Monument Dedicated to Three Presidents

In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Soka Gakkai, SGI Canada has erected a stone monument honouring the three founding presidents, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda. The monument is located on the site of the oak trees dedicated to the three presidents at the SGI Canada Caledon Centre for Culture and Education.

The monument was dedicated on November 27 with the SGI Canada Central Executive Committee, which includes representative leaders from across the country.

The monument reads:

THE THREE SUCCESSIVE PRESIDENTS OF THE SOKA GAKKAI
This monument and three oak trees are dedicated to Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda and Daisaku Ikeda, the three successive presidents and eternal mentors of the Soka Gakkai
November 18, 2010, the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Soka Gakkai

Les titres ou statut ne sont pas importants, seules nos actions indiquent clairement la profondeur
de notre foi. Ceux qui œuvrent réellement pour kosen-rufu sont les plus nobles. Les responsables
doivent toujours se souvenir d’exprimer leur plus grand respect et leur reconnaissance envers de
telles personnes. — Daisaku IKEDA

The 9 Consciousnesses

We are chanting to rise above the first 7 and change the 8 th . so that we can reach the 9 th.

1	Touch
2	Taste
3	Sight
4	Hearing
5	Smell
6	Conscious Mind
7	Sub Conscious / Limited Egoistic Self
8	Karma

The eighth and ninth consciousnesses are operating at the level of the fundamental interconnectedness of all of life. If our eyes could see our karma and the 9th consciousness we would see all of life as deeply interconnected. The perception created in the 7th consciousness of a fixed and isolated self is thus false. This is one of the deep seated delusions regarding the nature of the self. The narrow ego of the 7th consciousness resists life expansion. A human life which is `touching` the eighth consciousness is cracking the shell of the limited ego and becoming open to its greater self. The seventh consciousness is also the seat of the fear of death. Locked in the 7th consciousness the narrow ego assumes it will perish and cease to exist at death. Such a life is unable to see that the eighth consciousness is an enduring flow of life energy that will migrate between life times.

The delusion that the 7th consciousness is ones true self is fundamental ignorance, a turning away from the interconnectedness of all being. It is this sense of oneself as separate that gives rise to discrimination, destructive arrogance, and the acquisition of material possessions and wealth that far surpass what any one human being could possibly need.

The eighth consciousness is a vast storehouse of all the causes and effects which affect the way that the world comes to us. It is where we accumulate our karma, both positive and negative. It accounts for our looks, our circumstances, our reactions, our good or bad fortune, our work, our relationships, our health, in fact, every aspect of living. As causes are made in thought or word or deed, so internal effects are stored in this level of consciousness.

Birth, aging, sickness and death are the inescapable realities of life, and the eternal questions humankind has attempted to resolve. How can we create the greatest value amidst a reality that is impermanent and in constant flux? It was the search for answers to these questions that led to the birth of Buddhism.

What Is Our Buddhist Practice?

The workings of the universe are an expression of a single principle or Law, expressed as Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables all people to perceive this Law in their own lives and to come into rhythm with it. By putting their lives in harmony with this Law, people can unlock their hidden potential and achieve harmony with the environment.
This is the ultimate expression of individual empowerment — that each person can transform the inevitable sufferings of life into sources of growth and fulfillment and become a positive influence in their family and community.
There are three basics in applying Buddhism to our daily lives: faith, practice and study. They are the primary ingredients in the recipe for revealing our innate enlightened condition, or Buddhahood. Through chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, studying Buddhist philosophy and taking action daily for the well-being of others, we can establish a state of profound happiness and wisdom, as well as contribute to society.