SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 167 - October 23, 2026

SGI Canada Newsletter

Issue no. 167

October 23, 2026

 

Welcome to the 167^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: “Ring the Bell of a New Dawn!”

In his editorial in the November issue of Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai monthly study journal, Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada describes President Ikeda’s determination to fulfill the vow of his mentor, Josei Toda:

He was a mentor of great warmth and compassion. He was a mentor whose deep love was tempered with sternness. He was a leader of the people, who loved ordinary citizens and placed his trust in youth. He was a fearless champion who stood resolutely against great evil with righteous indignation. 

Now is the time for us to inherit the spirit of our mentor and prove ourselves to be his true disciples. 

President Ikeda lived his entire life dedicated to the path of repaying his debt of gratitude to his mentor, Josei Toda, whom he always held close to his heart. This unyielding determination to fulfil his vow to President Toda as a faithful disciple was demonstrated on November 5, 1961, the year after he became the third president of the Soka Gakkai, when he achieved the goal of holding a meeting that brought together 100,000 young men’s division members. 

In October 1954, President Toda had published an essay titled “Youth, Be Patriotic!” expressing his fervent desire to see 100,000 youth united in the mission of leading people to happiness. At the time, the young men’s division had only about 10,000 members, making the goal of 100,000 seem like an impossible dream. But President Ikeda was filled with a burning resolve. He travelled tirelessly throughout Japan, encouraging one member after another to make that dream a reality. 

On May 3, 1961, the goal of bringing together 100,000 youth was formally announced. Over the next six months, President Ikeda travelled across Japan to attend youth division general meetings in each region. Amid a surging tide of momentum, 100,000 young men’s division members assembled at the National Stadium in Tokyo. I was a university student at the time, and President Ikeda’s impassioned words moved me so deeply that I trembled with emotion. 

One week later, 85,000 young women’s division members gathered at Mitsuzawa Stadium in Yokohama, pledging to carry forward their mentor’s legacy. Just three years after President Toda’s passing, President Ikeda had fulfilled his vow to his mentor in every respect. 

Now, as we approach November 15, the third anniversary of President Ikeda’s passing, let us, too, advance with joy and unwavering determination along the great path of fulfilling our own vows to our mentor!  

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

 

News

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 Street, 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!

Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign

So far this year, we’ve held over 13,600 Buddhist dialogues and chanted almost 235,000 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    

General Director visits Western Region

SGI Canada General Director Glenn Turner recently visited Western Region, meeting with members on Salt Spring Island, and in Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna.

Kelowna district meeting, October 5, 2026.
Photo by Divya Rautela.  

Upcoming events

Introductory exam – Sunday, October 25

Good luck to everyone writing the SGI Canada Introductory Exam on Sunday, October 25! 

It’s not too late to register! If you would like to register to write the exam, please use the QR code that appears in the published announcement, or through the SGI Canada website. You should also contact your district leader to obtain the link for the online exam. 

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.   

SERC-GC Special Lecture features Olivier Urbain  

The 9th Annual Special Lecture of the University of Guelph-Humber’s Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship (SERC-GC) will be given by Dr. Olivier Urbain. The lecture is titled “Daisaku Ikeda's Philosophy of Peace: Dialogue, Transformation and Global Citizenship.” 

Dr. Urbain is director of the Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) in Tokyo, Japan, and Adjunct Faculty at the Soka University Graduate School of International Peace Studies (SIPS). His main source of inspiration is the philosophy and practice of inner transformation / dialogue / global citizenship / planetary awareness of Daisaku Ikeda. 

The Special Lecture will take place online on Tuesday November 10 from 7.00pm to 8.30pm Eastern. To register for the event, please click here. 

For more information, please see the poster available here. 

Calendar for October and November

October 25	SGI Canada Introductory Exam
Throughout October	Dialogue and Daimoku Campaign
Throughout November	District General Meetings
November 15	Anniversary of Ikeda Sensei’s passing
November 18	Soka Gakkai Founding Day