SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 124 - February 14, 2025
SGI Canada Newsletter
Issue no. 124
February 14, 2025
Welcome to the 124th 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 Message for SGI Day
Soka Gakkai President Harada sent us an inspiring message to commemorate SGI Day on January 26. In this excerpt he recalls Daisaku Ikeda’s strenuous efforts to encourage members around the world in the year before his inauguration as President of SGI:
His overseas visits totaled 102 days during that year. Even while he was in Japan, he continued to engage in dialogue with overseas members and leading figures from Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and other regions. Then, accelerating the intensity of his efforts, at the beginning of 1975, he traveled to the United States. He visited United Nations Headquarters during the midwinter in New York and then Washington, D.C., as white snowflakes fluttered in the sky, and Chicago, where the temperature dropped to ten degrees below zero. Finally, he returned to the warmer climate of Los Angeles, before continuing to Hawaii, the land of everlasting summer.
At one point, I couldn’t help but voice how moved I was to observe his bold and vigorous efforts, the way he poured every ounce of energy into advancing kosen-rufu. He replied, baring his heart to me, “I am striving solely for the sake of Toda Sensei, for the sake of the members. The only way to protect the Soka Gakkai is to win.” He continued, “How much strength does a human being possess? When a person upholds a correct view of life, how mighty can they truly be? This is what I’m trying to establish.”
It was with this spirited resolve and grand aspiration for achieving human revolution and changing the destiny of all humankind that Ikeda Sensei assumed the presidency of the SGI. He unsparingly devoted himself to spreading the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism, paving a remarkable path to worldwide kosen-rufu—world peace—that now embraces a solidarity of members across 192 countries and territories.
The Daishonin writes: “The rice plant flowers and bears grain, but its spirit remains in the soil. This is the reason the stalk sprouts to flower and bear grain once again” (WND-1, 909). In order to fulfill their debt of gratitude to the mentor, who is like the earth, the disciples embrace the mission to create an everlasting flow of kosen-rufu, ensuring the perpetuation of the Law. This determination, based on gratitude, draws out the infinite strength within us. Now is precisely the time for each one of us to respond to Ikeda Sensei’s expectations. Let us earnestly chant daimoku based on the shared vow of mentor and disciple and continue “sowing the seeds of peace of the Mystic Law” in each of our districts and chapters, our local communities, and society as a whole.
The complete message will be available in the March issue of New Century.
News
Tax receipts available now!
Your official 2024 donation receipt for income tax purposes is now available. If you have chosen to receive your receipt by mail, it will be sent to you over the next few weeks.
If you have chosen to download your official income tax receipt, you can do so immediately by signing into your SGI Canada online portal account and choosing Donations and then Tax Receipts.
You can change the way in which you receive your income tax receipt at any time between March 16 and December 30 each year by emailing contact@sgicanada.org.
Daimoku charts and Altar cards
To support your chanting and determinations for victory in 2025, we invite you to download and print daimoku charts and altar cards from our website.
You can find the daimoku charts and altar cards at sgicanada.org. Simply go to Activities and click on Daimoku Chart or Altar Cards. You can download and print daimoku charts and prayer cards from this page.
Daimoku Chart: https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/daimoku-chart
Altar Cards: https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/altar-cards
Upcoming events
“Be the Sun of Hope!”
From March 1 to 17, SGI Canada youth will hold area-level Youth Division General Meetings to commemorate March 16 Kosen-rufu day. The theme of the meetings is “Be the Sun of Hope!” The meetings will be for members of the Youth and Student Divisions, Young Phoenix Group as well as guests. More details to come!
Ikeda Sensei says:
Everything hinges on the youth. Indeed, the youth alone hold the key. The courage and the actions of young people who brim with a pioneering spirit can change the times and cause the sun of hope to rise. In any age, it is the youth who open new pages in history…. To be a successor means to inherit the mission for kosen-rufu. It is not others, but we ourselves who have to make a vow to devote ourselves to kosen rufu, and to continue raising the banners of victory of our noble cause for as long as we live. (New Century, March 2025, pp. 12-13)
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 February 28, 2025. See you then!