by Adin Strauss, Naoko Leslie and Kevin Moncrief
SGI-USA General Director, Women’s leader and Men’s leader
Hello, thank you, and thank you again for your steadfast and truly inspiring support of kosen-rufu!
Listening to and engaging with our wonderful members—sometimes on the phone, sometimes via Zoom and sometimes (much more recently) in person—we have been amazed and deeply moved by the invincible spirit of bodhisattvas to never give in, showing incredible actual proof of the unlimited power of the Mystic Law.
At the same time, we have also heard how challenging it has been. Between the pandemic, the volatile economy and the stresses and strains in society that show up with disturbing frequency these days, it gets to be a lot.
And we know it hasn’t been easy to be physically separated from relatives, loved ones and our Soka families.
Yet Nichiren Daishonin and Ikeda Sensei assure us that it’s our challenge—no, our mission!—to transform all this poison into medicine now, in the place where we are, by neither dodging reality nor getting overwhelmed by it.
How do we do this? By tapping into the power source for eternal youth and triumph—the Mystic Law.
In a letter to a follower who was new to Buddhist practice and perhaps a bit swayed by the obstacles she was facing, the Daishonin famously leads off with this passage:
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Question: Is it possible, without understanding the meaning of the Lotus Sutra, but merely by chanting these … seven characters of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo once a day, once a month, or simply once a year, once a decade, or once in a lifetime, to avoid being drawn into … evil, … and instead to eventually reach the stage of [enlightenment]?
Answer: Yes, it is.[1]
He then goes on to lay out three crystal-clear definitions for the key character myo:
• The character myo means to open;
• Myo means to revive, that is, to return to life; and
• Myo means to be fully endowed, which in turn has the meaning of “perfect and full.”[2]
He assures the recipient that she, too, can become absolutely happy through the amazing power of the character myo.
The Vital Role of Contributions
Your financial contributions are the means that enable us to open and maintain meeting places, publish books and wonderful periodicals, and build our social media presence, including Buddhability.
In effect, they enable us to proudly declare to our friends and to society in so many different ways: “You can awaken your Buddha nature! You can definitely revive hopes and dreams that have been dormant these past few years. And you, yourself are perfectly endowed with everything you need to become happy—just as you are, at this moment!”
The national team is determined that SGI-USA activities will fully reopen in 2023. And we are confident that when people look back on 2023 years from now, they will say: “That was the year when I opened a new chapter in my life. That was when kosen-rufu started afresh for the SGI-USA. That was the turning point for our country and the world!”
We are always chanting for each member’s great health, growth and happiness, and for that of your families and friends. See you soon!
Warmly,
Adin, Naoko and Kevin
April 7, 2023, World Tribune, Insert, p. A
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