| Selection - You Can Change the World |
| May Peace Prevail on Earth—A Call to Action by Masami Saionji |
People who trust themselves, and trust their intuition, can always forgive themselves. Even when they have made a mistake, or committed an act of violence, they can rise above it. They can say to themselves: What I did was wrong! I won’t do that again! Starting right now I am going to make up for it. From this day forward I will love others and work for others!
But people who do not trust themselves cannot forgive themselves. They always blame, judge, and torment themselves. Then they seek relief by projecting some of that self-hate on others. When each and every human being is able to truly love himself, or truly understand and trust herself, no one will ever hate others or feel a desire for revenge.
After the Second World War, my adoptive father, Masahisa Goi, was inspired to start a revolution—a revolution in the human consciousness. And so he created these words: May Peace Prevail on Earth. Now, fifty years later, these words can be seen by people all over the world on tall poles called “peace poles”. Have you ever seen a peace pole? Right now, there are more than 200,000 of them, standing in schoolyards, parks, public squares and private gardens all over the world. You may have seen some of them on television, in places like Sarajevo, Israel, Palestine, and Afghanistan. Peace poles have been welcomed by spiritual leaders such as the Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa, and Pope John Paul II, as well as by groups such as the Rotary Club. Some of you might feel that you would like to place a peace pole in your neighborhood, or at your school. But perhaps you are thinking: “I would like to, but I am too young. I am still a student. I don’t know much. I have not had as much experience as other people.” However, I can tell you: Peace is not born from experience. Experience can be a valuable teacher, but experience itself does not give birth to peace.
Peace is not born from education either. Education, like experience, can be a helpful aid, but it does not supplant the incredibly deep, intuitive wisdom that you hold within you.
What, then, gives birth to peace? The answer is simple. It is love, pure humanitarian love, sustained by courage, sincerity, effort, optimism, and overflowing hopes for the future. For me, this spirit of love is expressed through a peace pole.
If you would like to put up a peace pole, what should you keep in mind? To me, the important thing is not to place peace poles only at famous or historical places, or only at places where tragedies have occurred, or only at places where a lot of people go. The important thing is to see peace poles everywhere: at places where many people go or where just a few people go—on street corners, in private gardens, in parks, in front of libraries, houses, shops, parking lots, restaurants, hotels, apartment buildings, zoos, hospitals—any place where someone might see them. If you wished to, you might even place a peace pole in a spot where people seldom go, such as in a forest or mountainous area, as a gift of gratitude to nature.
How can you choose a place for putting up a peace pole? Just trust your intuition. Trust the clear, sparkling feeling that naturally rises up within you. Then try. The more you try, the more clearly your path will open up in front of you.
For many years I have had a very special hope, a very special dream. My dream is that someday, there may be many millions of peace poles: in all neighborhoods, in all regions, in all countries and languages of the world. Every day, wherever a person goes, I would like them to be able to see at least one peace pole. I would like the sight of a peace pole to be more familiar than the sight of a Coca-Cola sign, or a McDonald’s! I would like the words May Peace Prevail on Earth to resonate in all people’s hearts. I know that it is possible. We can make it happen. It is already starting to happen.
In the 21st century, what creates peace is not governments, or religions, or nations, or individual leaders. What creates peace is you. Through your bright hopes, your efforts, and your belief in peace, you can create peace and harmony for yourself, your family, your country, your environment, and the world. |
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