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  • Concept of Mentor Disciple Relationship in SGI Nichiren Buddhism

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    The mentor-disciple relationship is crucial for correct Buddhist practice and realizing one's potential. A mentor inspires the disciple and serves as a role model through demonstrating Buddhist principles in daily life. The relationship is based on a shared vow to strive for people's happiness. It creates a deep bond and allows Buddhism's power to transform suffering into strength to become a reality by bringing its ideals out of theory and into people's lives. When the disciple resolves to share the same commitment to others' welfare as the mentor, they awaken great latent abilities within themselves.

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    Concept Of Mentor Disciple Relationship in SGI Nichiren Buddhism

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    Concept Of Mentor Disciple Relationship in SGI Nichiren Buddhism

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    The mentor-disciple relationship is crucial for correct Buddhist practice and realizing one's potential. A mentor inspires the disciple and serves as a role model through demonstrating Buddhist principles in daily life. The relationship is based on a shared vow to strive for people's happiness. It creates a deep bond and allows Buddhism's power to transform suffering into strength to become a reality by bringing its ideals out of theory and into people's lives. When the disciple resolves to share the same commitment to others' welfare as the mentor, they awaken great latent abilities within themselves.

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    2K views1 page

    Concept of Mentor Disciple Relationship in SGI Nichiren Buddhism

    Uploaded by

    manishk_47
    The mentor-disciple relationship is crucial for correct Buddhist practice and realizing one's potential. A mentor inspires the disciple and serves as a role model through demonstrating Buddhist principles in daily life. The relationship is based on a shared vow to strive for people's happiness. It creates a deep bond and allows Buddhism's power to transform suffering into strength to become a reality by bringing its ideals out of theory and into people's lives. When the disciple resolves to share the same commitment to others' welfare as the mentor, they awaken great latent abilities within themselves.

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    Mentor disciple relationship in Buddhism

    Why do I need a Mentor for practicing Buddhism? Buddhism is not a collection of theoretical concepts for
    reading. It is a practice for self-mastery, and for overcoming life’s hardships. Such a practice requires
    verifiable proof of the validity of its teaching in the daily life of practitioners. It is the application of
    Buddhist principles in reality which gives the proof of the teachings validity. Buddhism can be taught only
    by those who manifest Buddhist principles in daily life. In other words, teaching Buddhism is inseparable
    from the behaviour of the teacher of Buddhism: “The purpose of the appearance in this world of
    Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, lies in his behaviour as a human being”. WND1 p 852

    A Mentor in SGI Buddhism is an inspiring “Role Model” of behaviour for the purpose of propagating
    Buddhist humanism, and the Mentor-Disciple bond reflects the oneness of purpose of both: “...mentor
    and disciple are comrades advancing together toward the common objective of world peace...On a more
    fundamental level mentor and disciple are comrades standing side by side”. (Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra,
    vol. 2 p. 139). Therefore, the mentor-disciple relationship is of crucial importance for practicing the Law in
    a correct manner. On a personal level, without his 1947 encounter with Josei Toda, the young Daisaku
    Ikeda could have remained an obscure person, with no prospect for benefiting the lives of millions of
    individuals world wide. At that time, when Ikeda attended his first meeting, the membership of the Soka
    Gakkai was just about only 600 members. In few decades, the outstanding development of the world
    peace movement provided a proof of the immense potential of the principle of the “mentor – disciple
    bond”, their determination and oneness in purpose.

    In Buddhism, the relationship between mentor and disciple arises from their shared vow to strive
    together for people’s happiness and to enable them to transform their sufferings into a source of growth
    and strength. This shared struggle creates a deep bond between mentor and disciple. It is the key to
    building a happy life for ourselves whilst enabling others to do the same. Without such shared efforts, the
    disciple would simply worship the mentor, and Buddhism would lose its power.

    Buddhism is a philosophy rooted in the conviction that every human being possesses an infinite source of
    courage, compassion, and creative energy. The mentor helps the disciples to realize this, and continuously
    reminds them of their boundless potential. The mentor serves as an example; we do not have to imitate
    him, but can rather learn from his example or way of life. The disciple adapts this way of life to his or her
    own life. Sensei Ikeda says, “The relationship between mentor and disciple,” “can be likened to that
    between needle and thread. The mentor is the needle and the disciple is the thread. When sewing, the
    needle leads the way through the cloth, but in the end it is unnecessary, and it is the thread that remains
    and holds everything together.”

    The commitment to the happiness of all people is at the heart of Buddhism. But it is through the
    relationship of mentor and disciple, through life-to-life connections, one person’s aspiration igniting
    another’s, that this ideal is brought out of the realm of abstract theory and made a reality in people’s
    lives. When we resolve to share and cultivate the same unrelenting vow for people’s happiness as our
    mentor, we awaken in ourselves great power and ability that we didn’t know we had. This is why the
    mentor-disciple relationship is essential to a correct and rewarding Buddhist practice.

    Questions for discussion:


    - How can I come closer to my mentor Ikeda Sensei?
    - My own way in which I am seeking my mentor in my life?

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