Animated Children's Stories by Ikeda

Daisaku Ikeda is the author of a number of children’s stories, some of which have been illustrated by the celebrated children’s book illustrator Brian Wildsmith and translated into several languages. The stories convey the importance of courage, hope, friendship and peace through the vivid adventures of children in different parts of the world. Twelve of the stories have been adapted and animated for television and broadcast in 25 countries. 

A short introductory video about the author, Daisaku Ikeda. 

Rainbow Mountain

Three friends climb a treacherous mountain to find out what is glittering at its summit. Faced with unexpected challenges, they learn the power of creativity and imagination, which will help them in their quest. 

The Princess and the Moon

The unhappy Sachiko can’t stand the sight of food and is becoming more and more frail and ill. The Moon, who watches over all the world’s children, sends a magical rabbit to intervene. 

The Two Princes

The haughty young prince of Jambe learns from a humble village boy what a true prince is. 

Kanta and the Deer

A story about the friendship between a lonely boy and a magical deer he saves from hunters. 

The Cherry Tree

In devastated postwar Japan, hope and courage are found in unsuspected places. Amidst burnt out buildings and blackened fields, a young boy discovers an aged man tending an old, apparently dead cherry tree. A story about the power of hope. 

The Princess of the Desert Kingdom

A princess and her animal companions venture into the formidable desert in search of a water source to save their ailing kingdom. In the course of their difficult journey, they discover the key to reviving their land.

Source: http://www.daisakuikeda.org/

Good Friends

Ananda, one of Shakyamuni Buddha's closest disciples, once asked him: "It seems to me that by having good friends and advancing together with them, one has already halfway attained the Buddha way. Is this way of thinking correct?"

Shakyamuni replied, "Ananda, this way of thinking is not correct. Having good friends and advancing together with them is not half the Buddhist way but all the Buddhist way."
This may seem surprising, as Buddhism is often viewed as a solitary discipline in which other people might be seen as more of a hindrance than a help. However, to polish and improve our lives ultimately means to develop the quality of our interpersonal relationships--a far more challenging task than any solitary discipline. Our practice of Buddhism only finds meaning within the context of these relationships.

From another perspective, given that Buddhist practice of polishing and aiming to improve our lives from within is a constant challenge and a difficult process, it is only natural that we need support from others also dedicated to walking a correct path in life, trying also to create value in their lives.
SGI President Daisaku Ikeda has written, "Having good friends is like being equipped with a powerful auxiliary engine. When we encounter a steep hill or an obstacle, we can encourage each other and find the strength to keep pressing forward." And as Nichiren (1222--1282) wrote: "Even a feeble person will not stumble if those supporting him are strong, but a person of considerable strength, when alone, may lose his footing on an uneven path . . ."

In Nichiren Buddhism, good friends are known as zenchishiki or good influences, while akuchishiki refers to bad influences. People affect each other in subtle and complex ways, and it is important to develop the ability to discern the nature of that influence. According to Buddhism, "bad" friends are those who encourage our weaknesses. In Nichiren's words: "Evil friends are those who, speaking sweetly, deceiving, flattering and making skillful use of words, win the hearts of the ignorant and destroy their goodness of mind."

Even when intentions are good, the degree of our positive influence on each other will vary. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, founder of the Soka Gakkai, used the following illustration. Say you have a friend who needs a certain amount of money. Giving your friend the money they need is an act of small good, while helping them find a job is an act of medium good. However, if your friend is really suffering because of a basic tendency toward laziness, then constantly helping him or her out may only perpetuate negative habits. In this case, true friendship is helping that person change the lazy nature that is the deep cause of their suffering.

A truly good friend is someone with the compassion and courage to tell us even those things we would prefer not to hear, which we must confront if we are to develop and grow in our lives.
Ultimately, however, whether people are good or evil influences in our lives is up to us. In Buddhist terms, the best kind of zenchishiki is one who leads us to strengthen our own faith and practice in order to thoroughly transform our karma. To quote Nichiren again, "the best way to attain Buddhahood is to encounter a zenchishiki, or good friend." Further, Nichiren comments that Devadatta, the cousin of Shakyamuni who tried to kill him and divide the Buddhist order, was "the foremost good friend to Thus Come One Shakyamuni. In this age as well, it is not one's allies, but one's powerful enemies who assist one's progress."

This expresses a key concept in Buddhism. Due to the immense transformative powers of Buddhist practice, even "bad" friends can have a good influence if we make our relationships with them into opportunities to examine, reform and strengthen our lives. The ideal is ultimately to develop the kind of all-encompassing compassion expressed by Nichiren when he wrote that his first desire was to lead to enlightenment the sovereign who had persecuted him, repeatedly exiling and even attempting to behead him.

Source: SGI Quarterly