Did you know that your version of Internet Explorer is out of date?
To get the best possible experience using our website we recommend downloading one of the browsers below.

Internet Explorer 10, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.

SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 122 - January 17, 2025

January 17, 2025

SGI Canada Newsletter

Issue no. 122

January 17, 2025

 

Welcome to the 122nd 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.

SUBSCRIBE         

   

Encouragement

President Harada’s Editorial: Let’s Soar into the Skies with All Our Might!

In his editorial in the January issue of Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai monthly study journal, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada writes about the founding of SGI in January 1975:

As an accomplished graduate of Toda University, President Ikeda travelled throughout the world, stirring up a whirlwind of dialogue and developing an extensive humanistic network. In 1973, the European Conference, the Pan-American League, and the Southeast Asian Buddhist Cultural Council were established one after the other, to enable Soka Gakkai organizations in these regions to work together to inspire and cooperate with each other. The founding of the SGI is a direct result of President Ikeda’s steady efforts to lay the groundwork for worldwide kosen-rufu.

On the occasion of the establishment of the SGI on January 26, 1975, he expressed his hopes for the members: “Rather than seeking after your own praise or glory, I hope that you will dedicate your noble lives to sowing the seeds of peace of the Mystic Law throughout the entire world.” Now, a half-century later, those seeds have sprouted marvellously, and the smiling faces of young people are blossoming across the globe. In the next 50 years, those youthful successors will plant more seeds, and yet more glorious flowers will adorn our world.

In January 2000, President Ikeda spoke to members in the Hokuriku region—the part of Japan where his mentor was born: "As long as we keep striving, we will find a way forward. As long as we keep striving, we are sure to thrive; we will never become deadlocked." 

Today, a year after the devastating Noto Peninsula Earthquake, let’s embrace this spirit of changing poison into medicine and advance together.

Brave like the eagle, “the king of all creatures that fly in the sky” (WND-1, 930), let’s celebrate January, the month of President Ikeda’s birth, by soaring high and achieving great victories!

The complete editorial can be found in the February 2025 issue of New Century.

News

SGI Issues Statement Calling for No First Use of Nuclear Weapons and Establishment of Nuclear War Prevention Center

The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) has released a statement titled “Preventing the Use of Nuclear Weapons as a Step toward a Peaceful World” in advance of the 50th anniversary of its establishment on January 26. 

The statement highlights two urgent proposals: the establishment of pledges of No First Use of nuclear weapons and the creation of a nuclear war prevention center. These build on the legacy of SGI President Daisaku Ikeda (1928-2023), who consistently made concrete suggestions concerning nuclear disarmament and abolition.

While complete elimination of nuclear weapons remains the goal, at a time of ongoing global conflicts and persistent tensions, immediate steps must be taken to prevent any use of such weapons. The SGI statement calls on the five states signatory as nuclear-weapon states to the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty]—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China—to initiate dialogue aimed at achieving agreement on pledges of No First Use “as a first step in placing explicit limits on nuclear weapons as weapons that must never be used.”

The statement reads: “Even if it is not possible to eliminate these deadly weapons immediately, if countries stop confronting others with weapons in hand as it were, ready for use at all times, they can start to break free from the current state of constant, mutual threat.” 

For the complete SGI statement, please visit:

https://www.sokaglobal.org/contact-us/media-room/statements/preventing-use-of-nuclear-weapons-step-to-peaceful-world.html  (English only)

Going paperless with your official income tax receipt!

You now have two options for obtaining the official income tax receipt for your donations to SGI Canada:

  • SGI Canada can mail the receipt to you
  • You can go paperless and download the receipt yourself from the SGI Canada website

Choosing to download the receipt yourself will allow SGI Canada to reduce its use of paper and devote more resources to activities for members. Once you choose to go paperless, you will no longer receive a receipt in the mail from SGI Canada.

In order to go paperless and download the receipt yourself:

  • Sign in to your SGI Canada account at https://sgicinfo.org/portal/login. (If you do not have an SGI Canada account yet, please see the instructions below)
  • On your personal information page, you will see a section titled Official Tax Receipt
  • Click on the button in front of Your current option, and follow the instructions

You can change the way in which you receive your income tax receipt at any time between March 16 and December 30 each year.

Your tax receipt for 2024 will be available online by February 28, 2025.

Have you set up your online account yet?

SGI Canada members now have access to an online portal in which they can create their own personal SGI Canada accounts, subscribe to publications and make secure online donations.

Members can also use their online account to read the English and French-language publications to which they subscribe, and access their tax receipts and personal information.

How to set up your online account:
  • Go to the SGI Canada website at org and click on the Online Portal button near the top right corner of your screen.
  • Click on I have not created an online account and then Submit
  • Fill out the personal information fields and click on Submit
  • You will receive an email from accounting@sgicinfo.org . The email will confirm your username and password (which you can change once you log into the site the first time). For assistance with setting up your account, please contact support@sgicinfo.org.
  • Once your username and password have been confirmed, you will be able to log into the online portal from the SGI Canada website at any time.

Many SGI Canada members have already registered. We hope you will also take advantage of this convenient method of making online donations, subscribing to SGI Canada publications, and reading them online. 

 

Daimoku charts and Altar cards 

To support your chanting and determinations for victory in 2025, we invite you to download and print daimoku charts and altar cards from our website. 

You can find the daimoku charts and altar cards at sgicanada.org. Simply go to Activities and click on Daimoku Chart or Altar Cards. You can download and print daimoku charts and prayer cards from this page.

Daimoku Chart: https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/daimoku-chart

Altar Cards: https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/altar-cards

  

Upcoming events

SGI Day - January 26

January 26—SGI Day—will mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Soka Gakkai International! We will commemorate this significant milestone in our January discussion meetings, which will include discussion about the founding and the ideals of SGI. We will also feature a video of President Ikeda speaking at the 1975 ceremony.

Please check with your district leaders for information about your January meeting.

 

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 January 31, 2025. See you then!

SUBSCRIBE