Forging Ties with the World’s Universities—
Moscow State University

(From an essay series, “Forging Ties with the World’s Universities,” published in the September 24, 2006, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai)

The path of the university is the path of the search for truth and of value creation. The gateway to the university is the gateway to world peace and the future of humankind.

On the morning of September 9, 1974, I crossed the bridge by car over the Moscow River, its waters gleaming in the bright autumn sunlight, and made my way to Sparrow Hills. The leaves of the beautiful white birches lining the street had begun to turn a rich gold. Soon the grand edifices of Moscow State University came into view, the 32-story building in the center of the campus rising some 240 meters (787 feet) into the sky with an impressive dignity. University Rector Rem Khokhlov (1926–77) guided me to his office on the ninth floor. When the heavy wooden doors opened, I saw a magnificent tapestry depicting a panoramic view of the university hanging on the wall.

With a smile, Rector Khokhlov explained that the tapestry was a gift from Peking University in Beijing. This was in the midst of a period of hair-trigger tension between China and the Soviet Union. In fact, on a visit to Beijing three months earlier (in May 1974), I had been shown the underground bunkers the Chinese had built in case of a Soviet attack.

But the academic realms of the two nations were joined by strong bonds of trust. The citadel of education was a bastion of firm and unshakable friendship.

* * *

On that early autumn day, I sat down to enjoy a pleasant talk with a group of students in a green corner of the campus. Students, after all, are the heart of a university. I peppered them with questions: “What subjects do you find most difficult?” “What countries would you like to visit?” When I asked what they thought about the plusses and minuses of communism and capitalism, one of the students responded: “Marx and Lenin have already answered that one. Please read them!” His clever reply was met with a gale of laughter.

“Why are you studying?” I asked, continuing my inquiry.

“To be able to make a positive contribution to society and world peace!” The students’ eyes sparkled with youthful fervor.

An Opening for Exchange

The pursuit of learning, contributing to the people’s welfare, fostering the growth of youth, encouraging international dialogue—in the university and its aims, humankind can find agreement and harmony. Learning transcends national, political and ethnic or racial differences. Universities, I believe, have the potential to play a breakthrough role in creating a new global alliance for peace. Our gaze fixed 100 or 200 years into the future, we need to forge ties between universities and build bridges of international understanding, expanding academic and educational exchange on all levels.

As the founder of the then fledgling Soka University—which at that time was just four years old—I said to Rector Khokhlov: “Soka University is like a young grandchild compared to your venerable university, but it is my dream that by the 21st century, our school will become as respected as your fine institution and make valuable contributions to the world.”

Rector Khokhlov, the leader of one of the world’s most esteemed institutions of higher learning, nodded and smiled warmly, saying: “Soka University has a wonderful founding spirit that upholds global human values. That is why we of Moscow State University are committed to developing a meaningful mutual relationship with your school.” Leading intellects around the globe share a common standard for evaluating the true worth of a university: how faithful it is to the ideals upon which it was founded, and how successful it is in realizing them. These are their sole criteria.

On this first visit to the Soviet Union, Soka University and Moscow State University also took the initial step in forging ties. Some at Soka University expressed the concern that this was premature, but I was determined, believing in the serendipity of this encounter and the importance of making the most of each and every opportunity. Over 30 years have passed since then, and from the days of the former Soviet Union to today’s Russia, more than 250 instructors and students have participated in exchanges between the two schools. Russian and Japanese exchange students at both institutions have gone on to become a bridge between the two nations and are brilliantly active in their respective societies.

* * *

M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University—named after its founder, Mikhail V. Lomonosov (1711–65)—opened in 1755, and last year the university celebrated its 250th anniversary. Lomonosov was the son of a fisherman, born in a small village along the White Sea coast north of Moscow, when Russia was still ruled by the czars. Overcoming numerous obstacles, he eventually became a leading scientist. Because of the discrimination he suffered due to his own low social status, he was determined to found a university open to students of all classes.

Making Learning Available to the People

Learning should not be restricted to the privileged. Universities exist to benefit those who are unable to attend them. Moscow State University began as a small schoolroom set up in a refurbished pharmacy. Lomonosov was 43 when he established the university that today bears his name—the same age I was when I founded Soka University.

Lomonosov was the target of repeated, tenacious attacks by envious members of academia’s status quo. He was not even invited to attend the university’s opening. But he penned a poetic account of his long-term ambitions for the school:

Though my own life
may end in obscurity and disappointment,
if these young minds flourish proudly
and follow the path I have laid out for them,
innumerable heirs to my vision
will be born in Russia.

After the school began operation, a certain instructor set out to undermine and repudiate the educational ideals established by Lomonosov for the university. But now Lomonosov had disciples who fought resolutely for their mentor’s vision and called on anyone who dared to betray the school’s founding spirit to depart.

* * *

A university will continue to grow and flourish forever as long as the founding spirit is resolutely preserved and protected. By faithfully passing on the founding spirit from generation to generation, a university gains eternal life.

I have enjoyed the trust and friendship of three successive rectors of Moscow State University, Rector Khokhlov, Rector Anatoli Logunov and Rector Victor Sadovnichy. They have shown great respect for Soka University and visited it on several occasions. Moreover, I have published four dialogues with them—two with Dr. Sadovnichy and one with each of the others.

What is the founding spirit of Moscow State University? Dr. Sadovnichy said:

“The founding spirit of our university is building a solid base of character and intellect for the individual. In other words, our students do not just accumulate unrelated bits of information but learn the principles and essential characteristics underlying society and the natural world.”

Building this kind of “solid base” means fostering genuine cultivation in students, and Rector Sadovnichy has defined this cultivation as “a comprehensive humanity developed by the contact and interaction of students and teachers.”

The more one knows, the more important becomes the question of what that knowledge will be used for. A clear, sound philosophy and wisdom must be sought, or the learner will be little better than a talented beast. Truly capable students cannot be produced in large classes, Dr. Sadovnichy has asserted, emphasizing the importance of close and regular contact between faculty and students and the need for teachers to nurture each student on an individual basis.

A Lineage of Learning

Moscow State University prides itself not merely on possessing a roster of illustrious graduates but also on its unwavering commitment to the transmission of learning from teachers to students. I still remember with deep gratitude my first visit to Moscow State University in May 1975, where I witnessed a heartwarming example of this commitment. I had been invited to give a lecture, and Prof. Leon Strijak, who was to interpret for my presentation, spent the entire previous night hard at work making a full translation of the manuscript of my speech. While I was at the podium, he had one of his top students seated directly behind him with the manuscript in hand to ensure that the interpretation into Russian would proceed smoothly in case he, for any reason, should become incapacitated.

I, too, had a teacher utterly dedicated to my education—my mentor Josei Toda, at what I affectionately call “Toda University.” Our university, consisting of just the two of us, was both the smallest and the best in the world. Mr. Toda promised to prepare me to be able to freely discuss any subject with any world leader or scholar. The path to the universities of the world is the path of mentor and disciple that I have walked with Mr. Toda.

Thirty-one years ago, when I received an honorary doctorate from Moscow State University—the very first academic honor to be bestowed upon me—I said that I wished to build a spiritual Silk Road illuminated by the hearts of global citizens, and I was determined to take the lead in traversing the world in that effort. It is my greatest source of happiness that innumerable young people are now courageously advancing in my footsteps along the spiritual Silk Road linking the world that I have wholeheartedly devoted myself to creating.

Lomonosov declared: “The truth will give us victory.”

Eminent,
world-renowned
Moscow State University,
shining with intellect
the home of my first honorary doctorate.
—Daisaku Ikeda

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