Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Leaders' Seminar in SNI Hawaii Missionary Area

  On Saturday, September 19, 2009, blessed with fine weather, the 17th Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Leaders' Seminar was held at Jisso Center with 29 attendees, including David and Frances Hamada of Kauai and Gordon and Shari Ann Ogi of Kona. Rev. Yoshiko Teshigawara, Bishop of the United States Missionary Headquarters, Rev. Hiei Ando, Seicho-No-Ie National Ordained Minister, and Rev. Tetsuya Abe, Acting Chief of Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Missionary Area conducted the seminar, and Ms. Pat Wada interpreted Rev. Teshigawara's lectures.

  Rev. Teshigawara gave two lectures titled, "The Role of Leaders Who Carry out the Deeds of Holy Missioners" and "Seicho-No-Ie's Mission to Bring About World Peace."

  In the beginning of her first lecture, she shared her impressions of her visits to neighbor island centers in Hawaii as follows: When I paid visits to Kona, Kauai, Hilo, and Maui centers, I was overwhelmed to see that the trees planted by the Founder of Seicho-No-Ie, Masaharu Taniguchi, have grown up so big. I gained an appreciation of the tremendous efforts and deeds of love done by senior leaders and members that made SNI Hawaii what it is today.

  Then she praised all of the seminar's attendees for their daily efforts and encouraged them by saying, "You are the master of our movement." Then, she taught that the Special Conference for World Peace is an event that follows the will of the Founder of Seicho-No-Ie, Masaharu Taniguchi, who had started the Special Conference for Japanese leaders in 1962, and that the concept of this Special Conference, "Nature and Man Living Together and Coexisting," is a realization of the principle of the "Divine Message of Grand Harmony."

  She talked about what SNI leaders who carry out our movement should keep in mind: that they should never lose radiance in their minds and should express their minds' radiance in their daily life generously. She also introduced an inspiring article titled "You Are the Master of Your Destiny" written by Rev. Seicho Taniguchi.

  In addition, she showed that Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, has constantly been seeking what we SNI followers and leaders should do as individuals and as an organization based upon the "Divine Message of Grand Harmony" and Truth of Life volumes. She continued that the "sundial way of life" and the "life of not taking from others" are what SNI leaders and members should seek in life, and that we need to practice a "life of giving" by making best use of our expressions, words, and minds. Rev. Teshigawara stated that all of these prescriptions are the guidance of President Taniguchi.

  She concluded her first lecture by encouraging leaders to pass on the "flame of life," since one and all others are one in God. We who learn the truth and know the joy of practicing the truth are the people who have the motivation to convey the joy of faith to others.

  In her second lecture, she talked about the significance of Seicho-No-Ie's movement to preserve the global environment because of the following reasons: In this day and age when the planet is warming, a movement to revere nature as the Creation of God is imperative; Global environmental problems are the manifestation of Kanzeon Bosatsu (Bodhisattva or Goddess of Mercy) who dwells behind nature. Development of human beings alone is not enough; to promote this movement is a motive power to realize true world peace.

  Rev. Ando gave two lectures titled, "What We Can Learn from a Natural World View of the Native Americans and Major Traditional World Religions" and "The Significance of Propagation through Publications in Seicho-No-Ie." In his first lecture, he summarized in only 35 minutes what worldwide leaders learned at the Special Conference for World Peace in Brazil in August, and did so in a very understandable manner. He also gave us wonderful guidance about propagating the teachings through publications, including his own testimony.

  I was in charge of two lecturers, "What is the Carbon Zero Movement?" and "How We Can Use the Internet in Our Movement." I explained how we can realize "Carbon Zero Movement" as an organization, and talked about the characteristics of the age of the Internet and the importance of the role of Holy Missioners in releasing bright and cheerful information to the world.

  In addition to lectures, the seminar included testimony by Irene Revilla, who shared with emotion her experiences at the 2009 Brazil Special Conference, a question and answer session, and resolutions by Gary Tashiro, President of SNI Hawaii and Shari Ann Ogi, representative of neighbor island centers.
 
Tetsuya Abe


 

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