by Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island Zone
What is your zone motto? We will be champions of member care!
Tell us briefly about your zone’s history. Brooklyn-Queens-Long Island (BQLI) Zone was formed at the beginning of 2020. We were so excited to fight for kosen-rufu in our new zone. Soon after, the pandemic shut everything down. It was a tough time to create our vision and identity. Also, as a new team, it was tough to get to know one another on a deeper level since we could not meet in person. Somehow, through our united prayer, we rose above the challenge and created a solid foundation that we are joyfully building on now.
Do you have a Buddhist center(s) in your zone? We have two beautiful centers: the Queens Buddhist Center and the Brooklyn Buddhist Center.
Does your zone have a particular point of pride? At the end of last year, many key youth leaders graduated into the men’s and women’s divisions, which left a big hole in our Byakuren, Soka Group and Gajokai membership.[1] Our pride is that we have risen above this challenge! We overcame this struggle by having men and women, who are recent graduates of the youth division, support the youth from behind the scenes as advisors. This has strengthened our unity more than ever between the youth and the men’s and women’s members. Joyful weekly visits and get-togethers are happening all over the zone.
What is essential for you as a zone? Our zone is only five years old and, more than half of that time, we had to shelter in place during COVID. Be that as it may, BQLI has a vast history with Sensei. We hold dear to our hearts Ikeda Sensei’s epic poem “To My Beloved Young American Friends—Youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth,”[2] which he wrote in Glen Cove, Long Island.
On Sensei’s first visit to New York in October 1960, he landed at Idlewild (JFK) Airport in Jamaica, Queens. In 2000, Sensei received an honorary doctorate from Queens College. While we view our history with Sensei with great pride, we are creating our prime point with him right now toward his 100th birthday. Our resounding youth shakubuku victory in 2028 will be our prime point with Sensei!
Do you have something that is unique to your zone? BQLI Zone is literally a miniature of the world. Our zone has more languages spoken in a given area than any other place in the world. You can walk down any street and hear dialogues taking place in so many different languages, and you can smell aromas of food and hear music from different countries. It’s a unique experience of what it feels like to truly be a global citizen. If you want to travel around the world, come to BQLI Zone.
What’s your vision toward 2030? Currently, our zone consists of three regions. Our vision toward 2030 is that, through joyful youth shakubuku and genuine member care, our zone will have five regions. We are also fighting all out with prayer and action to open a new Long Island Buddhist Center by 2030 and for every center to be bustling with the passion and creativity of our precious youth.
Anything else you’d like to add? BQLI Zone will be the beacon of light and hope for America, always together with Sensei!
July 18, 2025 World Tribune, p. 10
References
- Byakuren, Soka Group and Gajokai are behind-the-scenes training groups created by Ikeda Sensei to foster young people into leaders who possess both the spirit and ability to serve humanity. ↩︎
- In June 1981, Sensei made his first visit to New York in six years. It is here that he crystallized his hopes for the SGI-USA youth in the form of a poem read at a U.S.–Japan Goodwill Exchange Meeting, titled “To My Beloved Young American Friends—Youthful Bodhisattvas of the Earth.” This poem can be found in The Sun of Youth, pp. 65–75. ↩︎
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