The Future is here.

Massive Change
Our world is undergoing change constanly .

English Group

We will be holding the first meeting of the english group on Jan.17th .This is a first for the SGI in Quebec City . We have about 10 mmembers who are anglophone in the area also various other people who are occasional participants who would benefit from meetings in english. These meetings are in addiition to the regular district meetings and will be held 3 or 4 times a year.

New Year’s Gosho

I HAVE received a hundred slabs of steamed rice cake and a basket of fruit. New Year’s Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year, and the start of spring.¹ A person who celebrates this day will accumulate virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually, moving from west to east,² and as the sun shines more brightly, traveling from east to west.

First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground, and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. Closer examination, however, reveals that both exist in our five-foot body. This must be true because hell is in the heart of a person who inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother. It is like the lotus seed, which contains both blossom and fruit. In the same way, the Buddha dwells within our hearts. For example, flint has the potential to produce fire, and gems have intrinsic value. We ordinary people can see neither our own eyelashes, which are so close, nor the heavens in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts. You may question how it is that the Buddha can reside within us when our bodies, originating from our parents’ sperm and blood, are the source of the three poisons and the seat of carnal desires. But repeated consideration

assures us of the truth of this matter. The pure lotus flower blooms out of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood grows from the soil, the graceful cherry blossoms come forth from trees, the beautiful Yang Kuei-fei was born of a woman of low station, and the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on them. Misfortune comes from one’s mouth and ruins one, but fortune comes from one’s heart and makes one worthy of respect.

The sincerity of making offerings to the Lotus Sutra at the beginning of the New Year is like cherry blossoms blooming from trees, a lotus unfolding in a pond, sandalwood leaves unfurling on the Snow Mountains, or the moon beginning to rise. Now Japan, in becoming an enemy of the Lotus Sutra, has invited misfortune from a thousand miles away. In light of this, it is clear that those who now believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten thousand miles away. The shadow is cast by the form, and just as the shadow follows the form, misfortune will befall the country whose people are hostile to the Lotus Sutra. The believers in the Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, are like the sandalwood with its fragrance. I will write you again.

Nichiren

The fifth day of the first month

Reply to the wife of Omosu

Buddhism Day by Day

Hand in hand with ( and inseparable from ) our personal awakening , the aim of Buddhist practice  is to establish a truly peaceful society based on the empowerment of all individuals , a true state of equality and justice grounded in respect for the Buddha nature inherent in everyone.

Siddharta Gautama

Shakyamuni (ou Siddharta Gautama) a vécu dans le nord de l’Inde il y a environ 2500 ans. C’était un prince du clan des Shakya, petite tribu dont le royaume se trouvait sur les contreforts de l’Himalaya. Très jeune, il est profondément troublé par ce qu’il découvre : les quatre souffrances inéluctables de la vie humaine, soit la naissance dans un monde troublé, la maladie, la vieillesse et la mort.

Renonçant à une vie de luxe, il s’engage dans une recherche spirituelle pour découvrir la cause fondamentale de la souffrance humaine et son remède. Durant de nombreuses années, Shakyamuni pratique des austérités d’une extrême rigueur et les enseignements des différentes écoles religieuses de son époque. Mais il les rejette finalement, les jugeant inaptes à apporter la réponse qu’il cherche.

Ayant pris conscience qu’il doit trouver par lui-même cette réponse, Shakyamuni entre dans une profonde méditation alors qu’il se trouve assis sous un arbre de la Bodhi, près de la ville de Gayâ, dans l’actuel état de Bihâr. Là, il s’éveille à la véritable nature de la vie. Par la suite, il enseigne aux autres la vérité à laquelle il s’est éveillé, en utilisant différents moyens.

Selon la tradition, il a voyagé partout en Inde pendant près de 40 ans, partageant son éveil, défendant la paix et apprenant à ceux qu'il rencontrait comment libérer le potentiel formidable qui est en eux. Il se fait bientôt appeler le Bouddha ou l’Éveillé. Ses enseignements ont été consignés sous la forme de sûtras et diffusés dans toute l’Asie, donnant naissance aux différentes écoles du bouddhisme, généralement caractérisées par l’importance accordée à la paix et à la compassion.

---

One Buddhist sutra states: "If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present."

Quote from Daisaku Ikeda

The essential teaching of Buddhism is that the life of the Buddha residesin every plant and tree , even in the smallest dust mote. It's  a philosophy founded on a profound reverence for life.