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			<language>en</language>
			<copyright>Soka Gakkai International (SGI) 2006</copyright>
			<ttl>120</ttl><item>
		<title>SGI-Germany Participates in Vesak Festival</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 06 May 2012 17:18:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/interfaith/faith2012/sgi-germany-participates-in-vesak-festival.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On May 6, SGI-Germany, together with 17 other Buddhist organizations, was invited to participate in a Vesak festival celebrating Shakyamuni Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. The event was hosted by the city of Frankfurt and was attended by some 2,000 people. 
Each Buddhist group had the opportunity to introduce themselves in the form of cultural performances, talks and presentations. 
&nbsp;
Dr. Becke
Professor Dr. Wolf Singer, a renowned neurophysiologist gave a lecture on the positive effects of meditation on the human brain. An SGI-Germany representative explained the history of Nichiren Buddhism and its development from the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. They ]]></description>		
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		<title>Malaysia Hosts Children's Peace Exhibition</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:49:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/education/edu2012/malaysia-hosts-childrens-peace-exhibition.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) held the "Building a Culture of Peace for the Children of the World" exhibition at its Wisma Kebudayaan center in Kuala Lumpur from April 14 to 29. The event was part of SGM's Month of Sustainable Development which included community cleanup efforts. 
At the opening, Dr. Victor P. Karunan, deputy representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Malaysia, spoke about how investment in children is a key strategy to achieve national development goals. He stated, "Wars and conflicts are created and nurtured by adults not children. We need to work with children and young ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-Canada Members Participate in Community Cleanup</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:32:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/s-development/sd2012/sgi-canada-community-cleanup.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On April 22, a group of over 20 SGI-Canada members from the city of Surrey, British Columbia, participated in the sixth annual &ldquo;Surrey Clean Sweep Week,&rdquo; at Crescent Beach. Cleanups took place throughout the city in the week leading up to Earth Day, which falls on April 22. 
[Adapted from an article in the May 2012 issue of the SGI-Canada Online News; photo courtesy of SGI-Canada] ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-Netherlands Celebrates Earth Day with Earth Charter Game</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:52:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/s-development/sd2012/sgi-netherlands-celebrates-earth-day-with-earth-charter-game.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On April 22, SGI-Netherlands (SGIN) held an Earth Day event at its new Culture Center in Amsterdam. Activities included playing an interactive educational board game on the Earth Charter promoting its principles and values. The NCDO (National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development), the main Dutch affiliate for the Earth Charter Initiative, asked SGIN to help test the game&mdash;originally developed in Brazil&mdash;to see if it would appeal to people in the Netherlands. 
The game encourages players to reflect on and share views related to the principles of the Earth Charter, while learning key ecological concepts and practices. It also ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-USA Members Plant Cherry Trees in Three States</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:59:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/s-development/sd2012/sgi-usa-members-plant-cherry-trees-in-three-states.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On March 4, SGI-USA members, together with representatives of the City of Torrance, California, planted trees in the city's Columbia Park. Over the past 10 years, local SGI members have planted a total of 100 trees in Torrance. 
Other SGI-USA cherry tree plantings were held at the Daisaku and Kaneko Ikeda Peace Grove in East Side Park, Paterson, New Jersey, on April 8 and at Town Center Park at Green Valley Ranch, Denver, Colorado, on April 15. At the latter event, some 250 SGI members gathered to plant 50 trees.
SGI-USA youth members in Denver planting cherry trees
The tree planting in ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-New Zealand Co-organizes Concert Celebrating 30 Years of Wellington's Nuclear-Weapon-Free Declaration</title>
                <pubDate>Sat, 14 Apr 2012 23:39:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/peace/peace2012/new-zealand-co-organizes-concert-celebrating-30-years-of-wellingtons-nuclear-weapon-free-declaration.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On April 14, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the city's Nuclear-Weapon-Free Declaration, Wellington City Council and SGI-New Zealand Aotearoa (SGI-NZ) organized a public concert which was held in the city's Civic Square. Award-winning musicians Don McGlashan and Warren Maxwell, among others, performed.
SGI-NZ members celebrate the anniversary
Over 400 people attended the concert, including Wellington Mayor Celia Wade Brown and Councilor Helen Ritchie, who moved Wellington's Nuclear-Weapon-Free Declaration on April 14, 1982.
In conjunction with the concert, SGI's anti-nuclear weapons exhibition "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace" was on display in the Civic Square. 
Sir Geoffrey Palmer&nbsp;speaks ]]></description>		
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		<title>Dr. N. Radhakrishnan Lectures on Nonviolence and Inner Transformation</title>
                <pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:05:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/peace/peace2012/radhakrishnan-lectures-nonviolence-inner-transformation.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On April 10, the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP) hosted a special lecture by Dr. N. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Council of Gandhian Studies in New Delhi, at the Nippon-Seinenkan in Tokyo. The title of the lecture was "Satyagraha--nonviolent resistance--for world peace and inner transformation."
Dr. Radhakrishnan explained that&nbsp;it was Mahatma Gandhi who helped revive and spread the tenet of Ahimsa or the&nbsp;philosophy of&nbsp;nonviolence in society. Dr. Radhakrishnan also highlighted SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's various contributions to help spread a vision of world peace following the end of World War II, and his efforts to encourage youth and women in ]]></description>		
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		<title>Youth Festival and General Meeting Held in Fukushima Prefecture</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 08 Apr 2012 14:07:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/h-relief/relief2012/youth-festival-general-meeting-in-fukushima.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ Soka Gakkai youth members in Fukushima Prefecture held a Soka Youth Festival titled "The Light of Happiness" in Tamura City on April 1. The festival, attended by some 3,000 people, aimed to give hope and impart a "never-give-up" spirit in the people of Fukushima. 
Many of the performers were people who had personally been affected by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011. Several youth members shared their experience of losing loved ones on that fateful day and how they have been able to expand their hearts to empathize and care more ]]></description>		
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		<title>Launch of Centre for Applied Buddhism at SGI-UK's Taplow Court</title>
                <pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:02:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/interfaith/faith2012/launch-centre-for-applied-buddhism-sgi-uks-taplow-court.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On March 31, the launch of the Centre for Applied Buddhism (CfAB) was held at SGI-UK's Taplow Court culture center. The CfAB will expand on and continue the work of the UK branch of the Institute for Oriental Philosophy, which closed in 2011. At the launch of the center, CfAB Director Jamie Cresswell explained that the center will focus on Buddhism and its application to people's lives in order to understand and develop humanity's place in the modern world. It will look into the relation to Buddhism of topics such as psychotherapy, war and peace, economics, science, the digital world, ]]></description>		
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		<title>Seeds of Hope Exhibition Shown in Cameroon</title>
                <pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:34:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/s-development/sd2012/seeds-of-hope-exhibition-cameroon.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ From March 17-24, the joint SGI and the Earth Charter environmental exhibition "Seeds of Hope: Visions of Sustainability, Steps Towards Change" (SOH) was shown for the first time in Cameroon at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex in Yaound&eacute;. Its commemorative opening was held on March 23, together with some 60 guests from partner organizations and from the government. A representative from Mfoundi, a department of Central Province, Cameroon, attended as guest of honor and gave a talk in which he shared his appreciation for SGI President Daisaku Ikeda and SGI-Cameroon's efforts to raise &nbsp;environmental awareness. He also expressed his determination to ]]></description>		
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		<title>Exhibition of Treasures from Palace Museum in Beijing Opens at Tokyo Fuji Art Museum</title>
                <pubDate>Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:22:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/c-activities/ce2012/treasures-from-palace-museum-beijing-tokyo-fuji-art-museum.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On March 29, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (TFAM) in Hachioji, Tokyo, opened an exhibition titled "The Palace of Heaven on Earth: Works from the Palace Museum in Beijing," in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. The exhibition co-organizers are the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and The Asahi Shimbun. 
The opening ceremony was held on March 28 and some 600 guests attended, including representatives from 15 embassies. Following words from TFAM Honorary Director Minoru Harada and Asahi Shimbun Board Director Tadakazu Kimura, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua and the Palace ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-Spain Participates in Tree Planting Campaign</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/s-development/sd2012/sgi-spain-participates-in-tree-planting-campaign.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ SGI-Spain youth members took part in a tree planting campaign on March 25 in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Madrid, which began in the beginning of February 2012. The Rivas-Vaciamadrid City Hall has been making efforts to reforest the city for the past 20 years. This year, some 6,000 people from 38 organizations participated in the tree planting which took place along a creek in Los Migueles, Rivas-Vaciamadrid. A parcel of land has now been named "Soka Gakkai Spain Forest."
[Report and photo courtesy SGI-Spain] ]]></description>		
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		<title>Interfaith Concert in Luxembourg</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:28:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/interfaith/faith2012/interfaith-concert-in-luxembourg.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ SGI-Luxembourg participated in the 3rd Interfaith Concert at the Protestant Church of Luxembourg on March 25. The event also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the interfaith organization Action Groupe Inter-Religions (AGIR) within which SGI-Luxembourg has been a representative member of the Buddhist Community for over three years. 
SGI-Luxembourg's chorus performed at the event and sang a song written by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda titled "Human Revolution." 
AGIR believes that dialogue and cooperation among different faiths is indispensable to confronting global issues. It aims to address topics such as human rights, the reconciliation of unity and diversity, and promoting peace ]]></description>		
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		<title>Contemporary Chinese Ink-and-Wash Paintings Exhibited in Malaysia</title>
                <pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:37:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/c-activities/ce2012/contemporary-chinese-ink-wash-paintings-malaysia.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ An exhibition showcasing the works of 15 contemporary Chinese ink painting artists was on display at Soka Gakkai Malaysia's (SGM) Wisma Kebudayaan center in Kuala Lumpur from March 10-25. The exhibition, titled "Re-Interpretation: International Touring Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Ink-and-Wash Paintings,&rdquo; was jointly organized by SGM and the Contemporary Asian Art Center&ndash;Vienna and supported by the Malaysian Contemporary Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Association, Malaysian Contemporary Water Color Society and Malaysian Klang Artists Society. Sponsors included Eastern Shanghai New Culture Industrial Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Gaoya Cultural Promotion Co. Ltd. 
Participants viewing contemporary Chinese ink paintings
The exhibition was opened by Gao ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-Spain Hosts Interfaith Discussion on Ecology and Religions</title>
                <pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:59:59 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/interfaith/faith2012/spain-interfaith-discussion-on-ecology-religions.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ SGI-Spain hosted the 9th Interfaith Discussion organized by the Madrid Community Interfaith Dialogue Association (ADIM) at the SGI-Spain Soka Culture Center in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Madrid, on March 24. Discussions centered around the topic of ecology and religions and the role of religions in promoting sustainability. 
SGI-Spain General Director Enrique Caputo and ADIM President Margarita Pintos Cea-Naharro gave opening remarks. A talk titled "Rivas-Vaciamadrid: Sustainable City" was given by Fausto Fern&aacute;ndez D&iacute;az, deputy mayor of Rivas-Vaciamadrid. Alicia Puleo Garc&iacute;a, professor of Moral Philosophy at Valladolid University, next&nbsp;spoke on "Eco-feminism for an Alternative World."&nbsp;
In a session focused on the contributions of religion to ]]></description>		
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		<title>Tree Plantings Held in India in Memory of March 11 Victims</title>
                <pubDate>Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/h-relief/relief2012/tree-plantings-held-in-india-in-memory-of-march-11-victims.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ Tree plantings at the Soka Bodhi Tree Garden
On March 24, Bharat (India) Soka Gakkai (BSG) members held tree plantings at the Soka Bodhi Tree Garden, located in a suburb of New Delhi, in memory of those who lost their lives in the Great East Japan Earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.
Following the earthquake, in an effort to encourage all those affected by the disaster, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda proposed tree plantings in the Tohoku region. One year later, in March 2012, further commemorative tree plantings were held at the main Soka Gakkai centers in Tohoku. BSG planted the ]]></description>		
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		<title>SGI-Germany Hosts Anti-Nuclear Weapons Exhibition and Panel Discussion</title>
                <pubDate>Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:41:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/peace/peace2012/sgi-germany-anti-nuclear-weapons-exhibition-panel-discussion.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ SGI's anti-nuclear weapons exhibition "From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace" was put on display at Christ Church in Mainz, Germany from March 2-23. 
The opening ceremony included speeches by Professor Dr. Ulrich Gottstein and Dr. Alex Rosen, both from IPPNW, and Dr. Barbara Krausnick from SGI-Germany. Kurt Beck, minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate, sent a message in which he stressed the necessity for alternatives to nuclear energy, the need to abolish nuclear weapons and to shift to a culture of peace in which there is social responsibility. He also underscored that the parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate rejects nuclear power ]]></description>		
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		<title>Soka Gakkai Members in Tohoku Reach Out to Others</title>
                <pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 16:50:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/h-relief/relief2012/soka-gakkai-members-in-tohoku-reach-out-to-others.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ Takashi Fujikura
Takashi Fujikura is a Soka Gakkai member in Iwate Prefecture. He works at a shipyard in Kamaishi and, for over 30 years, he has been a voluntary member of the fire brigade in the town of Matsubara that overlooks Kamaishi Bay.
When the earthquake struck, Mr. Fujikura was working at the shipyard. As he watched the crane at the yard swaying, he knew that a tsunami would follow, so he drove to the sluice gates and closed them. Once he had finished closing the gates, he turned around and saw that cars and houses were already being swept away by ]]></description>		
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		<title>Dr. Jeffrey Sachs Speaks on Economics of Happiness at SGI-USA New York Culture Center</title>
                <pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:59:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/peace/peace2012/jeffrey-sachs-speaks-on-economics-of-happiness.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ On March 15, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, renowned development economist and director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, addressed a crowd of more than 350 at the SGI-USA New York Culture Center in his second lecture as part of the Culture of Peace Distinguished Speakers Series. 
In his talk titled "A Mindful Economy," Dr. Sachs, who also serves as special advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, examined America's economic and political turning points between the late 1920s and the present, and the shift in the nation's civic values. Dr. Sachs introduced his latest book The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and ]]></description>		
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		<title>6th Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue Held in Indonesia</title>
                <pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:34:00 +0900</pubDate>
		<link>http://www.sgi.org/news/interfaith/faith2012/6th-asia-pacific-regional-interfaith-dialogue-indonesia.html</link>
	        <description><![CDATA[ From March 11-15, the 6th Asia Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue (RID-6) was held in Semarang, Indonesia. The theme was "Strengthening Collaborative Communities to Promote Regional Peace and Security: Interfaith in Action" and the dialogue included discussion about vision, aspirations and practical cooperation towards this end. 
The opening ceremony was held at the Central Java Governor's Hall and included a welcome from Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa. 
The 116 participants in RID-6 included religious leaders, scholars, civil society and media practitioners from 15 countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, ]]></description>		
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