Pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist sites led by experienced Dharma teachers. Includes daily teachings and group meditation sessions. A local English–speaking guide accompanies and assists.
Community News: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Annual Memorial Interfaith Gathering in NYC
For those living in or near New York City, there will be a Hiroshima and Nagasaki Annual Memorial Interfaith Gathering this Sunday to commemorate the tragic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is being held in collaboration with Voices from Japan: Despair and Hope from Disaster (more info below).
WHERE: Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York City
WHEN: Sunday, August 5th, 2012.
All are welcome; a contribution of $10.00 is suggested.
SCHEDULE: 4:00 Cathedral Evensong Service
5:00 Visit the Exhibitions
Photography from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945 (supported by the Nagasaki Prefecture Government).
5:30 Memorial Interfaith Ceremony, led by Reverend Dr. T. Kenjitsu Nakagaki, Vice President of the Interfaith Center of New York, with local Japanese Buddhist, Shinto and Christian religious leaders.
7:15 Ringing of the bells for peace, at the exact moment of the Hiroshima bombing (Japan time 8:15 am on August 6).
Messages from the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be read. Hiroshima survivor Tomiko Morimoto West will share her story.
The event will feature Japanese musicians including peace activist and Hiroshima native, Shinji Harada, one of Japan's top recording artists; Kaoru Watanabe, a Taiko and flute player; and the New York Men's Glee Club, a Japanese American choral group.
Voices from Japan: Despair and Hope from Disaster shares the extraordinary experience of the Japanese people following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. The dangers of the nuclear age, whether in time of war or in peace, can never be forgotten by the country that made the first atomic bomb or the country that showed the world the results of its terrible power.
For more information please visit voices-from-japan.org and stjohndivine.org.
Image: Hiroshima peace park.
Also what about the 'Rape of Nanking' it could have been a way for the Japanese to show they are to be feared through their barbaric acts. Well practice really well to have peace in minds to have inner so we do not create wars.
Equally fearful was the Chinese people's very own government during the Cultural Revolution.
"War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices today than any of you to secure peace." - Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Of course war is Hell, Will. Buddhism is realistic about it. Hell is not some mythological fiery realm under the ground, far away from the realities of people's everyday lives. Human beings can create Hell with their very own hands.
Is it "realistic," to come from Japan, a country who started a war with the US, to the US with a memorial for "victims" of US bombing? It seems to me that Japan needs to clean up their past first. Germany has faced up to her WWII crimes and even has Holocost memorials, yet Japan seeks to divert attention away from her crimes with these memorials for her "victims." And Japan's crimes are many in that war and for years before.
Peace to you Dominic.
Yes. Americans will likely never suffer nuclear deaths, sicknesses and devastation. Think of it as a learning experience for us in that we may never use such weapons again against fellow human beings.
How about a memorial for the tragic bombing that began a war: Pearl Harbor? Japan bombed civilians and military alike when they decided to make war. War is terrible, yet we recognize the right to defend ourselves and killing your enemy is the mehtod of accomplishing this goal. I see no reason why being killed by radiation deserves some special memorial over being firebombed in Germany, used for bayonette practice or chemical and biological experiments by Japan's Unit 731, or the million German women raped by USSR soldiers in Berlin at the end of WWII, or Japan's sex slavery of Korean women.
The US saved thousands of American soldiers lives by dropping the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which is the goal. The war ended because the bombs were dropped. I wish we had the bombs sooner, so more soldiers could have been saved. Japan needs to overcome their denial of their role in WWII and face their crimes.