May 2020 Living Buddhism

Swapna BhideBOSTON Living Buddhism: Thank you, Swapna, for sharing your experience with us. Where did you grow up? Swapna Bhide: Thank you for the opportunity. I was raised in Pune, India, in a conservative family. I spent the majority of my time with my grand- parents, who were quite religious, and I was taught to

This monthly encouragement by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda was originally published in the April 2020 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai’s monthly study journal. Learning is light—this is a conviction we have inherited from founding Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who continued to study in earnest even while in prison, where he ultimately died

The Mentor-Disciple Relationship and the Journey of Kosen-rufu

The Ikeda Wisdom Academy is an SGI-USA youth division movement to engage youth leaders in advanced study. This month, academy members will study chapter 11 of The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life: SGI President Ikeda’s Lecture Series. While the Ikeda Wisdom Academy is a youth leaders study program, all SGI-USA members are invited

“This moment and the place where you are right now is what matter. When committed disciples rise into action with a self-reliant spirit, the sure flame of Soka will burn and spread brightly from where they are, from that very moment.” —SGI President Ikeda May 3, Soka Gakkai Day, is considered a New Year’s Day

by SGI Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda

Chapter Summary The Soka Gakkai had designated 1972 as the “Year of the Community,” and members worked hard to build a base for actualizing a peaceful society through the spread of Nichiren Buddhism on the local level. Based on the resolve that all the members would establish a pillar of sound and indestructible faith in

Chapter Summary On April 29, 1972, Shin’ichi Yamamoto left for Europe and the United States. The primary focus of the trip was his dialogue with British historian professor Arnold J. Toynbee. In the autumn of 1969, Shin’ichi received a letter from the professor inviting him to engage in discussion. Dr. Toynbee explained that he took

Chapter Summary After returning from Europe and North America, Shin’ichi Yamamoto traveled to the Kansai and Shikoku regions, and then to Hokkaido. In July, he headed to the Tohoku region, which had suffered heavy damage from torrential rains. When Shin’ichi arrived in Sendai on July 9, he promptly canceled the commemorative photo session that was

This installment, published in the November 17, 2020, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, focuses on passages from Nichiren Daishonin’s writings that SGI President Ikeda discussed in volume 16 of The New Human Revolution. Passage 1 “The cherry, the plum, the peach, the damson—in its own entity, without undergoing any change, possesses the eternally endowed three

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai’s founding, the 60th anniversary of Daisaku Ikeda’s inauguration as third president, as well as 60 years since he traveled to the U.S. on October 2, 1960, as his first step to spread the life-affirming teaching of Nichiren Buddhism throughout the world. In this most auspicious

Part 3: Kosen-rufu and World Peace—The Purpose of Buddhist Study

One who studies the teachings of Buddhism must not fail to repay the four debts of gratitude. According to the Contemplation on the Mind-Ground Sutra, the first of the four debts is that owed to all living beings. Were it not for them, one would find it impossible to make the vow to save innumerable

To My Friends of Each Division Engaged in Our Shared Struggle [51]