seventy-one years ago today, at the end of World War II, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki in Japan with the hypocenter right on the grounds of what is now the Peace Memorial Park… in that moment, 39,000 people were killed…

listen to an excerpt from Words of the Sculptor about the Peace Statue he created to commemorate all who lost their lives to atomic radiation:

“After experiencing that nightmarish war, that blood-curdling carnage, that unendurable horror, Who could walk away without praying for peace? This statue was created as a signpost in the struggle for global harmony. Standing ten meters tall, it conveys the profundity of knowledge and the beauty of health and virility. The right hand points to the atomic bomb, the left hand points to peace, and the face prays deeply for the victims of war. Transcending the barriers of race and evoking the qualities of Buddha and God, it is a symbol of the greatest determination ever known in the history of Nagasaki and the highest hope of all mankind.”

-Seibo Kitamura (Spring 1995)

may we all stand together for love singing out peace and harmony for all our relations in our ever expanding universe and thank Great Spirit for breathing us into deeper harmony and peace with every breath…