SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 160 - July 17, 2026

SGI Canada Newsletter

Issue no. 160

July 17, 2026

 

Welcome to the 160^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

Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada’s Editorial:
“Young People, Advance in Your Own Unique Way!”

In his editorial in the July issue of Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai monthly study journal, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada recalls how President Ikeda did his best to encourage members at every moment: 

On July 18, 1976, the “Song of Human Revolution” was completed, marking the anniversary of the Osaka Rally of 1957,^[1] the origin of the “invincible Kansai spirit.” At the time, the initial signs of the first priesthood incident were beginning to emerge, and President Ikeda made time in his demanding schedule to revise and polish the lyrics and compose the melody—all to encourage the sincere members. When the song was finished, he called Soka Gakkai representatives across the country, playing them a recording of it over the telephone. As the new song spread throughout the nation, it inspired members to joyfully share the truth of the Soka Gakkai, creating a history of triumphant victory. 

The night he completed the song, President Ikeda inscribed the final version of its lyrics with the names of the first three Soka Gakkai presidents at the end. The lyrics “Take your stand, and I will take mine, too” were a loving call to all his disciples to live their lives true to the spirit of the first three presidents. In the same way, in his transcription of the lyrics of the Soka Gakkai song “Youth with a Noble Vow,” he wrote the annotation “kimi” [lit. you] alongside the words “youth” and “successors” as a way to personalize and individualize the message. 

Now is the time for each of us to become the driving force for kosen-rufu, advancing along the path of our vow in our own unique way. 

^{[1] Osaka Rally: A Soka Gakkai rally held to protest the unjust detention of President Ikeda by the Osaka District Prosecutor’s Office. It was convened at the Nakanoshima Civic Hall in Osaka on July 17, 1957, the day of President Ikeda’s release after two weeks of interrogation by the authorities.} 

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

 

News

July Youth Training Course 

Eight representative youth leaders participated in the July Youth Training Course in Japan with youth leaders from New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. 

This was the first time that SGI Canada youth were invited to participate in this kind of special smaller-scale training course with participants from only five countries in total.

The youth leaders attended a gongyo ceremony at the Hall of the Great Vow for Worldwide Kosen-rufu, participated in a Question & Answer session with SGI General Director Mr. Tanigawa, and visited Ota Ikeda Culture Centre located in Ota Ward, Tokyo which is where Ikeda Sensei was born. They also flew to Toyama prefecture in Hokuriku Region to join an exchange meeting with the local members, and also participated in the Hokuriku General Meeting in Ishikawa prefecture, the hometown of Toda Sensei. 

The theme of the training course was “vow,” and the eight representative youth leaders from Canada were able to deepen their vow to Ikeda Sensei through this precious experience! 

By Mai Ogushi, SGI Canada Young Women’s Leader

SGI Canada representative Youth leaders at the Ota Ikeda Culture Centre.
From left to right: Kar Mei Koo, Ananya Garg, Mai Ogushi, Susan Liu, Priya Dube,
Vinaiyak Sundra, Wrik Dasgupta and Harold Hunter.

Ottawa-Gatineau meeting featured in Seikyo Shimbun:
“A Gathering of Smiles in Canada”

The following article appeared in the June 28, 2026 Seikyo Shimbun. 

Cheerful gatherings commemorating May 3 [Soka Gakkai Day and Soka Gakkai Mothers’ Day] were held in Canada in various regions. At the meeting held in Ottawa on May 3, Norianna Lam shared her experience about taking over her father’s business and striving to succeed by putting daimoku as her foundation. 

Eileen Olexiuk also shared her experience about putting the guideline, “Faith for a harmonious family” in her heart and challenging herself in her own human revolution. 

After a few words from SGI Canada Vice Women’s Group leader, Monica Bachmann, SGI Canada General Director Glenn Turner encouraged everyone to lead lives of victory based on the unity of “many in body, one in mind”.

Soka Gakkai Day / Soka Gakkai Mothers Day at the SGI Canada centre in Ottawa, May 3 2026
Photo by Michael Sunderland

Students Present Peace Education and Nuclear Disarmament Research

Student research assistants at the Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship (SERC-GC) recently presented their research findings to the Teaching and Learning Innovations Conference 2026 at the University of Guelph. Their research examined how applying Soka education principles like shared dialogue, critical reflection, and humanistic learning approaches help students personally connect with complex global issues in ways that support peacemaking and nuclear disarmament education.

SERC-GC students Dallas Lockhart, Kaitland Waind and Rachel Balintec
Photo ©  University of Guelph-Humber

Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign

So far this year, we’ve held over 9,000 Buddhist dialogues and chanted over 104,000 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   

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