Sunday, October 28 through Sunday, November 4th, 2007
WELCOME EVERYONE! We deeply appreciate your taking time out to attend and participate in our 1st General Meeting! We are so happy that the Soka Educators International Network (SEIN) is growing and you are with us today to help plan our future. SEIN was created to encourage all Soka Educators and now you are really encouraging us - as it should be with the Mystic Law!!
Like the tree that is our model, we have been growing steadily but surely. We first started in 2003 with a quarterly newsletter which we sent out to less than fifty people. Since then, five years later, we have grown to over 130 in our network. The newsletter is now being archived at Soka University in Japan, is on the SGI-USA Culture Department Website, and is being translated into Portuguese in Brazil.
In November 2005, we started our on-line SEIN Forums and we were asked to have the forums more often so we began having them twice a year. We have grown from ten people to over twenty-five participants and from the work of one person to a team of planners and action committees. We are becoming a truly international community and have instant translation capability.
Out of the forums grew the desire to create change together. We currently have four on-going project committees:
The SEIN Website Committee headed by Constance Haig with David Tansey is now under construction. This website will be a way for Soka Educators to share lesson plans, read our Dialogue Primer, see and download our Disarmament Exhibition, have our on-line Forums, General Meetings and Newsletter Chats. Eventually, we hope to create information which will be available to Soka Educators for teaching disarmament education in classrooms throughout the world. To watch the development of our future website go to:
http://www.getbackonyourfeet.org/constance/node
- The Disarmament Exhibition Committee is headed by Terry Ellis with Dave Koranda, Michel Nader, Kwabena Siaka, and Olivier Urbain. The goal of this committee is to provide ongoing "news" about nuclear disarmament activities, research, and information from around the world. The committee will also provide educational tools that can be adapted for use in classrooms, libraries, and communities and an exhibition for downloading and use in small spaces with PowerPoint capability.
The Dialogue Primer Committee is headed by Ann Iseda with Constance Haig, Dennis Merimsky, and Stephanie Tansey. As we write the Dialogue Primer we hope to create something that helps us better understand one another both in the SGI and in our communities. We are just beginning to formulate a plan for writing such a primer and ask that all of you consider how you, too, might contribute to this project.
Now we are ready for advice and questions from our SEIN Community. Click below at end of this post on COMMENTS to leave your feedback, ideas or suggestions!
If you need help logging in please contact: Constance Haig at haig.constance@orbital.com
You will be getting a summary of our meeting. It will act like Final Encouragement for all of us!
Don't forget! Our next Online Forum will be from Sunday, November 18 through Sunday, December 16, 2007. The theme will be: “The 2007 Peace Proposal and Soka Education, Restoring the Human Connection: The First Step to Global Peace.” We look forward to another deep and wonderful dialogue! See you online!
Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to be on the committees and to all of you for your support!
Stephanie Tansey (US living in Nigeria) and rest of the SEIN Planning Team: Terry Ellis (US), Constance Haig (US), Ann Iseda (US), Michel Nader (Brazil), Jill Rees (UK living in Nigeria), and Kwabena Siaka (US.)
38 comments:
Dear fellow SEIN members!
I am writing from Columbus, Ohio USA to add my comment although I haven’t seen anyone else’s messages. First of all, it was a joy and pleasure to meet again with Stephanie and be introduced to Constance and all the others who were at the Culture Department Meeting in July. So much has passed since and with it a surge of changes and with that many adaptations in my teaching life. I was not a “pretty” sight; I was very angry and professionally challenged. My class load is extremely taxing … I teach art… with 23 – one hour classes to teach a week. K-5 Art and 1 Pre-school, on my feet on concrete and (in one school) pushing a cart!
However, at a crucial point reading Amy Shur’s guidance from several years ago, allowed me to manifest stronger faith and push my faith forward. The essence, however, is like Stephanie says, “Study!” Making strong determinations will put powerful challenges in your face and provide the opportunity to forge your faith, study and practice as if you were a new member again. I am still wrestling with many issues; issues with 2 new principles (that always means re-proving your capability and educating them on the importance of the Arts in the curriculum) and struggling against the internal negativity, as well as external, that comes with a zealous test-taking society that is based largely on fear.
But I wish to share a method that may help any others out there to begin being an advocate for Soka Education and “humanizing” your environment. Print up several signs that speak of Soka Education from any publications or books by President Ikeda or Makiguchi expressing the humanism, importance of the teacher, and purpose of teaching the child with a humanistic education. Put the signs up in the restrooms, faculty rooms…anywhere you feel that they will be read. It is a great cause for change. I received a significant benefit that has caused my one principal to re-evaluate my purpose at the school and although the change is minimal in a fully developed humanistic Soka School, I am beginning to reflect on my own attitude as well as feel confident that my single minded determination will help to turn the school around from a “Pretty Prison” to a “Palace of Humanistic Learning.”
The Powerpoint on Nuclear Disarmament was very rich with visuals and information. I believe it is extremely significant. Also, since I am in the “trenches” of teaching every day, I recognize the stress and suffering many teachers are having with maintaining balance and health in their lives. This is my personal concern as well as a universal one.
With all my greatest appreciation to those of you working to unite us all a humanistic force of Soka Educators, I sincerely thank you for your efforts. Hugs and love,
Susan … “SuTan”
Welcome Everyone!
In 2000 SGI President Daisaku Ikeda (Sensei) said in his message to the SGI-USA Education Division Conference at FNCC: I, too am resolved to dedicate my life to education, for education is what determines our future: it is the very foundation upon which to build peace and create value.
Let's have a great discussion this week and rededicate our life, again today, like Sensei, to value creating education. Thanks so much for attending.
Hi, What a great idea to start the meeting with a song! I just want to say
that you've done really fantastic work and I think you're creating valuable
resources. The only thing that I would like to suggest is the organisation
of all these comments and resources. How will we find back what has been
contributed in blogs, newsletters and forums in a few years time? It will be
difficult to read through everything. Can you put a navigation system in
place? In in particularly interested because I'm doing a lot of research in
the field of education and it would be a valuable resource for me and many
other researchers as well as practitioners.
Love, Harriet Sjerps-Jones (UK)
Congratulations! The blog looks great! Namrata
Re: Organizing the comments and resources. We hope the website will provide some of this. Perhaps Constance can comment further on this. Constance what do you think?
Stephanie
Hi everyone - we do hope with the creation of the website to have more flexibility in our document storage, search and dating systems. We will eventually create a document library which is searchable by subject, and date.
We currently do not have that ability using the blog software. This is an excellent suggestion and we do hope to make it happen as we continue to make progress.
Hi everyone, hi Harriet my colleague on the Earth Charter Exhibition in 2006. You made me laugh Su with your report of Stephanie saying 'Study!' as we have ended up by complete mysticism and not design living close by here in Abuja Nigeria, and it seems indeed the most commonly used word from her is indeed 'Study!' And as we ourselves are stung by new ideas, hopefully so will our charges be. I am trying to start a school in Abuja and having some start up problems not ostensibly of my own making (must change that karma though!)As part of my role I've been teaching some humanities, including what I loosely term critical thinking, or Religious Education though it has to do with different ways of thinking in other communities rather than just religious differences.Here in Nigeria the children are taught their own religion in church or mosque, and are absolutely discouraged from mixing. Parents have asked me not to teache their child about Islam for example. They are genuinely afraid for their child's soul. However, by explaining and trying to help the parent understand how powerful their child will become intellectually with understanding how others may view the world differently, and how this will help the child interact with people from other countries, especially as all Nigerian parents want their child to go to the UK or USA to complete their studies, the parents become very enthusiastic. The response to my programme here where such things are wholly new leads me to think that education can almost be defined as understanding the minds of others. So education enables the beginnings of dialogue. We have perhaps established in SEIN that dialogue is THE way to peace - could this be one of our lasting developments? Is my definition of education accurate? Is it sufficient? Is it complete? Can we define education, and so define Soka Education? Jill Rees
Well let's look at the newsletter and forums. Any thoughts about how to improve them? What would be helpful?
i wonder if the newsletters might include an opportunity for a list of resources. for example, a book or pod cast that people found helpful and encouraging for them and colleagues. this might require some extra work as the suggestions would have to be collected and assembled on a deadline but is this something that would be useful to people or is it now obtainable by some other resource?
dave koranda
Olá Pessoal
I would like that in the web site had a research to know how many people that don't have eloquent of English, would like to take part in these forums and which the language they dominate.
Abraços
Michel Nader (Brazil)
We teachers are always asking for resources! In the Mappo world of education there are incresing resource sites. I wonder if we could begin to establish some ideas and - I hesitate to use the word techniques - as a practical way for educators to be applying the Soka way. I researched AND applied the systemic theory in education for my masters, however the Molner and Linquist model was trouble shooting rather than establishing a system which produces global citizens. Again I can hear that language but can't think of other words to use, maybe way instead of system but it's just a bit weaker. How can we begin to generate a useable practical school of thought which will serve as a kind of teacher training as well as a resouce base? Because we are trying to generate a fresh method of educating which goes beyond what has happened in the past, where nations drilled their citizens for their own purposes, to produce good skilled workers and so on. We are trying to develop the highest levels of humanity, which we can call happiness, in every young person.
Qui voudrait participer dans le forum sur l'education Soka en francais?
Re: Newsletters
Thanks Dave. We could think about having a kind of bulletin board and people could send in lesson plans, treasured books and other materials. Good idea.
Okay, let's now talk about the website and the struggle to enable as many people to participate in SEIN as possible -- either on the Forums or to be able to make use of the website and/or improve it with their wisdom.
One way we can become a more deeply international community is through live meetings in countries. For example, Brazilians could gather during the forum or create an email exchange to help each other clearly understand the deep discussions and to participate in them as well. So critical mass in a particular country could really help. What other ideas are there?
Grüße zum Deutsch sprechend soka Erzieher!
Hello everyone - as we build upon this Soka system of education we need translation which is accurate and deep. Perhaps like Sensei we need in the beginning to use our best translators. As time passes software will be invented which people can speak into with instant translation capability and posting to our website. What I worry about right now is how to be the most inclusive in every way as we develop the website. How can we make it open to people who have a native language which does not use a Roman based alphabet?
I would like to partner or buddy people who want to participate but have other languages. Ideally, the use of tranlators would be fantastic, people who can tranlate back into Portuguese or French or Japanese. Next best would be buddies of the same language together interpreting the site and especially in determining the exact sense of Buddhistic terminology and ideas. If people are physicaly close they can meet, however I believe some of us original members who try to set up this forum have developed strong communication bonds despite the distance. We have to remember that we determined to come back together in this lifetime to work together for kosen rufu, so it's remembering rather than establishing the bonds in many cases. Also important is the fact that if you have a native language other than English (or American er-hum which isn't always so easy to understand for Brits!)it is becasue you have made a vow long ago to establish kosen rufu among the people of your language group. It mustn't be a disadvantage and this forum must facilitate this important work. Finally in this era it seems to me that we global citizens are always translators and interpreters and this is key to our appearance at this time. Just the language is a monor aspect in a way - the interpretation of these great value-creation ideas and methods is our real work. What do you think? Constance can we set up a link for people to apply for tranlation buddy if they are non-native English speakers?
Jill
I agree with Stephanie "it is example, Brazilians could gather during forum or create an email..."
Do I agree with Constance "How can we make it open have people who exists for native language which does not uses Roman based alphabet?"
Another idea, perhaps in parallel, would like to form a group to evaluate the possibility of use the Esperanto. There is much free material, besides being very easy the learning. The learning difficulty would be the same to all. I already did the 12 lessons and really is very interesting. You can do the free download and to choose one of the 32 languages enable. That course also can easily be translated have other languages, by means of for program that author will send have interested parties.
I believe that with SGI is in 190 countries with the most several languages, once the Esperanto is easy, regulate, and fast to learn, would be worthwhile the effort because we would go to win much force in the communication. Please, who has opportunity does the download and try. Or then we are going to do in a group in parallel. I would like to do this experience with people interested. What do you find??? This language is also encouraged by UNESCO The Course this in the site www.kurso.com.br
The languages enables are:
Български (Bulgara)
Català – kataluna
(China)
česky (ĉeĥa)
Dansk (dana)
Deutsch (germana)
Ελληνικά (Greka)
English (Angla)
Español – Hispana
Suomi (Finna)
Français (Franca)
עברית – hebrea
Hrvatski (Kroata)
Magyar (Hungara)
Bahasa Indonesia – indonezia
Islenska (Islanda)
Italiano (Itala)
日本語(Japana)
한국어(Korea lingvo)
Latviešu – Latva
Lietuviškai (Litova)
Nederlands (nederlanda)
Norsk, bokmål (Norvega)
polski – pola
Português (Portugala)
Русский - la rusa
Русский - Rusa (2)
Slovenščina (slovena)
Slovenčina (slovaka)
srpski – serba
Svenska (Sveda)
Svenska (Sveda)
What do you think about???
Michel Nader (Brazil)
YES, We sure can setup a link : "...for people to apply for tranlation buddy if they are non-native English speakers." That is an excellent idea and I am going be bold as Sensei says and TAKE ACTION right now and put a link on the blogsite - later to be created also on the website!
Constance (Maryland, USA)
Just checked and currently there are 6,800 languages world-wide! I am going to create a survey which I will post on our blog- I will not be able to list all the languages. If I am leaving someone's language out please email me. Maybe we can get an idea from the survey of our current needs for our translation buddy system. Please take the survey when you can. Constance (Maryland, USA)
Wow -- we certainly went into depth about the building a more global reach.
The next subtopics are the Disarmament Exhibition and the Dialogue Primer.
What would be useful in your classrooms or community?
How can we improve the dialogue within our SGI community and build a stronger voice in the greater community?
Hi Everyone, (from Terry Ellis)
I'm just catching up on the comments this week. Thanks to Constance and Stephanie for this great new blog environment, complete with music!
Disarmament has become something of an obsession with me, enabled also by the focus that Sensei has put on Toda's declaration for the past few months. My ideas for the exhibit and website are mushrooming!
As with so many things, the more I delve into the issues of disarmament, the more I realize I don't know. Educating myself has become a first priority. I'm hoping that others will begin to send in to Constance articles, editorials, etc., so that these can be posted on our website in the disarmament/nuclear weapons area. It seems there's something in the news daily - for instance, the pilot of the Enola Gray died this week, and the article included background information.
Back to educating myself - that's not because I think we need to accumulate endless knowledge, but because (in addition to keeping current on news, so that what we do and say in timely), I want to get to the heart of what is important to share among ourselves, our communities and our students.
I started this summer by reading Sensei's dialogue with Joseph Rotblatt. "A Quest for Global Peace," an amazing book. The flow of the dialogue itself is wonderful, in addition to to the content. From there I took my cue from Sensei's question to Rotblatt to suggest books for youth. That lead me to Richard Rhodes, a person I should have know about but didn't! I realized my first son was less than a year old when Rhodes won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." So . . .I was not doing much extra reading.
Anyway, I haven't finished Rhodes' (extensive) book but I'm astonished by it so far. I also have his book on the making of the hydrogen bomb, a photo album of the Manhattan project, and a book on technology and science, which is actually a collection of essays by many well-known people that Rhodes assembled.
I went in search of disarmament and actually was inspired to imagine what the SGI could be like, as an international group of scientists of life. (That from a discussion of the ideals of the scientific community)
I'm still making my way through questions of how our world is shaped by science and technology, and how these two are woven into the impulses of politics and war. Rhodes demonstrates the amazing linkages between these things - the karmic bonds, from our perspective, between people and the times. It also reminds me of Sensei's example of the star bursts of capable people. I'm still turning over in my mind the questions during our last forum about what is essential to teach/learn as global citizens. Rhodes has a new book on disarmament and is traveling the lecture circuit to promote it. Meeting him and possibly interviewing him is on my "to do" list. Has anyone else read Rhodes?
Greetings All!
I have to say that I find this site and technology amazing! Unfortunately, I still have much to learn about "how to use it"!
So glad to see everyone again. As has been said by others, it was a thrill see many at the Culture Department conference in July. I think that is an activity I must absolutely never miss. It was like going home. I enjoyed it so very much and was so moved and encouraged by all in attendance!
It was by all accounts a transformational experience that is still in progress! How might I better understand those I encounter and thereby better respond to them, better enable them to understand me, too? These thoughts are at the heart of the dialogue primer we would like to write. Please consider joining this effort and as Eric Hauber said several times at the conference, "Let's do our very best within the context of our current reality."
I'm looking forward to hearing more about what you're all doing.
Ann Iseda
Greetings all SEIN-
I tried to install a survey on our blogsite during this General Meeting asking "what is your native language," but removed it because survey software was not working correctly. We can try to do something similar on the website at a later date to help us understand current language usage if everyone is interested.
Terry – I admire your disarmament research initiative. I have not read any of Rhodes' books but they look so fascinating. Thanks for mentioning his writings.
He has a challenging personal background somewhat similar to President Makiguchi. Mother committed suicide when Rhodes was an infant.
Did discover this blurb about his most recent book, Arsenals of Folly, The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race.
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375414138
Constance Haig (Maryland, USA)
Terry -- can you tell us what "star bursts of capable leaders" refers to? I hadn't heard of this and it sounds wonderful. The next forum deals a lot with these issues so we should be able to forge an even deeper foundation for the disarmament exhibition.
Ann -- everywhere I go people are thirsting for learning to be better at dialogue. I think it should include dialogue skills, which I'd be happy to help with, but also that dialogue should be transformative. Today Bob gave a talk at a sustainable development conference here in Abuja. He mentioned the need for hope, will and trust as critical elements towards sustainability. The head of the conference came up to him later and said he was deeply moved by this, but how do you get people to trust (especially here in Nigeria but elsewhere) and Bob said that of course there are mechanisms that can be used to create trust. Trust is created by dialogue between people who are trust one another. Getting to that realness is what the primer should be about.
I also think we should really study Sensei's dialogues and essays about dialogue and have them on our website, dialogue tips, and some in our primer as well.
Sensei mentions these starbursts in a speech - Terry was it in March for the youth division? I can't remember it exactly and maybe Terry has it somewhere to copy and paste here? I think it is that stars go supernova very suddenly and the whole sky lights up. In evolution also, steps of development don't happen gradually as Darwin thought, but very quickly in one or two generations, suddenly giraffes have long necks, they never had mid-length necks!
When someone deepens their faith to the point where they perceive their mission and start to 'be serious' as Sensei puts it, they progress in life and light up the world like a starburst. We are all stars chanting to find our true mission for kosen rufu. I have come to believe that this is one of the purposes of the Forum, at least for me.
This reminds me that a change in one man can change the destiny of a country. The reason it is so difficult to establish a methodology for Soka Education, or even a definition, is because yui butsu yo butsu the truth can only be known between buddhas, it is always one to one, as we start to shine, another person is lit up and starts to burn with faith and hope also.
Connected with the determination to have a centre for resources and lesson plans for us, is this idea that we can inspire young people through providing value creating experiences in their education which enables them also to burst forth in their own life like the stars.
Stephanie, the reference to star bursts came from a speech Sensei gave at a headquarters leaders meeting in 2006. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to track it down, since it's one of my favorites:
A Revolution in One Person Inspires Others, President Ikeda’s address at the 58th Headquarters Leaders, WT, March 31, 2006, Page 1
In the beautiful swirling galaxies found throughout space, there is an astronomical phenomenon known as a starburst, during which thousands of hundreds of thousands of massive stars are all born at once. The sudden, explosive burst in which the stars are formed makes the galaxy blaze brilliantly. This event is one of the great dramas of the univers. There are also periods in the momentous advance of kosen-rufu when great numbers of capable people suddenly burst on the scene. And this is what we are presently seeing."
Constance, yes Rhodes has had a challenging background, which I've only just begun to research. Thanks for mentioning the link, which I will check out.
Hello again - Stephanie, I was quite moved to read about Bob's speech on sustainability, especially the aspect of creating trust. Creating trust has never been something I have been very good at doing, but believe it is a critical aspect of deep dialogue. Today as I was leaving a meeting one of the group leaders came up to me and said: "I trust you so much now, I feel as though I can tell you anything, you have changed so much." I discovered an excellent guide which describes the process of creating trust with individuals and within organizations. Maybe some of the concepts could be used when writing the dialogue primer. What does everyone think? It was written by a woman named Eileen O. Brownell. After I read this guide - I understood - yes, this is the human revolution I have been struggling to achieve so I become the person who can establish a heart to heart dialogue with another. Sensei naturally follows the examples in the guide.
Ideas for Creating Trust: by Eileen O. Brownell
1. Keep your commitments and promises. If there is any doubt that you will be unable to complete a commitment or promise, then do not give your word. Once trust is broken it is next to impossible to re-establish.
2. Share yourself honestly with open communications. When you are unwilling to share your feelings and concern it is an indication to others that you have something to hide. Effective interpersonal relationships can only be created when people are willing to share and to accept the information presented in a nonjudgmental way.
3. Listen. People trust others whom they believe understand them. Use your best listening skills by confirming your understanding of the conversation and the information presented. If you have not restated the information correctly, then accept the corrections.
4. Keep Confidences. If you want to destroy trust in a heartbeat, repeat confidential information that someone else has shared with you. Gossip has destroyed more than one organization as well as individual reputations because someone was unable to keep a confidence.
5. Be accessible. When individuals are available relationships are personalized. Strong and stable organizations have leaders who are approachable and caring. That message is indicated through the individual’s actions as well as their word. One who feels respected, treated fairly and promptly will not only trust the individual, but the organization as well.
6. Tell the truth. Mark Twain once said, "Tell the truth and you don't have to remember anything." Honesty is always the best policy. If someone asks a question and you don't know the answer, tell them "That's a good question, let me find out and I'll get back to you." You create trust in a relationship through your honesty and willingness to follow through on your commitment or promise.
7. Show respect. Respectful individuals create a climate of trust by looking out for the best interests of others. When you willingly go the extra mile to create the best possible scenario for another, you establish a foundation of trust. Also by creating opportunities for your members to learn, grow or be promoted indicates, "I respect your ability and want you to succeed."
8. Be fair and consistent. People like to interact with individuals who are predictable and dependable. Individuals who vacillate, easily change their viewpoint depending, or refuse to make a decision because it may upset some people, are viewed as wishy-washy. Because their actions and decisions are unpredictable, they are viewed as untrustworthy.
Cooperate and look for ways to help. Rather than avoiding a challenging situation, confront it head on with a willingness to develop alternative solutions. Your cooperation during uncomfortable situations indicates your willingness to help even in the most difficult of times. It establishes that you will not run from difficulties and can be trusted to stay with a challenge until it is resolved.
10. Avoid excuses and blaming. If you made a mistake, be honest and own up to it. Even if you personally did not make the mistake, avoid blaming another person. Excuses and blame diminishes your personal credibility and that of your organization.
11. Be accountable. All interpersonal relationships are ultimately based on personal responsibility and accountability. A climate of chaos is created by lack of accountability. When people do not take responsibility for their actions, people are never sure if they will receive an open, honest answer.
12. Creating trust requires daily commitment. Everyone must repeatedly establish their credibility and reputation as trustworthy individuals daily. It is a matter of managing your own behavior while doing what is ethically right and equitable with everyone. Walk the Talk.
Or is our words “consistency from beginning to end!”
Constance Haig (Maryland USA)
Wow, Constance. This guide articulates the responsibility of a leader for kosen-rufu in a way that's really engaging!
Thank you for sharing it.
Jill, I'm happy that you, too, remember reading Sensei's words.
I found some other related thoughts when he was referring to his ongoing dialogue with the Brazilian astronomer Dr. Ronaldo Rogerio de Freitas Mourao. (Dec. 1, 2006 WT) "Dr. Mourao has expressed heartfelt agreement with Mr. Makiguchi's conviction that the purpose of education is the happiness of children. Dr. Mourao asserts that happiness is linked to overcoming obstacles and difficulties. He says we must teach children that the bigger the obstacle, the greater the happiness they will experience in surmounting it." In the same speech, Sensei later says:"Dr. Mourao's perspective on the universe is indeed profound. He explained his views in a highly accessible manner, suggesting that the stars that shine in the night sky are a cosmic melting pot in which the raw materials of life are being constantly forged. He points out that when a single star comes to the end of its life and explodes, it sends the elements for producing new stars, planets and life forms into the cosmos. The end of a star's life, he notes, produces new life, and life is the most precious treasure in the universe...He further states that the universe is constantly giving birth to life and is the eternal treasure house of life. He also asserts that in the rhythm of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo he can feel the fundamental energy that creates the universe."
I think this discussion is a starburst!
And here is where disarmament & dialogue go together:
"When viewed over the short-term, Gandhi's advocacy of nonviolent resistance to the Nazis might seem idealistic to the point of being unrealistic. From the longer perspective, looking back over the history of the postwar period, I think that we must acknowledge the truth of this "voice in the wilderness" - the truth that he continued to assert even during war - that nonviolence represents the only means by which true liberty and democracy are realized. The mistrust and pessimism that beset our age make even more urgent the need for Gandhi's brand of optimism, for his kind of proudly declared faith in humanity."
February 11, 19923 - Daisaku Ikeda
If we develop trust between ourselves and together with the rest of the SGI community we will have the tools to create great change.
This can then lead to creating itai doshin methodology of course. And the SGI wrote the book on this method. If we can deepen our ability to be in itai doshin with others and then describe how to do this wearticulate that, help and help students learn to do this for themselves, then THEY can create trust, hope and the will for even the most obstinate, cynical, and greedy to change their life state too. Nam myoho renge kyo. They create great fortune and the world can begin to heal.
Hi, It's great to be able to learn from all this shared wisdom. It definately feels like a starburst. After x-mas this year I'm planning to start my PhD in New Media and Sustainable Development at Exeter University (This all follows from the Seeds of Change Exhibition Jill!) and I'm in particular interested in how New Media can contribute in exploring values for Sustainable Development as proposed by Sensei in his proposal for a decade of education for sustainable development. Well, it seems that this forum is one exelent example of how people from all over the world can find each other and explore values together. I've found that Soka Education and the Earth Charter have a lot in common. No wonder Sensei is such a big suporter of the Earth Charter. I often have discussions with prominent thinkers on Education for Sustainable Development and they are all trying to define a new paradigm for teaching to support Sustainable Development. When I mention the Earth Charter and Soka Education they're often surprised and very interested. The new push for Sustainable Development gives us an excellent platform to promote Value Creating Education and the SGI in general! Meanwhile, I think we can better our understanding of Soka Education through studying the Earth Charter and understand the Earth Charter better trough studying Soka Education.
I agree that dialogue is a great start to create trust, rather than debate which often strenghtens tensions and rifts. And Eileen, thank you for your wonderfull recommendations to build trust. I also agree that studying Sensei's dialogues is helpful. It certainly helpt me in my work to promote sustainable development. In particular Sensei dialogues with Hazel Henderson (Global Citizenship)and Majid Tehranian (Islam-Buddhism) are great. Harriet (UK)
Hi everybody, I thank all of you who participate to this initiative which is very interesting for me. I began to incorporate me to this forum since last june.
As member of the educators group of SGI-France, I apreciate this way of exchange at international level. I think it's a manner to motivate ourselves and to exchange experiences. At the same time, it could also be an impulsion to create the possibility of a symposium of educators of SGI, why not for 2010 ?
As it exists at the european level, we had until 2006 an educators course each year at Trets (the Europe SGI center, as FNCC for America for example). And now, the educators activities are stopped in France because of our fight to be recognized as a value movement and not as a sect (in the negative sense). So thanks to these difficulties, I and the others members educators have the guidance to win with our victory in our school or university etc. At the same time, 50 years after Toda'speech against the nuclear weapons, we are at the beginning of this real deepen fight in France as this country is one of the most important for the nuclear activity and the industry of armaments. So the fight to win the recognition of Sensei and SGI in France is at the same dimension of this deepen problem of production of war.
I try to transmit these aspects to my students as I teach geography at the university and try to develop these reflexions in my researches.I'm very encouraged that we are trying to experiment it where we are living, each of us.
Thank you a lot to have created this blog.
"See you" next time.
Very friendly to all of you.
Anne Péné-Annette
ACSBN (SGI-France)
Greetings All - I wholeheartedly support Anne's idea of meeting face-to-face in 2010 for our SEIN General Meeting or for a SEIN Symposium!
When a group of the SEIN members happened to get together this past summer while at FNCC Culture Dept. Course we found we were able to exchange ideas and move forward very rapidly.
Maybe we could chant to meet in 2010 in Brazil where the Brazilian Soka Educators have created The Makiguchi In Action Project in their local school systems. Wouldn't that be wonderful!?
But as Stephanie says the SGI understands itai doshin and we will continue to unite all Soka Educators throughout the world on-line no matter what!
Constance Haig (Maryland USA)
Constance and Anne, what a wonderful idea for 2010!
Anne, thank you also for sharing your challenge in France. I have been concerned about this for some time, and after hearing your voice am determined to chant more seriously to support your work. The destinies of the United States and France are definitely linked in the area of nuclear arms!
Hi everyone, wonderful idea of accomplishing this symposium in Brazil in 2010. I am going to take this proposed for Educational Centre of BSGI. We are going to prepare us!!!!!!!! You are going to know the BSGI Country Cultural Center in Brazil!!! And our new Cultural Center in Sao Paulo!!! If possible until the Center of Ecological Researches of Amazônia !!!! And if possible could know the square Makiguti in the city of Curitiba, international city model of sustainable development !!! However here we also have Kansai do Brazil, Rio de Janeiro !!!In Rio de Janeiro you will be able to know my aunt Magdalena Nader Landi, 79 years old, that already has 616 chakubukus!!! It is incredible!!!! Nowadays we are rehearsing for Subcoordenator Centre of Sao Paulo Cultural Festival and everyone of us are determines to accomplish this festival as a present to the birthday 80 year of President Ikeda. Independent of problems that each one comes facing as disease, family disharmony or problems of internal relationship in the organization, everybody are determined to let this aside and to offer our itai-doshin union in retribution to our precious Ikeda Sensei!!!! Brazil is passing by a period where our rulers do not seem to be going in the right direction. Brazil is activating other Nuclear Plant and has been foreseing the new plants installation (France want that in Latin America). At the same time Brazil is doing high investment in the military sector. I am worried because this hurt directly it 16 principle item C of the Earth Charter. We are announcing the Earth Charter, in the next Saturday I am going to accomplish two lectures for schools teachers that own the project Makiguti in Action, inclusive with the presence of the teaching supervisor of the Region. The lecture is Education the 4o. Power propose constantly by President Ikeda, the education as one independent power. This lecture is divided into three parts, First part Education SOKA, second part Human Safety, where it boards the matter of the nuclear weapons and third part the United Nations of the Education, propose by the Ikeda Sensei and the Earth Charter showing that the education as a 4o.Power already it started. We are accomplishing a great Peace Symphony and Ikeda Sensei is our Eternal Maestro!!! SEIN IN BRAZIL 2010!!!!
Vitória completa de SEIN no Brasil - 2010!
Constance Haig (Maryland, USA)
Thanks everyone for a great General Meeting!
Nichiren Daishonin writes:
We must congratulate each other on the happy occasion of the arrival of spring. Your visit to me here last year was an event as rare as the blossoming of the udumbara flower. I am still wondering if perhaps it was something I merely dreamed or imagined.
And now at the beginning of this year your messenger has journeyed to this remote mountain, to my dwelling here in the snow, traveling through numerous provinces to do so, making his way over mountain paths, and I realize to my surprise that your visit last was indeed a reality, it was indeed a reality!
WND V.2, p. 1075 - A Visit as Rare as the Udumbara Flower
Written likely in 1282, to Naiki Sakon
This is my deep feeling about this General Meeting and so thank you very much to everyone for your support.
Stephanie and the SEIN Team
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