Blossoming Toward a Youthful 2030

Our greatest pride is Sensei’s visit in June 1996, when  the University of Denver on June 8 conferred our mentor with an honorary doctorate of education, his first such honor from a North American university. He also attended the Cherry Blossom General Meeting on June 9 at the Denver Culture Center with members from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota and Utah in attendance.

Sensei penned two poems, which read:

Visiting the United States
on my travels for
global kosen-rufu—
a page of history is written
in sunny Denver.
Daisaku
June 9, 1996

I will never forget Denver,
a place of fond memories—
a milestone in my history,
the history of countless journeys
for kosen-rufu.
Daisaku
June 11, 1996 

On June 12, 2016, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Sensei’s visit to Denver, we held a commemorative meeting, where we welcomed 45 new families to the SGI-USA. On Oct. 2, 2020, Governor Jared Polis conferred a proclamation naming that day “Dr. Daisaku Ikeda World Peace Day.”

Do you have a Buddhist Center(s) in your zone? We currently have three centers: the Denver Activity Center, a temporary center, with our new Denver Culture Center set to open this fall; the Colorado Springs Buddhist Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the Utah Buddhist Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Does your zone have a particular point of pride? Our Byakuren, Soka Group and Gajokai, the youth behind-the-scenes groups that support our centers, have been steadily growing since the pandemic. With a new culture center being constructed from the ground up, we will have a solid group of youth supporting behind the scenes when it opens. The youth, in fact, are determined to have 25 Byakuren and 25 Soka Group and Gajokai there to reopen the culture center in the fall!

We’re also proud of our longstanding community partnership with the City of Denver. Since 1989 we have planted and nurtured over 2,000 cherry trees in numerous parks throughout the city. Also, a local middle school has made four field trips to our center so far, enabling us to share Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with nearly 200 students.

What’s essential for you as a zone? In addition to Sensei’s five-point motto, we strive to live based on the Buddhist principle of “practice for oneself and others,” expanding the ranks of Bodhisattvas of the Earth in our zone. We want to live up to the example Sensei showed us and his vision for peace in our community and country.

What’s something unique? Rocky Mountain Zone encompasses Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and the west side of South Dakota, which, together, is about three times the size of Japan. Here, we enjoy the four seasons outdoors, with the youth gathering for different activities at all times of the year. We also have many cultural events that bring our community together, with a sense of camaraderie.

What’s your vision toward 2030? Our vision is to create exponential growth for our membership, discussion meetings, subscriptions and contributions, with a sense of mission to respond to Sensei’s vision of global kosen-rufu, starting by encouraging the young person in front of us.

July 11, 2025 World Tribune, p. 10