CONTENTS

1 | WHAT IS SGI?

3 | PHILOSOPHY

5 | PRACTICE

7 | HUMANISM IN ACTION

PeaceSustainable DevelopmentHumanitarian ReliefEducationHuman Rights

9 | INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

11 | HISTORY

13 | AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS

EducationPeaceCulture

17 | SGI CHARTER

Front cover: (Left) Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, founder of the Soka Gakkai and educator, with his pupils.(Right) SGI members from around the world visiting Japan.

Inside front cover: The Himalayas at sunset. Photo by Daisaku Ikeda.

SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL

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WHAT IS SGI?

Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a Buddhistassociation with more than 12 million membersin 190 countries and territories worldwide.

For SGI members, Buddhism is a practical philosophy of individual empowerment andinner transformation that enables people todevelop themselves and take responsibility fortheir lives.

As lay believers and “engaged Buddhists,” SGImembers strive in their everyday lives todevelop the ability to live with confidence, tocreate value in any circumstances and tocontribute to the well-being of friends, familyand community.

The promotion of peace, culture and educationis central to SGI’s activities.

“PEACE, ACCORDING TO SOKA GAKKAI BUDDHISTS, BEGINS WITH INDIVIDUAL PEACE AND HAPPINESS, AND SPREADS

AS ENLIGHTENED INDIVIDUALS BECOME ACTIVE IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE AT THE LOCAL, NATIONAL AND

INTERNATIONAL LEVELS.”—Soka Gakkai in America by Phillip E. Hammond and David W. Machacek, Oxford University Press

“One who, without swaying or moving,clearly grasps the present, deepens his stateof life. Simply set your heart on doing whatmust be done today.”—Shakyamuni, Bhaddekaratta-Sutta

Page 2: A 1,000 year-old tree at Seicho-ji, where Nichiren studied Buddhism and first declaredNam-myoho-renge-kyo. Photo from Clique.

Page 3: How Buddhism spread from India.

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PHILOSOPHY

The SGI movement has its roots in the life-affirming philosophy of Nichiren, a Buddhistmonk who lived in 13th-century Japan.Nichiren’s teachings assert that each individual,regardless of race, gender, capacity or socialstanding, has the power to overcome life’sinevitable challenges, to develop a life of greatvalue and creativity, and to positively influencetheir community, society and the world.

Nichiren’s philosophy originates in theteachings of Shakyamuni, the historicalfounder of Buddhism who lived in India some2,500 years ago. Nichiren discovered that the Lotus Sutra contains the heart ofBuddhist teachings and the truth to whichShakyamuni was awakened. This sutra revealsthat a universal principle, the Buddha nature,is inherent in all life. It affirms that allpeople are capable of attainingenlightenment.

Nichiren felt passionately that Buddhismshould enable people living in the real worldand facing real problems to becomeempowered and change their lives for the better. Nichiren Buddhism stresses theprofound connection between one’s ownhappiness and the happiness of others. The greatest personal satisfaction andfulfillment in life is realized by working forthe happiness of others.

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Gandhara

Patna

Lhasa

Dunhuang

Xian

Nanjing

Mongolia

INDIA

CHINA

JAPAN

KOREA

“. . .LIFE ITSELF IS THE MOST PRECIOUS OF ALL TREASURES. EVEN THE TREASURES OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE CANNOT

EQUAL THE VALUE OF A SINGLE HUMAN LIFE.” —Nichiren

“One highlight… was attending a meeting of young SGI members and of prospective members in a working-class neighborhood insuburban London… here was a cross section of London youth united in a common enterprise of studying and discussing Buddhistthought, testifying to its relevance and chanting with enthusiasm. The honesty, openness and the happiness at being together in commondedication to the values of the bodhisattva ideal… remain with me as an especially meaningful memory.”

—Howard Hunter, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Comparative Religions, Tufts University, U.S.A.

PRACTICE: (1) An SGI discussion meeting in London. Photo by Philip Pinchin. (2) SGI members in India. (3) Meeting for Buddhist practice,SGI-USA. Photo by Jonathan Wilson.

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PRACTICE

Nichiren taught that the Lotus Sutra’s titlephrase Myoho Renge Kyo encapsulates theuniversal truth to which Shakyamuni wasenlightened and that by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo1 and exerting themselves in both faith and practice, people couldperceive and manifest the Buddha nature in their own lives.

Today this chanting constitutes the basicpractice of SGI members around the world,along with recitation of parts of the LotusSutra and the study of Buddhist teachings.

At regular local discussion meetings, friendsand guests exchange ideas, hopes, problems and experiences of their Buddhist faith andpractice. They also study Buddhist principlesand how to apply them to everyday life.

Key concepts in Nichiren Buddhism include:

• The inherent dignity and interconnectednessof all life

• The eternity of life

• The unity of life and its environment

• The development of each person’s limitlesspotential through a process of self-motivated reform or “human revolution”

Human Revolution

The core philosophy of the SGI can be summedup by the concept of “human revolution.” Thisis the idea that the self-motivated inner change

of even a single individual positively affectsthe larger web of life. It is this dynamic processof self-reformation — from fear to confidence,from destruction to creativity, from hatred tocompassion — and the resultant rejuvenationof human society that forms the essence ofSGI’s vision of a peaceful world.

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“A GREAT REVOLUTION OF CHARACTER IN JUST A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL WILL HELP ACHIEVE A CHANGE IN THE DESTINY

OF A NATION AND, FURTHER, WILL CAUSE A CHANGE IN THE DESTINY OF HUMANKIND.”—Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: (1) The exhibition “Seeds ofChange: The Earth Charter and Human Potential,” WorldSummit for Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, SouthAfrica. (2) Recycling efforts at a Soka Gakkai Malaysia center.(3) Reforestation projects at the SGI’s Amazon EcologicalResearch Center, Manaus, Brazil.

PEACE: (4) Soka Gakkai student members in Hiroshima listening to an atomic bomb survivor. (5) “Victory Over Violence” exhibition held in Puerto Rico.

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HUMANISM IN ACTION

The ultimate aim of Buddhism and of the SGIis the establishment of a peaceful world. Towardthis end, SGI is active as an NGO promotingpeace, culture and education. Such activitiesvary according to local needs and priorities, and each independent SGI organization aroundthe world undertakes events and projectsappropriate to its own culture and context.

SGI often works in partnership with other groupsincluding NGOs and United Nations agencies.

In addition to hands-on relief initiatives, as abroad-based grassroots movement, its activitiestypically focus on public education andawareness-raising on the following themes:

• Peace

• Sustainable Development

• Education

• Human Rights

PeaceThe SGI seeks to cultivate a culture of peacethrough a variety of educational activities suchas exhibition showings and the holding ofseminars and workshops.

The Soka Gakkai in Japan has conductedsignature campaigns for nuclear abolition andcollected wartime experiences. 80 volumes ofsuch accounts and 20 volumes of women’stestimonies have been published to help ensurethat future generations do not forget themisery of war. In 2005, women’s peace forums,to which schoolchildren were invited, wereheld in various locations to commemorate the60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Initiatives around the world include the“Victory Over Violence” campaign in the U.S.A.whereby youth go into schools andcommunities to conduct workshops on

nonviolence, youth peace forums in Argentina,and the setting up of a group of youthpeacebuilders in Venezuela. Women’s peaceforums have been held in Australia, Malaysiaand in Singapore, often bringing womentogether from throughout Asia. A newexhibition entitled “Building a Culture of Peacefor the Children of the World” was first shownat the UN Headquarters in New York in 2004.

Sustainable DevelopmentSGI’s activities to promote sustainabledevelopment and protect the naturalenvironment range from clean-up campaigns inKorea, France and Germany to tree plantingprojects in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic,Canada and the Philippines. The SGI’s AmazonEcological Research Center in Brazil has beenactively engaged in reforestation, environmentaleducation, protection of endangered animal

species and creating a seed bank to preserve theseeds of Amazonian trees.

Since 1997, SGI organizations have promotedthe Earth Charter as a people’s charter whichexpresses the common values needed forsustainable development. In 2002, the exhibition“Seeds of Change: The Earth Charter and HumanPotential” was created by SGI together with theEarth Charter Initiative for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg,South Africa. It has since been translated intoseven languages and shown in nearly 20countries. Its message, that even one individual’saction for change can make a difference,parallels that of the film “A Quiet Revolution,”sponsored by SGI and produced by the EarthCouncil, which has been shown on national TV innumerous countries and has won awards at fourfilm festivals.

SGI also supports the UN Decade of Educationfor Sustainable Development (2004-2015) and is committed to further efforts in publicawareness-raising on issues related tosustainable living.

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“IN GENERAL, BUDDHISM IS VIEWED AS A STATIC RELIGION, EPITOMIZED BY THE IMAGE OF A MEDITATING OR SITTING

BUDDHA, BUT THE TRUE IMAGE IS ONE OF A DYNAMIC, WALKING BUDDHIST, AN ACTIVE BUDDHIST. THE TRUE

BUDDHIST IS A STRANGER TO REST, CONTINUOUSLY TAKING ACTION TO LEAD PEOPLE TO HAPPINESS AND MAKE

THEM FREE.” —Daisaku Ikeda

HUMAN RIGHTS: (1) The “City of Human Rights” exhibition organized by SGI-Italy inFlorence. EDUCATION: (2) At the “Read Me a Story” children’s picture book exhibition in Toronto, Canada. INTERFAITH DIALOGUE: (3) The “NAEIS and NAIN Connect 2004”interfaith conference held at the SGI-USA New York Culture Center in July, 2004.

HUMANITARIAN RELIEF: (4) Taiwan SGI members delivering relief goods after the 1999 earthquake. (5) Delivering relief goods donated bythe Singapore Soka Association to those affected by the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. (6) A Singapore Soka Association doctor advises a SriLankan woman injured by the tsunami.

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Humanitarian ReliefSGI organizations respond promptly to emergencysituations. Local fund-raising takes place andrelief supplies are either delivered direct or givento agencies responsible for emergency assistance.

Local SGI community centers are often opened toprovide shelter and emergency aid for survivorsof natural disasters, for instance after a largeearthquake struck the Niigata region of Japan in2004. Members mounted relief operations andthose with medical expertise helped care foraffected individuals.

After the Asian tsunami disaster of 2004, SGIorganizations throughout the region mobilizedfinancial and human resources and workedclosely with other organizations and officialagencies to gather and deliver relief supplieseffectively.

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, membersof SGI-USA assisted relief operations andcollected over 40,000 toys and books forchildren in temporary shelters.

Singapore Soka Association (SSA) youth, togetherwith those from other organizations, regularlyspend their holidays assisting with education andrefurbishment at orphanages in South East Asiancountries as part of SSA’s “Youth Expedition”overseas community service project.

Over a 15-year period, SGI youth in Japan held21 refugee relief fund-raising drives, raising over$12 million for UNHCR and NGOs assistingrefugees.

EducationThe founders of the SGI movement wereeducators who saw humanistic education as keyto the health of society. SGI organizationsaround the world continue to support this ideal.

Educators in countries including Bolivia, SouthKorea, Japan and Côte d’Ivoire hold seminars to discuss experiences and improve educationalapproaches. Between 2003 and 2005 membersof the Bharat (India) Soka Gakkai (BSG) heldworkshops in municipal schools in Delhi totrain teachers in reading education andinnovative methods of interacting withchildren. In Brazil, over 4,000 individuals haveachieved literacy through SGI-Brazil’spioneering adult literacy program.

Human RightsSGI holds exhibitions on human rights and,often in collaboration with other organizationsand institutions, hosts a wide range of debates,discussions and seminars related to humanrights and responsibilities.

As a key civil society contributor to thelaunching of the United Nations “WorldProgramme for Human Rights Education” thatbegan in 2005, SGI arranged consultationsaround the adoption of the resolution andparticipated in the finalization of theProgramme’s draft plan of action.

In support of the UN Decade of Human RightsEducation that ended in 2004, SGI took theexhibition “Toward A Century of Humanity: AnOverview of Human Rights in Today’s World” to40 cities in eight countries.

Since its opening in Tokyo in May 1994 incooperation with the Simon Wiesenthal Center,the exhibition “The Courage to Remember:Anne Frank and the Holocaust” has been seenby over 2 million people around the country. It is the first such exhibit to be shown in Japan.

Children’s rights exhibitions created by SGIorganizations have also been shown extensivelythroughout the U.S.A. and Japan.

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INTERFAITH DIALOGUE

SGI is increasingly active in interfaith dialogue, based on the spirit of fostering tolerance andrespect and creating common bonds of human solidarity toward the resolution of fundamentalissues facing humanity.

SGI representatives have participated in a number of interfaith initiatives around the world.During 2004 and 2005, these included the “NAEIS and NAIN Connect 2004” interfaith conferenceand interfaith film festival, hosted by SGI-USA; the Parliament of the World’s Religions inBarcelona; and the 24th World Religions Conference in Canada. SGI and the European Academyof Sciences and Arts cosponsor a regular series of interfaith dialogues, covering such topics asenvironmental problems and human rights.

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HISTORY: (1) Tsunesaburo Makiguchi with his pupils at the Shirokane Jinjo elementaryschool. (2) Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, first president of the Soka Gakkai. (3) A recreation of a cell at the Tokyo Detention Center where Makiguchi and Toda were imprisoned. (4) Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda delivers his speech calling for the banning ofnuclear weapons, September 1957.

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(5) Josei Toda with Soka Gakkai leaders. (6) Daisaku Ikeda leaves on his first overseas trip to the U.S.A. from Tokyo’s Haneda airport, October1960. (7) SGI President Daisaku Ikeda greeting children in Russia. (8) An SGI meeting in Brazil.

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HISTORY

Educational ReformSoka Gakkai (literally, “Society for the Creationof Value”) began in 1930, as a study group ofreformist educators. Its founder TsunesaburoMakiguchi (1871-1944) was an author andeducator, inspired by Nichiren Buddhism andpassionately dedicated to the reform of theJapanese educational system. His theory ofvalue-creating education, which he publishedin book form in 1930, is centered on a belief inthe unlimited potential of every individual andregards education as the lifelong pursuit ofself-awareness, wisdom and development.

Makiguchi’s emphasis on independent thinkingover rote learning, and self-motivation overblind obedience, directly challenged theJapanese authorities of the time, who saw therole of education as molding docile subjects ofthe state.

Opposition to

Militarist GovernmentThe 1930s saw the rise of militaristicnationalism in Japan, culminating in its entryinto World War II. The militarist governmentimposed the State Shinto ideology on thepopulation as a means of glorifying its war ofaggression, and cracked down on all forms ofdissidence. The refusal of Makiguchi and hisclosest associate Josei Toda (1900-1958) tocompromise their beliefs and lend support tothe regime led to their arrest andimprisonment in 1943 as “thought criminals.”

Despite attempts to persuade him from hisprinciples, Makiguchi held fast to hisconvictions and died in prison in 1944.

Postwar ReconstructionJosei Toda survived the ordeal and was releasedfrom prison a few weeks before the war ended.Amidst the confusion of postwar Japan, he setout to rebuild the Soka Gakkai, expanding itsmission from the field of education to thebetterment of society as a whole. He promotedan active, socially engaged form of Buddhismas a means of self-empowerment — a way toovercome obstacles in life and tap inner hope,confidence, courage and wisdom. This messageresonated especially among thedisenfranchised of Japanese society, and beforeToda’s death in 1958, there were approximatelyone million members. In 1957, in a forcefulstatement, Toda had called on youth to workfor the abolition of nuclear weapons. Thisbecame the cornerstone of the Soka Gakkai’speace activities.

Broadening the VisionToda’s successor, Daisaku Ikeda, was 32 whenhe became president of the Soka Gakkai in1960. Under Ikeda’s leadership, theorganization continued to grow and broadenits focus.

In 1975, in response to the needs of anincreasingly international membership, theSoka Gakkai International (SGI) was founded.Today it is a worldwide network with 82constituent organizations and members in 190countries and territories, sharing a commonvision of a better world. SGI’s Buddhistphilosophy underpins a movement promotingpeace, culture and education.

As a Buddhist activist and philosopher, SGIPresident Daisaku Ikeda has held discussions on topics ranging from peace, human rights,the role of religion in society and astronomy to the power of culture with leading figures frommany countries. These dialogues and otherworks have been published in more than 30languages.

Each year on January 26, to commemorate thefounding of the SGI, Ikeda issues a proposalhighlighting ideas and initiatives for peace.

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EDUCATION: (1) Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California. (2) Members ofthe first class at SUA Aliso Viejo celebrate their graduation. (3) Children at the BrazilSoka Kindergarten grow vegetables as part of their extracurricular activities. (4) SokaHigh School students in Japan participate in the EARTHKAM project whereby they canstudy satellite images of the Earth.

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AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS

Daisaku Ikeda’s efforts to fulfill the SGI’s visionof a peaceful world have led him to establish anumber of institutions dedicated to peace,education and intercultural exchange.

EducationFollowing the spirit of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi,Ikeda has founded a number of educationalinstitutions with the aim of encouragingstudents to develop wisdom and humanity andcontribute to the realization of a peacefulworld. In Japan the Soka education system runsfrom kindergarten through to graduate study.

Soka kindergartens have also been opened inSingapore, Brazil, Hong Kong and Malaysia, andSoka University of America (SUA) in Aliso Viejo,California, offers a liberal arts program forundergraduate students. Its core curriculum,based on the ideal of promoting globalcitizenship, includes a second-languageprogram with a study-abroad period, and thestudy of global issues and the humancondition.

The Soka education system, which is open toall and offers no religious instruction, is basedon Makiguchi’s educational philosophy of valuecreation. It emphasizes close interactionbetween faculty and students and encouragesstudents to develop into people with a broadoutlook on life. The schools aim to nurture theunique creative potential of each child. SokaUniversity in Japan has exchange programswith over 90 universities worldwide.

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“EDUCATION IS NOT THE PIECEMEAL MERCHANDISING OF INFORMATION; IT IS THE PROVISION OF KEYS THAT WILL

ALLOW PEOPLE TO UNLOCK THE VAULT OF KNOWLEDGE ON THEIR OWN. . . IT WOULD RATHER PLACE PEOPLE ON

THEIR OWN PATH OF DISCOVERY AND INVENTION.” —Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, founder of the Soka Gakkai

The Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP),founded in 1962, is a research center that aimsto make Asia’s rich philosophical heritageaccessible to people throughout the world. Withcenters in Japan, the United Kingdom, France,Russia, Hong Kong and India, the IOP presentsseminars, conferences and symposiumsexamining social and scientific issues from theperspectives of Buddhism and other religions. Italso participates in exchanges with scholars fromdifferent cultural traditions.

Under the sponsorship of the Soka Gakkai, theIOP’s Buddhist manuscript series is helping topreserve ancient texts and make them more widely available to scholars and students. The IOPhas also organized public exhibitions of rare Buddhist manuscripts, collaborating with the St.Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Facsimile editions of ancient Nepalese transcriptions ofthe Lotus Sutra published by the IOP.

(5) The conference “Creating a Global Civilization of Dialogue and Peace” held in Madrid in May 2005, cosponsored by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, the Iberian-American Foundation and the Spain Chapter of The Club of Rome.

PEACE: (1) At the Boston Research Center’s “‘Talking Back’ to Whitman:Poetry Matters” forum in 2005. (2) Thoreau expert Bradley Deanaddresses the first intercultural forum at the BRC, October 2004. (3) Discussing the Transcendentalists at the BRC, 2004. (4) Publications from the Boston Research Center.

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PeaceThe Boston Research Center for the 21st

Century (BRC), located in Cambridge,Massachusetts, U.S.A., is an international peaceinstitute founded in 1993 by Daisaku Ikeda.Inspired by the SGI’s philosophy of valuecreation, the BRC works to build cultures ofpeace through dialogue and education. Itsprograms and publications focus on educationfor global citizenship, women’s leadership forpeace, and the philosophy and practice ofcommunity-building, locally and globally. The overarching goal of these programs is to contribute to a shift in U.S. culture from isolation, violence and war tointerconnectedness, nonviolence and peace.

To build a stronger sense of global community,BRC inaugurated a forum for interculturaldialogue in the fall of 2004. The first forumaimed at finding common ground between the American Transcendentalists and Easternwisdom, and the second, in 2005, exploredinternational responses to the poetry and spiritof Walt Whitman. The BRC’s publications now include Educating Citizens for GlobalAwareness as well as earlier titles promotingnonviolence and examining the Earth Charter.So far, multi-author books produced by thecenter have been used as supplemental texts in more than 300 college and universitycourses in the United States.

The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy

Research, founded by Daisaku Ikeda, wasestablished in 1996 in honor of the idealsadvocated by the second Soka Gakkai presidentJosei Toda, a staunch pacifist who called for the

abolition of all nuclear weapons. The institutebrings peace researchers, policy-makers andcommunity activists together on projects related to peace-building and dialogue among civilizations.

The institute’s research program has engagedover 500 peace scholars in all five continents,focusing on the issues of human security,regionalization and democratization. It has heldinternational conferences in London, Berlin,Durban, Cyprus, Istanbul, Okinawa, Tokyo,Madrid, Vancouver and Budapest which have ledto the publication of over 16 volumes, includingcontributions from prominent peace scholars.

The institute also publishes Peace and Policy, a journal devoted to such themes as “Violence in a Nonviolent World,” and “America and the World: The Double Bind.”

In its second decade, 2006-2015, the TodaInstitute will focus on the themes of humandevelopment, regional conflicts and globalgovernance.

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“I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A GREATER POWER IN THE WORLD THAN THE EVIL POWER OF MILITARY FORCE, OF NUCLEAR

BOMBS—THERE IS THE POWER OF GOOD, OF MORALITY, OF HUMANITARIANISM. I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF

THE HUMAN SPIRIT.” —Linus Pauling, No More War

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CULTURE: (1) Daughter of Fisherman by William Adolphe Bouguereau from the collection of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. (2) The CambodianRoyal Ballet performs in Japan at the invitation of Min-On, 2002. (3) The Great Wave by Hokusai from the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. (4) Dancer with the Senegal National Ballet on the “Heartbeat of Dakar” tour hosted by Min-On in Japan, 2005.

CultureThe Min-On Concert Association seeks todeepen mutual understanding and friendshipamong countries by promoting global musicand cultural exchange, in the belief that artisticexpression has the ability to foster peace bytranscending differences of nationality, raceand language. Since its inception in 1963, Min-On, based in Tokyo, has participated inmusic, dance and performing arts exchangeswith groups from 92 countries and regions.

Min-On has also established a museum and amusic library, initiated music competitions toencourage young talent and provided freeschool concerts.

The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (founded in 1983)not only brings to the Japanese public thetreasures of the world’s cultural heritage, butalso makes its own collection of art availableto museums around the world. The museumhouses over 25,000 items of artwork —paintings, pottery, lacquerware, calligraphy,woodblock prints, sculpture and photographs— from East and West, ancient and modern.

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© Min-On

© Tokyo Fuji Art Museum © Tokyo Fuji Art Museum © Min-On

SGI CHARTER

PreambleWe, the constituent organizations andmembers of the Soka Gakkai International(hereinafter called SGI), embrace thefundamental aim and mission of contributingto peace, culture and education based on thephilosophy and ideals of the Buddhism ofNichiren Daishonin.

We recognize that at no other time in historyhas humankind experienced such an intensejuxtaposition of war and peace, discriminationand equality, poverty and abundance as in the20th century; that the development ofincreasingly sophisticated military technology,exemplified by nuclear weapons, has created asituation where the very survival of the humanspecies hangs in the balance; that the reality ofviolent ethnic and religious discriminationpresents an unending cycle of conflict; thathumanity’s egoism and intemperance haveengendered global problems, includingdegradation of the natural environment andwidening economic chasms between developedand developing nations, with seriousrepercussions for humankind’s collective future.

We believe that Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism,a humanistic philosophy of infinite respect forthe sanctity of life and all-encompassingcompassion, enables individuals to cultivateand bring forth their inherent wisdom and,nurturing the creativity of the human spirit, tosurmount the difficulties and crises facinghumankind and realize a society of peacefuland prosperous coexistence.

We, the constituent organizations and membersof SGI, therefore, being determined to raisehigh the banner of world citizenship, the spiritof tolerance, and respect for human rightsbased on the humanistic spirit of Buddhism,and to challenge the global issues that facehumankind through dialogue and practicalefforts based on a steadfast commitment tononviolence, hereby adopt this charter,affirming the following purposes andprinciples:

Purposes and Principles1. SGI shall contribute to peace, culture and

education for the happiness and welfare ofall humanity based on Buddhist respect forthe sanctity of life.

2. SGI, based on the ideal of world citizenship,shall safeguard fundamental human rightsand not discriminate against any individualon any grounds.

3. SGI shall respect and protect the freedom of religion and religious expression.

4. SGI shall promote an understanding ofNichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism throughgrassroots exchange, thereby contributingto individual happiness.

5. SGI shall, through its constituentorganizations, encourage its members tocontribute toward the prosperity of theirrespective societies as good citizens.

6. SGI shall respect the independence andautonomy of its constituent organizations in accordance with the conditionsprevailing in each country.

7. SGI shall, based on the Buddhist spirit oftolerance, respect other religions, engage in dialogue and work together with themtoward the resolution of fundamental issuesconcerning humanity.

8. SGI shall respect cultural diversity and promote cultural exchange, therebycreating an international society of mutualunderstanding and harmony.

9. SGI shall promote, based on the Buddhistideal of symbiosis, the protection of natureand the environment.

10. SGI shall contribute to the promotion ofeducation, in pursuit of truth as well as thedevelopment of scholarship, to enable allpeople to cultivate their individual characterand enjoy fulfilling and happy lives.

Printed in Japan on recycled paper.

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