Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is an American Buddhist movement that promotes peace and individual happiness based on the philosophy and practice of the Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism.
SGI-USA is and affiliate of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) with formal ties to the United Nations since 1983. Founded in 1930, the international organization includes more than 12 million members in 183 countries and territories (July, 2002 present) and undertakes peace, educational and cultural activities based on long-standing principles of Buddhist humanism.Our religious teachings place the highest empasis on the sanctity of life. In fact, the Buddhist reformer Nichiren wrote more than 700 years ago that "life is the most precious of all treasures." Our members aim, through their faith, to improve their lives by taking up the challenge to care for their families, to live without fear, to creat value, to take responsibility for their circumstances, and to live with compassion fot others.

Our core philosophy is rooted in the concept of "human revolution", a process of inner transformation that centers on the idea that each act we take has an influence that extends beyond its immediate context to affect the vast and complex web of life. Through undergoing our human revolution, we awaken to the responsibility we each have for our own circumstances and for our environment. Our inner transformation will lead us to take the actions that bring about personal fulfillment and help us contribute to the development of society. These ideals are based on the Buddhist worldview of dependent origination, a concept of interrelatedness where nothing, whether in the realm of human society or of nature, exists in isolation. It is a fundamental component of the peace for which we strive.

In the SGI's effort to spread peace throughout the world, it is SGI President Daisaku Ikeda who has taken the greatest initiative. As a teenager, Daisaku Ikeda was deeply affeeted by the horror and destruction of the Second World War. As a result, he wanted to create a world of peace. In search of a philosophy through which he could realize this aspiration, Ikeda joined the Soka Gakkai, a relatively unknown lay-Buddhist society of roughly 5,000 members in 1947. It was Soka Gakkai's 2nd President Josei Toda who taught young Ikeda that Buddhism is a philosophy intended for all the world's peoples. In 1960, Ikeda become Soka Gakkai's 3rd President at the age of 32. Under his leadership, a genuine effort to bring about a correct understanding of Buddhism has resulted in the expansion of SGI's membership to nearly 12 million citizens in 164 countries and territories.

Our objectives are to contribute to peace in society and the welfare of humankind by promoting culture and education and opposing all forms of violence.

Through a nation wide network of grass-roots activities, SGI-USA emphasizes the value of each individual living meaningfully and contributing to society.

The SGI has its origin in the educational theory of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, whose quest to understand the deepset meaning of life eventually led to his encounter with the Buddhism of Nichiren.
Here he discovered a philosophy that recognized and sought to develop the wisdom inherent in all human beings. The term soka gakkai (value-creation society) was first used in 1930 when Makiguchi published his insightful "Value Creating Educational Theory".