Keiichi Hashimoto
Rissho Kosei-Kai, Japan
  

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to St. Egidio for giving me this opportunity as a part of the session. With regard to the theme �Japanese religious humanism,� I would like to share with you my experiences of development of youth and peace activities in Rissho Kosei-kai (RKK).

Before doing that, I would like to introduce you to RKK briefly, and to how Founder and President Niwano teaches us religious humanism.

Rissho Kosei-kai is a lay Buddhist organization and believes the Threefold Lotus Sutra as a core scripture. The aim of RKK is to practice the teaching of Buddha at family, work place, and local community in which each member exist in order to create peaceful world. Its members as Buddhists devote themselves to collaborate with other religious people and sector of society to implement peace activities in and out of Japan as well as to engage in dissemination work.

Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, Founder of RKK, states religious humanism in his book �Buddhism for Today, A Modern Interpretation of the Threefold Lotus Sutra.�

�We lead ordinary everyday lives, but by understanding the teaching of the sutra, believing it, and practicing it, we try to approach a state of mind free from illusion and suffering. We realize that people should live in harmony and render service to each other. If one has such a feeling for even a few hours a day, his health and circumstances will naturally change for the better-this is true salvation. That all the people in the world have such feelings and live happily-this is the ultimate idea and vow expressed in the Lotus Sutra. Indeed, the Lotus Sutra is the teaching of human respect, self-perfection and peace. In short, it is the teaching of humanism.�

This is because members of RKK have practiced the Lotus Sutra whose consistent message takes in all humanity, and have disseminated its teaching to as many people as possible.

This year, President Nichiko Niwano has emphasized the importance of �Regulating family� as an annual guideline, taking into consideration the fact that Japanese society is currently faced with a big upsurge in violent juvenile crime. By keeping in mind one of the teachings in the Lotus Sutra �wish for life,�: that we are born into this world through our wish for the salvation and happiness of all living things- President Niwano encourages members to confront and deal with youth problems.

Furthermore, President Niwano has stressed the importance of practicing the teaching of Buddha at home, cultivating family centered on the home altar and realizing the preciousness of life. Through this year, all members of RKK have strived to disseminate his guidance to as many people as possible.

239 RKK churches in Japan have carried out the development of youth activities. From December 2000 through November 2003, I was a minister of Utsunomiya Church (a membership of 8,000 households), located in Tochigi Prefecture, and 100 kilometers north from Tokyo. As a minister and responsible official to youth, I would like to share with you some of my experiences regarding the development of youth, such as �Donate a Meal Campaign,� �UNICEF fund raising campaign,� and on-site peace education programs.

In Utsunomiya Church, the primary school pupil�s group, students� group, youth men�s and women�s group and young wives� group have commonly implemented �Donate a Meal Campaign� and �UNICEF fund raising campaign� over many years.

First of all, let me explain about �Donate a Meal Campaign.�

Members of RKK who participate in the campaign forgo one meal per day on particular days every month. The spirituality of �this Campaign� is threefold: sharing in suffering, offering prayers, and making donations in their daily lives. Donations collected through the campaign and pooled in the Rissho Kosei-kai Peace Fund assist a variety of aid and peace projects, such as the plight of refugees, development cooperation, conflict resolution, preventive diplomacy, supporting U.N. and disaster relief, especially for those who are under severe conditions in Asia and African countries.

It started in 1975. It is a very grass roots campaign.

Secondly, I would like to explain about �UNICEF fund raising campaign.�

Through this campaign targeting the ordinary citizen, members come to realize the current devastating situation facing children in the world and to deeply understand some activities initiated by U.N and UNICEF for children. Further, one of the aims of this campaign is to promulgate the idea of �looking, respecting and existing life� to the people in public. It started the U.N. International Year of the Child in 1979. Since then, RKK has contributed to more than 60 countries throughout the world.

As part of peace education programs, junior high school students visited Hiroshima, the first site of an atom-bombing in this world. High school students also traveled to Okinawa where the only grueling ground battles in Japan during the World War II took place, embroiling in a number of local people.

Students who participated conducted a memorial service for war victims by offering their prayers, and learned how the life of a human being is so precious and reaffirmed the importance peace, saying �we should never launch a war.� In these programs, youth leaders, university students and youth members, were in charge of developing junior and high school students. Through these programs, many students have deepened their faith and grown up into leaders of youth activities.

In November 2003, youth leaders in Tochigi area which included a large number of Utsunomiya church members, paid a visit to New York City to implement �peace study tour -prayer for victims and interaction with people in NYC.�

Before this program, participants carried out a pre-study session, a peace study gathering, a peace prayer and a Donate a Meal Campaign. In New York City, they offered flowers for those who were victims of terrorist attacks on the site of ground zero, dedicated prayer and messages at St. Paul Church, and conducted memorial services at NY Church of RKK.

Furthermore, they had an opportunity to visit U.N. and held a peace study session regarding U.N and W.C.R.P activities. They enjoyed exchanging views and thoughts with members of the NY church. Through these experiences, they realized the importance of encountering and learning from others, as it is stated in the Lotus Sutra, �all who see, hear, recognize, and know (the Sutra) shall approach enlightment.�

It is particularly worth noting that Rev. Tojo, chief priest of Zenko-ji temple /jyogyo-inn (Tendai School) was one of the participants in this tour. In addition, it was a great honor for us to be given two lectures by Mr. Yasuhiro Ueki, director of peace and security at U.N. HQs, originally from Tochigi and later appointed as a public officer of U.N. Iraq inspection term, and by Rev. Kyoichi Sugino, a special assistant for the secretary general of WCRP International.

After the outbreak of the Iraq war in last year, the world as a whole underwent anxiety and tension. After the terrorist attack in September 11 2001, a tendency to the circle of hatred has been intensified, and acts of terrorism and its retaliation have been continued that put people in a chaotic situation.

Under these circumstances, President Niwano has guided us by quoting a passage from Dhammapada �Hatred is never conquered by hatred. Hatred is conquered by compassion.� In addition, �Harmony is to be valued. And he expressed the wish that we should do our very best to bring about harmony� by quoting opening words of the Seventeen Article Constitution of Prince Shotoku.

By reflecting upon his guidances and considering RKK past activities such as prayers for peace, peace study gatherings and UNICEF fund raising campaign, in 2003 members of RKK implemented �21 consecutive days Donate a Meal Campaign� and �Time out for Peace (offering silent prayer every day at 8 p.m. sharp)� and �urgent fund raising campaign for Iraqi people� that called for ordinary people to engage with Iraqi issues.

Based upon the teaching of the Lotus Sutra, the preciousness and appreciation of life, sound upbringing of youth, and practice of peace activities has been promoted not only in Tochigi area but also RKK churches in many parts of the nation. I truly believe that in doing so we members of RKK have made a good effort to foster religious humanism into the community and society in which we are living.

However, this year in Japan a painful incident took place in Nagasaki: a 12 year-old girl was killed by a close classmate. Taking into account this kind of juvenile delinquency, I as a religious person, cannot help feeling repentance for �my lack of effort to disseminate the teaching of Buddha as many people as possible,� and the serious responsibility and mission to tackle this kind of issue.

I would like to pledge my effort to practice Buddhist disciplines more than ever I have.

Thank you for your attention.