As the spring becomes summer you’ll notice some exciting leadership changes here at the Ikeda Center. After many years dedicated to the advancement of the Center’s peace and dialogue work, Richard Yoshimachi has stepped down as President and Executive Director. Yoshiki Tanigawa now serves as President, Virginia Benson of the Ikeda Center is Executive Director, and Jason Goulah of DePaul University has been appointed executive advisor to the Center. Their objectives will be to explore promising new directions for the Center’s programs and extend the intergenerational reach of its networking. Click through to learn more.
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The Ikeda Center is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Learn about us
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A steadfast commitment to dialogue is first among our core convictions.
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Our signature event is the annual Ikeda Forum for Intercultural Dialogue.
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Members of our community offer perspectives on our core values.
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You can read about all Ikeda Center events at our Themes page.
Defining Peace for the 21st Century
Founded in 1993, the Ikeda Center engages diverse scholars and social innovators in the search for the ideas and solutions that will assist in the peaceful evolution of individuals and humankind. To that end, we host events, publish books, and produce original resources for our website.
Founding Lecture
Our founding lecture is called “Mahayana Buddhism and 21st Century Civilization.”
Read the lecture »
The Ikeda Center
Learn about the history, mission, vision, values, and people that shape our work.
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Thinkers & Themes
Encounter essays, interviews, lectures, and articles on diverse facets of our work.
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What's New?
New from Middleway Press (published this spring in association with the Center's Dialogue Path Press), is a collection of essays from Daisaku Ikeda called "Hope Is a Decision." The book is published by Middleway Press in association with the Center's Dialogue Path Press. The essays cover a wide range of topics, with a common theme being an exploration of ways in which anyone can connect their personal search for strength, wisdom, and hope to the collective desire to bring about a just, humane, and caring society.
In this April 2017 seminar, Anita Patterson of Boston University talked with Boston-area university students about how deep engagement with literature offers unique, even practical benefits for transcending polarization. Dr. Patterson shared findings about the power of literature gained from her many years’ experience teaching courses in American literature at BU. Read an article on the event!
On April 12th the Ikeda Center hosted a seminar featuring Anita Patterson, Professor of English at Boston University, in dialogue with a dozen Boston-area university students. The topic was "The Role of Literature in Times of Division." Click through to view a photo gallery of the event.
The degree of polarization in the US today is such that it appears nearly impossible to overcome. Yet we must try. In his lecture "Mahayana Buddhism and 21st Century Civilization," Center founder Daisaku Ikeda looks to the example of the Buddha to consider how and why we should begin with ourselves if we want to overcome this polarization.
Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue
396 Harvard Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 491.1090 Fax: (617) 491.1169