SOKA EDUCATORS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Volume 2, Issue 3
Seeking to Build a Community of Life through the Network of Humanistic Education

AN AMERICAN EDUCATOR'S REPORT ON FNCC EDUCATORS CONFERENCE
By Stephanie Tansey

The SGI-USA Culture Department Academic, Educators, Healing Arts and Legal Divisions Conference was held July 23-26, 2004. This was my fourth Educators Conference and I enjoy them so much that this time I brought my husband Bob and son David and made it part of our home leave vacation. My husband is a US diplomat and works abroad as the Environment, Science, Technology and Health Officer for the US State Department. My son David is 19 and wants to be an education reformer.

I will never forget this conference. David became a practicing member of the SGI; my husband Bob got the spiritual support for the work he is doing in a very difficult assignment, and for myself I learned how to grow in my practice and reach a deeper level of faith.

The theme of the conference was "Filling the World with the Light of Culture: Prometheans for a New Dawn," drawing its inspiration from the message for March 16, 2004, by President Ikeda. He writes, “The Greek hero Prometheus was the champion of culture and human rights who shared the sun's flames with humankind, bestowing on them wisdom and wealth. Our movement for kosen-rufu will open up a century of humanity that will be characterized by unsurpassed wisdom and prosperity, unparalleled freedom and equality, bestowing upon humankind the flames of the sun of true Buddhism.” For me, President Ikeda's message set in place for educators a vision of what kosen-rufu looks and feels like, as well as a direction for us to take.

The general lecture by Masao Yokota, president of the Boston Research Center for the 21st Century, furthered this idea by focusing on the three meanings of Myoho. One is "to open" or wisdom. Another is "to become whole" which means "to connect to one another." Finally "to revive" or "to revitalize" ourselves. He pointed out that we all possess this open, interconnected, eternally revitalizing reality deep in our lives. However, the scientific/technological paradigm we live in has influenced us to reject our own wisdom for knowledge. So our sense of a self that is conscious of the power we possess and that can create change in ourselves and in our environment has become weak. “Ji ga ge … bushin” in gongyo means to celebrate our Self. If we chant this way we will begin to open to this reality, this Myoho, in our lives.

Mr. Yokota continued that obstacles appear to be real walls but are really just temporary delusions. The only reality is the ocean of life that is our Self and the environment around us. When we ask ourselves, "Who put that wall up?" the answer is, "I did." "Why am I so closed?" Answer: "I closed myself up." Mr. Yokota urged us not to be afraid of dilemmas instead use them as powerful activators of the Mystic Law. As we center our Self we will heal the wounds of separation between our Noble and Lesser Selves, and between us and the relationships in our environment. We will recover the wholeness, the mystic reality, of your battered relationships.

On a personal note, I am painfully aware of a real dilemma I am in with the school that I started in China. Everyone seems to have "walls" up. Everyone is wounded. Everyone has battered relationships. The only way for me to help my school is to change into a person of indomitable practice, like Bodhisattva Fukyo, tirelessly praising my colleagues to forge a deeper faith in the school and in each other and enable the seed of the lotus to blossom in their environment that seems to have become a swamp. Of course none of my colleagues practice but all deeply feel the mission of our school which is to help bring in the new global civilization. So we need to help each other open up again and remember our quest.

After the lecture Academics, Educators, Legal and Healing Arts separated into different groups to focus more on their professions. In the Educators Division discussion there was one wonderful example of great teaching. An art teacher has created a consciousness-raising project. Students create an origami booklet, onto which they write a story that ends in a wise saying. They used cultural symbols and their own creative writing skills. In this way the teacher embedded deep spirituality, cultural history and interconnectedness into her teaching. Wonderful!!

President Ikeda's message to the conference said in part, "You may encounter various trials and hardships in the long journey of life; however, no matter what happens, Buddhist practice enables us to change any obstacle into nourishment for our lives. It enables the grand tree of happiness - namely, the four virtues of ‘eternity, joy, true self and purity’-- to grow firmly in our lives." I realized then that there was a lack of faith in my practice. Before this conference I always chanted determinedly but without confidence about the outcome. I was always delighted with the outcomes but they came as awesome surprises instead as the natural outcomes of my causes. However I began to "see" the effects of my practice as I make the causes. Now, writing in October, it is clear that I have moved people together in my school in China (even though they are thousands of miles away) and that the future is bright. We just need to get there. And I even know how to get there: I just need to follow President Ikeda's example and put in "kalpas of effort." I am seeing my great dilemma/obstacle from the perspective of eternal life, which is always joyful; because I am connected to my "true" Self and so can see things purely, for what they truly are. It is like living in an existential moment, where mundane reality shifts to fuse with the eternity of life. It really is a celebration of being alive.

It was wonderful to see my son David so supported by all of the members. He was deeply moved. It was wonderful to see my husband Bob so happy. I feel deeply appreciative of the SGI for helping my family accomplish their mission to live contributive lives. The SGI really does create "Victorious Champions of Life." And we Soka educators, will "bestow upon humankind the flames of the sun of true Buddhism."

EARTH CHARTER NEWS
The next Earth Charter Conference is scheduled for December 2005 in Amsterdam. You need to be invited, so please get involved with the Earth Charter in your area. The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, which President Ikeda proposed through the Japanese delegation at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, is 2005-15. The Earth Charter website is www.earthcharterusa.org or www.earthcharter.org.

The SOKA EDUCATORS INTERNATIONAL NETWORK is a personal project of volunteers to inspire educators implementing Soka Education. The Newsletter offers a forum for dialogue and collaboration toward preparation for an international conference on humanistic education as suggested by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. SEIN is published quarterly. If you have an experience or ideas you want to share, or if you want to be added to the mailing list or to receive back issues, please contact Stephanie Tansey at tansey@usa.net.