryukyu culture of Okinawa, too, has been Japanized over the centuries. The ruling government before and during World War II extended such policies throughout the Japanese empire, to Korea, Taiwan, and the islands of the South Pacific.

7In a sense, Japan was following the example of European colonial powers, which considered Asians and Africans “barbarians” and equated the introduction of their own cultures with enlightenment and development. The Japanese assimilation policy went too far, however, and refused to countenance even the ethnic diversity of local cultures.

8The discriminatory attitude, long maintained in modern times, still persists among the Japanese today. The Japanese people have often taken a suspicious, contemptuous view of outside workers from Asia and Central and South America who come to the more prosperous Japan to work.

9bourgeault • In Canada, the land of immigrants (from France, and then Britain, and eventually pretty well everywhere: Italy, Spain, Portugal, China and India, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America…), demographic diversity is more evident in big cities like Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. But the dynamics of marginalization—if not exactly exclusion—are at work, resulting in ghettoes and misunderstanding.

10ikeda • Immigrants tend to congregate in ethnic enclaves, to live in the same neighbourhoods, because they depend on their friends and families, because they are freshly arrived and because they share more or less the same economic circumstances. The result, however, is that their communities tend to fall victim to hostility and discrimination in the neighbourhoods of the majority.

11bourgeault • We tend to blame “others” for our ills, especially for violence. They are not like us. But we forget that we ourselves are a composite of many different elements.

12ikeda • “A composite of different elements” is just another way of saying “rich diversity” for those who choose to see this reality in a positive light.

13bourgeault • To repeat what we have already said, life’s developments are the result of encounters and exchanges that fulfil its requirement of diversity. Paradoxically, although exclusionist practices—sometimes as radical as ethnic cleansing—are rife in many regions, concern for threatened species stimulates us to try to protect plant and animal genetic diversity.

14ikeda • Yes. In the natural environment, protecting biological genetic diversity is considered important. Surely we ought to address the issue of protecting individual cultural diversity in our socio-cultural environment, too.

15bourgeault • Reminiscent of the economic order, a dynamic of competition—a struggle to the end tending to exclude others—is at work in our societies, leaving its mark on social developments and the political order.

16ikeda • We require a fundamental change. We must regard immigrants and citizens from other countries not as outsiders, but as our fellows. To see differences as a positive sign of diversity, we need the fundamental conviction that “we’re all human.” Establishing this as a basic tenet means adopting all humankind as our standard.

17Protagoras (ca. 485–ca. 410 bce) said, “Man is the measure of all things.” His statement is generally dismissed as relativistic and sophist, but I believe it reveals insight into the profound truth that the only way to accommodate diverse value criteria is to make humanity the standard of judgment. The sole prescription for the world’s malaise is profound love and concern for humanity itself.

Poverty and social health

18bourgeault • If the health of societies, like the health of individuals, depends on the effort made to re-establish equilibrium and harmony after ruptures and imbalances, we must admit that our societies are sick. Even gravely ill, as you say. Persistent poverty is a sign, or a symptom, of grave social malady.

19ikeda • In recent years, the economic gap between the industrialized North and the developing South has been widening, in spite of efforts to close it. While many people in the developing nations have neither roofs over their heads nor food to eat, in the industrialized nations, fabled for overeating and obesity, people consume far too many calories and pollute the environment with their leavings.

20bourgeault • We hoped—and sometimes promised—that the industrial and technological developments of the twentieth century would be the source of wealth and well-being for everybody. We have to accept the evidence that such has not been the case. The century of technological prowess that brought historically unprecedented riches to some has consigned increasingly growing masses of humanity to marginalization and exclusion.

21ikeda • Many developing nations have tried to encourage industry and free themselves from poverty. But their efforts have been defeated by serious infrastructural deficiencies—lack of power generators, waterworks, railways, roads and other infrastructure necessary for every industrial society.

22bourgeault • As you point out, poverty is inseparably linked to the health of populations and societies. Numerous studies have established the correlation between poverty and sickness, between poverty and reduced life expectancy. And of course between poverty and reduced quality of life.

23ikeda • Not to mention the vicious circle of poor sanitary conditions and high birth and infant-mortality rates. When sanitary conditions improve faster than families manage to adjust their priorities, the result is often a demographic explosion that destroys any economic gains made.

24bourgeault • Although technological development makes imbalances more blatant and poverty more scandalous, it is not the cause of all the evils we observe.

The widening gap between rich and poor in industrialized countries

25ikeda • Very true. The material poverty of the developing countries is grave. For their part, the industrialized nations face a serious state of spiritual impoverishment glaringly revealed in growing drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, violence and crime. Although the industrialized nations seem to have achieved great material wealth, it has been at the expense of the lowest strata of these societies. Worse yet, the disparities between the rich and the poor seem to have widened lately and become insurmountable.

26bourgeault • In Montreal, people living in the affluent, upper-crust Westmount neighbourhood, on the west side of a hill proudly dubbed Mount Royal, enjoy a life expectancy, health status, and quality of life (real access to education, information, culture, etc.) that their fellow citizens at the foot of the mountain can only dream about.

27ikeda • Because the poor have been denied the opportunity to climb the social ladder, more and more young people are drifting emotionally and falling into a goal-less way of life, as if they were dried out and atrophied inside. This “desertification of the soul” leaves them with no ambition in life other than to seek comfort and immediate pleasure. The “me” generation gave us beings unable to think of anything other than the immediate satisfaction of personal desires and totally disinterested in social issues. Our societies seem incapable of providing goals they can strive for.

28bourgeault • I find especially striking the gap between the well-off and the down-and-out, even in rich countries. In Canada’s colossal neighbour, the United States, for example, social programmes that are clearly inadequate, if not simply nonexistent, deprive large strata of the population of their share of the collective wealth of a nation that nonetheless boasts of staying in the first rank of international economic competition.

29ikeda • True. While poverty is a major problem for the industrialized nations, we must recognize that the developing nations face a material crisis, and the crisis of the industrialized nations is spiritual. Together they have created the extreme imbalance that plagues the whole world.

30bourgeault • The truly scandalous gap between industrialized and developing nations takes the form of exploitation of the poor by the rich for their own profit. Despite efforts to close this gap in recent decades, it has become more marked.

A new approach to economic assistance

31ikeda • For the moment, the first step is to launch an international campaign to better mobilize the aid that can help pull developing countries from their economic crises. Money and goods alone will be insufficient. Technological and cultural contributions—like education to raise literacy levels—are essential to putting the developing nations on the course of independent economic growth. Of course, economic development also demands a sufficient material basis, including industrial infrastructure.

32For their part, industrialized nations must no longer be allowed to prosper by sacrificing the poor and the disenfranchized. Several of these richer countries, having created the North/South economic disparities and greatly profited from the developing nations, have suddenly found themselves in economic difficulties, It is imperative that the industrialized nations make restitution for their past actions and work to build a world of mutual prosperity.

33bourgeault • I wholeheartedly agree with your diagnosis. The material wealth of some to the detriment of others seems to be accompanied by an impoverishment of the spirituality that, over the centuries in diverse traditions, advocated and maintained compassion and solidarity—that is, sharing.

34ikeda • In our societies today we are witnessing a burgeoning protectionism, the preservation of the acquired rights of the privileged classes. This is a dangerous tendency, a nefarious type of conservatism.

35bourgeault • A friend once remarked to me, a few years ago, that those who become conservative are usually those with something to conserve! No doubt wealth could be and should be shared rather than hoarded. This probably explains why the prophets were constantly calling for compassion and sharing.

36ikeda • No doubt. Major religions like Buddhism and Christianity all teach compassion and love for all people and encourage practical expressions of benevolence and caring.

37bourgeault • Yes, but usually the poor have understood the words of prophets better than the rich.

38ikeda • Yes, the poorer they are, the more people are inclined to help each other. History abounds with instances of the downfall of the arrogant rich. Those of us who live in the rich countries should reflect deeply on this historical truism. No one can live without the support of other human beings. We must always keep this in mind and be grateful. Buddhism uses the expression “indebted to all sentient beings” to encourage people to feel grateful for the support, both tangible and intangible, we get from others.

39bourgeault • The thing that is new and specific to our own time is the persistence of poverty in societies that have the power to reduce it substantially or even to eliminate it.

40ikeda • Even though the foreign aid programmes of donor countries contribute considerable sums to developing countries, the fate of the people of the beneficiary countries does not seem to have improved.

41bourgeault • An economist recently proposed the imposition of a tax—a mere 0.01%—on the cross-border financial exchanges that seem to control everything today. This tax would impoverish no one and, if I follow the reasoning correctly, would bring annual returns of more than us$100 billion. Such an amount would feed immense numbers of undernourished people, care for and cure them, educate them, train them, and provide them with access to global knowledge.

42ikeda • An excellent idea. A fraction of the great wealth accumulated in the hands of a few can save hundreds of millions of lives in the world. Professor Amartya Sen (1933– ) from India received the first Nobel Prize for economics in 1998, for his “economics of poverty,” the basic premise of which is saving the poor and weak. Instead of the speculations of the powerful, Professor Sen’s thesis sheds ethical light on an economic activity designed to help the poor become rich.

43Because domestic conditions in donor nations can destabilize economic assistance, we must re-examine the current system of nation-to-nation aid. Much more could be accomplished if impartial international organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank were given greater resources and invested with the necessary authority to set up effective aid systems.

Swords into ploughshares

44bourgeault • Some years ago, under the leadership of Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland (1939– ), the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development came to similar conclusions and recommended that the sums currently used for armament be devoted to the battle against poverty and the protection of the environment.

45ikeda • I am quite familiar with the un commission and I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Brundtland. When Soka Gakkai International held its “War and Peace” exhibition in Oslo in 1991, we received a message from Mrs. Brundtland, who was Norwegian prime minister at the time. She thought highly of our efforts to promote grassroots awareness of the problems of peace and the environment and said she was happy to have found a good partner in sgi.

46Our Common Future, the report that the World Commission on Environment and Development published in 1987, clearly shows how these planetary issues are closely interrelated. The concept of sustainable development elucidated in the document embraces development, the struggle against poverty and environmental protection and preservation.

47bourgeault • Rich nations consider un peace-keeping missions too expensive. Yet wars supported by arms manufacturers, respected people in those same rich nations, make such missions necessary. Incontrovertibly, however, the arms industry provides very fertile ground for the development of highly advanced technologies. We are faced with something of a paradox.

48ikeda • To be sure, a wide gap separates reality from the ideal. This is all the more reason for us to set our ideals even higher. For example, a group of scholars tried to demonstrate that unlike peace, war doesn’t pay. I respect these people and I appreciate their efforts to start with the reality and point out concrete ways to attain the ideal. On the other hand, some people set an ideal and then reject all the rest as unworthy. Such an attitude seems unrealistic. As Mahatma Gandhi said, a good thing moves with the speed of a snail.

49bourgeault • That is why at the international level, the un is paralysed and its programmes are often unproductive. With growing frequency, people criticize the un for ineffectiveness, but by refusing to give the organization the means to act, they compel it to be ineffective. I said this ten years ago when I was chairman of the Canadian unesco Commission. It was at this time that the United States withdrew from this great agency under the pretext of its mismanagement (that is to say, management inspired by precepts other than the ones championed by the United States!) and inefficacious actions. unesco was then experiencing financial difficulties caused by the failure of many member nations, including the United States, to pay their dues. This has recently become especially glaring in connection with un peace-restoration and peace-keeping missions, which have been delayed by the reluctance of member nations, especially the richest, to collaborate. Those same member nations always later lament the failure to prevent crises or intervene in them before it was too late.

50ikeda • Achieving just goals demands just means, not merely the immediate expedient. As I said earlier, in the oriental tradition, the best doctor is the one who prevents the disease, not the one who cures it. The same thing applies to people who wish to cure society.

Changing worldly desires to wisdom and enlightenment

51bourgeault • Rereading the section of the three temptations of Christ in Dostoyevsky’s (1821–81) The Brothers Karamazov a few years ago stimulated my reflections on these questions. The author presents a living Jesus undergoing three experiences that make up the fabric of all human existence. The French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913– ) calls them the three dynamics of a triple appetite: possession, worth, and power. The dynamic of possession can be experienced either as accumulating and monopolizing or exchanging, giving, and sharing. The dynamic of worth can either follow the tangent of self-actualization in the ceaseless search for prestige or seek encounters with others. The dynamic of power can contribute to domination and subjugation or to mutual aid in solidarity and recognized interdependence. I am sure that similar orientations are to be found in Buddhism.

52ikeda • “The three dynamics of a triple appetite”… This perceptive expression reveals the essence of human desires. Buddhism does have a similar concept. The three desires you spoke of signify a kind of self-aggrandizement. In other words, they represent the self-love that seeks to enlarge the ego and all its appurtenances. Buddhism perceives these desires or illusions as sources of physical and spiritual suffering, and as hindrances to the quest for enlightenment.

53Mahayana Buddhism teaches that Buddhahood can be attained, not by extinguishing earthly desires and illusions, but by transforming them into wisdom and enlightenment. This is expressed in the doctrine “earthly desires are enlightenment.” In other words, correctly mastered and channelled desires can become a source of energy to create happiness for both the self and others.

54“Burn the kindling of earthly desires,” teaches Nichiren, “and warm yourself at the fire of wisdom and enlightenment.” Without desire (the kindling), we cannot transform reality into the wisdom (the warmth and light of the fire) that contributes to the happiness of others. If we own nothing ourselves, we have nothing to share. The important thing is the resolve to transform the firewood of desire into the flame of wisdom.

55bourgeault • Of course we must have in order to be able to give or share. Of course we must be appreciated and self-actualized to develop the self-confidence that enables us to acknowledge the other. Of course we must master our own lives and environments to establish relations of mutual aid and solidarity. But we can easily observe something entirely different in current individual and collective behaviour. Savage economic competition at the international level strives to eliminate competitors. Talk about promoting excellence ultimately plays into the hands of advocates of domination and exploitation of the poor and weak by the rich and strong, legitimizing their point of view.

56Does this mean that society and humanity are sick? The health of societies, like that of all humanity and of individual human beings, depends not on the absence of sickness, but on the constant effort to re-establish balance. In spite of our much-touted technological feats and commercial success, poverty is gaining ground. It affects the young and the old most. Gravest of all, it seems to me, is that this reality is ascribed more to fatality than to responsibility. It stands to reason that we can change nothing as long as we believe in fatalism, which I refuse to adopt.

57ikeda • We must neither avert our eyes from harsh realities nor turn a deaf ear to the agonized voices of the real world. We must keep our hearts and minds open to the suffering of others and accept it as if it were our own. I myself am determined to take a personal concern in all human affairs because this is the meaning of Buddhist empathy and compassion, the bodhisattva way. Buddhism seeks to change the destiny of the world. Essentially it teaches that, since fate results from our own acts, our own acts can transform fate. This is the meaning of the sgi “human revolution” movement.

58bourgeault • It is not true that we are impotent. We have the knowledge and the technological and financial means to change things—I almost said “to change the world.” But it is difficult, when we are among the most privileged members of a system, to really want to change it.

59ikeda • But we must overcome that difficulty by concentrating on cultivating the inner human being. The problems that have arisen as a result of industrial development are rooted, I believe, in the scientific and technological civilization of modern times, which encourages the accumulation of materials goods and the immediate satisfaction of desire.

60For most of history, humanity was at the mercy of the laws of nature. It is only with the most recent technological revolutions that we have begun to develop the natural environment and modify it in ways that improve our own standard of living. We were quick to believe that the natural world existed to be controlled and endlessly exploited for our benefit. Today we understand that this vision of nature was an important factor in the emergence of a set of interrelated global problems—pollution, environmental destruction, and so on—that comprise the biggest challenge human civilization has ever faced.

61People in all fields of human endeavour must question their goals. We must use our wisdom for the sake of all humanity.

62bourgeault • Even though technological development makes imbalance more glaring and poverty more scandalous, it is not the sole cause of the ills we see around us.

63ikeda • True. After all, we are the ones who create and employ technology. So the only choice left to us is to transform humans themselves, to create a new kind of person. This is equally true for the spiritual crisis in industrialized societies. Our sole recourse is to develop individuals worthy of the task of building a new century of hope. Otherwise the world will be filled with more and more people who care little about the suffering of their fellow humans and who show themselves less and less inclined to reach out a hand to a neighbour in distress.

2. Goals of Education

Value-creating education for the well-being of humans

64ikeda • Our conversation has led us naturally to the vast subject of education: how can we develop generous individuals who care for their fellow beings? Education presents an immense challenge for our long-term future. I have always believed, even when I was a young man, that education was among the most noble vocations.

65bourgeault • If I remember correctly, Soka Gakkai came into being as a group of educators determined to devote themselves to the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and all humanity.

66ikeda • It is true that education is almost meaningless unless it contributes to the happiness of individuals and, by extension, humanity in general. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, originator of the theory of value-creating education, insisted that the happiness of children is of primary importance.

67Both the first and second presidents of Soka Gakkai believed firmly that the goal of education must be to create joy and happiness in everyday life. As their successor, I too am completely devoted to this goal. I want to see all children challenge the four sufferings, cultivate their physical and spiritual strength, blaze their own trails to happiness, and prepare themselves to triumph over all the adversities they will have to face during their lives.

68To make this great dream a reality, I have founded the Soka schools and Soka University, as institutions where President Makiguchi’s value-creating educational theory can be put into practice.

69Dr. Simard and Dr. Bourgeault, you have both also been involved for a long time in the education of young men and women. In this you have both modeled an ideal life—overcoming the four sufferings and pursuing the well-being of others and of humanity in general. What kind of education can help inspire similar ideals? I would like us to zero in on the very essence of this kind of education.

Education and solidarity

70bourgeault • Drawing on the categories proposed by Marcel Lesne some fifteen years ago, I would distinguish three models of pedagogy corresponding to three visions of education and relationships between teacher and student—or, as they say today, learner. The first model categorizes education as the transmission of already established knowledge. This is an apprenticeship defined as assimilation and repetition. The accent is put squarely on established, apparently immutable knowledge.

71ikeda • Because it over-emphasizes the importance of knowledge, Japanese education turns out students incapable of analysing and applying what they learn. The knowledge that they memorized is of no use to them when they find themselves in trouble.

72Another weakness of an education predicated entirely on knowledge is the decline of ethics and altruism among students. Instead of regarding their fellow students as friends, they think of them as competitors who must be defeated in the race for diplomas and admission to the top universities. This kind of education will probably produce heartless people—albeit very well informed and professionally successful—who care nothing for others.

73bourgeault • This is what Paulo Freire (1921–97) calls the bankers idea of knowledge and education. Perhaps, too, schools often encourage the accumulation of fragmented, juxtaposed knowledge instead of considering connections among realities.

74At the centre of the second of my two models is the learner as an autonomous subject responsible for his or her own learning. To take the initiative in developing their knowledge, the learners approach each subject on the basis of personal experience, tastes, and interests. The system seeks to make the students capable of enunciating their own experiences in clear language, of appropriating and digesting dispensed knowledge, and of integrating it with their own store of knowledge.

75As an example, I remember my own first year of teaching. One of the students in the group, who had failed the year before, seemed totally unable to do literary analysis. Indeed he was convinced he could not. I was teaching theatre at the time and was in charge of a dramatic-arts studio. I knew he was interested in photography and architecture so, perhaps out of intuition or as a challenge, I instructed him to read the text of the play we were going to present the following semester and to make suggestions about the settings. Ten days later, he came back with a superb scale model and began explaining and justifying his proposals based on an analysis of the text that he had carried out without even realizing it.

76ikeda • No doubt this method has its advantages, but it could lead to egoism, especially if the learner is obliged to assimilate materials without being properly prepared to examine their ethical content.

77bourgeault • That is true. My third model stresses the relationship between the teacher and the learner and strives to develop a critical spirit by contextualizing knowledge and revealing its connections with the society that generated it. Knowledge is never neutral. Created in relation to social conflict and often reflecting the viewpoint of the dominant group, knowledge helps maintain the domination of that group over others. This kind of teaching is harder for the teacher than for the learner (we can only hope that the teacher is a learner, too). It also seems more likely to develop what I would call a civic conscience—at the local, national, and even global level—and to prepare people to act as responsible citizens in pluralist societies.

Shakyamuni the teacher

78ikeda • Your third model reminds me of the way Shakyamuni taught. Out of compassion for the people plunged into the torment of the four sufferings, Shakyamuni lived among them and taught them how to overcome their hardships. He gave the sick wisdom and courage to fight against their illnesses. He sometimes nursed them himself. He and his disciple Ananda bathed them and made their beds while listening to their troubles, giving them advice, and instructing them in Buddhist teachings.

79Shakyamuni always adapted his teachings to the understanding of his listeners. His pedagogical method is often compared to a good medical treatment, always dictated in response to the patient’s specific symptoms. Your third teaching model has something in common with Shakyamuni’s philosophy.

80simard • Your description of Shakyamuni’s teaching method reminds me of Socratic dialectic. In the Athens of Socrates’ day, most teachers were content simply to transmit received knowledge as if on a conveyor belt. They required their students to memorize the epics of Homer, which were interpreted in strictly predetermined ways. Socrates broke that mould by constantly asking his students questions. Each answer stimulated another question. Taking the maieutic method to its height, he helped his students think for themselves and mature intellectually. His dialogues were a very dynamic and effective teaching method.

81ikeda • As an illustration of the way Shakyamuni adjusted his teaching method to the situation, I might cite the story of Kisa Gotami who, in her grief, asked him to revive her recently deceased child.

82simard • What was his response?

83ikeda • He sent her around the village asking for mustard seeds. He said he would revive her child if she would bring him a mustard seed from a house whose family had never lost anyone to death.

84simard • But no house can ever be completely free from death.

85ikeda • Exactly. As she went frantically from house to house seeking one where no one had died, Kisa Gotami came to a deep realization of the inevitability of death for all living things. This enlightenment inspired in her the determination to overcome her own grief. Shakyamuni then taught her the truth of Buddhist law and invited her to join him in his quest to find ways to transcend life and death.

  • 1 Daisaku Ikeda. A New Humanism. New York: Weatherhill Inc. 1996.

86bourgeault • In your 1990 speech at Peking University, which appears in A New Humanism,1 you said that education is not just teaching or instructing. Education requires teachers to ask questions that lead students on the way to self-learning and growth.

87ikeda • Dr. S. Mohan (1930– ), former supreme court justice of India, and Professor David W. Chappell (1940– ), who teaches religion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, both emphasize the importance of dialogue in education.

88In a speech delivered in Osaka, Dr. Mohan said, “Education must not be control of students by teachers. It is not unilateral, but a teacher-student dialogue.” Professor Chappell insists on the reciprocity of the pedagogical process. In other words, the teachers do not just teach the students, they also learn from them. Education is both giving and receiving. It is a two-way communication and an effort to bring the value out in everyone.

89It seems to me that we cannot hope to stimulate the vitality, wisdom, courage and compassion needed to face the challenges of life and triumph over adversity except through fruitful dialogue between teacher and learner. Only then can knowledge take firm root in the learner’s heart.

90It is likely that in animated exchanges between teacher and learner, objective knowledge becomes living and useful and enables the learner to triumph over individual egoism.

91Your three pedagogical models, Dr. Bourgeault, have counterparts in the Buddhist world view. The first model, centred on the assimilation of established knowledge, is similar to the World of Learning. These disciples of the Buddha listen to his sermons and work toward enlightenment.

92The second model, with its objective of attaining knowledge through personal experience, corresponds to the World of Realization. At this stage, people perceive the links of causality in nature and are awakened to the impermanence of all phenomena through their own observations and efforts.

93The third model, focused on teacher/learner exchange, evokes the figure of the bodhisattva, whose deepest concern is the well-being of others. In consequence, what you called solidarity education leads the teacher and learner to the practice of the bodhisattva way. This pedagogical model helps people overcome the four sufferings and live for the good of humanity.

Teaching how to learn

94ikeda • Now that we have a good idea about what education should be, perhaps we could talk about the ideal teacher-student relationship in the light of what we understand as the university’s mission.

95simard • Yes, that’s an excellent way to move into our topic. In The Idea of a University (1873), Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–90) presents the university as a secluded place where students wishing to learn encounter professors who guide them in the synthesis of knowledge and help them understand that the human factor is the most important element in all theories of culture, technology, and science. As the founder of Soka University, Mr. Ikeda, what is your reaction to the cardinal’s view?

96ikeda • His idea of the university sets forth the ideal relationship between student and teacher. For students, the important thing is how to learn. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi insisted that teachers should impart, not mere information, but knowledge of how to learn.

97simard • Mr. Makiguchi was absolutely right. It is easy to see that he was an educator in the true sense of the word. The wisdom of his comments on learning can only grow more significant with the passing of time.

98The ultimate aim of the educational mission is the complete development of the student as a responsible citizen and a future professional. At the university level, this development goes beyond the acquisition of immediately applicable knowledge and entails developing a capacity to reflect and consequently to act in such a way as to deepen the significance and usefulness of knowledge to the progress of the human spirit.

99Teaching is an act of communication, perhaps the most ambiguous and unsettling of all. Professors act not only as communicators and experts in their fields, but also and more importantly as teachers and witnesses to scientific, intellectual, moral, social, and cultural values. They must accompany students in their evolution, adjust themselves to various training situations, intervene to facilitate understanding of pursued objectives, and demonstrate the real complementary nature of proposed educational actions. In a word, teachers must be there for the students and supervise them as they progress.

  • 2 Michel de Montaigne. Essays. Montreal: Pocketbooks. 1956.

100ikeda • The goal is to develop not a fact-crammed mind but what Montaigne calls a well-seasoned mind.2

101simard • Achieving that means university professors must be more than specialists in their own fields and communicators of particular kinds of knowledge. They must also become models in ethical, social, and cultural spheres. Consequently, university professors are responsible for both the transmission of knowledge and the cultivation of scientists who have both open and critical spirits and who can show themselves capable of working to integrate their studies, their analyses, and the results of their intellectual efforts in an inclusive perspective.

Flexible spirit, sure judgment, and perseverance

102simard • Contrary to what is often thought, the important thing in science is as much the spirit that sustains the process as the end result. It is as much the openness to novelty, critical rigour, and submission to the unexpected—no matter how annoying—as the result itself—no matter how new and extraordinary. Scientists have long renounced the idea of an ultimate, tangible truth, the exact image of a reality just waiting to be unveiled. They now know they must be satisfied with the partial and the provisional. They realize that, in general, we have not really been looking for what we have found and have not always found what we were looking for. They know that, at every instant, a new way that must be explored opens up. From this arises the imperious necessity of a vast general culture.

103In fact, modern science dates from the moment we began to substitute limited questions for general mythological or religious questions. Instead of asking how the universe was created, what matter is made of, and who gave birth to life, we started asking why a stone falls, how water circulates in a tube, and how species reproduce. This change in attitude and perception had amazing consequences. Whereas general questions got limited responses, limited questions led to increasingly general answers.

104The same approach is valid today. This is the approach young student researchers who want a successful career in science must adopt. Researchers in the human and laboratory sciences must have certain important qualities. They must be able to judge when problems have become ripe for analysis. They must decide when it is time to explore unknown terrain and, in the light of new facts, return to questions already considered solved or unsolvable. To a large extent, an open spirit and sound judgment correspond to creativity and innovation in science. Promising talent is revealed by tendencies and aptitudes of this kind.

105ikeda • This is very valuable advice for young people! In any field of endeavour, perseverance is a necessary ingredient of success. When we are no long spurred on, even if we continue in the same direction, we have hardly any chance of reaching our goal. We must scrupulously examine our hearts and make constant efforts to temper our minds.

  • 3 The Lotus Sutra. Tr. Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press. 1993. Chapter 10.

106For Buddhists, the most fundamental practice is to ceaselessly observe our own minds, thereby raising our life condition. We believe that the principles and energy needed for self-improvement are to be found within ourselves. The goal of Buddhist practice is to activate and strengthen these innate qualities and enable every individual to lead a life worthy of humanity. The Lotus Sutra explains the three characteristics of the bodhisattva as the Robe of Forbearance, the Seat of Emptiness, and the Room of Compassion.3

107The Robe of Forbearance stands for the unyielding determination to challenge and endure all hardships courageously. The Seat of Emptiness refers to the wisdom that understands the essential nature of all things and to a state of infinite flexibility as vast as the sky The Room of Compassion means a caring and empathetic attitude toward all people and the desire to help them find happiness.

108These three qualities—determination, wisdom, and compassion—correspond almost perfectly with the idea of promising talent you were describing.

109Dr. Simard, you mentioned Cardinal Newman’s definition of the university. Along the same lines, I believe that respect for humanity is the basis for all knowledge and should be the starting point of education at every level. This is why Tsunesaburo Makiguchi held the wellbeing of students as the main goal of education.

110The ultimate goal of education and research is the good of humankind. Learning is the means, humanity is the end. We must never reverse these priorities. Knowledge acquired through the search for truth must be put to use for humanity. Computers are capable of storing information and using it to analyse problems. But only human beings can determine how such information will be used. In the end, only humans know how to teach others how to grow in wisdom and sensitivity.

111From this perspective, a university is a privileged place where teachers and students together shoulder the responsibility of ensuring the continuity and full flowering of the “human element.”

The most precious jewel: The wisdom of the Buddha

112ikeda • Tsunesaburo Makiguchi once said “Teaching is the noblest art and the most difficult skill, and only the best, most devoted people can hope to succeed at it—because its subject is the precious jewel of life itself.”

113simard • Mr. Makiguchi had the courage to demonstrate what a true educator should be like. Every good educational institution has teachers who appreciate the true objectives of education. If these teachers’ educational philosophy is logically reflected in the curricula of the school, college, or university that employs them, that institution will distinguish itself.

114ikeda • Today schools in Brazil understand and practise Makiguchi’s educational theories. And we hope others will follow suit. Makiguchi’s reference to life as a gem is based on the Lotus Sutra, in which the compassionate wisdom of the Buddha is called the supreme jewel inherent in all people. The reason for the appearance of Shakyamuni Buddha in this world was to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to show it to them, to cause them to awaken to it, and to induce them to enter its path.

115In his quest to find ways to overcome the four sufferings, Shakyamuni concluded that every individual must awaken to the sacred infinite nature of human life. Because of this teaching, Shakyamuni was called the Teacher of gods and humans. Mr. Makiguchi particularly liked this teaching and wrote a commentary on it.

116simard • All this shows how great a teacher Makiguchi was. In active rapport with a teacher of his stature, students can learn how to attain their goals and come to understand the importance of evolving ethically and responsibly. I know from experience that scientists and scholars of the first order come from the ranks of gifted, curious, and hardworking students.

117Incidentally, antiquity provides the best example of a teacher-student relationship in the case of Socrates, who was Plato’s instructor in thought. In his turn, Plato taught Aristotle, who became the tutor of Alexander the Great. Closer to us might be cited the gratitude Pierre and Marie Curie felt for Professor Beckerel or the adulation of Pasteur’s pupils.

3. The Mission of the University

Safeguarding academic freedom

118simard • We seem to have concluded that education promoting solidarity and exchange between teacher and student helps to overcome the four sufferings. Moreover, we have identified how applicable that model is to the bodhisattva way. In The Idea of a University, Newman relies on the following three traits to define the university: (1) An autonomous institution acting at the nerve centre of society; (2) A place of truth, where people can explore the importance of political, economic, and cultural development; and (3) A place of investigation of the choices made by the community and the value system of society. What impression does Newton’s proposal for an ideal university make on you? What conception do you have of the university of today?

119ikeda • Newman covers all the important points. The first has to do with the major human-rights issue of academic freedom. History offers numerous examples of governments abusing learning and research for political purposes—Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin (1879–1953), for instance. And in Japan, in connection with aids contracted from contaminated blood products, some official research workers issued data favourable to the interests of the pharmaceutical industry.

120simard • “Publish or perish!” For many years, this has been the prevailing mentality in academia and among researchers. For whatever purpose, this mindset breeds excessive competition that can lead to dishonesty and falsification of data and facts. Sadly, innumerable examples of such behaviour tarnish the name of science and testify to intolerance, greed, and division at the very heart of the academic community.

121It is high time for researchers—especially those in university employ—to examine their own deeper motivations. Are they carrying out research to promote knowledge of natural phenomena or for their own benefit and advancement? Is scientific publication a means of communicating discoveries or an exercise destined solely to ensure their own professional survival? Is the peer-review system an honest mechanism of evaluation or a reflection of a merciless struggle to ensure the survival of a school, a discipline, or even a university? Is scientific research justified as a human activity essential to enriching human knowledge about our environment or is it only a tool of transient utility?

122ikeda • It is a matter of the scientist’s conscience. The researcher who loses sight of the search for truth and acts out of selfish interest also loses sight of his or her own obligation to society and humanity.

123Universities must ensure the right to conduct research and publish findings according to the dictates of the scholar’s own conscience, independent of political or economic considerations. This is why I advocate the establishment of education as a fourth governmental branch independent of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. The integrity and credibility of the world of knowledge depend above all on the freedom of researchers to study, think and publish based only on their own conscience.

124simard • Precisely. That is why I should like to see all university graduates equip themselves with the following qualifications and capabilities. (1) Knowledge of the basic principles and methodology of their field; (2) An awareness of the limitations of their own field and receptivity to discoveries and methods in other fields; (3) A keenly critical spirit; (4) The ability to pursue independent study to enlarge and deepen their knowledge and understanding; (5) The ability to communicate ideas effectively and accurately; and (6) A sense of professional ethics.

125ikeda • You have covered all the conditions needed for a scientist or researcher. Graduates of higher institutes of learning are expected to be well informed in their own fields of specialization, but they should not gloat over their own knowledge. True scientists are always ready to improve and lend a humble ear to those in other fields. At the same time, they must be prepared to defend their own ethical views and refine their human nature.

126This is the real heart of the question, don’t you think? Ethics and education are inseparable insofar as they exert an enormous influence on the kind of lives people lead and the kind of happiness they can attain. The skills of the researcher that you just summed up are absolutely necessary for the preservation of liberty and, by extension, the integrity of the university.

Harmonizing the university’s mission and society’s needs

127simard • How do you react to Cardinal Newman’s second point in The Idea of a University?

128ikeda • I believe it defines the essential role of the university in its search for truth. The university’s role is to constantly reappraise politics, economics, and culture, which constitute the basic framework of human endeavour. The university and learning itself are founded on this undertaking.

129simard • Traditionally, the mission of the university has been to create and disseminate knowledge considered desirable in the society it is part of. Research and teaching have been the two wheels of the vehicle performing this double function.

130While fulfilling this essential mission, the university must remain in close contact with the surrounding society in order to respond to its needs, understand the profile of new talents and new forms of knowledge, and develop and control new technologies to understand and exploit their potential. Big businesses devote significant sums to the professional training of their personnel and to research and development. This means they either are or ultimately will be natural partners of the university. Small businesses have even greater need of university resources because they can afford to devote much less money to the same cause. They are better able to fulfil their research and training responsibilities if they enter into a partnership with the university. All businesses large and small obviously rely on young university graduates for revitalization. Moreover, synergy between the university and business, between the professional world and its surrounding collectivities, is necessary not only to the preparation of the elite of tomorrow, but also to a critical appraisal of the choices society makes on the basis of new technologies and social evolution.

131ikeda • The production of knowledge in institutes of higher learning and research provides a basis for investigating the meaning of cultural, political, and economic development.

132simard • In addition to its traditional mission, the university now faces new social and ethical issues engendered by progress in high technology. Should we give priority to development or to the environment? Conflicts arise between civil rights and civil duties. These new issues seriously challenge established values.

133All university graduates and holders of advanced degrees must have the capacity to think independently about complex problems and to form opinions in accordance with their own consciences. I hope they will each individually be able to equip themselves with what Montaigne called a well-seasoned mind. I am firmly convinced that a university must provide the means to acquire not only specialized knowledge, but also a minimal understanding of culture.

134ikeda • In April 1998, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Pan Yunhe (1946– ), president of Zhejian University in China. Dr. Pan is an electronics specialist familiarly known as “Mr. Computer.” He has given a great deal of thought to the idea of education in general and he expressed ideas that coincide exactly with yours. For instance, he insists that, although specialist knowledge is a must, students must acquire broader cultivation as well.

135simard • I completely agree with Dr. Pan. Educated people of our time must stay up-to-date by acquiring all sorts of knowledge and information in science and the humanities. We cannot expect to understand what is going on in the world unless we equip ourselves with basic knowledge on a wide range of subjects.

136ikeda • Tragically, just when Japan is facing so many serious problems, the country currently lacks leaders capable of providing such broad cultivation.

Interaction with society

137simard • What do you think about the third point in Cardinal Newmans definition of a university?

138ikeda • If I understand correctly, the third point has to do with the interaction of the university with society through its contributions as a producer and distributor of knowledge. The university has the responsibility to use the results of its research to forecast the long-term effects of the actions and trends of society. At the first sign of danger or suggestion of an undesirable tendency, the university must put society on its guard. Likewise, it must encourage positive currents and developments that promise to be valuable.

139simard • It seems to me that an important university function today is to engage in large-scale dialogues with society. Until the present, rapid industrial and technological advance has been the hallmark of postmodern society. What is the role of science in such a society? University professors and researchers must find a sensible, acceptable answer to this critical question through uninterrupted, penetrating dialogue with the rest of society.

140ikeda • I believe you are saying that academics must not shut themselves up in ivory towers.

141simard • Exactly. Universities must become more sensitive to the needs of society than they are at present. They have an obligation to identify new talent and new forms of knowledge and to develop the kind of technology and know-how conducive to the full flowering of society.

142ikeda • Dynamic exchanges with real society have stimulated dramatic progress in learning during various periods of history: the age of Shakyamuni in India, the era of the Hundred Philosophers in China (ca. 500–221 bce), and the Renaissance in Europe. The mutual enlightenment of the university and non-academic society encourages both social development and a re-examination of ethical values, accelerating the evolution of society.

143simard • To give a specific example, universities should institute ways of submitting conferences and seminars to constant critical examination to ensure they conform with changing social realities. Teachers must take care that progress in diverse areas does not render their course material passé. It is their professional duty to keep abreast of the latest discoveries, to develop innovative methods, to open unexplored research horizons, and to present their discoveries to students with the least possible delay. This imposes heavy demands on teachers to read huge numbers of articles and research reports. Nowadays, it is nearly unthinkable for professors, no matter what their specialty, to give the same course more than once.

144ikeda • In Japan, sadly, some scholars actually do use the same lecture notes, year in and year out, to the despair of their students. As you say, Dr. Simard, course material must be constantly updated to conform with and apply to reality.

145The happiness and well-being of the students is the most important reason to do so. Mr. Makiguchi said that education is not supervision but affection. Teaching is a vocation and a sacred responsibility toward the future not only of students, but also of all humanity. Educators in all fields and administrators at all levels must never forget that they are involved in a very noble mission.

4. Ethical Aspects of Technoscientific Development

An ethic worthy of global issues

  • 4 James W. Botkin et al. No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap. New York: Pergamon Press. 19 (...)

146bourgeault • The report No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap,4 submitted to the Club of Rome in 1979, by James W. Botkin, Mahdi Elamndjira, and Mircea Malitza, clearly demonstrated the amplitude and urgency of the challenge posed by the constantly widening gap between the complexity of our problems—including peace and harmony among human beings, the habitability of the planet, and the earth’s continued capacity to support life—and our ability to find appropriate solutions. The authors of the report cite a model of research imprisoned by narrow technoscientific rationality. But such a model is outmoded in the search for solutions to real problems.

  • 5 Aurelio Peccei and Daisaku Ikeda. Before it is Too Late. ed. Richard L. Cage. Tokyo-New York-Londo (...)

147ikeda • I have been associated with the Club of Rome for many years. I published a dialogue with its founder, the late Dr. Aurelio Peccei (1908–84), on the topic of the complexity of the problems that threaten the survival of humankind.5 I also held a series of talks with its current president, Dr. Diez Hochleitner. Humanity now confronts unprecedented problems that we cannot resolve unless we pool the wisdom of as many people as possible.

148In the preceding pages, we have discussed the need for a new ethic to help us eradicate such difficulties as poverty and environmental destruction. The regulation and control of technology are important corollaries to this ethic. Recent dramatic advances in genetic engineering and manipulation, too, have given rise to serious ethical problems. It is important to remember that genetic engineering makes life itself the object of technology. This runs the danger of regarding life in terms of commodity values or production efficiency or as a mere physical entity or even a consumer good.

149Diversity itself partly explains our marvel and veneration for living things. Individuality gives life its dignity. When commercial worth becomes the criterion, that dignity crumbles. To ensure that all fields of scientific technology reflect sound ethical standards, we must revise our social and legal systems and exercise control over science and technology.

  • 6 Joint unesco-Canadian unesco Commission publication. Report on the conference “Symposium on Scienc (...)

150bourgeault • In 1989, a group of experts meeting in Vancouver, at the initiative of unesco, urgently pressed for a long-term, united effort to ensure the survival of the planet. The Vancouver Declaration resulting from the meeting begins, “Survival of the planet has become of central and immediate concern. The present situation requires urgent measures in all sectors—scientific, cultural, economic, and political—and a greater sensitization of all mankind. We must make common cause with all people on earth against a common enemy: any action that threatens balance within our environment, or reduces our legacy to future generations.”6

151ikeda • The question is who is to be responsible for the social and legislative systems and the management of technology.

152bourgeault • The future of humanity and of life on our planet will depend on controlling technological development. What kind of control will be exercised? How will it be enforced? In this instance, ethical issues become political. The technocratic model, which involves only experts and the initiated, is always attractive because it gives an appearance of prompt effectiveness. As I have said, however, this model has turned out to be ineffective. In democratic societies, social control assumes that the people responsible for developing and utilizing new technologies will be accountable to the general citizenry. It also assumes that the citizenry will be represented in decision-making organizations and will participate in debate leading to important decisions that ultimately affect the whole world.

The need for debate

153ikeda • The technological and scientific achievements of the past hundred years have exerted unprecedented influence on human society. Just think about how they have transformed the industrial structure, for example, or communications and information processing systems. Perhaps we should call the twentieth century the “age of technoscientific civilization.”

154On the negative side, these developments have generated serious problems like environmental destruction and human alienation. Despite this—believing that if science continues to proceed as it has been, it will one day find an answer for everything—humanity seems to have given it tacit approval to pursue its development according to its own internal logic.

155Throughout the twentieth century, science was a great experiment. But the time has come to deeply reflect and seriously debate whether it has truly helped us realize the ideals of human happiness and global peace.

156bourgeault • Like you, I call for the regulation of technological development through prudence, prudence exercised in two main forms: foresight and vigilance. Foresight requires, among other things, a rigorous effort to forecast; vigilance demands debate and the creation of surveillance organizations.

157ikeda • This makes me think of several incidents that occurred in Japan several years ago, and of the unthinkable reactions of some of the scientists involved. Cases of organic-mercury poisoning and asthma were cropping up all over Japan. To protect the industry responsible for the pollution causing the problems, some scientists deliberately concealed or fraudulently concocted important data, even though people were suffering serious consequences. Something similar happened later in a malpractice suit involving the sales of hiv-contaminated blood products for the treatment of hemophiliacs.

158Why do such things happen? Perhaps, carried away by a sense of their own importance, the specialists take a narrow view of a situation and forget the ethical stance we justly expect of them. Perhaps desire for personal profit blinds them.

159bourgeault • In the global framework of savage competition, business and its engineers are more concerned with using advanced technology to produce more at lower costs than with considering risks. For their part, governments are more preoccupied with promoting immediate economic prosperity and preserving social order—more pragmatically still, with ensuring their own re-election—than with guarding the security of the citizens of tomorrow and the next day. When disaster threatens, or even in the midst of a catastrophe, governments tend to simply reassure us.

160Somewhere between blessed tranquility and exhausting militancy, and generally distanced from decision-making, the ordinary citizenry lives in ignorance of the true state of affairs, an ignorance that cannot be dispelled by the divergent opinions of various experts. Facing the possibility of a major accident or catastrophe, the citizen is condemned to impotence in advance. And when the worst happens—ostensibly unexpectedly, in spite of “warning shots”—the dilution of responsibility neutralizes efforts and leads to inertia.

161As you point out, we saw this in the contaminated blood scandals that struck several countries. While discussions dragged on, no restrictions were put on blood transfusions that turned out to be catastrophic for hemophiliacs who, in the hundreds and thousands, became victims of hiv and its ravages.

162ikeda • Essentially no one can escape ethical responsibility for scientific technology. Moved by a sense of shared responsibility, ordinary citizens must take part in democratic discussions on science and technology.

163Technological information is widely available. Specialized technicians and research workers must no longer monopolize technoscientific knowledge. As we mentioned in our discussion of cancer, doctor-patient relations are changing. The idea of informed consent is steadily gaining ground. And patients are being much more selective in choosing who will treat them and where. I applaud the tendency for the general public to demand a voice in the choice of specialists and to become actively involved in acquiring technical know-how.

164simard • I agree with you, Mr. Ikeda. In a lecture entitled “Technology and Responsibility,” I argued that the choice of technology and specialized expertise is as much a social and political question as a technical one, and that it must therefore be submitted to broad democratic debate.

165ikeda • By leaving important issues entirely up to the specialists of various fields, ordinary citizens are relinquishing their right to make their own opinions heard. It is almost as if the resignation of ordinary citizens invites specialists and scientists to assume control.

166bourgeault • Ensuring wide participation in decisions that affect the life of all citizens is both a sign and a pledge of the democratic health of a society.

167ikeda • A few years ago, in my conversations with the late Linus Pauling (1901–94), he vigorously warned against the control exerted by scientists. If there is a way to avoid having science betray humanity rather than helping us, I think it lies in the hands of the scientists themselves. They must embrace steadfast ethical views. To cultivate a broadly human position, they must deliberate at length on their way of life and on their rules of conduct. In this connection, philosophy and religion have great significance.

The end of a common Western philosophical and scientific culture

168bourgeault • Over a long period in the West, ethics—or, more generally, philosophy—and scientific research developed within what I would call a common culture. Consonance, co-operation, even complicity took place between them in a kind of ceaseless, mutual fertilization. On the basis of a fundamentally shared vision of the world, philosophers, theologians, and jurists set their minds to the explanation of the demands of natural law and natural rights. For their part, doctors and physicians strove to discover and understand the laws of natural physics and physiology. They insisted that, far from being their own inventions, these laws were absolutely elemental, active in reality, and endowed with universal and perennial value or efficacy. Immanuel Kant could admiringly compare two different orders of equally immutable laws: the eternal movement of the stars in the sky and the moral law inscribed in the human heart.

169ikeda • At that time, science was respectful toward nature and humble before the mystery of the universe. Wonderful things near at hand, though beyond human ken, provided the common wellspring of both science and philosophy.

170But as science advanced, the number of things explainable by means of its unique analytical methods grew to the point where science seemed omnipotent, able to answer all questions and solve all problems.

171bourgeault • Later, both philosophy and science became more sensitive to subjective and situational dimensions—to relative and relativizing dimensions. They became as sensitive to perceptions and conceptions as to scientific and philosophic practices. Later still, awareness of socio-cultural conditioning of both visions and practices intensified. The alliance between philosophy and science was not severed by these developments, however, not in the way it seems to be now in the wake of the collapse of their common cultural universe.

172ikeda • Still, the sense of awe for the unfathomable was lost. People became incapable of imagining a universal foundation transcending time and space. Although the change meant liberation from a dogmatic world view centred on an unconditionally absolute god, it also destroyed the common foundation between the human self and the world, leaving humanity adrift.

173bourgeault • Today, philosophy and ethics on the one hand and science and professional practices on the other belong in two different cultural worlds. This is no doubt why, in spite of the proliferation of professional ethics, there is no established coherence. This is also the reason why, in spite of innumerable seminars and symposia, ethics remains impotent to orient and define technoscientific practices.

174ikeda • Liberation from the old world view generated great value for humanity by allowing science to expand its areas of operation and become diversely productive. To their contemporaries, the great post-Renaissance scientific achievers—like Galileo and Copernicus—seemed to think and act boldly and to demonstrate no fear of God. They must have had profound faith in human possibilities. Their ideas and their works were inspired by the philosophic foundation of humanism.

175Scientists today, on the other hand, having razed that foundation, concentrate solely on technological aspects, causing all kinds of conflicts in the process.

The new confluence of technoscience and ethics

  • 7 Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Strengers. Order out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue with Nature. New Yor (...)
  • 8 Jean Ladrière. The Challenge Presented to Cultures by Science and Technology. Paris: unesco. 1977.

176bourgeault • Modern science no longer has the contemplative character of classical science. As Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Stengers observed twenty years ago, the distinguishing character of modern science is a confluence of technique and theory, a systematic alliance between the ambition to shape the world and the ambition to understand it.7 The secular alliance between a philosophy oriented toward wisdom and a “theoretical” science, founded on observation, has been broken. The same break affected the complicity between natural-law morality and the scientific process that probed the laws of a nature it could not comprehend, influence or control. Jean Ladrière (1921– ) wrote that, having formed an alliance not with philosophy, but with technology, science has become “operative.”8

177ikeda • Since the old philosophical foundation is no longer equal to the task, we must create a broader, deeper philosophical basis on which to build the colossal edifice of modern science. We require a full overview of the expansive and ever-receding horizon of science and a compass to set the course that humanity must follow in the future.

178bourgeault • In contemporary societies, technological development gives rise to new philosophical and ethical questions that pose a major challenge. From the standpoint of modern science, traditional morality is pre-scientific. The ethics of our time—although not necessarily a science itself—cannot skimp on rigorous analyses and scientific studies of reality if it intends to guide and orient human action. Science has long been subject to ethics. Today ethics must build itself either on or with science, which is inevitably linked to technology. Technology has modified the cultural universe. Philosophy and especially ethics must take this into consideration.

179A definitely short-sighted, simplistic view positions technology in the amoral economy of instruments and means. But technological development carries questions of a philosophical or purely ethical order. Technological developments of the past decades make ethical judgment both necessary and urgent. Should human beings do things simply because we can do them? Is it right to do so? Is it advantageous? If so, to whom? And who will ultimately answer these questions and make the choices that naturally follow?

180Today the new confluence of science and technology with philosophy and ethics must reflect on these fundamental, yet practical, questions.

181ikeda • How right you are! The fundamental and the practical, the universal and the specific are essentially inseparable. Buddhism teaches that truth resides both in the universal—eternal and immutable life—and the specific—the inexhaustible wisdom that adapts to changing circumstances.

182The mystical and eternal objects of philosophy and ethics do not manifest themselves apart from the concrete and specific objects of analytical science and technology. The Buddhist concept of the true entity of all phenomena asserts that truth or ultimate reality is inherent in all things and is in no way different from them.

183Buddhism also teaches that the ability to grasp the true entity of all phenomena varies from era to era and society to society. The Buddhist is expected to search for the true entity on a higher and higher plane and at an increasingly deep level, alternating between the universal and the particular.

184The bodhisattva way consists in the search for eternal truth. Indeed, the word bodhisattva means a seeker after ultimate wisdom.

5. Century of Life

The joy of learning: Contributing to society

185ikeda • We have arrived at last at our final topic. We would like to conclude our exchange by discussing the development of individuals who can make the twenty-first century radiant, a century dedicated to the respect for the dignity of life. The aging of society will be an important issue in the coming century. In industrialized nations where the populations are already greying, great attention is being paid to the quality and meaning of life.

186Each of us has the responsibility to continue developing our potential throughout our lives, even after we finish our formal education and venture into the world to earn our living. The Russian writer and founder of Moscow State University, Mikhail V. Lomonosov (1711–65), wrote that learning cultivates the young and delights the old. Without learning, human beings are not truly human.

187simard • I think that for students, education is the joy of learning and the possibility of thinking for themselves.

188ikeda • Yes, the joy of improving and standing on their own… that’s it, isn’t it?

189simard • Once discovered, that joy remains a treasure for life. Essentially, education consists in teaching the need to learn constantly throughout life. That is more important than transmitting accumulated knowledge.

190bourgeault • A very interesting book published a few years ago argued that, without the joy of learning, constant study would be like life imprisonment.

191ikeda • There is a lot of truth in that.

192bourgeault • How can we avoid turning lifelong education into perpetual imprisonment? This is a fascinating question. First, the learner must discover that the true joy of learning is experienced not by dodging obstacles and difficulties, but by surmounting them.

193ikeda • The Buddhist scriptures teach that birth and death are one with nirvana. We must challenge and overcome the sufferings of birth and death to reach a state of true happiness called nirvana. Likewise, in education, the learner cannot experience the joy of learning without first experiencing difficulty and overcoming it.

194In other words, we must study for the benefit of society and in the service of others. This, too, evokes both joy and new discoveries. I believe this is indisputable.

195simard • Fairly early on, we at the University of Montreal undertook a project of developing objectives and orientations for lifelong education in a perspective close to Dr. Bourgeault’s ideas.

196The content of lifelong-education programmes has changed over time. One of our programmes—unique in its field—is directed toward people already in the labour market. In our era of rapid social and technological mutation, workers are constantly being pressured to improve their skills and acquire new knowledge. Our Faculty of Continuing Education provides various courses designed to improve professional skills.

197In a highly industrialized country like Canada, where the numbers of professionals and well-educated people are constantly growing and where cultural diversity and the volume of information continually increase, it is almost imperative to continue training in one way or another. Otherwise the labour market quickly leaves you behind. Today, most people take for granted the need to devote themselves to some kind of continuing education. Of course, we also have many programmes in liberal arts and the artistic and literary activities people engage in mainly for pleasure.

198ikeda • It is inspiring to hear how your university seeks to adapt its continuing education programmes to the changing needs of society and simultaneously help people continue their training, moved by the joy of learning and the hopes of contributing to society. At Soka University, we have established a correspondence programme that offers courses to anyone who wishes to apply.

199simard • Yes, I know a little about Soka University’s correspondence programme.

200ikeda • The tombstone of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) reads: A full life is long, a full day brings sound sleep, and an accomplished life brings a tranquil death. Constant learning and improvement vastly enrich life. My mentor, Josei Toda, used to tell us, “How you end your life is what counts. No matter what may have happened over the years, the true winner is happy and fulfilled to the very end. I hope my twilight years will be like a glorious sunset.” My wish for people in the twenty-first century is that, right to the end, their lives will shine like the sun.

Appreciating differences polishes the conscience of the world citizen

201simard • The twenty-first century is going to be the age of information. How should universities respond to the needs created by computers and information technology? This is a new issue. Currently, new training programmes are being developed on the basis of leading-edge telecommunications and electronic data transmission. One of them is the intelligent self-instruction system. What do you think about these new programmes, Mr. Ikeda?

202ikeda • Study methods must change in the information society. Soka University students and faculty members can conduct Internet searches for information all over the world. At Soka Women’s Junior College, English is taught over the Internet. Knowledge is no longer necessarily transmitted from individual to individual. On our own initiative we can seek out and obtain information from sources all over the world, study and analyse the data we select and even “chat” with people in distant lands. We have entered an era when we can study together and illuminate each other’s minds on a global scale. Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres Olsen (1954– ) once told me that he hoped to educate his people to be bilingual and computer literate and to serve society.

203simard • Mastery of one’s native language is essential for both the acquisition and the transmission of knowledge. This is an indispensable condition for a rich, diversified, autonomous intellectual life. Coherent thought is impossible without coherent, correctly structured language. Neither perception nor oral or written expression of the universe is possible without mastery of a language that contributes to the simultaneous shaping and expression of the individual. Learning a second or third language is much more than acquiring additional communication tools, although of course these are indispensable in our North-South American context or your Asiatic context. Language learning is the key to modes of thought and expression we cannot afford to remain strangers with.

204People of the twenty-first century must master other, non-linguistic languages as well. No field of knowledge can bypass the language of mathematics, not to mention the informational idiom that has become its necessary counterpart. Can we dispense with minimal knowledge of these two forms of language if we wish to go even a little deeper into any of the basic disciplines?

205And what is to be said of artistic forms of expression? Should not a cultivated person be in a position to read these forms, too—the literary, the pictorial, the musical and the tactile? Indeed, it is not enough for our societies to make progress on the technological plane. They must also participate in a more human world cognizant of similar breakthroughs on the levels of conscience, knowledge, and expression of all human dimensions.

206ikeda • That is quite true. Computer skills and foreign languages have given people the means to appreciate diverse cultures and ethnic traditions, and can help inculcate an awareness of world-citizenship. True citizens of the world know from experience the importance of understanding the hearts and minds of people who live elsewhere. They have a perceptive intuition that enables them to co-operate and share with others.

207simard • We are witnessing the intensification of economic and political ties and international interdependence. Students must learn to be tolerant of cultural diversity and to think from a global vantage point. Awareness that one’s own existence is always bound to the existence of others on the planet engenders an acute sense of responsibility. As more and more people become citizens of the world, the shock of coming into contact with other societies and traditions will become trivial.

208ikeda • It seems to me that an authentic feeling of world citizenship will naturally arise from the meeting of diverse traditions. Aware of their differences, people will make an effort to discover what they have in common and what they agree on. To nourish this cosmopolitan awakening, people must welcome diversity, allow others to be different and recognize the right to be different.

  • 9 Gosho Zenshu. 769.

209Nichiren Daishonin once said: “When one faces a mirror and bows, the image in the mirror bows back.”9 Respecting the wonder of the lives of a diverse array of other people reflects dignity on our own lives. Showing respect for differences is the best way to develop our own individualities.

Four vows of bodhisattvas

210bourgeault • Encountering others—different from us and considered odd because they are strangers—poses a serious problem in today’s societies, with their plurality of origins, traditions, and cultures. The other is no longer in some more or less remote place, but here, close at hand.

211We often hear it said that regular association cultivates better understanding, making it easier for us to live together with others. But experience shows that this is not always the case. Association sometimes highlights divergences of opinion and convictions, evoking fear and either retreat or aggression, rather than comprehension and mutual aid. If, even unconsciously, we consider ourselves the measure and definition of Man, we condemn others for being different from us, without even considering that, for them, we ourselves are the others. It is therefore important to acknowledge the diversity of reality—especially of human beings and of ways of being human—more than the differences that always establish ourselves as models and gauges.

  • 10 Tzvétan Todorov. On Human Diversity: Nationalism, Racism and Exoticism in French Thought. Tr. Cath (...)

212On the basis of ideas expressed by Tzvétan Todorov (1939– ) in On Human Diversity: Nationalism, Racism and Exoticism in French Thought,10 I distinguish three kinds of attitudes toward differences perceived in social diversity: (1) feelings of anxiety that lead to, if not always rejection, at least a refusal to interact with the others and their subsequent ostracism and marginalization; (2) fascination with the exotic that leads to an exaggeration of differences and ultimately inhibits true exchange; and (3) willingness to tolerate a disturbing encounter because it leads to a joint revision of ways of thinking and acting, of negotiating arrangements, and exchanging for the sake of new social relationships.

213ikeda • The process of exchange you have just described has a lot in common with the bodhisattva way.

214In examining the goals of education, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi said that priority must be given to the way people develop a sense of purpose in life, because our reasons for living and our reasons for studying are one and the same thing. The basic posture of Buddhism—especially Mahayana Buddhism—is to constantly struggle to make life richer and more fruitful. The four vows a bodhisattva makes when first resolving to embark upon Buddhist practice represent the purpose of Buddhist study, that is, the goals of a bodhisattva’s life.

  • 11 “After all, you must regard the vow to save innumerable living beings as fore-most among the four (...)

215The first vow is to save all sentient beings, in other words, to make all people happy. Nichiren Daishonin considered this the most important of the vows since the fundamental goal of Buddhism is happiness for the self and for others.11 This corresponds to a sense of responsibility for the whole.

216The second vow, to eradicate countless delusions, expresses determination to triumph over the greed, anger, and stupidity that obscure the lesser ego. It is connected with the way of life that, freed from egoism, transcends suffering and manifests wisdom with courage and unshakable ideals.

217The third vow is to master innumerable Buddhist teachings that encompass all laws and all phenomena. We can interpret this as an exhortation to respect and study the vast stores of knowledge humans have collected and the diverse cultures we have created, and to continue our search for the truth.

218The fourth vow is to attain supreme enlightenment. This is a vow to persist unflaggingly in seeking human perfection. This last vow is related to the idea of continuing education we were speaking of earlier.

219These four fundamental vows outline a way of life dedicated to self-improvement and the well-being of others. I consider the goals of the vows essential conditions to the truly cosmopolitan world citizen.

Inventing new views of humanity and the world

220bourgeault • But I do not believe we can find a recipe for a perfect citizen in any tradition of religious inspiration. Returning to certitudes, it seems to me that religions tend to discredit—even reject—people who break with their dogmas. Today we need visions of the world that take diversity into consideration. A synopsis of history shows that religions have given moral support to too many wars—sometimes called holy wars—and to too many other forms of violence. Even today, devastating religious and ethnic wars dramatically bear witness to the weight of that heritage.

221ikeda • It is a deplorable state of affairs, indeed. What we need now is religion that serves the people, not the inverse. The minimal condition for a religion of the twenty-first century is that it be open to humanity and the world.

222bourgeault • I think it is possible to establish ethics and a way of life free of pre-established visions of humanity and the world. More precisely, I mean ethics with no consensus that defines in advance humanity, the world and the meaning of life and plots a course to the good. I believe that such ethics are necessary, because technology now permits such decisive action that the vision of humanity and the world that is likely to orient our choices and actions is no longer behind but before us.

223We now perceive humanity and the world not as definitively constituted, given realities, but as things in the process of being formed. Since we have the power to do so, we can decide what kind of humanity we will be tomorrow and take requisite measures to preserve the quality of the environment our descendants will live in. Life and quality of life have become our responsibility.

224The essential landmarks of ethical behaviour are no longer those that imposed a pre-established vision of humanity and the world yesterday. Just as the ancient Hebrews journeying toward an inaccessible land discovered the meaning of their destiny along the way, similarly, working together, we can shape and live the new adventure of human life entrusted to our hands and to our responsibility.

225ikeda • I agree with you wholeheartedly. The twenty-first century must be a century “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

226bourgeault • You might say that the solidarity born of encounters and discussions with others and lived in the exercise of shared responsibility is itself religious insofar as it reconnects humans to humans and to their environment, in the global Buddhist perspective to which you have referred. But I see no need for humans to search outside of—or above—themselves for legitimization of their existence, as has been done in Western religious traditions. No more is there a need to seek it within, in something deeper than ourselves where we commune with an inclusive spiritual element.

227A certain Christian spirituality advocates the love of human beings “for the love of God.” It seems to me that human beings are worthy of being loved for themselves, for what they are: fragile and transitory travelling companions, by day and by night. It is unnecessary to transcend man in order to love man and all human beings, male or female, with whom we can simply experience the joys and pains of a common odyssey.

228ikeda • What you say reminds me of the bodhisattva compassion. When ordinary human beings share the pains and joys of the continuing search for happiness, their acts are compassionate. As a Buddhist, I see something infinitely noble and even sacred in this difficult undertaking. It reveals the dignity of humanity. Certainly the individual human being is fragile and ephemeral. But there is greatness in the individual, too. Surely we may be permitted to designate dignified human affection as the compassion of the Buddha or the love of God. Whatever we call it, however, I hope it will guide us in the struggle to make this a radiant century of life.

Why Buddhism became a world religion

229simard • Since its emergence, in the fifth century BCE, the Buddhist system of thought and belief has exerted an enormous influence on humanity and has spread to many parts of the world. Why? What factors account for this development?

230ikeda • A number of explanations come to mind. Buddhism became a world religion partly because it broaches a fundamental issue experienced by all people: salvation from suffering.

231simard • Are you referring to the four sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death that you mentioned earlier?

232ikeda • Yes, but Buddhism in fact lists eight sufferings, the four you mention plus the suffering of having to part from those we love, the suffering of having to meet those we hate, the suffering of being unable to obtain what we desire, and the suffering arising from the five components of mind and body.

233Shakyamuni’s challenge of these sufferings and his certitude that it is possible to overcome them are the starting point of Buddhism. He renounced the rank of prince and gave up secular life to pursue the life of a wandering monk. For years he submitted to a life of rigorous discipline and ascetism. Finally he meditated and attained enlightenment, seated under the bodhi tree. Enlightenment means awakening to the ultimate law of the universe. This law is universal because it throbs in the depths of human lives and in all living beings.

234The second reason Buddhism has become a universal religion is because Shakyamuni attained enlightenment and perceived the universal law. Because the law transcends race, ethnicity, nationality and culture, the Buddha’s teachings spread within his country and elsewhere, regardless of barriers that divide the phenomenal world.

235Thirdly, Shakyamuni awakened to a law that, far from being a dry abstraction, radiates compassion and wisdom on everything in the universe, including humans. Buddhist wisdom has inspired the prodigious works of countless scholars working together to develop an extremely refined philosophical system.

236Among them let me mention Nagarjuna, a Mahayana scholar from Southern India who lived in the second and third centuries bce, famous for his classification of the doctrine of non-substantiality or latency; Vasubandhu, an Indian scholar from the fourth and fifth centuries bce, widely known for his Consciousness-Only teaching; and Chinas T’ien-t’ai or Chih-i (538–597) who propounded the doctrine of Three Thousand Realms in a Single Life Moment on the basis of the Lotus Sutra. The complex system and rigorous logic of these subtle teachings appealed to people and became the core of their faith.

237simard • I assume you are referring to the concept of Buddha nature and to the doctrine of causation which you discussed earlier.

238ikeda • Yes. Furthermore, since Buddhist wisdom is rooted in the power of compassion at the core of the universe, the bodhisattva way of altruistic service and striving to eliminate the suffering of others inevitably evolved from it. To practise the bodhisattva way is to resolutely reject violence and support non-violence. And this is the fourth reason for the worldwide spread of Buddhism.

239bourgeault • I first encountered Buddhism and its traditions while making a somewhat fragmentary study of the history of religions. I was concentrating on Western history and I was struck by the fact that conflicts between religions often led to wars between nations. In many cases, the wars arose from other causes, but as tensions mounted, religions became involved. At least this has often happened in the West. I suspect similar phenomena have occurred in the history of Buddhism.

240ikeda • Your suspicion points directly to the issue of non-violence. Let me give an example. In the third century bce, the Indian King Ashoka began his reign as a tyrant but later resolved to reflect the spirit of Shakyamuni in politics. The change occurred in 259 bce, when he had just conquered a district known as Kalinga. Seeing the misery of the conquered people, his eyes were opened to his own cruelty. He began to develop a fervent Buddhist faith. He renounced warfare and conquest and instituted a reign of peace, sending emissaries of the Buddhist Law to all the neighbouring states and territories.

241Under his tolerant policies, diverse cultures flourished. Though a Buddhist himself, he guaranteed the religious freedom of the Jainists, the Brahmans and other ethnic groups.

242This tolerance, combined with its non-violence, is the fifth reason why Buddhism has spread far and wide. The Buddhist spirit of tolerance has cultivated respect for human rights and human dignity and diversity, thereby encouraging cultural creativity. These attitudes helped it find a place in an already sophisticated Chinese civilization and in the rich cultures of other Asian regions.

Compromises with power

243bourgeault • Our discussions have helped me understand Buddhism a little better. At the risk of being simplistic and uncritical, I would summarize as follows: On one side—with Buddhism and more generally with what we call oriental wisdom—we find interiorized contemplation, non-violence and tolerance, solidarity and compassion. On the other, the will to control the world through actions stimulating technoscientific development, free enterprise and competition, and—when need be—war. But hasn’t the Orient also known war and violence? And haven’t religion in general and Buddhism in particular been involved in disputes? Haven’t non-violence, tolerance, and even the duty of compassion been used—at least in certain instances—as instruments of domination?

244ikeda • As you have suggested, the Buddhist spirit of tolerance has sometimes lost substance and become synonymous with acceptance of the status quo. This tendency has led to stagnation, deterioration, and—worse—to compromise with the reigning authorities.

245In some instances, the state made use of Buddhism; in others, Buddhism made use of the power of the state. Collusion with power naturally led to the deterioration of Buddhism as a system of thoughts and beliefs, and to the degradation and corruption of the priesthood. The connivance of certain Buddhist groups with the military government in Japan in the middle of the twentieth century is a good example in recent history. Some sects even gave active moral support to Japanese participation in the Second World War. One notable exception: Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, founding president of the Soka Gakkai, was ferociously opposed to Japanese militarism. As you probably know, these views led him to die in prison at the age of 73.

246bourgeault • Yes, I know the terrible circumstances of his death.

  • 12 Johan Galtung and Daisaku Ikeda. Choose Peace: A Dialogue. London: Pluto Press. 1995.

247ikeda • In my dialogue with Dr. Johan Gaining (1930– ), founder director of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (prio),12 he said that, unlike Christianity or Islam, Buddhism presents the qualities of tolerance and diversity essential to a philosophy of peace. On the other hand, he added, precisely because of its tolerance, Buddhism has tended to accept such examples of structural violence as tyranny, the oppression of the poor, and human-rights violations.

248bourgeault • Christianity has been guilty of similar weaknesses and perversions. I appreciate your willingness to reveal them in Buddhism.

Nichiren Buddhism and Shakyamuni Buddhism

249simard • Buddhism has spread to many parts of the world and of course has had enormous influence in Japan. I believe Japan became a Buddhist country in ancient times.

250ikeda • Yes, Buddhism was officially introduced to Japan by the regent Prince Shotoku (574–622).

251simard • Then in the thirteenth century Japanese Buddhism underwent a reformation. One of the best known reformers was Nichiren Daishonin, as I understand it. What was Nichiren Buddhism like in the thirteenth century?

252ikeda • As Buddhist history makes clear, attaining enlightenment to the universal law through one’s own efforts, as Shakyamuni did, demands extremely strict discipline. After Shakyamuni’s death, Buddhism lapsed into complicated, speculative philosophy that grew too abstruse for ordinary people. To bridge the gap, Mahayana Buddhism called for a return to the original spirit of Shakyamuni and encouraged the bodhisattva ideal. But, as time passed, Mahayana Buddhism burdened itself with many levels of practice and complex interpretations too demanding for all but scholarly monks and zealots. Even the T’ien-t’ai system developed a complex set of observances that took monks over a decade to perfect.

253Nichiren Daishonin felt that people should be able to manifest their inherent Buddha nature in the context of daily life. To help them do this, he created a mandala, an object of worship on which he inscribed the law of the universe. In doing so, he showed how all people can manifest their Buddha nature and overcome the four sufferings. In this way, Nichiren established a Buddhist practice that is truly for the people.

254simard • What are the specific differences between Nichiren Buddhism and historic Shakyamuni Buddhism?

255ikeda • Over time, Shakyamuni’s Buddhism lost ground and compromised with political leaders, becoming an instrument of control. Its collusion with political authority led to the oppression of the masses. Originally, the Buddhist spirit of tolerance had nothing to do with compromise or condoning political injustice. The true nature of its tolerance was to struggle against oppression by the powerful.

256Buddhist tolerance is synonymous with compassion. True compassion fights against power that inflicts sorrow on ordinary people. The word “tolerance” also qualifies this combative spirit. “Compassion” in the Buddhist sense means both empathy for the peoples suffering and commitment to help them overcome it. Empathy for the suffering of others, or sharing that suffering, can be compared with motherly love. Fatherly love symbolizes action to remove the causes of suffering. Mother’s love is unconditional and all-embracing. Father’s love discriminates between the just and the unjust and fights sternly against evil. Shakyamuni’s Buddhism became more inclined to motherly love, so to speak, and let slide the fatherly aspect of combatting evil. Since it combines both maternal and paternal love, the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin offers a just balance of tenderness and rigour. The fatherly side is expressed in the incessant fight against injustice and against the forces that oppress the people and provoke misery.

257simard • What attitude did Nichiren Buddhism take toward the ruling authorities of his time?

258ikeda • Whenever it was necessary, Nichiren remonstrated with the government.

  • 13 Gosho Zenshu. 758.
  • 14 The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 1114.

259In thirteenth century Japan, all established sects of Buddhism had been incorporated into the political structure and therefore supported the authorities, not the people. Nichiren stayed resolutely on the side of the people, never withdrawing from the struggle. He himself wrote, “The varied sufferings of all living beings—all these Nichiren himself accepts as his own sufferings!”13 He also taught, “In the final analysis, unless we succeed in demonstrating that this teaching is supreme, these disasters will continue unabated.”14 His courageous resistance is a remarkable change in the history of Buddhism.

260To summarize, true Buddhist compassion is at once like maternal love, sympathizing with and embracing the sufferings of all sentient beings, and like paternal love, determined to fight on to the end until suffering has been eliminated and true serenity established. Of course, the terms “benevolent mother” and “strict father” in this context are metaphorical references to the virtues of the Buddha and do not pertain to real human family relations.

Buddhism for peace

261simard • What was Japan like at the time when Nichiren Buddhism set out to achieve social reform?

262ikeda • Established Buddhism was out of phase with social realities and bred only hypocrisy. Compromising with political authority, the priesthood distorted the fundamental teachings. A tyrannical government that Buddhist groups not only failed to put in check, but actively supported—such was the reality that Nichiren Daishonin wanted to change with his Buddhist reform. Nichiren Daishonin insisted that Buddhism must always contribute to peace and become a useful practical teaching for society. This is the heart of his treatise On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land.

263bourgeault • I remember your earlier explanation of it.

  • 15 The Lotus Sutra. 225.

264ikeda • Yes, I already explained the persecutions Nichiren faced for this treatise and his courageous struggle with the authorities. The Lotus Sutra teaches that the ideal realm is not located in some distant place isolated from actual society.15 The ordinary world and the “World of Tranquil Light” where the Buddha resides are one. This means that the harsh world of reality is the place where we must create an ideal of peace and prosperity, wisdom and boundless compassion.

265Nichiren Daishonin proposed the ideas in On Establishing the Correct Teaching in order to transform Japan—and the whole world—into the ideal realm described in the Lotus Sutra. In other words, he wanted to create a Buddha land founded on the fundamental law of the universe, a treasure land of peace where human rights would be respected and humanity could live in harmonious coexistence with the natural environment.

266Having inherited the spirit and the ideals of Nichiren, the young people of sgi are also heirs to the thoughts Josei Toda expressed in 1957, when he proclaimed the use of nuclear weapons to be an absolute evil. The use of weapons of mass destruction could wipe humanity—and how much more!—off the face of the earth. Struggling against this evil is the bodhisattva way of our time. The youth of sgi are working actively today, the world over, to put Toda’s exhortation into practice and campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons, for peace, for human rights and for environmental conservation.

Buddhism in daily life

267simard • What difference does practising the Buddhism of Nichiren instead of the Buddhism of Shakyamuni make in daily life?

268ikeda • It is significant that, whereas Shakyamuni was born a prince, Nichiren Daishonin was the son of a fisherman. Shakyamuni’s Buddhism tended to compromise with authority and condone oppression. At the same time, it could flee from secular authority in the pursuit of personal tranquility far from society.

  • 16 The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 1121.

269In contrast, the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin is integrated with the lives of the ordinary people. It strives to work with others to create a realm of imperishable happiness. Nichiren Daishonin said, “A person of wisdom is not one who practises Buddhism apart from worldly affairs but, rather, one who thoroughly understands the principles by which the world is governed.”16 In other words, the fundamental law of the universe is at work in our daily life when we are involved in politics, economics, learning, culture, science, and so on.

270We must neither be defeated by nor try to evade the sufferings of reality. Instead of fleeing from them, we must challenge the four sufferings head-on and look on them as opportunities for self-discipline. At the same time, we must empathize with the sufferings of others and co-operate with them in the battle to turn sorrow into happiness. Furthermore we must take the campaign to overcome the four sufferings into workplaces, family circles, neighbourhoods, and regional societies in all parts of the world and into all cultural spheres and races.

271In some cases, the struggle will take the form of the battle for human rights against oppressive officials or corrupt clergymen. The goal of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin is to build a world of truly peaceful justice, right here on earth. It admonishes us to realize this ideal not in some distant never-never land, but here and now.

272simard • I begin to see Buddhism as a solid philosophy for the reformation of our world.

273ikeda • One of Makiguchi’s education reforms proposed including a “Hometown Course” in the elementary cycle, because the places where children are born and raised are their starting points in life. From there, exchanges, dialogues, and an expanding network of solidarity would foster awareness of membership in a global citizenry.

274bourgeault • I, too, believe that without a solid awareness of one’s immediate local community environment, the concept of global citizen is only a hollow formula. Owing to the push of globalization, the larger world encroaches more and more on local communities. Each place is going to be increasingly attached to all other places. Becoming a citizen of the world does not require us to leave our native communities. On the contrary, it is first necessary to accept membership in our home place and recognize the specific culture or unique way of thinking and behaving that we have inherited. Then we must enter into dialogue and debate with others, share with them, and—if I may put it this way—try to remake the whole world.

275ikeda • You are right. A citizen of the world is not some special kind of person, but merely a person with an open mind and with compassion, courage, and wisdom.

276simard • The University of Montreal has devoted serious effort to internationalizing its programmes, developing new teaching and training methods, and improving its foreign-language programmes. It also proposes dynamic student exchange programmes, staff instruction, and research with other universities throughout the world, including, of course, Soka University.

277ikeda • You are making precious contributions to stimulating awareness of world citizenship. Having concluded agreements with universities all over the world, including the University of Montreal, Soka University engages in a lively programme of student and faculty exchanges. I hope our two institutions can continue to work together to provide scientific and cultural information and global contacts to as many people as possible. I further hope that we can train and send abroad young citizens of the world who will do their utmost for the peace and prosperity of humankind.

Notes

1 Daisaku Ikeda. A New Humanism. New York: Weatherhill Inc. 1996.

2 Michel de Montaigne. Essays. Montreal: Pocketbooks. 1956.

3 The Lotus Sutra. Tr. Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press. 1993. Chapter 10.

4 James W. Botkin et al. No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap. New York: Pergamon Press. 1979.

5 Aurelio Peccei and Daisaku Ikeda. Before it is Too Late. ed. Richard L. Cage. Tokyo-New York-London: Kodansha International. 1984.

6 Joint unesco-Canadian unesco Commission publication. Report on the conference “Symposium on Science and Culture for the 21st Century: Agenda for Survival.” Vancouver, September 10–15, 1989.

7 Ilya Prigogine and Isabelle Strengers. Order out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue with Nature. New York: Random House. 1984.

8 Jean Ladrière. The Challenge Presented to Cultures by Science and Technology. Paris: unesco. 1977.

9 Gosho Zenshu. 769.

10 Tzvétan Todorov. On Human Diversity: Nationalism, Racism and Exoticism in French Thought. Tr. Catherine Porter. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1993.

11 “After all, you must regard the vow to save innumerable living beings as fore-most among the four universal vows [of bodhisattvas.]” Gosho Zenshu. 846.

12 Johan Galtung and Daisaku Ikeda. Choose Peace: A Dialogue. London: Pluto Press. 1995.

13 Gosho Zenshu. 758.

14 The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 1114.

15 The Lotus Sutra. 225.

16 The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 1121.

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