SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 158 - June 19, 2026

SGI Canada Newsletter

Issue no. 158

June 19, 2026

 

Welcome to the 158^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.

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Encouragement

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda’s Encouragement to the Future Division: “A Source of Boundless Courage, Wisdom and Hope!”

In this excerpt from “Dialogue from the Future,” President Ikeda touches on the importance of studying Nichiren Daishonin’s writings: 

I recall writing in my diary as a young man: “Read the Gosho [the writings of Nichiren Daishonin]. It is extremely difficult”;^[1] and “Whenever I participate in a study session, I feel I have not studied enough. Profoundly aware of the importance of study.”^[2]

          I gave my all to learning under Mr. Toda. On his behalf, I also presented many lectures on the Daishonin’s writings to my fellow members. No matter how tired I was when I got home at the end of the day, I made it a habit to open the Daishonin’s writings and record in my diary a passage that resonated with me.

Interestingly enough, you’ll find that the passages you engrave in your life when you are young will always remain with you. Even if you don’t fully understand them at first, their meaning will eventually become clear to you. 

* 

You will no doubt come up against all sorts of obstacles and difficulties in your lives. At such times, you may wonder why this happens even though you are chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, or why your wishes do not come true.

That’s when I would like you to open the Daishonin’s writings. By reading and studying his writings, you come into contact with his vast life state. You are bound to feel courage well up from within, along with limitless wisdom and great hope.

Then, chanting with a renewed vow, you can face your situation head-on. 

—From “Dialogue for the Future.” 

^{[1] Daisaku Ikeda, A Youthful Diary: One Man’s Journey from the Beginning of Faith to Worldwide Leadership for Peace (Santa Monica, California: World Tribune Press, 2000), p. 49.} 

^{[2] Ibid., 139.}

 

News

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 1,000 practitioners from across the country on June 22, 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 1:00 p.m. Pacific / 2:00 p.m. Mountain / 3:00 p.m. Central / 4:00 p.m. Eastern / 5:00 p.m. Atlantic / 5:30 p.m. 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 at the following link:

https://sgicanada.zoom.us/j/82819013310?pwd=bQucvbQaTIEKdbujbNKZ3uoatkO3Yy.1

Webinar ID: 828 1901 3310

Passcode: 894395

Telephone: 855 703 8985 (Toll Free) 

The activity is open to all members and guests.

 

Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign

So far this year, we’ve held over 6,600 Buddhist dialogues and chanted over 75,000 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   

National leaders visit Quebec City

SGI Canada Women’s Leader Helen Izumi-Choi and General Director Glenn Turner visited Quebec City on the weekend of June 13-14. Activities included a Leaders’ Training Meeting, personal guidance sessions, a General Meeting and smaller divisional meetings. All activities were held at the Quebec Centre which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

General Meeting of members in Quebec City on June 14, 2026 with SGI Canada Women’s Leader Helen Izumi-Choi and SGI Canada General Director Glenn Turner. (Photo by Agathe Audet)  

 

Upcoming events

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.

 

 

Calendar for 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