SGI Canada Newsletter, No. 116 -October 18, 2024
SGI Canada Newsletter
Issue no. 116
October 18, 2024
Welcome to the 116th 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
“Dialogue Bringing People Closer Together”
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 the final section of his lecture, President Ikeda explains the importance of dialogue:
Buddhism affirms the power of dialogue.
Though our discussions may not seem to have an immediate effect, they activate the Buddha nature in the person we are talking with. “The seeds of Buddhahood sprout through causation, and for this reason they [the Buddhas] preach the single vehicle [the Mystic Law]” [LSOC2, 75] (cf. WND-1, 1117). The only way to bring forth the Buddha nature is through engagement based on the ultimate causation that is the Mystic Law (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo). The more we speak out and share the truth as practitioners of the Mystic Law, the more people we help form a connection with Nichiren Buddhism.
…While courageously challenging our own human revolution, let us create a groundswell of dialogue, reaching out to talk with one person after another, to change society and bring peace and happiness to all people.
“Establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land” is the same as working for world peace.
Let us continue to expand our network for good through the peaceful means of dialogue.
Our dialogues are a struggle to revive the power of human beings.
Our dialogues change society, unite the world, and shape the future.
Our dialogues impart hope.
They have the power to revitalize others and awaken them to their inner potential, and are imbued with courage, conviction and the cause for victory.
Our dialogues for “establishing the correct teaching for the peace of the land” will build an age of the people through the power of faith in the human being.
The complete lecture can be found in the August 2024 New Century.
News
Soka Gakkai Congratulates Nihon Hidankyo, 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
On October 12, the Seikyo Shimbun published a congratulatory message from Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada to Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations) upon being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. In March 2024, guests from Nihon Hidankyo attended the Future Action Festival in Tokyo. In 2020, the Soka Gakkai collected more than 610,000 signatures for the International Signature Campaign in Support of the Appeal of the Hibakusha for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, an initiative originally proposed by Nihon Hidankyo among other organizations.
SGI Canada Special Fund
Thank you very much for your generous donations to the SGI Canada Special 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 Road, 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!
Going paperless with your official income tax receipt!
You now have two options for obtaining the official income tax receipt for your donations to SGI Canada:
- SGI Canada can mail the receipt to you
- You can go paperless and download the receipt yourself from the SGI Canada website
Choosing to download the receipt yourself will allow SGI Canada to reduce its use of paper and devote more resources to activities for members. Once you choose to go paperless, you will no longer receive a receipt in the mail from SGI Canada.
In order to go paperless and download the receipt yourself:
- Sign in to your SGI Canada account at https://sgicinfo.org/portal/login. (If you do not have an SGI Canada account yet, please see the instructions below)
- On your personal information page, you will see a section titled Official Tax Receipt
- Click on the button in front of Your current option, and follow the instructions
You can change the way in which you receive your income tax receipt at any time between March 16 and December 30 each year.
Your tax receipt for 2024 will be available online by February 28, 2025.
Have you set up your online account yet?
SGI Canada members now have access to an online portal in which they can create their own personal SGI Canada accounts, subscribe to publications and make secure online donations.
Members can also use their online account to read the English and French-language publications to which they subscribe, and access their tax receipts and personal information.
How to set up your online account:- Go to the SGI Canada website at org and click on the Online Portal button near the top right corner of your screen.
- Click on I have not created an online account and then Submit
- Fill out the personal information fields and click on Submit
- You will receive an email from accounting@sgicinfo.org . The email will confirm your username and password (which you can change once you log into the site the first time). For assistance with setting up your account, please contact support@sgicinfo.org.
- Once your username and password have been confirmed, you will be able to log into the online portal from the SGI Canada website at any time.
Many SGI Canada members have already registered. We hope you will also take advantage of this convenient method of making online donations, subscribing to SGI Canada publications, and reading them online.
Upcoming events
Study Exam on October 27
We hope you are enjoying studying for the Level 2 Study Exam which is scheduled for Sunday, October 27.
District leaders will soon be receiving everything they need to help their members write the exam in person or online.
If you are eligible, you can still register for the exam by completing the short form at: https://forms.gle/mBu4gexhoC6yYEyb8 Anyone who passed the SGI Canada 2019 Basics Exam or the SGI Canada 2023 Introductory Exam is eligible to write the Level 2 exam. Anyone wishing to write the exam must first register.
More information about the exam is available on the SGI Canada website at:
https://www.sgicanada.org/activities/sgi-canada-level-2-study-exam
“The Growing Danger of Nuclear War and What We Can Do To Prevent It”
The Soka Education Research Centre on Global Citizenship (SERC-GC) at the University of Guelph-Humber will hold its 7th Annual Lecture on November 18 at 7.00pm Eastern.
The guest speaker will be Dr. Ira Helfand, co-Founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and member of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Dr. Helfand will speak on the topic "The Growing Danger Of Nuclear War And What We Can Do To Prevent it."
To register and for more information, please click here.
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 November 1, 2024. See you then!