Young
Men's Division
5th Mainila-Mindanao Exchange Meeting
The YMD Manila-Mindanao Exchange Meeting started as a national activity in 2003 with the purpose of uniting the Young Men’s Division members of SGI-Philippines to walk the correct path of mentor and disciple and solidify its bond; to further deepen its member’s faith in the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin; and most of all, the development of trust in this circle of friends.
Last April 5-7, 2007, the 5th YMD Manila-Mindanao Exchange Meeting held
at Cagayan de Oro City headed by our Headquarter leaders: Youth Division
Chief Ronald Hernandez, Young Men's Division Chief Jeremias Zhel Cruz,
Young Men's Division Vice Chiefs Jordan Ong and Rodel Paul Sauza, was indeed
a great success.
The theme of this year’s exchange was: "Young Men! Forge an Alliance
of Unity and Harmony Through the Spirit of Oneness of Mentor and Disciple."
On the very first day, a total of 238 high-spirited young men gathered,
and on their first training they studied about The New Human Revolution
(Main Bastion Chapter 4-10) which stresses the importance of following
the path of mentor and disciple, wherein Shin'ichi Yamamoto is appealing
to the youth division through the example of First President Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi and 2nd President Josei Toda’s mentor and disciple relationship.
And also on the second training, everyone were intently listening to the
lectured Gosho "Reply to Kyo'o", which emphasizes on the confidence
in the boundless benefits of the Gohonzon and to have firm faith in the
Gohonzon with the attitude of a ferocious lion.
After the lecture of each of the training sessions, a Q&A portion was
allocated in which an interesting field of questions was asked by the eager
participants who were all trying to understand more about Nichiren Daishonin's
Buddhism and life. Given such fascinating insights on the first and second
training, they ended the first day by showing a video about the life and
works of Sensei Ikeda.
At the start of the second day, preparations for house visitations and
small discussion meetings were under way early in the morning, with others
already waiting on the site-locations. The activity was conducted from
places within Cagayan de Oro City to as far as Misamis Oriental. The participants
were divided into fourteen (14) groups after which they traveled directly
towards their respective areas. Sharing of experiences, giving encouragements
and most of all, the question and answer session were the highlights of
this event. Members were very enthusiastic in sharing their very own experiences
in faith to the delight of their fellow members and guests. Though the
weather was hot, the desire of each YMD member was with much greater intensity.
One could truly see the passion and power of these Young Men.
In the evening, the program for the 5th Manila-Mindanao Exchange Meeting
was truly dramatic and enjoyable. Dramatic in the sense that one could
really feel the gravity of the experiences shared by the members from each
representative area (Manila, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Davao) and how they
triumphed over their own obstacles/problems. And, enjoyable because of
the fine intermission numbers rendered by all of the participants from
each respective area wherein one could sense the tremendous effort they
made to practice, and one could feel in one's heart their spontaneous happiness,
which was expressly shown in the faces of each and every participant.
On the third and final day, in order to catch up with the low tide, all
the participants woke up early and made their way to Misamis Oriental for
the planting of Mangrove in the tree-planting activity.
Arriving early, each and everyone were able to plant a total of about 1,300 mangroves. What a wonderful sight to behold: young men working towards a common goal. Truly, if the young men of SGI-Philippines will move and champion the cause for Philippine kosen-rufu, this lofty goal can surely be achieved.
All in all, the exchange meeting was very much successful without any untoward
accidents. This is also due to the support of the Me'’s Division, Women’s
Division and the Young Women's Division members who worked behind the scenes
to ensure its success.
And lastly, we would like to encourage all the young men of SGI-Philippines out there to look forward to the 6th Manila-Mindanao Exchange Meeting that is going to be held in Davao next year. We hope that each and everyone would come and join and experience it first hand.
