Today's post is from Chuck Ander's Facebook post today. Thank you so much. We all owe our practice to Mr. Makiguchi. 


Hello dear friends. Today, June 6, in 1871, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the founder of the Soka Gakkai was born.
Here is my article about his life. I hope you like it.
Our History - Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871 - 1944)
By Chuck Ander
In July, 1943, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi was on his way to a discussion meeting in Izu, Japan. He had been warned not to go because the government authorities were waiting to arrest him. Just a few days before, several leaders of the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai (Value-Creating Education Society), of which Mr. Makiguchi was the president, were arrested in Tokyo. The 73-year-old Makiguchi would not cancel the meeting – if he did, he would consider it a defeat in faith. “...he could not allow himself to neglect a single member who was seeking guidance.” (The Human Revolution, Vol 3, by Daisaku Ikeda, World Tribune Press, pg. 298)
After the meeting, Makiguchi went to a member's home in Shimoda. He had been invited by a young woman to try to explain Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism to her father. The father invited Makiguchi to stay the night, and early the next morning, two police detectives came to the door, looking for Makiguchi. The daughter was also asked to come to the police station, and as they walked along the road, the daughter said to Makiguchi:
“Sensei, I'm sorry.” “Why,” replied Makiguchi. Looking at her, he simply said, ‘The time has come,’ and kept on walking...” (ibid, of. 300)
Makiguchi was born in a small, impoverished fishing village in Niigata prefecture on the north shore of Japan.. His parents were divorced when he was 6 and he was adopted by his uncle, Zendayu Makiguchi. Because of poverty, the young Makiguchi could only attend elementary school; then he had to go to work for his uncle. Later, in Hokkaido, he was befriended by a police chief (strange irony?) who sponsored him to higher education. At the age of 22, Makiguchi became a licensed teacher.
The young Makiguchi was a superb scholar. He studied the works of John Dewey, the famous American educator and others. Through his work and study, he became convinced that geography should form the basis of teaching elementary school children, and eventually, his Geography of Human Life was published in November 1903. The work received critical acclaim, and was even adopted by the Ministry of Education, as a standard reference for those seeking to pass the teacher certification examinations.
Japan's educational system at that time existed for one reason - to make everyone conform to the goals of the government, and supposedly, the Emperor. One of the goals for which the government sought support from the population at large was Japan's increasing nationalism, which culminated in Japan invading China in 1937, and of course the United States in 1941.
Makiguchi would not go along with this type of education for an instant. He worked in several schools, making each a model of humanistic and caring education. Since he would not conform, he was eventually forced out of education.
“But Makiguchi's foremost passion was, in his own words, ‘the unification of study with life.’ That lifelong goal was achieved in 1930, when The System of Value-Creating Pedagogy was published. The four-volume work, which contains the essence of his 40-year career in the field, is intended as a guide for teachers in their attempt to nurture children in the proper attitude and skills to live life to the fullest." (from Soka Gakkai International – Quarterly Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, The Value Creator)
... And now, although under arrest for lese majeste (literally, criticising the Emperor), Makiguchi could not and would not ever give up. He had been faithful to what he believed all his life, and now, as a believer in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, his indomitable courage would light the way for the millions of believers who would follow him in the future.
Like · Comment ·