“This is our cry, This is our prayer, Peace in the world.”
~ Sadako’s friends ~
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today i gather with astonishing lights of being around the globe as i have for the last many turns around the sun to commemorate what is described as the most significant day in history, the day the United States detonated the first atomic bomb killing over 220,000 innocent beings with many more dying in the following decades from the radiation… we gather on Japanese time so we can be together at 8:15 AM on August 6 when the siren goes off in Hiroshima commencing a moment of silence…
this ceremony is always so powerful and moving and the most inspiring part for me is hearing from the hibakusha, the ones who as children in an instant saw their classmates die, their family members die, their city devastated with thousands of bodies dead in the streets, themselves burned and 76 years later the mission in them is stronger than ever to abolish all nuclear weapons, that what happened to them never happen again… let’s listen now to their urgent appeal…
“At present, humanity stands at the crossroads of whether to save our blue planet with all living things on it as it is or to go along the road of self-destruction.
The two atomic bombs dropped on August 6th and 9th 1945 by the US forces totally destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an instant, and killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of people without discrimination. With corpses charred black, bodies with their skins peeled off and with lines of people tottering in silence, a hell on earth emerged. Those who narrowly survived soon collapsed one after another. For more than 75 years since then we have struggled to live on, afflicted by the delayed effects and by anxiety about the possible effects of radiation on our children and grandchildren. Never again do we want such tragedies to be repeated.
After 11 years of silence following the A-bomb suffering, Hibakusha assembled in Nagasaki in August 1956 and founded Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations. There we pledged that we would work to “save humanity from its crisis through the lessons learned from our experiences, while at the same time saving ourselves”. Since then we have continued appealing to the world that “there should never be another Hibakusha.” This is the cry of our soul.
Wars and conflicts are still going on in the world, and many lives of innocent people are lost. Nuclear weapons are being used to threaten others. There are also moves to develop new nuclear weapons. The destructive power of existing nuclear weapons, which number well over 10 thousand, amounts to that of tens of thousands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. Nuclear weapons are the “weapons of the devil”. They could wipe out the human race and all other creatures. They could destroy the environment and turn the globe into a dead planet.
Human beings have prohibited the use, development, production and possession of biological and chemical weapons by treaties and protocols. Why do we hesitate to prohibit nuclear weapons, which are far more destructive than these weapons? We, the Hibakusha, call on all State Governments to conclude a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.
The average age of the Hibakusha now exceeds 80. It is our strong desire to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world in our lifetime, so that succeeding generations of people will not see hell on earth ever again. You, your families and relatives, or any other people should not be made Hibakusha again…”
on the cenotaph in the Peace Park in Hiroshima is an inscription which reads, ‘Rest in peace; the mistake will not be repeated’. This has become the prayer and vow of many survivors, who are determined to make sure that the deaths of loved ones has not been in vain and that no human being will ever have to repeat their fate. may we all commit to share the Hibakusha vow and mission…
let’s close our sacred ceremony with the Essene Communion for Friday dedicating ourselves to living in the unity of our interbeing…
THE DEEPENING: In the gentle breeze of the forests and in the winds of the fields, thou shalt find the Angel of Air. Breath long and deeply, for the rhythm of thy breath is the key of knowledge which will unlock the secrets of the Holy Law.
MORNING COMMUNION: Angel of AIR, I invoke thee; for no man may come before the face of God whom the Angel of Air hath not passed. For thy body must breath the air of the Earthly Mother before thy spirit may breath the Holy Law of the Heavenly Father. And as each morning comes, I shall embrace thee.
MEDITATION: This morning brings a different breeze. The winds of inner change and reflection. These winds blow strong as I unfurl my sails and set a course for yet another journey. May the wind be my guide, and the calmness of the truth lead my way.
NOON CONTEMPLATION: Peace with the BODY:
As thou movest the air with thy breath, movest thy body with thy soul. Eat of the blessed fruits from the Earthly Mother, and walk in the light of the Holy Law; for he who hath found peace with the body, hath built a holy temple wherein may forever dwell the spirit of God.
EVENING COMMUNION: The HEAVENLY FATHER and I are One; Thou hast made known unto me the deepest of mysteries. By thy fourteen fruits of the Tree of Life thou hast directed my heart, and guided my steps, that I may walk in your presence and dwell eternally in the essence of the divine.
THE BLESSING: What is man, that thou art be so mindful of he? Thou hast made a covenant with the Children of Light, and thou hast given unto all the Holy Law. To some it has been lost, and to some it is forgotten. But to some it is lived, and those whom walk with thy Holy Angels shall dwell forever in the kingdoms of God.
Hear me, Sons of Light, for I will impart to you the gift of tongues, that by speaking to your Earthly Mother in the morning, and to your Heavenly Father in the evening, you may go closer and closer to oneness with the kingdoms of earth and heaven, that oneness for which the Son of Man is destined from the beginning of the times.
~Essene Gospel of Peace