Daisaku Ikeda has received invitations to lectures at many universities and academic institutes around the world, including Harvard University, L'Institute De France, Moscow State University, Peking University and the Brazilian Academy of Letters. In these lectures Mr. Ikeda addresses a wide diversity of themes, usually with particular reference to the history and cultural heritage of his audience. Examples include "Toward a World without War: Gandhism and the Modern World" at the National Museum, New Delhi, India (1992); "A New Silk Road from the Cradle of Civilization" at Ankara University, Turkey (1992); "Leonardo's Universal Vision and the Parliament of Humanity" at the University of Bologna, Italy (1994); and "Thoughts on Education for Global Citizenship" at Teachers College, Columbia University, U.S.A (1996). The full list of addresses is given below.

Mr. Ikeda says about these lectures, "There is nothing extraordinary about my knowledge or ability, but my Buddhist faith and my enduring wish for peace and a better world prevailed as I accepted each invitation to speak…I want to dedicate my life to bringing a true and generous message of encouragement, a prayer and an appeal to restore the future of humanity and let flow the bounty of the human spirit."

"The fundamental nature of culture is accord and harmony. It is diametrically opposed to force, especially the force of arms. While military power threatens humanity and imposes controls from without, culture arises from within the human mind as a liberating force…The flowering of culture is the only way to liberation against military might and political power."

"The creative life makes a new breakthrough, achieves self-renewal, every day, always attuned to the original rhythm of the universe, and by so doing it brings about a complete transformation."

"Political and economic exchange will be important, but the ties joining the hearts of the peoples of both countries are even more so….such bonds are made possible by the splendor of culture urging the human spirit toward eternity and universality. Education, meanwhile, opens up the infinite potential of the human soul and nurtures the bonds of equality and fellowship. Cultural and educational exchange will provide the basis for truly eternal ties between our two peoples."

"Only those with farsighted open-mindedness can aspire to globalism. The ability to strike a balance between one's own interest and those of other nations-or, at a deeper level, between the individual and the universal-is the mark of the world citizen."

"The universalism of modern science is not genuine universalism. In an abstract and self-defining world disconnected from values and meaning, a culture based on science and technology may be both pervasive and uniform, but is no more than the skin of the fruit. It does not touch the sum total of human life."

"The Greater self of Mahayana Buddhism is another way of expressing the openness and expansiveness of character that embraces the sufferings of all people as one's own. This self always seeks ways of alleviating the pain and augmenting the happiness of others, here, amid the realities of everyday life. Only the solidarity brought about by such natural human nobility will break down the isolation of the modern self and lead to the dawning of new hope for civilization."

"Leonardo's life itself captured the unique freedom and vigor of the Italian Renaissance. Perhaps what allowed Leonardo to achieve such freedom was his mastery of the self. He himself wrote, 'you can have neither a greater nor a lesser dominion than that over yourself.' This was his first principle, upon which all others were based. Self-mastery allowed him to respond flexibly to any reality."

"The endpoint in the development of knowledge isolated from human concerns is the weaponry of mass destruction. At the same time, it is knowledge also that has made society comfortable and convenient, bringing industry and wealth. The task of education must be fundamentally to ensure that knowledge serves to further the cause of human happiness and peace. Education must be the propelling force for an eternally unfolding humanitarian quest."

April 1, 1974
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) USA
Toward the Twenty-first Century

April May 1, 1975
Moscow State University, USSR
A New Path to East-West Cultural Exchange

April 1, 1980
Peking University, China
Toward a New Vision of "The People": Observations on China

March 1, 1981
University of Guadalajara, Mexico
On the Mexican Poetic Spirit

May 1, 1981
University of Sofia, Bulgaria
A Harmonious Fusion of the Cultures of East and West

June 1, 1983
University of Bucharest, Romania
Standing at the Crossroads of Civilizations

June 1, 1984
Peking University, China
The Great Path to Peace: A Personal Observation

June 1, 1984
Fudan University, China
People as the Protagonists of History

June 1, 1989
L' Institut de France, France
Art and Spirituality in East and West

March 1, 1990
University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Cosmopolitan Spirit in a Land of Cultural Fusion

May 1, 1990
Peking University, China
The Path of Education, the Bridge of Culture: A Personal Observation

January 1, 1991
University of Macau, Macau
A New Global Awareness

April 1, 1991
University of the Philippines, Philippines
Peace and Business: Toward a Universal Spirit of Fairness and Justice

September 1, 1991
Harvard University, USA
The Age of "Soft Power" and Inner-Motivated Philosophy


January 1, 1992
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
The Chinese Humanist Tradition

February 1, 1992
Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, India
Toward a World without War: Gandhism and the Modern World

June 1, 1992
Ankara University, Turkey
A New Silk Road from the Cradle of Civilization

October 1, 1992
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
The Twenty-First Century and East Asian Civilization

January 1, 1993
Claremont McKenna College, USA
In Search of New Principles of Integration

February 1, 1993
Brazilian Academy of Letters, Brazil
The Hopeful Dawn of a Humanistic Civilization

Sep 1, 1993
Harvard University, USA
Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-first Century Civilization

January 1, 1994
Shenzhen University, China
The Infinite Horizons of Humanism

May 1, 1994
Moscow State University, Russia
The Human Being: A Magnificent Cosmos

June 1, 1994
University of Bologna, Italy
Leonardo's Universal Vision and the Parliament of Humanity

January 1, 1995
East-West Center, USA
Peace and Human Security: A Buddhist Perspective for the Twenty-first Century

June 1, 1995
Ateneo de Santander, Spain
Toward the Dawn of Twenty-first Century Civilization

November 1, 1995
Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Homage to the Sagarmatha (Everest) of Humanism: The Living Lessons of Gautama Buddha

June 1, 1996
Simon Wiesenthal Center, USA
Makiguchi's Lifelong Pursuit of Justice and Humane Values

June 1, 1996
Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
Thoughts on Education for Global Citizenship

June 1, 1996
University of Havana, Cuba
Building a Great Spiritual Bridge to the New Century

October 1, 1997
Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, India
A New Humanism for the Coming Century

March 23, 2007
Palermo University, Italy
From the Crossroads of Civilization: A New Flourishing of Humanistic Culture