by Olivia Saito, David Witkowski, Maya Gunaseharan and Ryo Kuroki
SGI-USA Youth Leaders
To the wonderful members of the SGI-USA,
Congratulations, and thank you for a victorious August! Commemorating the month, 72 years ago, when SGI President Ikeda attended his first meeting and joined the Soka Gakkai, the SGI-USA welcomed 1,531 new bodhisattvas, who received the Gohonzon and began their own journey of human revolution.
Upon hearing the reports of SGI-USA members helping many of their friends become happy through sharing this Buddhism, Sensei sent a message expressing how happy he was that everyone was fighting so hard for kosen-rufu.
One young woman from Florida was chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo every day to find someone who was seeking Buddhism. While on vacation in New Orleans, she bumped into a childhood friend she hadn’t seen in 15 years! He received the Gohonzon as a result of her sincerely sharing how much her practice has changed her life. This young man has since enshrined the Gohonzon and registered to take the SGI-USA Introductory Exam.
President Ikeda once affirmed the important point that helping people begin their Buddhist practice is not complete until the new members take the Introductory Exam (Dec. 6, 2013, World Tribune, p. 8). This is as true now as it was then.
In September, we would like to continue this joyful momentum by ensuring that all of our new members enshrine the Gohonzon and take part in the Intro Exam (to be held nationwide on Sept. 29 and 30).
It’s essential that we empower these bodhisattvas to live “the two ways of practice and study” (The True Aspect of All Phenomena,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 386), so that they can develop a strong foundation to persevere in faith throughout their lives.
As members of the SGI-USA, we all share an immense sense of pride, mission and responsibility to make this happen! Thank you very much.
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