Soka
Gakkai International
(SGI)
World
Peace Buddhists club at Stanford constitutes of members or students who
appreciate the vision of
Soka Gakkai International (SGI).
SGI is a worldwide Buddhist organization with members that span over all
nationalities. They practice Buddhism to achieve a better self and for the
benefit the people in the surroundings, a process described
as "Human Revolution". To fill the world with love and joy, equality, justice
and non-violence have been the vision of the organization. Ripples of sincere
practice of each individual, when manifested through the society, becomes
actions in promoting peace, culture and education in every local communities.
A
Brief History
SGI
originated as a group of teachers and educators in 1920s, Japan in
the hope to reform the mechanized style of education of the nation with
enriched humanistic elements. They soon realized that only through religion
that the destiny of a nation could radically be
transformed. Members began to devote their lives to
Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism.
The organization was named
Soka Gakkai, meaning
"the society of value creation", with the belief that people can live a life of
value based on the practice of Buddhist principles.
During
the WWII, they opposed to subdue Buddhism for validation of the war and
faced persecution from the war-time government. The founder and first
president Makaguchi died in jail.
Josei
Toda, disciple of Makaguchi, rebuilt the organization after released from jail
in 1945 following the defeat of Japan in WWII.
Daisaku Ikeda
, Toda's direct disciple, inaugurated as the 3rd president of Soka Gakkai in
1960 and began to propagate the law to the world. The international
organization
Soka Gakkai International (SGI)
was established in 1975. Members of the SGI spanned all over the world,
practicing Buddhism in their respective nations and communities.
Victory
Over Violence (VOV)
Initiated
by SGI youth division members,
Victory Over Violence (VOV)
is a nation wide campaign to arouse the public for non-violence.
