A Fresh Departure Toward the 50th Anniversary of the SGI’s Founding

To the members of Guam and all of the United States, whom I wholeheartedly cherish and respect: I offer my sincerest congratulations on the long-awaited opening of the SGI Guam Ikeda Peace and Culture Center! Today, my wife and I feel as though we are attending this opening alongside all of you in Guam, an island of everlasting summer that holds many fond memories for us. 

I am well aware of the earnest and exemplary actions that you have all been taking until today for the sake of kosen-rufu, society and the people. 

Nichiren Daishonin states, “Those who now believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten thousand miles away” (“New Year’s Gosho,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1137). 

This center is the crystallization of your noble efforts over many years. It is also symbolic of the happiness and good fortune that is sure to blossom ever more fragrantly, like the beautiful flowers of Guam. Furthermore, your efforts reflect the significance of the Daishonin’s words, “the farther the source, the longer the stream” (“The Farther the Source, the Longer the Stream,” WND-1, 940). You are accruing benefits beyond measure through your daily struggles to keep the hope that springs from the Soka Gakkai International’s founding flowing in abundance. 

You are accruing benefits beyond measure through your daily struggles to keep the hope that springs from the Soka Gakkai International’s founding flowing in abundance.