真言律宗　蓮華院誕生寺

2012年10月09日The Dainichi no Hikari No.2022-1
“Staking Persona I.’s life on the Historical Reconciliation in Myanmar”

“ARTIC Commences Support of Karen Ethnicity of Burma”

Yet another autumn breeze greets the grounds of Renge-in Tanjoji Temple of Tamana-city, Kumamoto-Prefecture, Japan, where our non-profit organization ARTIC (Association for Rengein Tanjoji International Cooperation) is based. At the start of this delightful season in Japan, the Secretary General Seiji Kuga of the NPO, on September 5^th, accompanied by Yoshiyuki Hirano, the Chief Representative of Renge Estate Farm, commenced a journey to the town of Mae Salit, Ban Tak, Thailand, which is the access point for travelers to the Karen State of Myanmar (Burma). Without the time for a proper send-off, I was heading east to Tokyo. There was a reason for the parties to be heading in two opposite directions, a pair to the west, and I to the east, which was all according to the scheme of a magnate whom I have hereupon for the sake of this writing decided to call “Persona I.”.

“Persona I: throwing all the Passion one has to offer onto a lasting unity among the Indigenous Races of Burma”
 
Persona I. For the sake of this story we have named him thus as the sound “I” (or AI) is phonetically synonymous with the word 愛, which in Japanese represents Love.
 
It was on December 14^th, 2004, when Persona I. accompanying a young Khmer monk, visited the Renge-in compounds, where our paths met for the first time.
 
Subsequently, we together called upon many likeminded monks across the Japanese archipelago to converge and form “The Non-denominational Coalition of Buddhist Priests and Laypersons Praying for Peace in Tibet from Japan” four years ago and that is now known, in short, as the Super Samgha (SS). We have invited this Persona I. to take on a spearheading role in the movement.

On one occasion the SS have invited Professor Noriyuki Ueda of Tokyo Institute of Technology, a renowned cultural anthropologist in Japan, who was back then the Associate Professor, to partake on a journey to South India where they conducted an inquiry into the areas inhabited by Tibetan refugees.

The involvement of Persona I. in overseas work in the social domain began some 20 years ago when he was a staff at the Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC) stationed at a Cambodian refugee camp. In subsequent years he has spent considerable amounts of time with the peoples of various countries where Buddhism is a part and parcel of daily lives of their communities. The fact that Buddhism plays a major role in promoting stability of countries and the societies in this region has left a strong impression on Persona I.


As his uncle had been living a life of a monkhood belonging to the Nichiren Sect, he chose to undertake austere training to follow his paths and, thus, now is also a deputy chief of the temple which the same uncle had founded.
  
“Disaster Relief in the Aftermath of a Cyclone in Myanmar”
 
When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar four years ago, ARTIC was simultaneously conducting a fund raising activity for the Cyclone victims as well as for the Sichuan Earthquake disaster relief. We were ready to place an all out effort in the assistance for the situation in Myanmar. However, the Burmese government had taken a stance to distance itself from any foreign aid and, therefore, an NGO such as ARTIC had no choice of being involved directly in such effort.  
 
It was with much delight, however, when we realized that Hirano of Renge Estate Farm, managed under the guidance of the Renge-in Temple, had previously spent 6 years in Burma under the aegis of Nippon Foundation, in constructing some 50 schools there. His command of the local language was one which we could certainly make full and immediate use of, not to mention his strong network with the Buddhist monks on the ground. With over two million yen of precious donations from the followers of the temple and the members of ARTIC, we were able to contribute with relative ease and, not forgetting to mention, through Hirano’s tremendous experience and capabilities, a relief for the cyclone victims there.    

“Realities We Face – Guns are for the protection of your loved ones”

As if our paths were designed to intersect, Persona I., through his own corridors, had already begun his effort in aiding the relief efforts in Burma. Life has its twists and for this Persona I. was no special – he had been placed in custody for trespassing into the Burmese territories. As if the taste of a blunder was not bitter enough, upon his entry into the northern Burmese territories of the indigenous nationalities where a six decade strife was still being fought between the military junta and the local militias, his eyes witness the lives of ordinary folks who had no choice but to call to their guns in order to protect their beloved ones, children and wives, as well as their land of birthright, with all the limited tatty bits of ammunitions that they could amass.
 
We in Japan have lived for decades in the realm of stability in which guns have no longer become something you come into contact on a daily basis. Therefore, it is of no surprise to hear those people who loudly proclaim that “War is evil”, “dialogue must prevail before any conflict”, and “fighting must be avoided at all cost”. However, such proclamation in the eyes of Persona I. was of no value to people whose choice was either to live or let die.
 
“No more Refugees - the Goal for now”

The start line of the work of Persona I. began with the roll out of a refugee assistance effort which was something that we had also begun to do. What makes him unique, however, is that his staunched mindset had, through his involvement in the action, made him so resolute to the extent he now believed that “the task at hand is not only about affording a lending hand to the already displace peoples, but more importantly, to preempt a situation which creates refugee crises.” Furthermore, the amazing thing about this Persona I. is that he lives up to his words through actions in the bitter world of international trenches.

In activating his beliefs he had gone to the extent of giving up most of his personal finances he could realistically afford to liquidate – even to the extent of cancelling his own life insurance contract - and left Japan to join the brotherhood of men in the land of Burmese ethnicities, all by himself, in January 2011. He has since infiltrated the geographies under the control of 12 separate indigenous nationalities yearning to understand the specifics of each through dialogue and then, eventually, to unite the dozen groupings which has now become a formidable force that is able to hold talks directly with the central government of Myanmar.
 
All along I have retained my lines of communications with Persona I. receiving updates of the situation on the ground through overseas calls and email messages. It was on June 13^th 2011 that I had resolved to commence my daily early morning prayers greeting the sunrise, since when, with the aid of a (paper) charm specially dedicated for the purpose of a prayer for his safety, I have not missed a single day of prayers. This is rooted in my cries from the soul which says; “This man must live until his Mission is accomplished. May souls surround him for the protection of his life.”

“And finally… the Myanmar Authorities Warms to the Role of Humanitarian Assistance for the Indigenous Nationalities”
 
In November 2011, the Global Buddhist Congregation was held in India, and as both of us, Persona I. and myself, were invited, we had the chance to finally be reunited after a long absence. A protective charm (a five blade vajra) which once was bestowed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to my humble self was passed onto Persona I. The thought of passing this onto Persona I. occurred to me as the charm signifies unity and the intrepid resolve to arriving at a just destination, which in his role was to unify the 12 groups of indigenous peoples of Burma.       

His few days for the attendance of the Global Conference was about as much time as he was able to afford in the rapid current and tide of events unfolding in front of all our eyes. Following our meet, he was then able to establish the United Nationalities Federation Council (UNFC) to unite, in name and indeed, the indigenous nationalities of Burma. With the backing of a united front, he acts, with a fury of a raging lion as it were, as the spokesman cum the chief negotiator to face to discuss pertinent and crucial matters (on an equal footing) with the central government of Myanmar. And at long last, to the delight of all stakeholders of the endeavor, he was able to speak directly to the Minister of Railways and a peace mediator, U Aung Min, at which meet Persona I. was granted, for the first time, the formal endorsement (acceptance) of foreign aid aimed at the indigenous nationalities, provided that was focused purely on humanitarian assistance.  
 
On 28^th August, the very day of the accomplishment of a deal with the central government, Persona I. reported the news to the Japanese Embassy in Myanmar where he was met with a total bemusement of an expression on the faces of the Japanese diplomats whom had received him echoing their disbelief with arms up in air saying; “how on earth such a thing can be accomplished singlehandedly by a layman on the street!?”; “it is the resurrection of the Japanese of pre-WWII period!!”; “I-san, you are the contemporary Ryoma Sakamoto”; “no, he is Major Genjiro Akashi*!!!”
 
(*Major Akashi was instrumental as an agent in the world of Japanese military intelligence during the Russo-Japanese War at the dawn of the 20^th century. He had worked to mobilize the militia equal to that of a 200,000 strong force and was instrumental in the process of the overthrow of the Romanov Empire of Russia. He worked for the Japanese Military’s Secret Intelligence Services of the time. He later assumed the position of the 7^th Governor-General of Occupied Taiwan.)

The significance of his achievement was that the event earmarked the announcement and subsequent commencement of the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) by the Government of Japan which can, in name and essence, now be directed at the indigenous peoples of Myanmar who account for approximately a third of the nation. In addition, our humble civilian efforts through the framework of NGOs can now commence with the reassurance being secured and officially allowed by the central government of Myanmar without the fears of being squashed as it might have been in previous times.(to be continued)