Call Of The Peace Pagoda

A. Japan August 1945 the United

States drops the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Over 300000 people are killed from the blasts and in suing radiation sickness. A Japanese Buddhist monk witnessed this devastation and had a spiritual vision for world peace. Having dedicated his life to the principles of nonviolence for jihad prayed alongside Mahatma Gandhi in India in the 1030. Now after experiencing his own country destroyed by war became even more determined that humanity must renounce weapons in order to survive Fuji's

vision was to create peace to awaken a spirit of nonviolence throughout the world. Since the 1950s the monks. The Buddhist religious order founded by a food chain in 1919 had constructed over 70 of these shrines in six different countries. They're called Peace pagoda. In

1985 the first piece the go to in North America was inaugurated on a hilltop in rural western Massachusetts. It was built under the direction of the new poems on monks and with the participation of over 1000 U.S. and international volunteers. The New England he's the go to has become a regional center for spiritual reflection in the promotion of a nonviolent peace activism. In the tradition of Mike Mike Gundy and Martin Luther King this documentary chronicles two months in the life of this community during the fall of 1987. I mean and I never forgot it. I am 48 years old and I have three children. Twenty five

year old daughter 22 year old son and a 13 year old son. My youngest son lives here with me. The more we came we felt that this was really worth this because if we were going to work for peace in a very serious way that we had to come from a spiritual foundation. The doors are open. People can come for a meal. People can pray. There's a sense of caring in the community about each other. Before I would try to pray by myself and it was very difficult it's very different to pray with a community of people I live with a community of people and know that prayer is the most important thing that is in our lives. All of the monks and nuns have been from the mill hordes

as Mission twos. Fred the mule whoring me through the time to devote to for more peace. Our whole life has just centers around this prayer when each person prays it claimed in measurable riches. We do believe it takes us to the heart of food. It's one of the things that I noticed and I've heard many American oriental people

class together and sure make them stand Westport like people acknowledge in the spirit of the person and the fact of spirit. Ok not the body thought or heard or seen. Just for an hour we knew it was time. I hate

it when a new story to learn does so in 23 years old or new reason is going New York. And today is the final preparation day before you so money tomorrow. We have all kinds of work going on to help on the temples. It's been a great opportunity in my life and how many people get a chance to build a temple where people can come and worship. I've never done construction work before and here I've done all sorts of things and it makes it feel very confident. The days of really hard especially lately we've been working about

13 14 hour days a week with every nail I put in the wall every Their very natural stucco that I mix that the world is that much closer to peace in this is my contribution. This is my way of working and combined with the prayer that my work becomes a prayer for peace this is this is my way of contributing. Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh. I'm Reverend Tim McDonald with the Southern Christian Leadership

Conference serving as national director of special projects. And I'm here today in Leavenworth Massachusetts to celebrate the coming into being of the temple closely with a peaceful go to here because of my commitment to world peace and because of my belief that the monks have a very definite message that the world needs to hear a message of not only Buddhist but of misses that I think is Christian and Jewish and and any kind of a people who are deeply concerned about world peace coming together to work and to be one voice. For me personally it is a place to come for rededication for rejuvenation and to receive whole. Because as you come here you see people from all over the world who share the kind of dreams and visions that I have of a world without nuclear weapons of a world where people can live together in brotherhood and sisterhood. I

became involved in the peace movement through my children. And because of my children again here came home from school and he was in about third grade and had tears in his eyes and looked at me and said Mommy do you know how many. If we ever get rid of the truth at that moment that the world was on the brink of complete annihilation. And I knew that he knew and I felt that at that point I had to devote my life to stopping them from falling. I feel compelled to beat the drum and to pray and I feel compelled to

take saying no to the militarism in whatever way I can. Point is where they build the nose cones and other little pieces. They go on the Trident submarines. The first strike weapon being equipped with a D5 which is a new more powerful missile. It's all part of the nuclear armament there are weapons that are designed to destroy people millions of people. And there's a lot of forces

against us. I talk to a lot of people they say well it won't do any good. I come up against that all the time with people with people who are feeling so despondent they are facing about affecting it. They're just discouraged there's no hope. And I know that everything we do does something but if we don't do it and then we're lost. We go it's not in our daily lives in work and we don't think about a lot of things but just to be able to see the nose cone on a weapon that's being built you know in a time when it's designed just to kill people. And here I am standing on the quarter of a mile from this nose cone and I'm wondering you know we should all be weeping we should all be crying out in rage. Where is everybody.

Why this still happening in that room pray harder. The essence of this drone the pose is more powerful than any of the powers any of the forces that he grew up in. It's more part. We're here because this is my life. I care deeply about this we live in this planet and I want us to survive in the new Korea days where we see peace for them as a mine festers and for all peoples pure. His idea for peace. We may be the first society to be told we're going to be the last because of our capability of destroying ourselves with nuclear weapons. We're at a very critical time in the history of all people of the nation of the world and that's why I am convinced at the time for action is now. Yes.

If we love this planet or love life I want to see a future one must do everything I commit in my life to stopping the tried and stopping first trade nuclear weapons one Trident submarine could the entire world. I feel sadness humanity is building these things. My brothers and sisters are going into these places and building weapons designed to

kill. The stakes today are real clear. The world could come it's almost inconceivable to think of that. As we drive to the post office and we drive to the bank and pack our kids our luggage and we take them ice skating. And yet at any second it can blow up. We see what people we've got what is going to be if it ever happens. A crematorium without walls and ash puts the whole world will be an oven. And so if if I believe that which I do and I believe that that is the path that we are headed on

then nothing short of putting my body in front of that Auschwitz gas chamber to stop it is sufficient. What a spiritual

really felt when I've done civil disobedience. So for me doing civil disobedience is definitely an outgrowth of my spiritual practice. I must pray with my body for what I believe in. Me up walking from Concord Massachusetts to Washington D.C. to support center American accord it is very crucial time

suffering since I mean it's so deep and moving particularly in the cargo we're walking because we feel we have to do something. And John the just what's Oh listen to the news alone just cry and scream of those people in Central America. The act of walking becomes has to be wrong. We're blessing the land that we walk upright without prayer as we go to steps. The rhythm of the walking. It's the Reserve chair. It's the rhythm of the drum. And it just becomes one.

That is just old hand on 25 from Santa Cruz California Akim is a time to think about what you're doing on this planet and why you've been born. This gives you a chance to be part of something greater than yourself. It hurts to walk after certain amount of miles it hurts. You're putting out a piece yourself on the road you're sacrificing for peace and it changes you inside and it strains your prayer and I believe that that changes people that hear that prayer. With the planet cold you know under fifty five thousand nuclear weapons and it's time that people started

walking and walking and brings people to you. Joaquin turns heads when you say through rocky through eight states 550 miles for 30 days no rest days. People feel that that is a lot of effort and they wonder why. And then maybe it makes them see and making a statement. I'm not going to be complicit in the policies of this government and of my government which supposedly represents me and working for me as is my way of saying no I'm not going to take this. I'm going to stand up for what is right and not be complicit with my silence and the killing that's going on in Central America. For me it's just been a deep experience all the way. Before I didn't have any real idea with faith and going to church on Sunday

that's it it's a little more than it's believing in something strong enough to put my life before. Only seven weeks after its inauguration and just two weeks after the Washington prayer vigil a fire of mysterious origin destroyed the newly built a temple that the peace but go to the peace big-O to itself was not damaged by the fire. Were

there no less struggles inside us to let go of the pain for this little girl and to rebuild the temple inside of myself. The Lord Buddha taught that the way of the good requires extreme perseverance and the sounds easy the word perseverance when nothing is challenging you know you had a big challenge like this this is a big challenge to God. Then you hear it is will learn perseverance. The temple was to allow people a place to come to

pray. That doesn't mean the prayer can't be done piles next to the you know ruined. If we remember that what isn't here now was here before and will be here again. And it is just a manifestation of our hearts in our hands then our spirits stay strong and we just keep practicing. You're hurting me. You just keep on me.