Peace Pagoda

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo. "I devote myself to the Wonderful Law of the Lotus-Flower Sutra." This simple message was uttered by Nichidatsu Fuji for the better part of a century. Born in Japan in 1885, he became a modern-day Votary of the Lotus Sutra, the likes of whom had not been seen for centuries.

In the last decades of his life, he focused his energies on promoting world peace by conducting or sponsoring extended peace marches chanting the Odaimoku of Nichiren, "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo," and by constructing great white Peace Pagodas throughout the world. Some 50 of these pagodas were built. There are two in the United States, one near Albany, NY and one outside of the small town of Leverette, Massachusetts, north of Amherst.

I had the opportunity to visit the Peace Pagoda in Leverett on October 12, 1996, a date very important to Nichiren Buddhists. It is situated atop a very high hill near the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. The last half mile is accessible only by a foot path. The monks and nuns of Nipponzan Myohoji, the sect that Nichidatsu Fujii (also known affectionately as Fujii Guruji) founded, maintain the Peace Pagoda.

The structure is breathtaking. As one comes to a clearing atop the hill, the 75-foot white structure suddenly rises up and greets one's eyes. One can walk up to the structure and walk around a sidewalk which circumambulated the structure above ground level. All around the structure there are many wonderful things to see: great bronze statues of the Buddha, sacred inscriptions in Japanese calligraphy, a relief sculture of the Buddha's paranirvana, and atop the structure a brilliant bronze flower-like structure that glistens in the sun and radiates the Buddha's message to the world.

Adjacent to the Peace Pagoda is a Japanese Garden complete with a reflecting pool and a pavilion, currently under construction. The photo shown above views the Pagoda from across the reflecting pool. There are benches in front of the Pagoda where services are held out of doors. The photo was taken in late afternoon when the sky is a deep and lustrous blue.

 The second photo above is a picture of the beautiful relief sculpture of the Buddha's paranirvana (passing). The stone used is of different shades and has a warm and gentle appearance.

He was a saint in our midst. He passed away from this existence in 1985, nearly 100 years after he was born.

The following is a small extract from BUDDHISM FOR WORLD PEACE: Words of Nichidatsu Fujii, Translated by Yumiko Miyazaki, Japan-Bharat Sarvodaya Mitrata Sangha, 1980.

As it has been recited in a verse: "Innumerable deaths are found behind the success of a single commander." When glory is attributed to one politician who planned a war, or one general who commanded in that war, at the same time tens and hundreds of thousands of innocent men and women, both young and old alike, are hurt, maimed and killed, and their skeletons abandoned in fields and mountains, - their riches plundered, houses destroyed, and those who survive are enslaved. In order to appease the grudge and grief of the people who are made victims of war, those politicians and generals give the act of war, which is murder and destruction, a religious guise such as "sacred" and "patriotic", and moral honor such as "just" and "courageous." Since the sacred and patriotic, just and courageous act of war has been approved as a fundamental condition for human survival, the history of humanity has become a history of war.

War is not an act of ancient barbarians, it is carried out by the so-called most modem civilized men. Nations which boast of possessing the most up-to-date civilizations in the world lavishly waste a certain percentage of their total production in their schemes of war, in the name of national defense expenditure. The United States is ranked first, and the Soviet Union the second. In the case of Japan, the leaders of the United States are compelling her to increase her defense expenditure.

Will there ever come an age in which wars will come to an end? There will eventually come an age when wars will no longer be. How many years later will that be? Nuclear physicists reckon that the age in which wars will be stamped out will come by the end of this century, that is within 20 years. This (the war that brings an end to wars) is called the Third World War. What conditions would bring about the end to war? Nuclear weapons would proliferate throughout the world and they will be easily used as though it were a natural right because of the growth of the mind consumed by greed and seeking to control others. Thus every single existence will be burnt to ashes together with the civilization of humanity.

The A-bombing of Hiroshima, in Japan, on August 6, 1945 and of Nagasaki on August 9 was a warning which vividly described aspects of World War III, the war of human annihilation. As soon as the damages, the extent of the destruction and cruel killing caused by these atomic bombs, had been reported to the world, those who applauded and raised their voices of rejoicing upon hearing of this were the scientists who had developed it. The reason for this was because the actual application of so-called scientific truth discovered by these scientists had a totally unprecedented and far-reaching outcome in human history. It was, namely, the victory of science.

The scientists defend themselves that there is no reason whatsoever for them to be charged with any crime concerning the development of A-bombs; but rather, it is the politicians and the military who adopted atomic bombs and brought about murder and destruction, and that those officials are to be charged with the crime of the A-bombing. The modem scientific civilization, as such, is despicable and frivolous.

A great master of science and leader of the development of nuclear weapons, Einstein, and the philosopher Russell indeed could not help feeling anxiety that the development of nuclear weapons would eventually lead to the tragedy of human annihilation and thus resolved that "for the sake of preventing the annihilation of mankind, the utmost priority must be given to the prevention of war and the elimination of nuclear weapons."

Responding to this resolution, the scientists of the world assembled in an unknown hamlet of Canada called Pugwash and issued a warning presenting this same resolution to the leaders of the world. Since then, the meeting of scientists has been held successively and its many resolutions of warning have been sent out to the leaders of the world. However, in spite of this, the development, production and trade of nuclear weapons of the world nations have been relentlessly brought into vogue and knows no end. Thus, it has become definite that the scientific civilization possesses no means of relief but is to be totally destroyed by itself.

The means of relief which have been barely suggested in the warning of the scientists was part of the ancient moral code. However, if it was to have been useful, war would not have occurred in the first place. It will be of no use. Thus, it has come about that the prediction of human annihilation as a matter of course is compelled to be announced. In the ancient past of several thousand years before the modern scientists announced the crisis of human annihilation, there was one who not only had foreseen and warned of this, but who also left a method of relief. This method lies in the religious civilization. If not for this, humanity would have already perished in the distant past by greed, arrogance and war. Among the religious civilizations, the Preceptor of Buddhism, the World Honored One, Shakyamuni the Buddha, had preached in the chapter of the "Revelation of the Eternal Life of the Tathagata" of Myoho-renge-kyo that:

However, the Saha-world, that is, this realm, is never meant to burn all life, rather, it fosters all life. "This realm of mine," the domain reigned over by the Tathagata, is from the beginning tranquil. Humanity, which has been born into this domain, is eager to seek joy and create peace. They have not been born to seek to perish or to commit murder or destruction. On this fact rests religious salvation.

Even the terror of nuclear weapons is nothing more than an atrocious machine devised by several scientists. Even this atrocious machine will not perform the cruel explosion by itself. The action of man's hand performs the cruel explosion. Man's hand will not move by itself. It is the human mind that moves the hand. The human mind commits various evils, yet it is by no means congealed by evil. The human mind, day and night, performs such activities that are morally called good, or called love in Christianity and compassion in Buddhism.

The result of the good activity of the human mind overcoming the evil activity of the mind is the present situation of the life of human society which has survived and prospered. In the development of scientific truth there is no differentiation between good and evil. When the evil of the human mind is used, it will bring about the crisis of human annihilation. Animals in general have no judgement of good and evil, nor are they led to compassion and love. They live depending upon violence alone, thus are gradually declining. Those which prosper a little do so because they lead a life similar to one of compassion and love, rather than that of violence.

The possibility of uniting billions of people's minds to a single point of goodness can be believed. A husband and wife love each other and live their lives together, bringing up their offspring and creating a family. By this is opened the foundation for human survival. The principle of creating world peace is found here.

Humankind can see the wonderful and transcendent power of heaven and earth, the unlimited and boundless power of nature, as well as come to see the limit of their own power - these things can be seen when a religion occurs which worships nature. When the wonderful activities of a human mind are known, faith in the spiritual religion arises.

Religious teachings are given to religious faith. To actually carry out religious teachings is called shugvu (religious practice). It must be one which is most simple and that can be most easily performed. That is, to place one's palms together, worshipping through the body, chanting Na-Mu Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo through the mouth and to cherish respect in the mind and heart.

Spiritual salvation, the fervent desire of the World Honored One, Sakyamuni Buddha, will be fulfilled by such minute actions by us. When the religious and spiritual teachings toward the heaven and earth, the universe, are applied to the social life of man, and when everyone respects and shows veneration to each other, how can there be room for war to break out? The fundamental cause of war, nuclear warfare, is nothing more than a calamity incurred by the non-religious, faithless civilization of science which neither respects nor pays veneration towards others.

The scientific civilization has lost sight of moral values in the purpose of human existence. It is unable to see spiritual dignity in man and considers that the principle for human survival lies merely in attainment of victory in competition. This is well expressed in athletic sports, especially the Olympic Games. War has been aggravated and nuclear weapons developed on the basic faith in the theory that the "stronger is the victor and the weaker, the loser." When a way to eliminate nuclear weapons and war is sought in the human mind, it will be quite simple, there will be no difficulty. The only thing we have to do is to cultivate religious faith, follow religious teachings, and begin religious actions. And in this, the first condition is to accept and maintain the precept of non-killing which was laid down by the World Honored One. Skill and machines are required to take the lives of others; yet in order not to take the lives of others, no skill or machine are necessary. It is enough to accept and maintain the precept of non-killing alone. When the precept of non-killing is accepted, the mind to hate nuclear weapons, to reject war, will appear. Through this, the future of humankind shall be illuminated by survival and prosperity without fear.

For the sake of the fall. of the scientific civilization, the termination of war action, and to relieve the crisis of human annihilation, by enshrining the relics of the World Honored One, Shakyamuni the Buddha, who has bestowed on us the precept of non-killing, I reverently perform the foundation laying ceremony of the erection of the peace pagoda here at this most beautiful site of the peaceful new city of Milton Keynes in England, in the wish to give rise to the dawn of world peace.

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