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by John Plummer
Special to the Tribune
WESTON, Fla., March 21—“I really cannot express how wonderful it is to see all of you.”
With these words, SGI-USA General Director Adin Strauss opened the first conference at the Florida Nature and Culture Center (FNCC) in over two years. One hundred men answered back with a joyful roar that shook the Friendship Auditorium.
The theme of the first conference since COVID-19 halted in-person activities in March 2020 was “Charging Ahead! Expanding Our Gathering of Courageous Individuals,” which brought together the 100 men (half the size of a pre-COVID FNCC conference to allow for safe distancing and single-occupancy bedrooms) from across the nation.
Mr. Strauss told them, “You are pioneers of the new era,” and urged them to win by always treasuring the youth who is right in from of them. He stressed the power of planting seeds of Buddhahood in tandem with the mission of raising a new generation of young men who will view themselves as disciples of Ikeda Sensei and lead kosen-rufu into the coming century.
While acknowledging the realities of war, a pandemic, inflation, climate change and other crises—what Sensei called in his 2021 peace proposal “unprecedented in the history of humankind”[ref]1. daisakuikeda.org/assets/files/peaceproposal2021.pdf <accessed on March 22, 2022>.[/ref]—Mr. Strauss shared the hopeful reminder that never before in human history have this many people been chanting the Mystic Law around the world.
The men at the conference experienced a rejuvenated environment at the FNCC: repainted buildings, thermostats in bedrooms, a fully renovated dining hall and much more. But what remained unchanged was the manifestation of the oneness of mentor and disciple in every lecture, every experience, every Q&A session and every heart-to-heart dialogue.
In his lecture on Saturday, Mr. Strauss urged the men to plant seeds based on their wish for others’ happiness. This is how to overcome karma. In his Sunday lecture, SGI-USA Men’s Leader Kevin Moncrief stressed the difference between karma, which is a function of past causes, and choices, which are a function of the present and the future. “Choices are more important than karma,” he stressed.
On the first night, Mr. Moncrief thanked the men for being at the conference, telling them “We will remember this when we’re quite old as an inflection point, when something fundamentally shifted.” In his closing remarks, he thanked the men “for being my brothers. I’m proud to be a men’s division member with you. Together we will shock the world with our value creation.”
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