History Of The Soka Gakkai SGI Buddhist Center

By Barbara Anderson


When it comes to the history of Buddhism, the practice dates back thousands of years. While this is the case, the Soka Gakkai International sgi buddhist organization was founded at a conference on world peace in 1975. Individuals representing 51 countries were in attendance at the meeting. Sine that time, the organization has added local organizations while the national organization has grown to over 12 million individuals now holding a membership.

The U. S. Headquarters of SGI is located Chicago, Illinois. The organization started as an intentional peace movement which had hoped to take the world by storm. By choosing Guam as the place for the meeting, the area's ties to World War II and the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the group hoped to stress the need for world peace.

The original global expansion of the group began just after the end of World War II. In large part, the expansion was due to the high number of servicemen married to Soka Gakki members, whom once married left Japan. In some cases, the couples also had children whom were coming to a real home for the first time. For, the servicemen with families at that time often lived in large tents.

One country, Uruguay honored the twenty fifth anniversary of SGI with a commemorative stamp. The stamp was initially released in 2000 and has grown in popularity and value since that time. For, it is not just a stamp, it is a stamp celebrating President Ikeda's first international journey in 1960. As such, those in possession of these stamps may want to hold on to them. For, there is a good chance the stamps will only continue to grow in value over time.

In 2015, the Peace Research Institute Director reported that SGI was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination was later confirmed by a local Nobel Peace Laureate. While this is the case, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet received the award. Whereas, the SGI-USA was one of the groups organizing for the first annual Buddhist conference to be held at the White House.

The SGI-Italy was recognized by the Italian government for the first in 2015. The government also acknowledged the organization as an official religion which makes the SCI eligible to accept tax payer contributions. As such, donations by individuals qualify as deductions on personal tax records when it comes to filing tax returns. It is important that individuals discuss all tax-free donations with a CPA, or at the very least, have a clear understanding of how to report donations when it comes to tax-free operations.

SGI is comprised of an international network of affiliated organizations and groups. In 2011, studies showed that the group had over one hundred ninety active organizations with 12 million members. While headquarters for two of these organizations are located in Tokyo, each operates on an independent basis. Still, all local SGI locations are eligible to receive funding from SGI headquarters if and when the organization receives public or private grant money.

Each of these organizations operate autonomously with the local language of each location being used in all business related affairs. In addition, a number of organizations are coordinated and sponsored by local social groups such as women's and men's groups. As this is the case, each location tends to create, organize and produce fundraisers as a method of raising operating funds for that specific location.




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