“Hope is a decision”. Decision as the primary cause of individual and global transformation

Abstract

This article examines how, in Mahayana Buddhist philosophy − and particularly in its 20th-century reinterpretation by Japanese philosopher Daisaku Ikeda − the concept of decision, understood in a multi-perspective and holistic manner, holds fundamental importance. Decision plays a crucial role in the process of awakening or spiritual enlightenment, and it does not involve only passive, mystical, or uncon-scious elements; it is also, and above all, an active and rational action. Since, from Ikeda’s perspective, what we should choose is hope, this article will demonstrate how such an assumption can have revolutionary implications both on an individual level and social plane.