真言律宗　蓮華院誕生寺

2012年10月10日The Dainichi no Hikari No.2022-2
“Staking Persona I.’s life on the Historical Reconciliation in Myanmar”

“On-the-spot Investigation by ARTIC and Audience with Existing Cabinet Ministers of Myanmar”
 
This monumental achievement of a negotiation with the Myanmar government was preceded by our own ongoing efforts, through Persona I., to design a humanitarian assistance of a project with the aim to assisting the indigenous peoples of Burma. With that already in blue print and waiting to be drawn out of our temple closet, we had inked the approval for the Project Master Plan on August 11^th 2012 which would then lead to the September 5^th on the ground investigative fieldwork by two ARTIC staffs.

Almost simultaneously, I headed for Tokyo at the invitation of a Minister of the Japanese cabinet. The minister in concern has made it a lifework of his own personal undertaking to dedicate his time to the resolution of the issues concerning the indigenous peoples of Burma. At the end of 2011, he in his extremely tight schedules had afforded the time to meet with the representatives of the UNFC in Tokyo, which, too, was a ground-breaking event as this was the first of its kind among the key nations in the world of international diplomacy.
 
On September 5^th, at 5.30pm, at the Offices of the House of Representatives in Tokyo, I was met by the aforementioned Minister himself together with the Director General, Director, Vice Director and the Cabinet Secretariat, for a talk that lasted an hour.
 
In the past I have had the opportunity to meet with Heads of State of various nations, as well as with ex Prime Ministers and people who later went on to being the premier. Therefore, by no means was I apprehensive of meeting the people in the bureau, however, as this was the very first opportunity for me to meet with the people empowered to run the external affairs of our own nation, I spoke with the members with calm objectivity on the one hand, whilst not forgetting to remain passionate about the topic on the other.

Amongst many a topic that we had explored in our exchanges, I have impressed upon them the 32 years long work of action oriented dedication to the refugee assistance, and that such efforts are underpinned by the dedication of both monetary and sincere act of benevolence of the followers of the teachings of Lord Buddha. I have spoken at some length about the details of cultural and education promotion assistance in countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Tibet, targeted at the refugees’ return to self-sufficiency, all of Which had been a work of continued dedication of many people.
  
As I opened my mouth to start panning out the details of the work of Persona I., who is currently in command of the reconciliation efforts working with the indigenous nationalities of Burma, they leaned forward with keen interest to listen to those words that appeared on the forum. They appeared to follow and agree with my argument that the root of the two issues, namely those of the Tibetan refugees and the issues underpinning the ethnic strife of the Burmese nationalities, are connected beneath the surface.
  
 “It is All about Internalizing the Pains of Others as if They are Yours, from Refugee Crisis to Bullying at Schools in Japan”

If I may extrapolate the previously highlighted discussions with the bureaucrats, I also said that I would like to point out the issues we face domestically, in Japan, with children being bullied by their classmates are essentially offshoots of the same malice that is occurring at the root of all human psyche.
 
This may have seemed a bit too far-fetched, you might say, but if you considered our Planet we all inhabit as a single school, we could liken the situation of the Tibetans and the various Burmese races to children being bullied by those who are more powerful.
 
Neighboring countries know all too well how disheartened and underprivileged a life that the people of Tibet and other, so called, ethnic minorities have to endure.  

In Tibet, more than 50 precious souls have chosen to set themselves ablaze in the last resort protest of their own undertaking. These horrendous acts of defiance have yet to reach its termination. Their acts of protest seem all too familiar to me when I read the saddening news of children who have decided to take their lives away from their own schools.
 
To feel the pain of others as if you own them yourselves – this is the so called “awakening”, or the starting point of the journey we Buddhists choose to make. The Ko-en Great-Bodhisattva is revered and worshiped as someone who leads us to the attainment of the heroic mind and enlightenment. Through our one meal dedication (Ichijiki Fuse, or putting aside monies worth one meal on a specific day to, in turn, dedicate this to people of less privileged circumstances), which we encourage our followers to undertake on 20^th and 8^th of each month, we hope to share the burden and pain of peoples of all walks on the planet and make it a way in which to put into practice what we preach and say. If you have not yet been introduced to this practice, do join us in following this one meal dedication as it is just as simple as that.

It is only through activation of these practices that enables us to cross the River of Hope and reach the other side for attainment of enlightening. As much as we hold dear the forbearers (ancestors of vertical lineage) without whom we have no chance of our own existence today, we hope to cherish the sense of brother/sister-hood among mankind through such practices as I.F.so as to kinesthetically (physically through both mind and body) appreciate the horizontal unity whilst present in this world. We consider this to be a part of honoring those who have “past on” a life that we are given in the present form.
 
Thank you with humility from the heart.