Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo

A Prayer for World Peace

by Rev. Sunji Kanaeda

Nipponzan Myohoji Temple, Bainbridge Island

January, 2005

It is now the fifth year after the beginning of the new century, and unfortunately we cannot say it has been a good beginning. We closed the curtain on the last year with an unprecedented natural disaster, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, which killed over 150,000 people and created many more homeless and sick victims. I think we should all pray for the quick recovery of the victims and the places affected by this tragedy.

When I first heard of this disaster, I immediately thought of war. Now is not the time for trifling with war. As we all know, 60 years ago in Auschwitz 6,000,000 people lost their lives. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki 200,000 lives were lost in an instant. Even now, war continues. In the Iraq war already 100,000 Iraqis and 1300 US soldiers have lost their lives. We may not be able to avoid hurricanes and tsunamis, but I think, depending on the hearts and minds of the people of the world, we can avoid war.

The country of Japan where I grew up was one of the leading warring nations in the world until the end of World War Two. The motivation for war is always the same – the desire for more territories and to rule the world according to ones own wishes – and Japan was no different. But more than 60 years after the war, Japan has maintained peace by adhering to its constitution, and has not caused death through war to this date. I am astounded and saddened by the sacrifice of the Iraqi men and women and the US soldiers killed so far in a war that could have been avoided.

That life is a treasure is a very important teaching of Buddhism. All people should live a fulfilled and happy life, being born and dying naturally in their own time. When we respect one another’s lives, there is not room for war, and peace becomes our reality. This is the same message of Buddha, of St. Nichirin, who lived 800 years ago in Japan, and also of St. Fujii Nichidatsu, the founder of the Nipponzan-Myohoji Buddhist order.

We at Nipponzan-Myohoji participated in many peace pilgrimages with many other religious groups, including Christians, after the beginning of the war, and together we prayed for peace throughout the world. As I made my pilgrimages, I came to realize that peace will come if we work together, and there is no religion that does not respect life and wish for peace. I believe this is the time for many different religious groups to come together and pray for world peace, combining our respect and hope for life and a better future for everyone.