SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 138 - Sep 12, 2025
SGI Canada Newsletter
Issue no. 138
September 12, 2025
Welcome to the 138th 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.
Encouragement
Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada’s Editorial: “Building a Harmonious and Beautiful Soka Family”
In his editorial in the September issue of Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai monthly study journal, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada writes about the importance of raising our children well:
Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, must surely be showering praise upon the sincere dedication of the parents, guardians, and all members of the Soka family who, in the spirit of the Daishonin’s declaration that “there is no treasure greater than a child” (WND-1, 1045), lovingly care for, nurture, and guide these treasures of the future. President Ikeda always cherished children as complete and unique individuals, approaching each with the conviction that their mission surpassed even his own. His care and sincerity left a profound imprint on the lives of everyone he encountered.
In a series of articles for a women’s magazine that he began writing in September 1965, the very month the elementary school division was founded, President Ikeda likened the family to an airplane, explaining that a healthy family is one that sustains its stability and balance in flight by harnessing the fierce headwinds of society, all the while advancing toward a common goal.
Through warm encouragement and the example of our own lives, we must pass on to the next generation the invincible spirit that enables them to transform every adversity into the power to take wing and soar. This, in turn, becomes the unshakeable foundation that makes the citadel of Soka impregnable. The home and the local community form the primary arena for this endeavour.
Now, as we look toward the end of the year, let us embody and put into action the wisdom and spirit we have inherited from our mentor, as we build citadels of happiness in the places of our mission.
You’ll find the complete editorial in the October issue of New Century.
News
“Everything You Treasure” exhibit at University of Guelph-Humber
“Everything You Treasure - for a world free from nuclear weapons” will be exhibited at the University of Guelph-Humber this month.
“Everything You Treasure” was jointly created in August 2012 by Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) to commemorate the 55th anniversary of second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda’s September 8, 1957, ”Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons”. The exhibit has travelled extensively around the world.
Organized by the Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship (SERC-GC) at the University of Guelph-Humber, the exhibit will be shown at the GH Art Gallery from September 12 to September 17 from 8.00am to 5.00pm each day.
Upcoming events
Josei Toda’s “Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons”
“On September 8, 1957, Toda Sensei [the second president of the Soka Gakkai] delivered his “Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons”, which would become the start and keynote of the Soka Gakkai’s peace movement. In it, based on the Buddhist principle of the sanctity and dignity of life, he identified nuclear weapons as a devilish creation that threatens to usurp humanity’s inviolable right to live, calling use of such weapons an act of absolute evil.”[1]
In our September discussion meetings, we will be talking about the significance of Toda Sensei’s Declaration and about our own efforts for peace in our daily lives.
Ikeda Sensei writes:
Toda realized that the devilish nature inherent in life underlies nuclear weapons, and he keenly sensed that the only way to vanquish it was through the power of the Buddha nature. Since human beings created nuclear weapons, they are also capable of eliminating them. Toda was convinced that the existence of the Buddha nature within human beings would open the way to nuclear abolition without fail.
He entrusted the youth with the task of inspiring this conviction in others, urging them to believe in people’s Buddha nature, to address that Buddha nature, and to communicate widely the absolute evil of nuclear weapons.[2]
[1]The Basics of Nichiren Buddhism for the New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu, Chapter 9 “The History of the Soka Gakkai”.
[2] The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, Part 3: Kosen-rufu and World Peace, Chapter 31.22, “The Starting Point of the Soka Gakkai’s Peace Activities—The Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons”.
We hope you enjoy your discussion in September. Please see your district leaders for more details.
Calendar for September and October
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Throughout September |
Men’s Division Day Commemorative Meetings |
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September discussion meetings |
District activities focusing on the Declaration calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons |
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October 5 |
SGI Canada Day Commemorative Meetings, celebrating the 65th anniversary of Ikeda Sensei’s first visit to Canada |
New Century - September 2025
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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 September 26, 2025. See you then!