22/12/2025
๐ฆ๐๐๐ก๐ญ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐น ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
On 20 December 2025, SGINZ joined other faith and community groups, the Ministry for Ethnic Communities and the Australian High Commission in an interfaith vigil in Wellington for the victims of the terror attack that took place in Bondi, Sydney.
Jimi Wallace, on behalf of Soka Gakkai International New Zealand (SGINZ), expressed his deepest condolences for the loss of lives and recited the โLife Spanโ chapter of the Lotus Sutra offering prayers to the victims, their families and those recovering.
Buddhist teachings emphasise the sacredness and preciousness of life.
Soka Gakkai International New Zealand absolutely condemns any form of violence or terrorism, not only that perpetrated in the name of religion.
Following the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States, in which SGI members and friends were among the victims, our mentor SGI President Daisaku Ikeda wrote:
โIt is the function of evil to divide; to alienate people from each other and divide one country from another. In the end, the evil over which we must triumph is the impulse toward hatred and destruction that resides in us all.
Unless we can achieve a fundamental transformation within our own lives, so that we are able to perceive our intimate connection with all our fellow human beings and feel their sufferings as our own, we will never be free of conflict and war.
Now, more than ever, we must reach out in a further effort to understand each other and engage in genuine dialogue.
We must expand our efforts to promote dialogue between and among civilizations.
To this end, we must strive to make a profound reverence for life the prevailing spirit of our times and our planet. I believe that this is the greatest and most enduring way to honour the memory of the victims of this enormous tragedy.โ (The Evil Over which We Must Triumph from From the Ashes, A Spiritual Response to the Attack on America)
We are committed to work together with other faith and community groups to overcome the challenges of division, hatred and intolerance and promote harmonious coexistence, respect for diversity and social cohesion.
