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 the members’ many years of hard work in accord with Nichiren Daishonin’s teaching that “unseen virtue brings about visible reward” (“The Farther the Source, the Longer the Stream,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 940). “This center,” he continued, “signifies that you will enjoy even greater benefits and that new paths of kosen-rufu will expand limitlessly before you.”
The new center is located just a 10-minute walk from the Buddhist Center that opened on Jan. 9, 1975, with Sensei in attendance. Members expressed their pride that Sensei must have walked the streets of their neighborhood with high hopes for the happiness and future of its residents.
At the meeting, representative leaders of Queens Region presented determinations, while Jeesook and Jeeyeon Kang shared their individual and collective family experience of overcoming hardships through faith in the Mystic Law. One new member received the Gohonzon, adding even more joy to the atmosphere.
New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky sent a proclamation to the opening, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams presented a Certificate of Recognition, honoring the SGI-USA members’ contributions to the local community.
Queens, a borough of New York City, has long been considered a “melting pot,” with roughly half of its 2.4 million residents hailing from other countries.
The borough holds two notable Guinness World Records: as the most ethnically diverse urban center on the planet and the most linguistically diverse, with at least 138 languages spoken throughout. Were it a city, Queens would be the fourth most populous in the U.S. Regarding these facts, SGI-USA Senior Vice General Director Tariq Hasan noted, “Sounds like the perfect place for kosen-rufu.”
In his closing words, Mr. Hasan emphasized the power of appreciation. “Rather than feeling like our problems are causing us to suffer, Buddhism teaches us to appreciate problems as opportunities to grow and become stronger and wiser,” he said.
He went on to cite Sensei’s guidance from The New Human Revolution that a heart of appreciation leads people to happiness, but without such a heart, people are unhappy: “It is the spirit of gratitude that gives rise to a brilliant life” (vol. 13, revised edition, p. 147). Mr. Hasan concluded by reminding the attendees that their new center is a gift based on the sincere contributions of SGI-USA members throughout the country.
The local leaders expressed their determination to use this new center as a “citadel” of propagation, member care and raising youth, where members brim with boundless benefit and take kosen-rufu in America to new heights.
—Prepared by the World Tribune staff
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