NEW YORK—The ever-victorious chapter through territory leaders from the Tri-state area “gathered themselves to spring”[1] into 2025, converging on the SGI-USA New York Culture Center on Sept. 16 for a powerful guidance meeting with SGI Vice President Yoshiki Tanigawa and SGI Youth Leader Mitsuo Nishikata.
In her opening words, Jasmine Lee, the East Territory women’s leader, said the meeting was their first such gathering since Ikeda Sensei’s passing last November.
Ms. Lee expressed her appreciation to the youth and chapter leaders for leading their “Hot Shakubuku Summer,” relaying the experience of Kemar, a young men’s division guest in the Caribbean island of Jamaica, who walked over 10 miles to attend SGI meetings. He never missed one, even in July when Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to the island, causing a severe water and food shortage.
Kemar received the Gohonzon in August, “vowing to repay his debt of gratitude to Ikeda Sensei” for having encountered this life-changing practice, Ms. Lee said. As we near the one-year anniversary of our mentor’s passing, she encouraged the representative leaders to respond by holding historic November district general meetings, starting with “a wave of home visits.”
One person standing up becomes the starting point for expansion.
Mr. Nishikata, the SGI youth leader, said he felt such great appreciation to be visiting the U.S. with Mr. Tanigawa “at this crucial moment as we take full responsibility as Sensei’s disciples to propel worldwide kosen-rufu.” He then relayed encouragement from Sensei about how kosen-rufu spreads:
First one individual stands up, becoming the starting point, then that person speaks to another—this most basic connection between individuals is the foundation for the growth of kosen-rufu at all times and in all places, on into the future.[2]
“To me, this means that regardless of our circumstances, we take courageous action rooted in the same vow as our mentor with a stand-alone spirit,” he said. “As the saying goes, ‘A lion seeks no companion.’[3] Sensei has taught us through his propagation campaigns that by being the first to stand up, one person after another will be inspired and awaken to their mission as Bodhisattvas of the Earth.” (See below for his full words.)
Make prayer our foundation.
Mr. Tanigawa addressed prayer as the power source for revolutionizing our life state, doing our human revolution and changing our karma (see p. 8), relaying guidance that Sensei gave to members at the New York Culture Center on June 15, 1996. Sensei said in part:
The first thing is to pray. From the moment we begin to pray, things start moving. The darker the night, the closer the dawn. From the moment we chant daimoku with a deep and powerful resolve, the sun begins to rise in our hearts.[4]
Citing Nichiren Daishonin’s words “If you propagate it, devils will arise without fail. If they did not, there would be no way of knowing that this is the correct teaching,”[5] Mr. Tanigawa explained: “When we are engaged in the struggle to advance kosen-rufu and in the struggle to do our human revolution and transform our karma, we are also engaged in a head-to-head battle with the devilish functions in our hearts. …
“[Nichiren] is teaching us that there is no break in this battle with devilish functions. That is why it is so important for us to make prayer our foundation. And we do this by doing gongyo and chanting daimoku every single day.”
Unity is achieved through prayer.
A Q&A session followed, during which a chapter men’s leader asked about various facets of unity, including what it looks like, how to create it within their chapter team and community, and how to support districts in also creating vibrant unity.
“So, what is necessary to be victorious?” Mr. Tanigawa asked. “Sensei said that two things are necessary: prayer and the unity of ‘many in body, one in mind.’”
“To be ‘different in body’ means that everybody has different feelings and perspectives. There are differences in generations and length of practice. But despite all these differences, we can all come together with one mind or one heart and unite.
“Unity is something that we’re able to achieve through prayer. And then the result of our prayer is our unity.
“In ‘The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,’ Nichiren Daishonin talks about how he and his disciples are like ‘fish and the water in which they swim.’[6]
[The passage reads: “All disciples and lay supporters of Nichiren should chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the spirit of many in body but one in mind, transcending all differences among themselves to become as inseparable as fish and the water in which they swim. This spiritual bond is the basis for the universal transmission of the ultimate Law of life and death. Herein lies the true goal of Nichiren’s propagation. When you are so united, even the great desire for widespread propagation can be fulfilled.”][7]
“‘As fish and the water in which they swim’ means: Fish cannot live outside of water. They need the water to be able to live. So, to create unity and bonds with our comrades in faith means developing these relationships where you cannot exist without the people around you. The first thing is to chant to create those types of amazing, warm bonds, where you really cannot exist without the people around you.
“Sensei has also said that there’s a necessary component for having the same heart or mind. You need something that runs through the center, an axle, and that is the oneness of mentor and disciple.
“The heart of the mentor-disciple relationship is to have a genuine desire to fulfill the vow that you made to Sensei, to bring Sensei joy by winning in all your challenges or to create the kind of organization that Sensei envisioned. So this seeking of and responding to Sensei is the heart of the oneness of mentor and disciple.
“In ‘The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,’ Nichiren goes on to say that the unity of ‘many in body, one in mind’—this is the goal of Nichiren Buddhism. If we can achieve this type of unity, even our dream of widespread propagation can be achieved.”
Deepthi “Dee” Gopi, the North Zone young women’s vice leader from Stamford, Connecticut, said she was struck by Mr. Tanigawa’s encouragement that how we are toward others at home, at work and in our communities is in essence how we do shakubuku.
“Rather than just discussing the practice, I can show through my life actual proof of this practice,” Ms. Gopi said. “And through my friendships and connections, I can warmly embrace the person in front of me and the people in my life. I’m really determined to go deeper and create connections and friendships.”
—Cassidy Bradford contributed to this report.
October 11, 2024, World Tribune, pp. 6–7
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