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Women's Division Column

Faith Manifests in Open-Hearted Discussion Meetings

Santa Ana, Calif. Photo by Toshi Takahashi.

During the reconstruction period, [Josei Toda] had attended discussion meetings almost every night—gatherings of only small numbers of people. The leaders would accompany Toda to such meetings where they would learn in detail how to propagate Nichiren Buddhism and what it was to give guidance. Oh, how lively and happy those meetings had been!

Nothing makes a person grow further than engaging in actual practice. The smaller the meeting, and the more free of formality and the more open-hearted it is, the closer is the contact into which the people’s lives come. This closeness serves as the axis around which firm solidarity forms, friends are made, camaraderie builds up and the Gakkai spirit vibrates. Faith, this invisible quality, manifests itself in animated discussion meetings in which the participants’ hearts fuse in perfect harmony. 

October 10, 2025 World Tribune, p. 11

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