SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 164 - September 11, 2026
SGI Canada Newsletter
Issue no. 164
September 11, 2026
Welcome to the 164th 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: “With Courage and Compassion, Let’s Bring Winds of Happiness to Our Friends”
In his editorial in the September issue of Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai monthly study journal, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada says that dialogue is “the golden rule of Buddhist humanism”:
This month, young people are challenging themselves to share Buddhism with others in preparation for the Soka Youth General Meeting in Japan, which will welcome SGI members from around the world. “A new age will be created by the passion and power of youth”—the solidarity President Toda so earnestly called for in his “Guidelines for Youth” is now expanding worldwide.
Many of the Daishonin’s important writings, including “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land,” take the form of a dialogue. Inheriting this spirit, the three founding presidents of the Soka Gakkai, united by the bonds of mentor and disciple, placed the highest importance on small-group discussion meetings and one-to-one dialogue. President Ikeda broadened this spirit, engaging not only with members but also with leading thinkers around the world, including the eminent historian Arnold J. Toynbee.
In September 1991, President Ikeda delivered his first invitational lecture at Harvard University. Soka Gakkai members at the time drew tremendous encouragement from seeing him speak about Buddhist philosophy at one of the world’s foremost academic institutions. He continued to engage in dialogue with people affiliated with Harvard, and many of these discussions have been subsequently published in book form. Dialogue rooted in wisdom and sincerity, inspiring understanding and joy, is the golden rule of Buddhist humanism.
President Ikeda once said: “Encouragement entails putting ourselves in another’s shoes, seeking to understand their suffering, and sending them the light of hope.” Putting this humanistic philosophy of our mentor into practice lays the foundation for creating a new history.
So, let’s engage in dialogue! With courage and compassion, let’s bring our friends the winds of happiness and the light of hope!
You’ll find the complete editorial in the October 2026 issue of New Century.
News
The Soka Global Website Available in French from the Home Page
You can now view the Soka Global website in French directly from the home page.
Previously, only some pages were available in French, and they could only be accessed through the matching English webpage. You can now view all pages available in French by simply choosing “français” on the Soka Global home page.
Soka Global website’s homepage in French: https://www.sokaglobal.org/fr/
SGI Canada Is Meeting Everywhere!
Men’s Group / Young Men’s Group home visit on Salt Spring Island, BC.
(Photo courtesy of Masami Teramachi)
Young Women’s Group Ikeda Kayo-Kai study group in Guelph, Ontario.
(Photo by Yuuka Kazama)
Men’s Division Day meeting in Mississauga East chapter, Halton-Peel area.
(Photo courtesy of Arpit Saxena)
Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign
So far this year, we’ve held over 11,500 Buddhist dialogues and chanted almost 194,000 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:
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:
For more information, please visit the SGI Canada website at:
https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/dialogue-and-daimoku-campaign
Upcoming events
Have you registered?
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 is available in English, French and Chinese as a free PDF file, with key passages highlighted to aid your study. The PDF files are available now 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 September
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Beginning of September |
Men’s Division Day meeting |
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Throughout September |
Registration and study for Introductory Exam |
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Throughout September |
Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign |
New Century - September 2026
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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 25, 2026. See you then!