As a 46 year practitioner of the Buddhism Mr Toda deemed best, I appreciate your admiration of this praiseworthy man. His approach to life was active and engaging. To truly plumb the depths of his insight, though, I would assert that one needs to actually experience the practice he espoused: the chanting of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Having triumphed over the ordeal of two years’ imprisonment for his beliefs during World War II, he wrote in a letter to an acquaintance (dated September 1945):

Accompanying my mentor, Mr. Makiguchi, joining him in enduring persecution for the sake of the Lotus Sutra, I practiced faith in solitary confinement and underwent hard-ships that defy description. But, thanks to this, I was able to experience what it means to “read the Lotus Sutra with one’s life.” I explored the profound depths of the Buddhist scriptures and, at length, I perceived the Buddha and understood the Law.