World youth meeting 2008

Thanks again to the hard work by the staff, the World youth meeting 2008, took place on Sunday August 24, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m Japan time.

Here are some scenes from the meeting.

Action Plan of Global Youth - Mission Statement

Adopted on 20 October, 2007

We, the Global Youth Members of Rissho Kosei-kai, would like to implement the following as our Action Plan.

1. We dedicate our minds, bodies and spirits to positive interactions with others and keeping an open mind.

2. We, as many in body but one in spirit, commit to strengthen interfaith relations to attain World Peace.

3. To maintain and deepen relations within the Global Youth Sangha, we will communicate via webcam meeting once a year and establish a Rissho Kosei-kai, Youth Members Internet Forum.

Secondly, we will wholeheartedly practice and study the Buddha’s teachings by:

1. Greeting others with a smile.
2. Reciting the sutra every day.
3. Helping others to the best of our abilities.
4. Donating one coin a day to become freed from our selfishness.
5. Attending church regularly.
6. Establishing a study group with its own goals within each branch.

Participated Branches
Los Angeles San Diego San Antonio San Francisco Seattle Hawaii Maui Kona
Brazil Korea Taiwan Bangkok ChittagongColombo Kathumandu India Kolkata LondonHong Kong Mongolia Tokyo Philippine

Interreligious Exchanges (part 1 - Israel)

Hello Everyone.
I have been engaged in interreligious dialog with two different organizations this past month. One was ICCI, an interfaith organization in Israel, made up of Jews, Muslims, and Christians working for peace. A group
of 15 representatives came to Japan, and me along with the other Gakurin Honka students received them and took part in a week-long exchange program with them, through differnt parts of the country.

Our focus was on peace reconciliation efforts in the middle east, more specifically the "holy land" of Israel and Palestine. This was a second meeting, a continuation of dialog that began last year when the Gakurin students visited Israel to witness firsthand the area of conflict.

By continuing discussions in Japan, Hiroshima was chosen as the most appropriate place for the exchange, so the majority of the program took part in Hiroshima. By witnessing the city of peace and how it became that following the horrific atomic bomb attack that ended WWII. Since then, Japan has been the icon of a peaceful nation, having abolished their military and implemented a constitutional amendment as vow to never again engage in war efforts. Clearly, the point was to express sentiment of peace and how it is possible to change even from the most desperate of conditions.

This was only a first step, in my opinion, where they could talk amongst one another, including the Japanese perspective. I found the experience to be truly priceless as we learned so much about the reality of their region of conflict raised our level of concern towards the global sector. In the end, we were able to compile a Peace Proclamation, however, I am certain that unless real actions for peace are put into action, these will amount to only words. In my view, we must think locally and try to create peace and harmony in our families and communities first before we can extend that wish...

It's the natural condition that if we are able to do just that, the
influence will undeniably extend far and wide....

Sincerely,
Nick Ozuna

World youth pre-meeting - Asia

Thanks to the hard work by the staff behind the scenes,
the Internet meeting for youth members in Asia, took place on Sunday May 25, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m Japan time.

IBC (International Buddhist Congregation) youth members joined this live event, together with fellow members in Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, and Thailand. Also some members from Mogolia who were visting IBC.

With a sense of friendship and unity, several members shared their testimonials and activity reports, and communicated with each other over the internet.

We hope that this online sangha will serve to connect the youth members around the world, and help strengthen our faith in the Buddha. Anyone who wants to make a blog post of their activities, photos, videos etc. on this blog too are welcome - just send an email here and let us know.

Be sure to stay tuned for more updates and new features.