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usually connected to how they perceive Ikeda. For those who perceive him as a
model for how they themselves want to act in the world, he becomes a source
of great inspiration. For many active members this relationship of
'
mentor and
disciple
for human rights, for the
respect and care of friends and other people around them, and they strive to be
individuals who personally overcome their own egotism and attachment to
social positions of power. A snippet of Ikeda
'
makes them want to act as
'
ambassadors
'
s interpretation of the Lotus Sutra
is quoted here to see what these young people read often on a daily basis:
'
We must build a society in which people work with and help one another
in a spirit of humanism; we must pursue a peaceful world in which people
can lead happy and ful
lled lives with dignity. The basis for doing so is
the spirit of never disparaging found in Nichiren Daishonin
s Buddhism
and which is the essence of the Lotus Sutra. It is the philosophy of thor-
oughly treasuring each person. I have said this many times, but of utmost
signi
'
cance is concrete action. Whether young or old, the important
thing is to treat others with real love and compassion.
(Ikeda 2003: 248)
These ideas tend to be di
erent from anything else they hear or experience in
school, or read in the media, watch on television and so on. Through such
ideas they begin to aspire to try, however imperfectly and uniquely, to strive
to live such a life. The words in themselves may not seem so remarkable;
perhaps similar ideas could be found elsewhere. However, the constantly reit-
erated belief in young people
ort extended to
enable them to develop moves people. In contrast to this positive picture, the
power that Ikeda enjoys is one of the most singled-out criticisms of Soka
Gakkai in relation to politics. Ikeda is sometimes juxtaposed as the de facto
ruler in the political world; he is by such an analysis interpreted to be moti-
vated by self-interested power seeking. Ikeda clearly has great in
'
s potential and the endless e
uence on
many young people in Soka Gakkai, but what critics do not see is that his
power lies in representing a philosophy that creates a discourse in which
informants come to demand of themselves the same
behaviour that
they perceive to be displayed by Ikeda. I would argue that the young people
who see Ikeda in this way come to feel committed to personally striving to
live those ideals in daily life. This is similar to what Banerjee (2000) argues
about in a very di
'
good
'
ect
of a belief in and practice of an ethical approach to constituting oneself in the
world. These young people are clearly inspired by a leader whom they believe
to embody those ideals. Such leadership can give rise to
erent context mentioned in the Introduction. It is the e
'
profound social
creativity
(Banerjee 2000: 16), even in or perhaps exactly because of attempts
to engage the world of politics where bigger decisions often are driven by
short-term self-interest. However, it is not simply in their role as supporters of
Komeito that such ideals have an in
'
uence. In other areas of their lives, as we
saw in previous chapters, ideals inspire many young people to seek out work
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