What Do We Mean By Dialogue?
We are back with another episode in our What Do We Mean By series, this time unpacking what we mean by dialogue. Host Lillian Koizumi speaks with Dr. Olivier Urbain about Daisaku Ikeda’s philosophy and practice of dialogue, why Ikeda viewed dialogue as essential to peacebuilding, how we can engage in meaningful dialogue in this age of division, and much more.
Dr. Olivier Urbain is the director of the Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) in Tokyo, Japan. He is the editor of the first volume dedicated to the topic of music in peacebuilding, Music and Conflict Transformation (2008). His main source of inspiration is the philosophy and practice of dialogue of Daisaku Ikeda, the founder of the Min-On Concert Association. Publications on this topic include Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Peace: Dialogue, Transformation and Global Citizenship (2010), as well as “Peacebuilding 2020” in the journal Music & Arts in Action (2020). His most recent publication, co-authored with Michael Golden, is titled “Musicking, Consciousness, and Peacebuilding” (2026), published open access in the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
Resources from the episode:
- Daisaku Ikeda’s Philosophy of Peace: Dialogue, Transformation and Global Citizenship by Olivier Urbain
- Min-On Music Research Institute
- “The Flowering of Creative Life Force” by Daisaku Ikeda
Music attribution: Podcast Music
To learn more about the Ikeda Center, visit ikedacenter.org or email us at podcast@ikedacenter.org
