Let’s create a whirlpool of joy!

In his speech, Mr Tanigawa spoke about looking ahead to the next fifty years of SGI-UK. He talked about how we can establish a solid foundation in order to expand our network for kosen-rufu and enable a world rooted in respect for the dignity of all life in the next four years, leading up to the hundredth anniversary of the Soka Gakkai in 2030.

His guidance was very clear and direct. He said that, first and foremost, we must strengthen and reinforce our precious districts, the frontline of our organisation. The districts are the ‘frontline’ because that is where the majority of people first encounter SGI and our Buddhist philosophy. It is also the place where we are all nurtured and encouraged to continue in our daily Buddhist practice, as we have already been learning about in our ‘One Step for Peace’ initiative over this past year or so.

Both during the time of second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda and SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, the momentum of introducing others to Buddhism grew significantly when the focus was placed on small group discussions.

The Kamata Campaign, in February 1952, made a significant breakthrough in the kosen-rufu movement in Japan. This was actually focused on strengthening the ‘units’, which constituted our modern-day districts. In volume ten of The Human Revolution, President Ikeda writes as follows:

During the reconstruction period, Toda had attended discussion meetings almost every night – gatherings of only small numbers of people. The present leaders would accompany Toda to such meetings where they would learn in detail how to propagate Nichiren Buddhism and what it was to give guidance. Oh, how lively and happy those meetings had been!
   Nothing makes a person grow further than engaging in actual practice. The smaller the meeting, and the more free of formality and the more open-hearted it is, the closer is the contact into which the people’s lives come. This closeness serves as the axis around which firm solidarity forms, friends are made, camaraderie builds up and the Gakkai spirit vibrates. Faith, this invisible quality, manifests itself in animated discussion meetings in which the participants’ hearts fuse in perfect harmony.[[1]]

When they achieved the goal of two million households in 1961, President Ikeda described in The New Human Revolution what was needed for the next phase of expanding the organisation as follows:

The purpose of sharing the Daishonin’s teachings was not simply to increase the membership of the Soka Gakkai, but to enable all people to become happy. It was vital, then, that as the membership increased, more care and attention be focused on each individual. Guidance and encouragement had to be given to deepen their understanding of Buddhism and allow them to advance in their faith with courage and joy. 
   The discussion meeting was the place where this human contact took place. Such meetings held at the most basic level of the Gakkai organisation – at the unit level – would be an oasis of unfettered dialogue and human interaction. 
   At this time, the average unit consisted of about a dozen households, providing an intimate setting for discussion. Precisely because unit meetings were small, people felt free to ask questions. Such small gatherings were very flexible and informal, making it possible to focus on the needs of any new members who might be present. As the sphere of happiness within each unit expanded and the members’ conviction in faith grew, the solid grassroots base of the Soka Gakkai would develop even further.[[2]]

This guidance teaches us the importance of having small gatherings where everyone can speak their minds freely. Having fruitful discussions is the key to strengthening districts and to enable each person to advance joyfully.

'Nothing makes a person grow further than engaging in actual practice'

In order to realise this, Mr Tanigawa asked the leaders of SGI-UK to take the initiative by devoting their efforts to visiting each member in their home and encouraging them to transform whatever problems or difficulties they are facing. In The New Human Revolution President Ikeda shares some guidance with a leader about this point:

‘It’s crucial that leaders take every opportunity to visit members and encourage them. We must push ourselves to visit even one more family and continue to offer personal guidance to as many people as we possibly can.
   ‘That is the way to help our members become happy, to strengthen the organisation, and to build a strong foundation for the Soka Gakkai. It’s a mistake to think that there’s some other special way to do so.
     ‘To grow crops, you need to carefully till the soil with a plough or hoe. To foster capable individuals, you also have to nurture their growth through continued patient efforts to offer personal guidance.’[[3]]

As the global situation continues to be marked by division and potential crisis, Mr Tanigawa asked us to go back to the starting point once again, and dedicate ourselves to this kind of one-to-one support, so that we can create a wave of dynamic progress in our kosen-rufu movement. 

He also stated that it is no exaggeration to say that our efforts in the next five years, this year and next year in particular, leading up to 2030, are crucial. With a larger number of members dedicated to peace we will begin to create the kind of dramatic change in our society and world that we are all hoping for. ‘From today’s general meeting’, Mr Tanigawa said, ‘let’s advance vibrantly with a profound determination to win no matter what!’

Based on this spirit, and also our continuing efforts for the ‘One Step for Peace’ initiative, the SGI-UK youth division have recently launched: ‘One Step for Peace: A Whirlpool of Joy across the UK!’ This is a way to build on, deepen and strengthen what we are already doing. This year we have been studying the Kansai Campaign of 1956, in which President Ikeda and the members of the Kansai region were able to achieve an enormous growth in their membership in a short time. President Ikeda explains the purpose of this campaign in volume ten of The Human Revolution, sharing:

In order to double the current strength, the members would have to be participating happily in their movement to spread Buddhism. This, in turn, demanded that they be sufficiently inspired and encouraged to increase their power of faith and strengthen their prayers to the Gohonzon. They had been practising for only a short time. They must first of all be deeply convinced of how truly great and valid Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism was. They must realise the righteousness of his teaching through documentary, theoretical and actual proof so that a whirlpool of joy – the joy of faith – would emerge.[[4]]

This expresses the foundation of our activities, which is enabling every single person to feel enormous joy in their lives and enable others to experience this same life-state, in this way creating a whirlpool that spreads outwards, encompassing more and more people. 

The SGI-UK youth division’s initiative is centred around this kind of one-to-one support, visiting each other’s homes to chant and read guidance together and exchange encouragement so that everyone’s faith is reinvigorated. 

This initiative began on Saturday 6 June – when we commemorated the Day of Mentor and Disciple for Europe – and will end on Tuesday 13 October – the Day of Mentor and Disciple in SGI-UK. Although it is being driven by the youth division, everyone is invited to join the campaign, for example by doing home visits together with a young person, or by chanting for the success of a visit.

We are being asked to do as many joyful home visits as possible with the aim of encouraging each other and building eternal bonds of friendship. In this way, we will create a ‘whirlpool of joy’ across the country. 

To support this, we are being invited to solidify the fundamentals of our Buddhist practice: chanting, study and sharing our philosophy with others. As Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the foundation of everything, let’s prepare for every home visit we do with daimoku. 

Also, let’s try to study some guidance together, such as the extracts from The New Human Revolution that are shared in each issue of the Art of Living or any other piece of guidance from President Ikeda or Nichiren Daishonin that you find inspiring. 

Using these home visits as a launching point, we are being encouraged to actively find ways to share our Buddhist philosophy with other people in our environment, with this spirit of enabling as many people as possible to feel happiness and hope. 

Although we may be struggling with indescribable difficulties at the moment, we can use our Buddhist practice and SGI activities as the driving force to change our lives at the deepest level. Reaching out to encourage others, regardless of what is happening in our lives, is one of the ways to ignite this process of resolving our problems. In volume twenty-seven of The New Human Revolution, President Ikeda perfectly sums up the kind of spirit SGI members have when he writes:

Rather than being absorbed only with our own problems, we empathise with and share the struggles of all kinds of people, dedicating our lives to kosen-rufu in order to show them the way to indestructible happiness.  We listen to the problems and concerns of our friends and do our best to encourage them. Out of a sincere wish for their happiness, we talk with them about Nichiren Buddhism and chant for them. It is through such heartfelt daily efforts that we connect our lives to Nichiren Daishonin.[[5]]

Let’s create a whirlpool of joy throughout every corner of the UK, taking one step after another to support our districts and achieve brilliant victories alongside our fellow members in this ‘Year of Vibrant Growth for a Youthful Soka Gakkai Worldwide’! ●

References

[[1]]: Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution, abridged edition (World Tribune Press edition, 2004) Book Two, Vol. 10, pp. 1489-1490.

[[2]]: Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution (Eternal Ganges Press, 2018) Vol. 4, p. 212.

[[3]]: Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution (Eternal Ganges Press, 2002) Vol. 27, pp. 218-219.

[[4]]: Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution, abridged edition (World Tribune Press edition, 2004) Book Two, Vol. 10, p. 1311.

[[5]]: Daisaku Ikeda, The New Human Revolution (Eternal Ganges Press, 2002) Vol. 27, p. 244.