The Inner Realm of Life in Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy and Practice of Human Education

• In Event: Spiritual Remedies to Facilitate Educational Justice

Abstract

This study examines Daisaku Ikeda’s (池田大作, 1928–2023) perspectives on the inner realm of life in his philosophy and practice of ningen kyōiku (人間教育), or human education. Also rendered often incompletely as “heart,” “spirit,” or “spirituality” in English translations of Ikeda’s works, the inner realm of life pervades Ikeda’s corpus and is central to his view that external change happens only through profound internal change in the individual. For Ikeda, the ceaseless cultivation of the inner realm of life is proof of our humanity and the mark of civilization; it is the means to effectuate social self-actualization, create culture, and usher in an age of peace through “soft power.”

Author

• Jason Goulah, DePaul University