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The Ukraine crisis that erupted in February last year continues with no prospect for cessation. The intensified hostilities have inflicted great suffering in population centers and destroyed infrastructure facilities, compelling large numbers of civilians, including many children and women, to live in a state of constant peril. More than 7.9 million people have been forced

On Jan. 2, Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist philosopher, peace builder, educator, author and poet, celebrates his 95th birthday.  He was born on Jan. 2, 1928, in Ota Ward, Tokyo, as the fifth of eight children. Beginning in 1937, his four elder brothers were drafted into the Japanese military. Though as a teenager he suffered from tuberculosis

Full-time Accountant The SGI-USA is seeking a full-time accountant for the SGI-USA Headquarters in Santa Monica, California. Active participation in SGI-USA activities is required. Please send resumes to jobs@sgi-usa.org. Candidates should have a four-year degree in accounting or finance with an accounting emphasis, and a minimum of four years of accounting experience. Duties include processing

The SGI-USA launched its new Member Resources portal (portal.sgi-usa.org), a website featuring all your member and leader resources in one place; and the new SGI-USA website (sgi-usa.org), now a purely outward-facing website geared toward informing the general public of our Buddhist practice and community. Member Resources Website Features: • A more personalized design and user

Adapted from an article in the Sept. 1, 2022, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai’s daily newspaper. Ikeda Sensei sent a condolence message on the passing of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in Moscow on Aug. 30, 2022, at 91. The two men first met at the Kremlin in Moscow in

This October, for the first time in three years, the SGI-USA will hold online Introductory Exams, administered at SGI-USA centers across the country. On October 29 and 30, 2022, members and guests who have not yet taken or passed the SGI-USA Introductory Exam will have an opportunity to further deepen their understanding of Nichiren Buddhism

SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, Aug. 7—Members and guests entered the new SGI-USA San Juan Buddhist Center in amazement as pioneer members leaped with joy to welcome them home. In their first in-person SGI-USA activity in over two years, Puerto Rico Region hosted a hybrid kosen-rufu gongyo meeting at the new center. With 60 attendees joining

SALT LAKE CITY, July 3—For three years, Joel Shelton waited for this day. He had, in late 2019, searched online for “Buddhism without meditation” amid a career crisis. What he found was the SGI-USA community in Salt Lake City, where he learned how to create change and find happiness within. Mr. Shelton was among the

NEW YORK, July 5—The life and work of the gifted jazz pianist, composer and educator Onaje Allan Gumbs were memorialized this month when a street in his Bronx neighborhood was named “Onaje Allan Gumbs Way.” The longtime SGI member conceived the mission of jazz as lying far beyond the scope of mere entertainment. In a

by Kevin Moncrief SGI-USA Men’s Leader The men of the SGI-USA are determined to unite and foster the victory of the young men in establishing the peace of the land. Therefore, in July, we will fully support the young men’s division general meetings and introduction meetings by planting seeds and bringing at least one young

Tucson, Ariz., May 1—In a joyful ceremony, the resilience of the Southwest Zone members shone through with the long-awaited grand opening of the new Tucson Buddhist Center.  Due to COVID-19, the grand opening had been postponed twice, once in November 2021, and again in January 2022. But, each time, the members redetermined to patiently await

On June 5, 2022, SGI-USA’s West and Central territories livestreamed kosen-rufu gongyo meetings at the Los Angeles Friendship Center and Chicago Culture Center, respectively, where new territory leadership appointments were announced. Below are summaries of the new leaders’ determinations toward the Soka Gakkai’s centennial in 2030. James Herrmann West Territory Leader Two-and-a-half years have already

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.—In a dignified ceremony at Soka University of America, former U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young received the second Soka Global Citizen Award on May 4. Ambassador Young traveled from Atlanta to accept the award during a ceremony attended by more than 100 students, faculty and staff in the Founder’s Meeting Room at the university’s

No national-level Juneteenth celebration will be held in June. In lieu of this, each territory (East, Central and West) may either hold Juneteenth events or Black history commemorative events between September and November to highlight milestones in the fight for equality and justice. For more information, please contact your territory People of African Descent Group

MINNEAPOLIS, May 14—The University of Minnesota, one of the world’s leading research institutions, awarded Ikeda Sensei with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters during the 2022 commencement ceremony for the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, for his enduring role as a global peace advocate and Buddhist philosopher. In a ceremony at the university’s

On June 10, 2022, to commemorate the women’s division’s 71st anniversary, the SGI-USA women will conduct a gongyo and daimoku relay from their homes any time between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. in their local time zones. Collectively, they will pray for the following: 1) the peace of the land and the world; 2) to

OAKLAND—Dan Kalb, Oakland’s District 1 councilmember, selected the SGI-USA Oakland Buddhist Center in May as a representative to commemorate this year’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. In a newsletter to constituents, he explained that the center serves as a hub for SGI members in Oakland and in the East Bay “who are upholding the

Ikeda Sensei’s acceptance message for his honorary doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

NEW YORK, May 1—With tears of joy, the members of Queens Region celebrated the long-anticipated opening of the SGI-USA Queens Buddhist Center, with over 260 members and guests gathering in person and an additional 240 joining the festivities virtually. The meeting opened with a message from Ikeda Sensei, who called the center the result of

We are shocked and saddened by the senseless violence that is taking place, including the horrendous shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York. Violence in any form is intolerable; violence against people peacefully shopping in a grocery store because of their race is outrageous; and violence against children and those who support and protect them, in the