by the San Francisco Ever-Victorious Zone team
What is your zone motto?
Ever-Victorious With Sensei!
Tell us briefly about your zone’s history. Our zone was formed on Aug. 16, 2009. Prior to that we were part of Northern California Zone. In 2009, we split into two zones, and the area including Monterey Bay, Silicon Valley, the Bay Area Peninsula and San Francisco City became part of what’s now called San Francisco Ever-Victorious (SFEV).1
Do you have Buddhist Centers in your zone? Yes, we are proud to have two centers: the San Francisco Buddhist Center and the Silicon Valley Buddhist Center. We will be opening our brand-new Silicon Valley Buddhist Center this month and are so grateful. It will be a fresh start for our zone!
Does your zone have a particular point of pride? We are so proud that the SGI-USA junior high and high school (JHHS) divisions were founded by Ikeda Sensei in our zone. We have raised scores of future division members and continue to be among the top zones sending them to conferences in the summer and eventually to Soka University of America. In addition to our monthly Soka Family Day gatherings—with many young guests—we also host creative and fun annual Soka Family picnics.
Our JHHS members take the SGI-USA introductory exams and always pass with flying colors!
We recently had a middle-schooler introduce a school friend to Buddhism. With the warm support of the members, her friend received the Gohonzon!
We also have a very strong connection between women and young women with the “study buddy system,” where we pair up every young woman with a woman buddy. This has led to great joy and victory for both groups, and there are now 37 active Byakuren in our zone (and growing!). We also always lead in our participation of young women at the Florida Nature and Culture Center conferences!
Our men are also fighting hard to raise youth. One chapter men’s leader consistently meets with three young men every week. As a result of his visits, those youth have actively participated in all district meetings in the last seven months as well as in the young men’s division and Soka Group activities. He continues to support them in fighting for their goals and dreams toward our new Silicon Valley Buddhist Center opening.
What is your prime point with Sensei as a zone? We have several. San Francisco is the first place Sensei visited on the U.S. mainland after Hawaii in 1960. Subsequently, he has come to SFEV four other times.
On his 1993 visit, he said: “So long as San Francisco advances, America will advance. If San Francisco is healthy, America too will be strong. A new movement of peace and culture will spread outward from San Francisco to the rest of the world” (March 2023 Living Buddhism, p. 5).
We share our name with Ever-Victorious Kansai and strive to fulfill Sensei’s great expectations of us!
Do you have something that is unique to your zone? Most innovations in the tech world, such as self-driving cars and AI, are pioneered in our zone. Many of our members work in tech and are often in high-pressure situations but, through their human revolution and vow for kosen-rufu, they are winning in their work and transforming their work environments through faith, practice and study.
What is your zone’s vision toward 2030? We imagine a future with a membership of over 10,000 bodhisattvas, half of whom would be youth.
So far this year we have welcomed 30 new youth into our zone, and the momentum is growing!
Anything else you’d like to add? We love music in SFEV! We have a band in the San Francisco Peninsula Region where those of all ages, including Many Treasures, youth and future division members collaborate and play at kosen-rufu gongyo meetings.
We also have a zone song titled “Ever-Victorious With Sensei.” We developed it during the pandemic to unite our zone, based on Sensei’s love for songs to encourage the members. Click here to watch our YouTube video.
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