March 2012

Rissho Kosei-kai Leaders Receive President's Guidance

Rissho Kosei-kai held a guidance meeting March 23-24 at the headquarters in Tokyo for all ministers of Dharma centers throughout Japan and officers of headquarters departments and affiliated organizations.

The participants received guidance from President Nichiko Niwano, reviewed the organization's activities in 2011, and rededicated themselves to the faith in 2012. In hoza sessions they strengthened their ties with fellow leaders from other Dharma centers and various departments of the headquarters and affiliated organizations.

The two-day session opened with a speech by Rev. Yasutaka Watanabe, chair of the Board of Trustees, who explained the meeting's aims. Representatives of various headquarters departments reported on their activities in 2011, in such areas as relief projects for the victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, dissemination, and guidance for young people. The reports were followed in the afternoon by question-and-answer and hoza sessions.

On March 24, Rev. Hiroko Naito, minister of the Sakura Dharma Center, Chiba Prefecture, and Rev. Hiroaki Aoyagi, minister of the Yonezawa Dharma Center, Yamagata Prefecture, on behalf of all Dharma centers, spoke on Rissho Kosei-kai's guidelines for members' faith and practice in 2012 and the significance of "the joy of faith" described in the organization's Eleventh Administration Plan (2012-17). They described their daily association with fellow members and efforts for dissemination, sharing spiritual insights and affirming the merits they had gained from practice of the faith.

In his Dharma talk, President Niwano referred to Rissho Kosei-kai's 2012 guidelines for faith and practice, which encourage each member to become a cheerful, kind, and warmhearted person. He emphasized the importance of these three virtues in uniting people, and declared that Rissho Kosei-kai's highest aim is to encourage people to be kind and compassionate.

These guidance meetings are an occasion for the organization's leaders to study the teachings and receive further training, so that they will be united for dissemination. It also aims to update all leaders on the organization's activities. The meetings are held twice a year, in March and September.

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