SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 114 -September 20, 2024
SGI Canada Newsletter
Issue no. 114
September 20, 2024
Welcome to the 114th 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
“The transformation of our hearts changes the world”
The material for the October 27 study exam (see below) includes President Ikeda’s lecture on Nichiren Daishonin’s treatise “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land”. In this excerpt, President Ikeda explains the important principle that our faith determines the state of the world around us:
The Daishonin confidently teaches the way by which people can free themselves from the chains of misfortune and bring peace and security to society. It requires a transformation of the “tenets that we hold in our heart” (cf. WND-1, 25), he says, a fundamental revolution of our innermost state of mind.
What we have faith in indicates what we hold most precious, what values we cherish. It establishes our fundamental purpose and direction in life.
In other words, are we driven by egoism that seeks personal happiness at the exclusion and expense of others, or by compassion that is concerned with both our own and others’ welfare, refusing to build our happiness on the misfortune of others? The focus is on the transformation of our minds, our hearts, our values. It is the human revolution in a single individual. Without that, “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land” cannot be achieved.
When we transform our hearts and minds, what tenet or ideal should we base them on? According to the Daishonin, it is “the one true vehicle, the single good doctrine” (WND-1, 25). “The single good doctrine” here is the ultimate good taught in the Lotus Sutra—the principle that all people can bring forth their inherent Buddha nature and attain enlightenment.
In his copy of the Daishonin’s writings, first Soka Gakkai president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi heavily underlined the words “embrace the one true vehicle, the single good doctrine [of the Lotus Sutra]” (WND-1, 25). Dedicating one’s life to the single good doctrine of the Lotus Sutra is the sure way to transform the karma of all humankind.
The complete article appears in the August 2024 New Century.
News
Men’s Group General Meetings
Men’s group General Meetings are concluding this month with the theme of “Building Strong Connections Through Dialogue”. Here are photos from a few of the meetings:
Montreal Areas E1, F1 and F2
Ottawa-Gatineau Area
Publication of last remaining volume of The New Human Revolution
Volume 29 of President Ikeda’s novel The New Human Revolution will be translated into English and published over the next few months. Volume 29 is the only volume that has not yet been translated, as the final volume (volume 30) was translated shortly after Sensei completed the entire work in 2018.
Volume 29 will be serialized in From Today Onward every month, beginning in November 2024. You can subscribe to From Today Onward by visiting the SGI Canada website at sgicanada.org and clicking on Publications, or by speaking with your district leaders.
Young Phoenix Group General Meetings
Young Phoenix Group (YPG) members will be holding their General Meetings this month, supported by the Youth Division.
Please contact your local leaders for more information about the meeting in your location.
Changes to Monthly Pre-Authorized Payments (PAP) starting on October 1, 2024
If you are using monthly Pre-Authorized Payments (PAP) to pay for your publication subscriptions or to make financial contributions to SGI Canada, please note that the following changes will take effect on October 1, 2024:
- If you would like to make any changes to your Pre-Authorized Payments for subscriptions or financial contributions (including cancellations) in a particular month, SGI Canada must receive the changes no later than the 1st of that month (previously it was on the 10th of the month).
- Funds for PAP will be withdrawn on the 17th of each month (previously it was on the 28th of the month). If your Pre-Authorized Payment is drawn from a chequing account, and if the 17th falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the bank will process the payment on the next business day.
- If your Pre-Authorized Payment is declined by your bank, you will need to pay the amount owing by either:
- using a valid credit card (this is only for a one-time clear-out of the declined payment)
- mailing a cheque to SGI Canada (at SGI Canada’s National Office in Toronto) to be received within five business days.
- If the declined payment is not settled, the PAP agreement will be cancelled, and you will be invited to use your SGI Canada online portal account to continue your subscriptions and make contributions.
We thank you for your continued support and understanding.
Upcoming events
October meetings look ahead to 2025!
The SGI Canada Day Commemorative Meetings to be held across Canada on Sunday, October 6 will be the kick-off for an exciting year of activities in 2025.
SGI Canada Day commemorates President Ikeda’s first visit to Canada in October 1960. Next year we will be celebrating the 65th anniversary of that visit, and the 50th anniversary of the foundation of SGI. We can create great fortune in our lives by redetermining to support President Ikeda’s vision for the kosen-rufu of Canada through our daimoku, our offerings and our Buddhist dialogues with the people around us.
Please check with your local leaders for details about the October 6 meeting in your location.
SGI Canada Special Fund
The October 6 meetings mark the opening of the SGI Canada Special Fund, which is an opportunity to contribute directly to the kosen-rufu movement in Canada.
President Ikeda says the following about offerings in volume 4 of The New Human Revolution, “Triumph chapter”:
Shin’ichi Yamamoto next turned to the Gosho “The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings.” He stopped at a passage near the end of the letter. He read it over and over, sensing its profound meaning:
Though one may perform meritorious deeds, if they are directed toward what is untrue, then those deeds may bring great evil, but they will never result in good. On the other hand, though one may be ignorant and make meagre offerings, if one presents those offerings to a person who upholds the truth, one’s merit will be great. How much more so in the case of people who in all sincerity make offerings to the correct teaching. (WND-1, 1134)
In short, the Daishonin’s statement in “The Bodies and Minds of Ordinary Beings” indicates that offerings can bring about either good or evil, depending on to whom or for what cause they are made.
In light of this Gosho passage, Shin’ichi thought about the offerings made within the Soka Gakkai. The offerings and financial contributions the organization solicited were exclusively to accomplish the Daishonin’s mandate to widely propagate the Mystic Law. Offerings made toward this end were equivalent to offerings made to the original Buddha. There was, then, no greater offering, no greater good. Certainly, nothing could bring greater benefit. This thought filled Shin’ichi with a sense of immeasurable good fortune and joy at having had the chance to make such offerings as a Soka Gakkai member.
The Daishonin concludes this writing by praising the spirit of his follower who had sent offerings to him at Mount Minobu: “Surely you are sowing good seeds in a field of fortune. My tears never cease to flow when I think of it” (Ibid).
Dedicating oneself to kosen-rufu means “sowing good seeds in a field of fortune”—Shin’ichi had been strongly convinced of this since his youth.
(The New Human Revolution v.4, chapter 2, “Triumph”, pp.114-115)
Members can contribute to the SGI Canada Special Fund 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, bank draft or money order 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.
Thank you so much for your sincere dedication and for your support in every way for the advancement of kosen-rufu in Canada!
Study Exam in October
Registration
The SGI Canada Level 2 Study Exam will be held on Sunday, October 27, 2024 and will be offered in English, French and Chinese. Everyone who passed the SGI Canada 2019 Basics Exam or the SGI Canada 2023 Introductory Exam is eligible to write the Level 2 exam in October.
You can register for the exam by completing the short form at: https://forms.gle/mBu4gexhoC6yYEyb8
or by using the QR Code below:
Anyone wishing to write the exam must first register.
Study Materials
The study materials for the Level 2 Exam are:
- The Basics of Nichiren Buddhism for the New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu: chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10
- SGI President Ikeda’s lecture entitled “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land”—Engaging in Dialogues of Hope to Bring Happiness and Peace to All People
PDF File
The Level 2 Exam materials are now available in PDF format with highlighted key passages. You can obtain the PDF file through your local district leaders.
Printed Versions
The Basics of Nichiren Buddhism for the New Era of Worldwide Kosen-rufu is available from the SGI Canada Online Bookstore and local SGI Canada bookstores in English, French and Chinese.
President Ikeda’s lecture on the Gosho “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land” is contained in the August issue of NEW CENTURY. A podcast introducing this lecture is available on the SGI Canada website at:
https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/podcast-sgi-canada-level-2-study-exam
More information about the exam is available on the SGI Canada website at:
https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/sgi-canada-level-2-study-exam
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 October 4, 2024. See you then!