SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 157 - June 5, 2026

SGI Canada Newsletter

Issue no. 157

June 5, 2026

 

Welcome to the 157^th 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

Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada’s Editorial: “Be Leaders of Wisdom and Poetic Spirit”

In his editorial in the June issue of Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai monthly study journal, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada writes about the importance of study: 

This month, the traditional Study Department Introductory Exam will be held in Japan. I sincerely hope that everyone involved—from the examinees themselves to the senior members supporting and teaching them, as well as the members of the Soka family cheering them on—will continue advancing along the path of becoming “experts in happiness.” 

In December 1978, during a guidance tour of Kochi Prefecture, President Ikeda visited a venue where an Introductory Exam was taking place. Addressing the participants, he encouraged them by saying that their sincere efforts in studying Buddhism and challenging the exam would become a source of good fortune and benefit. There is no doubt that Soka Gakkai members who stride confidently along the two ways of practice and study will adorn their lives with abundant good fortune and benefit. 

Our founding president, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, whose 155th birth anniversary will be commemorated on June 6 this year, continued to study the writings of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, even while imprisoned by Japan’s wartime authorities. There is no stagnation or resignation in the lives of those who keep learning. 

Let us likewise devote ourselves to studying at our noble “Ikeda University,” shining with the passion of the sun and the intellect of the moon, while building magnificent mountain ranges of friendship together!  

You’ll find the complete editorial in the July 2026 issue of New Century.  

News

Introductory exam in October

Registrations are now open for the SGI Canada introductory exam on October 25. The exam is open to all members and interested friends who have not yet taken an SGI Canada study exam, and to those who have not yet passed the Introductory Exam. The Introductory Exam will be available in English, French and Chinese. Please see the June issue of New Century, Ère Nouvelle and Chinese New Century for more information. 

The Introductory Exam will be based on The Basics of Nichiren Buddhism for the New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10.   

The study material will be available in English, French and Chinese as a free PDF file, with key passages highlighted to aid your study. The PDF files will be available in June from SGI Canada district leaders, and from all other SGI Canada leaders. 

To register for the Introductory Exam, you can use the QR code that appears in the published announcement, or through the SGI Canada website.

 

Commemoration of President Ikeda’s 1981 visit to Canada

SGI President Ikeda visited Canada for the second time 45 years ago in June 1981. One of the highlights of the visit was a General Meeting of over 1000 practitioners from across the country on June 21, 1981. To commemorate the visit, SGI Canada will hold a nationwide online gongyo and daimoku session on Sunday, June 21 this year.

The session will begin at 1.00pm Pacific / 2.00pm Mountain / 3.00pm Central / 4.00pm Eastern / 5.00pm Atlantic / 5.30pm Newfoundland on Sunday, June 21. 

This will be an opportunity to chant together for an hour to renew our vow to realize kosen-rufu in Canada in accordance with Ikeda Sensei’s wishes.

The session will be broadcast as a Zoom webinar and the link will be distributed shortly. The activity is open to all members and guests.

                                                            

Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign

So far this year, we’ve held over 6,300 Buddhist dialogues and chanted over 70,000 hours of daimoku.

Don’t forget to record your Buddhist dialogues and your hours of daimoku!

Whenever we talk about Buddhism or about SGI with someone who is not an SGI member, we can register that dialogue online. In the same way, whenever we have completed an hour or more of daimoku, we can record the number of hours online.

You can record your dialogues and daimoku by clicking on this button:

RECORD YOUR DIALOGUES / DAIMOKU

If you are having trouble logging in, you can ask someone else in your district to enter the information for you.

SGI Canada is keeping track of the total number of dialogues and hours of daimoku. You can see how many dialogues and how much chanting has been done so far, across the entire country by clicking on this button:

DIALOGUE / DAIMOKU COUNTER 

For more information, please visit the SGI Canada website at:

https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/dialogue-and-daimoku-campaign  

 

SGI Canada Special Kosen-rufu Fund

Thank you very much for your generous donations to the SGI Canada Special Kosen-rufu Fund.

Members can contribute at any time through their SGI Canada online portal account (by credit card or debit card) at https://sgicinfo.org/portal/login or by mailing a cheque to SGI Canada at 2050 Dufferin Road, Toronto, Ont. M6E 3R6.

Monthly contributions from a chequing account can also be made by completing a Pre-Authorized Payment (PAP) form available from district leaders.

If you have any difficulties making a donation online, please contact support@sgicinfo.org. For all other enquiries (including subscriptions to publications) please email contact@sgicanada.org. Help is available in English and French.

Thank you so much for your sincere donation and for your support in every way for the advancement of kosen-rufu in Canada!

 

Cleaning the Capital

Young Phoenix Group and Youth Division members in Ottawa-Gatineau participated in the City of Ottawa’s “Cleaning the Capital” program in May. After chanting at the SGI Canada centre on a Saturday morning, they walked to a nearby park and cleaned up garbage. This is the fourth time that SGI Canada has been a part of “Cleaning the Capital”.

  

Upcoming events 

Calendar for May and June 

Throughout June	Dialogue and daimoku campaign
Throughout June	Young Lions Group General Meetings
June 21	45th anniversary of Ikeda Sensei’s second visit to Canada