Jimi Wallace, on behalf of Soka Gakkai International New Zealand (SGINZ), expressed his deepest condolences for the loss of lives and recited the ‘Life Span’ chapter of the Lotus Sutra offering prayers to the victims, their families and those recovering. 

Buddhist teachings emphasise the sacredness and preciousness of life.  

Soka Gakkai International New Zealand absolutely condemns any form of violence  or terrorism, not only that perpetrated in the name of religion. 

Following the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States, in which SGI members and friends were among the victims, our mentor SGI President Daisaku Ikeda wrote:

“It is the function of evil to divide; to alienate people from each other and divide one country from another.  In the end, the evil over which we must triumph is the impulse toward hatred and destruction that resides in us all.

Unless we can achieve a fundamental transformation within our own lives, so that we are able to perceive our intimate connection with all our fellow human beings and feel their sufferings as our own, we will never be free of conflict and war.

Now, more than ever, we must reach out in a further effort to understand each other and engage in genuine dialogue.

We must expand our efforts to promote dialogue between and among civilizations.

To this end, we must strive to make a profound reverence for life the prevailing spirit of our times and our planet. I believe that this is the greatest and most enduring way to honour the memory of the victims of this enormous tragedy.” (The Evil Over which We Must Triumph from From the Ashes, A Spiritual Response to the Attack on America)

We are committed to work together with other faith, community and like-minded groups to overcome the challenges of division, hatred and intolerance and promote harmonious coexistence, respect for diversity and social cohesion. 

Image by Éva Kaprinay

Ikeda was born in Tokyo on January 2, 1928. He was inaugurated as third President of the Soka Gakkai in 1960 and for almost two decades led the lay Buddhist movement in dynamic growth that also saw important international development. He became Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President in 1975 and Soka Gakkai Honorary President in 1979. He is survived by his wife Kaneko and his sons Hiromasa and Takahiro.

“As Buddhists whose core value is the dignity of life, we sincerely pray for an immediate ceasefire, and hope that efforts will be focused on ensuring people’s safety and restoring peace.

“We add our voices to appeals by the international community for the safe release of all hostages, the protection of civilians based on international humanitarian law, and a humanitarian ceasefire to enable provision of vitally needed assistance.”

—Soka Gakkai Council on Peace Issues, October 26, 2023

https://www.instagram.com/sgi.info/

It is deeply shocking that such horrific violent attacks could occur here in Aotearoa New Zealand. We categorically condemn and reject such acts of violence and terrorism and are resolutely determined to not allow such hatred to take root here.  As SGI President Daisaku Ikeda has stated:

The real struggle of the 21st century will not be between civilizations, nor between religions. It will be between violence and nonviolence. It will be between barbarity and civilization in the truest sense of the word.

In this dark time, we affirm our bonds as brothers, sisters and fellow human beings and we will honour the memory of those who have been lost by renewing hope and taking unstinting action toward the construction of a culture of peace, based on compassion and solidarity.

With our heartfelt prayers

Soka Gakkai International New Zealand

We commemorate the 125th anniversary of New Zealand women’s suffrage at Ikeda-Hall Peace Park in Rotorua with women of SGINZ planting two new cherry trees.

HERE’S THE INFORMATION

For information on the Auckland event below

Tūmanako Auckland 2018

Tumanako is a festival of art for the youth and by the youth, in commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attack. At the same time, we also celebrate the 31st anniversary of Aotearoa New Zealand as a nuclear free country, and the 1st anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Students from Albany Senior High School in association with Soka Gakkai International (SGINZ), are organising an Auckland wide event commemorating Hiroshima Day called ‘Tumanako! – Children’s Art Works for a Peaceful World’ – a youth art exhibition for hope and peace. We would like to invite students, aged 8 to 18 years-old, to participate in this wonderful event for peace by creating a work of art, including but not limited to: painting, sculpture, drawing, musical piece, and dance. All artworks must reflect the theme ‘hope for a peaceful world’. We encourage students to work collaboratively to create these pieces.

Tumanako 2018

The opening ceremony for the event will be held on Sunday the 5th of August 2018 for participating students and will involve:

• Key speakers
• Certificate and Tumanako t-shirt prize giving
• Food & Entertainment

Further details of the event will be released soon! (in regards to the time, and place of the event)

Registration of interest closes on the 27th of June

Submissions of artworks closes on the 5th of July (end of Term 2)

To register, please click the link below, which will take you through to a registration form for Tumanako where you will be able to register your interest (or class interest) for the event!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfA-fkCl3dkkVTKoEFE5bQmvlrs0SPQnjA28csyrMhzvukngg/viewform

by Laura Gow

On 6 August 2017, the opening ceremony for Tūmanako was held outside Whakatāne library. It was an amazing community celebration with over 450 people attending.

The ceremony began with a Karakia and blessing, and included items from the Schools throughout Whakatane. This was followed by words from Whakatāne’s Mayor, Mr Tony Bonne and a waiata sung by members of SGINZ.

A representative from each of the nineteen schools that took part in Tūmanako cut the ribbon at the entrance of the library to open the exhibition.

Due to exhibition space being limited, the Whakatāne District Council decided that rather than ask each child to create an artwork for peace, instead they would encourage children to design and create a peace flag for Tūmanako.  Preschools and primary and intermediate schools were all invited to participate.  The response to the project was huge with whole schools opting to take part.

During the term, flag packs along with lesson plans about peace were distributed to all of the participating classes. Over 115 teachers supported by facilitating so that children could take part in their classrooms. Once children had talked about and understood the concept of peace, they drew their ideas and hopes on a colourful flag. The flags were then sewn onto bunting by wonderful members of the community. In the end, nearly 2,750 flags were created, sewn together and hung in Whakatāne library.  After the event, these flags will be gifted back to the schools.

The Whakatāne Ohope Community Board sponsored the event and many local businesses contributed with sponsorship, providing materials at cost and also contributing their time and expertise. It was amazing to have so many different members of the community working together to promote peace.

The library staff have shared how bright and colourful the flags are and how school groups are visiting the library each day specifically to look at the flags.

Daisaku Ikeda writes:  Nothing is more precious than peace. Nothing brings greater happiness. Peace must be the fundamental goal towards which humanity advances.

Mr Ikeda stated: ‘Nuclear weapons are dangerous from a security perspective. From an ethical and moral perspective, they are wrong. This renders them unacceptable in any hands. With the geopolitical risks of nuclear conflict rising to unprecedented levels, it is vital that this awareness be shared widely by all people.’

He also stressed the SGI’s educational focus on creating opportunities for dialogue. ‘This can foster a shared awareness that nuclear weapons—in any hands—are dangerous and wrong as a means of protecting the things and people we treasure.’

The SGI was one of 13 cooperating organisations involved in the conference hosted by the Vatican’s newly created Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development[GN1] .

On 10 November, conference participants were received in audience by His Holiness Pope Francis, who spoke of the ‘mentality of fear’ created by nuclear weapons, saying: ‘Weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons, create nothing but a false sense of security. They cannot constitute the basis for peaceful coexistence between members of the human family, which must rather be inspired by an ethics of solidarity.’

Several Nobel Peace Prize Laureates addressed the conference, including Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), who thanked people of faith for their efforts towards the historic adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July this year, saying: ‘This treaty is not the final step in our journey out of nuclear darkness, but the beginning of the end.’

Other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates who spoke included Muhammad ElBaradei, Jody Williams, Muhammad Yunus, Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Perez Esquivel. High-level representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross and Masako Wada of Nihon Hidankyo, a victim of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, also spoke.

His Eminence Cardinal Peter K A Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, closed the conference calling for ongoing dialogue and action, stating: ‘Everything is connected and everyone is connected. Together we can rid the world of nuclear weapons, invest in integral human development, and build peace.’

Other cooperating organisations were the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Germany, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan, the Interdisciplinary Centre ‘Sciences for Peace’ (CISP) at the University of Pisa, Georgetown University, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies of the Keough School of Global Affairs, Mazda Motor Europe GmbH, Notre Dame University, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Senzatomica and the Italian Union of Scientists for Disarmament.

The Senzatomica anti-nuclear weapons exhibition, originally created by the Istituto Italiano Soka Gakkai, was on display during the conference.

The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a community-based Buddhist association with 12 million members around the world. It has a 60-year record of peace education activities toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Footnote perhaps: A dicastery is a department of the Roman Curia, the administration of the Holy See through which the pope directs the Roman Catholic Church [GN1]