Closing

Closing

The ceremony concluded with a message from Yuka Saionji.

Thank you so much, everyone, for coming. I want to thank all the prayer leaders who came today—I’m sure everyone felt their heart and true love for peace, and the beautiful prayers they offered.

There are lots of benches in the Prayer Field now, because we have more elderly people in attendance. The 60 staff members we had in 2005 have now shrunk to 30 people. We can no longer find 193 people to carry the national flags. It’s a time of change, but change in a great way.

I feel that, at Fuji Sanctuary, there is deep wisdom that cannot be found in AI or other information, because this wisdom is about prayer—it’s about energy, it’s about the space, it’s about art and harmony. This is a place where people can feel that—people can sense that in their bodies, and I think that is something very precious, and something that must be kept.

And so, with the changes, I’m hoping that this is a great opportunity to open up Fuji Sanctuary more, and for more people to volunteer, or just to come and join and pray together, and to celebrate the oneness of humanity.

Thank you so much.

 

Yuka’s closing speech was followed by the ceremony’s finale, in which all the national flags were brought back on stage. Accompanied by a stirring orchestral score, the flags were carried to the center of the stage and out into the Prayer Field. When all of the national flags had filled the aisles of the Prayer Field, the Earth flag was carried to center stage and waved back and forth, to warm and enthusiastic applause from the participants. At the very end, as the music reached its climax, the flags were lifted high, sending the peaceful, harmonious energy of the SOPP out to the whole world.