Honoring SGI-USA Women’s Day

Every year on Feb. 27, the women of America celebrate SGI-USA Women’s Day and the birthday of SGI Honorary Women’s Leader Kaneko Ikeda.

Together, they renew their vow with their mentor, SGI President Ikeda, to “become the happiest people in the world” (My Dear Friends in America, third edition, p. 92).

On Feb. 27, 1990, representative women from across the country joined President and Mrs. Ikeda for the First SGI-USA Women’s Division Meeting, held at the Soka University of America Los Angeles campus in Calabasas, California. At the request of the SGI-USA, this day came to be recognized as SGI-USA Women’s Day.

At the meeting, President Ikeda delivered his seminal guidance “Buddhism Is the Clear Mirror That Reflects Our Lives,” saying in part: “Just as you look into a mirror when you make up your face, to beautify the face of the soul, you need a mirror that reflects the depths of your life. This mirror is none other than the Gohonzon of ‘observing one’s mind,’ or more precisely, observing one’s life” (MDFA, p. 97).

This February, to commemorate the 29th anniversary of SGI-USA Women’s Day, the women and young women will hold commemorative gongyo meetings to pray for the peace of the land. And throughout the year, they will focus on deeply studying and embodying the spirit of President Ikeda’s The New Human Revolution, the SGI’s “textbook of faith” (see pp. 6–7 for more details).