"Spiritual death means not having a true practice that is directly connected to the mentor."

"For me, I realized that the most important thing is to not have a counterfeit practice. I realized that spiritual death means not having a true practice that is directly connected to the mentor." -- Greg Wolpert of the SGI Board of Directors, on connecting to Daisaku Ikeda  

"It is thanks to OUR teacher that we can know who our parents are; it is owing to Shakyamuni Buddha that we can distinguish black from white." -- Nichiren Daishonin praising his mentor, Shakyamuni Buddha.