To illustrate the rarity of encountering the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni likened it to a one-eyed turtle finding, in the vastness of the ocean, a floating sandalwood log with a suitable hollow to warm its belly and cool
its back.
Nichiren Daishonin noted that “it is rarer still to find the hollow of the Mystic Law of the daimoku, which is difficult to chant.”[1]
For that reason, Ikeda Sensei has said: “All of you, our new members who have joined us at this time have a mission imbued with ‘great good fortune from past existences,’[2] just as Buddhism teaches.”[3]
In March, the SGI-USA begins the new tradition of holding New Members Cele-
brations to both honor and support those who have become members in the past two years.
These celebratory meetings in each region (or chapter for frontier areas) will focus on the importance of developing the three pillars of faith, practice and study, grounded in our SGI-USA publications, which represent a living manual for faith.
At these meetings, members will also hear from others about their journeys thus far in faith and receive encouragement on how to stand strong amid life’s challenges.
March 1, 2024, World Tribune, p. 10
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