The World Peace Gongyo Meeting ( December 3, 2006)
Yasunori Takimoto
(SGI Vice President)
Good morning everyone!
I would like to wholeheartedly thank all of you for participating in the December World Peace Gongyo Meeting coming early in the morning and traveling from far-away places to attend, thank you very much!
Together with all of you, I have prayed for the realization of world peace as well as the greater health, happiness, and the prosperity of your respective family.
And now, I would like to offer my gratitude for all of you for your faith and unity as well as your SGI activities, because thanks to these, we at SGI Philippines were able to solemnly close this year’s Year of Youth and Dynamic Growth with great advancement and great victory in all aspects.
Besides this, as all of you are already well aware of, just this November 24th, Rizal University System has conferred its Honorary Doctorate in Humanities to Ikeda-Sensei, the very first foreigner to receive such an award at the Seikyo Shimbun Head Office in Shinanomachi, Tokyo. This indeed, is our greatest joy in SGI Philippines.
This is the 201st glorious degree that has been bestowed upon Ikeda-Sensei
from various universities and academic institutions the world over. Our
great mentor has achieved a brilliant and unprecedented milestone and I
believe that for Ikeda-Sensei to receive the honorary doctorate from a
university that has Rizal's name – the Philippine national hero – on it
is extremely significant in our glorious new advancement for kosen-rufu.
Ikeda-Sensei was very happy to have received the degree and gave a message
to us:
"This is an honor I received on behalf of
all the members of the SGI Philippines.
Kindly convey my warmest regards to
all of the members"
And quite mysteriously, the conferment has coincided with the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and Japan. As such, the significance of the conferment is further deepened and enhanced in relation to this.
Congratulations to you Sensei! Let us share this joy with Sensei as SGI
Philippine members! Congratulations to all of you as well!
Now, as you all know, our SGI theme for the year 2007 is "Year of
Advancement and Victory". In relation to this theme, our activity
points are as follows:
1) Steadily expanding our circle of friendship
2) Striving to enhance our discussion meetings
3) Fostering the Youth – the treasures of the SGI – and new members
4) Improving and making full use of our Publications
– the driving force for Kosen-rufu.
What then is this advancement and victory all about in the realm of our
daily life? It is to summon forth our strong power of faith in whatever
difficulty that comes our way and to advance by conquering all of them
to achieve victory.
In a poem To My Friends by Ikeda-Sensei, he mentioned:
"In adversity how one should live – In tough
times, one’s true value as a human being becomes apparent with no
lessons or
trials,escaping from difficulties,one neither
builds happiness nor becomes a winner in life."
In another guidance, Sensei mentioned:
"Nam-myoho-renge-kyo extends across the entire
universe. Don't the Daishonin's writings say that
'When one attains the Buddha way, one's
body and mind at a single moment pervade the entire realm of phenomena'
(WND, p. 366)? The Daishonin's Buddhism
enables us to transform ourselves and develop an expansive state of
life that
encompasses the entire universe."
Moreover, Sensei mentioned,
"In the process of challenging and achieving
one immediate goal after another, we forge the way for our glorious
future.
A winner in life successfully surmounts each
day's hurdles."
Sensei has cried upon us thus:
"Let us hold our heads up high and advance!
Together, let us do our utmost in our endeavor!"
As SGI Philippine members, let us all put the finishing touches to this
year with great victory. And, towards next year let us advance by striving
to chant even more daimoku and outdo ourselves in doing shakubuku together
with General Director Niitsu and Women's Division Chief, Mrs. Shibata in
a cheerful, high-spirited and enjoyable manner.
I close my speech with prayers for your greater health and happiness and the prosperity of your respective families.
Photo on the top: Flowers in Nagano (Photo by Daisaku Ikeda)
Copyright (c) 2006-2007, Soka Gakkai International of the Philippines,
All rights reserved.
