In conjunction with its “2013 Book Donation Campaign” involving more than 30 institutions of higher learning, Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) presented a total of 50 books to HELP University’s Learning Resource Centre on 10 January 2014 at the university’s campus.
YBhg. Datuk Dr. Paul Chan, President and Vice-Chancellor of HELP University received the books from the General Director of Soka Gakkai Malaysia, Mr. Koh Sia Feai. The collection of books are authored and co-authored by Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International.
Datuk Dr Paul Chan was pleased with campaign as HELP and SGM share the same philosophy of promoting peace through education. “In a world that’s filled with power struggle, jealousy and bigotry, people often become self- centred. It is crucial to instill a sense of selflessness in human kind through a series of dialogues, culture exchange and other activities. HELP recently launched the Education for Peace and Prosperity Forum as a mean to ignite dialogue and ideas sharing among different levels of society”.
Kicking off the Forum in December 2013, HELP hosted Dr. Eva Latham who presented a talk “Education and the Dignity of Man”. Dr Latham started her career as a teacher, later became a social scientist, management consultant and author; is the Founder and President of Human Rights Teaching International and has received a prestigious UNESCO Recognition for the teaching of Human Rights.
Dr. Ikeda has made significant contributions in so many different important areas that affect the future of humanity. He is a prolific writer, a man of letters, a poet laureate, a photographer, a thinker, a philosopher, a scholar, an educator, a social activist and a passionate fighter for the cause of peace. Many of Mr. Ikeda’s works have been published in more than 40 languages and many are in the form of dialogue with a wide range of thinkers around the world. Dr. Ikeda’s works such as “Choose Life,” “Global Civilisation – A Buddhist –Islamic Dialogue”, “A Dialogue Between East and West”, “A Lifelong Quest for Peace”, etc. have been translated into the Malay language and published in Malaysia.
As an impassioned advocate of dialogue for peace, Mr. Ikeda had travelled widely and has been engaged in dialogue to promote creative responses to the pressing issues facing humankind. He has sought to build bridges of understanding among people of different nations and cultures, from diverse philosophical and faith traditions. Many of these are dialogues with experts in particular fields. They all, however, are driven by an urgent desire to find creative paths out of the quandaries in which humankind is enmeshed.
The following are some abstracts of the books:
Light of Education-Thought and Vision for Humanistic Education: In this book, which comprise a selection of essays, addresses and proposals, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda brings a fresh perspective from which to view the ultimate purpose of education and its transformative processes.
A Dialogue Between East and West: Looking to a Human Revolution: In this provocative and wide-ranging dialogue, two of the most influential thinkers of recent times propose that only a ‘human revolution’ – a fundamental shift in the hearts and minds of individuals – can stimulate a revolution in humanity’s relationship with the planet. Citing important thinkers like Cervantes, Victor Hugo, Gandhi and Walt Whitman, these representative of two different but complementary cultural and intellectual traditions, while acknowledging the scale of the task that lies ahead, offer an inspiring and hopeful vision for the future.
Into Full Flower – Making Peace Cultures Happen: In Into Full Flower: Making Peace Cultures Happen, the late Dartmouth College Professor of Sociology Emeritus Elise Boulding (1920-2010), who served on the International Jury of the UNESCO Prize for Peace, and Daisaku Ikeda, envision a world without armies. They contend that the instruments with which the present culture of war may be transformed into a global culture of peace are education and the kind of dialogue in which we listen to our inner voices of spirituality.
Believing that peace lives in everyday human interactions, the authors call on us to revitalize social ties by building an open network of dialogue in the home as well as within and between local communities. As we get to know others their world becomes familiar to us and our humanity or capacity for empathy and compassion is precipitated. Developing global citizens—those people who recognize, respect and heed this spiritual capacity, which Ikeda describes as a “radiant, noble life force” that is “equally inherent in all”—is the task of both parenting and education.
A Lifelong Quest for Peace (“Sepanjang Hayat Mencari Keamanan: Sebuah Dialog“), a dialogue between Dr. Daisaku Ikeda and Dr. Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel laureate, on their lifelong devotion to the cause of peace. The dialogue covers many important topics, such as war and peace, moral decay, euthanasia, and population explosion. The book contains the ardent wishes, hope and inspiration of these two great men for world peace, and the health and happiness of the people of the world.
