Welcome to the 97th issue of the SGI Canada Newsletter, a bi-weekly summary of news, upcoming events and encouragement. If you are not subscribing to the SGI Canada Newsletter, you may do so by clicking on the button below. Subscriptions are free of charge, and the SGI Canada Newsletter will be emailed directly to you.

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Encouragement

 

Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada’s editorial: “With a Youthful Spirit! In Solidarity with Our Youth!”

 

In his February 2024 editorial in Daibyakurenge, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada describes visiting members and friends as a “formula for victory”:

Around the world, our fellow members are brimming with enthusiasm to share Nichiren Buddhism with their friends. Of course, the origins of this enthusiastic spirit can be found in the historic February Campaign^[1] led by a youthful Daisaku Ikeda. This was the 1952 campaign in which he initiated a crucial breakthrough that would lead to the achievement of the goal of a membership of 750,000 households set by his mentor, Josei Toda.

He called on the members: “Let us mark February, the month of President Toda’s birth, with a significant increase in membership!” The passion of a single youth spread to every corner of the organization and made history.

The young Daisaku Ikeda visited one home after another, listening intently to people’s problems, forging personal relationships, and awakening each individual to their mission as a Bodhisattva of the Earth. This is a formula for victory that we, as disciples of President Ikeda, should resolutely determine to carry on implementing into the future.

On February 11, 1993, the anniversary of Mr. Toda’s birth, President Ikeda composed the epilogue to The Human Revolution during a visit to Brazil. In it he wrote: “My mission as his disciple was to declare my teacher’s magnificent accomplishments to the world.”[2]

The same day, at a conferment ceremony for an honorary doctorate [from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro], in a speech in front of leading thinkers from various fields, he expressed his wish to dedicate the honour to Mr. Toda. This was undoubtedly a declaration of the victory of mentor and disciple; I was deeply moved to hear this.

 

[1] February Campaign: In February 1952, President Ikeda, then an adviser to Tokyo’s Kamata Chapter, initiated a dynamic propagation campaign. Together with the Kamata members, he broke through the previous monthly record of some 100 new member households by introducing the Daishonin’s Buddhism to 201 new member households.

[2] SGI Newsletter No. 3232.

The complete editorial will be available in the March 2024 New Century.

News

Happy SGI Day!

SGI Day commemorates the inauguration of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) at the First World Peace Conference on the island of Guam on January 26, 1975.

Guam had been the site of fierce fighting between American and Japanese military forces and of countless deaths of innocent civilians during World War II.

The SGI was founded as a global association of the Soka Gakkai, supporting the faith and Buddhist practice of an increasing international membership. It was Daisaku Ikeda’s vision to make Guam the symbolic starting point for this movement—a network of individuals committed to promoting understanding between cultures and actualizing peace.

158 representatives from 51 countries and territories attended the meeting, which is now celebrated as SGI Day, and at their request, Daisaku Ikeda took up the position of president of the newly-formed SGI.

(Adapted from “January 26: SGI Day”, Soka Gakkai, sokaglobal.org)

 

From the Youth Division

The “One by One” encouragement campaign has begun!

 

Inspired by Ikeda Sensei’s spirit, we have decided to launch a new youth-led encouragement campaign in the Year of Fresh Departure for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide called One by One! 

In A Rainbow over Niagara, Ikeda Sensei writes:

One person is not simply one person;

One person’s power can reach far beyond that single life.                                                                           A human being’s unrevealed potential                         

Is boundless and inexhaustible.

The campaign aims to strengthen our friendship bonds and provide wholehearted encouragement and support to each precious individual. By doing so, we can help each person connect more deeply with Ikeda Sensei’s spirit and boldly advance in their own human revolution. Through working together across the four divisions as one Soka family, let’s meet with every member in our district in 2024, especially the youth and future division members, new members and guests, One by One!

 

We hope you found this newsletter beneficial. Please email your questions or comments to contact@sgicanada.org. Please note that the next SGI Canada Newsletter will appear on February 9, 2024. See you then!

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