Fuji Declaration Presentation

Byakko Deputy Chairperson Yuka Saionji thanked the prayer leaders for their contributions to this year’s ceremony, and then introduced the next portion of the program. From there Maki Saionji emceed this year’s Fuji Declaration Presentation.

Yuka Saionji

Thank you so much for praying with us today along with the prayer leaders. As you know, a symphony cannot be made just with a melody. We need an orchestra—those who are willing to become a vessel, to share this beautiful melody together. So, we thank you, everyone who has joined in the SOPP, and who has wholeheartedly prayed each of these religious prayers. It is thanks to you that the SOPP is made possible.

As Masami Saionji said, at the very beginning of the SOPP, not many people understood our concept. So, it was not an easy task to find religious leaders who would join us. But year after year, we’ve been able to succeed, and it’s because of the prayer colleagues and families who have helped us behind the scenes, to find religious leaders who understood our concept—that we can all pray various religious prayers together.

What I am so grateful for and honored to see is that the relationship among SOPP religious leaders is not just a one-time meeting, but that we have kept in contact for all these years. For example, among this year’s prayer leaders, Rev. Canon Dr. Gibbs, Mr. Zion, and Rev. Ishikawa have all participated in previous SOPP ceremonies. And so, when we asked them to join us this year, they welcomed the invitation and said “Yes, of course,” and we are so grateful for that. As another example, this year’s Islamic prayer leader was introduced to us by Mr. Ben Bowler (guest speaker in 2022), and the Hindu prayer leader was introduced by a youth participant from 2012, Mr. Madhusudan Agrawal. These relationships are continuing and expanding and growing, and we’re inviting more and more people to join, which we are so happy and honored to do. Guru Inder has sent us messages. Fr. James Channan and the Grand Imam have always shown support for the SOPP. We’re so grateful that the SOPP has expanded in this way—from person to person and from prayer to prayer. We’re all connected, and it keeps growing.

Maki Saionji

The Fuji Declaration will celebrate its tenth anniversary next May. Starting on this ninth anniversary and continuing over the next year, we will engage in a program to look back on the past decade to deepen the concept of the divine spark, which is at the core of the Fuji Declaration. We begin that program today with all of you here at the SOPP.

From the perspective of the Fuji Declaration, the divine spark is indispensable for building a peaceful world, yet society still does not seem to have a sufficient understanding of it. In our annual events, we have set themes to explore the sacred spirit and the concept of oneness, which form the core of the Fuji Declaration’s worldview, in order to help more people understand the perspective of the Fuji Declaration.

However, this year, on the ninth anniversary of the Fuji Declaration, we would like to contemplate how the concept and way of being of the divine spark can further permeate into society, as well as what kind of power is necessary for more people to manifest the sacred spirit in their respective ways of living, and specifically what that power entails.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who advocated non-violence, left the words, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.” While he said that neither love nor power alone is sufficient, and that aspects of both love and power are important in creating a peaceful future, I feel that in order to create a culture of the Fuji Declaration around the world, it is necessary to deepen our understanding of the sacred spirit and explore what power is needed to let this spirit permeate society.

This year, we would like to explore this power with the following two questions in mind:

(1) What kind of power do you think is necessary for us to give expression to the divine spark in our lives?

(2) What kind of practices have you undertaken to nurture that power?

First, representing the co-founders of the Fuji Declaration, we would like to listen to a message from Hiroo Saionji regarding the two questions, together with all of you.

Hiroo Saionji
President of the Goi Peace Foundation

Hello, everyone. This year marks the ninth anniversary of the launch of the Fuji Declaration. Yet, when we look at the current state of the world, we continue to see wars, conflicts, environmental issues, and various other problems. To find lasting solutions to these issues, humanity’s spiritual evolution is essential. In this sense, I feel it is extremely important to spread the spirit and values of the Fuji Declaration.

Along these lines, I also posed two questions to our guest speakers today. The first is, what kind of power do you think is needed for us to live with a sacred spirit, or divine spark? And the second question is, what practices have you undertaken to cultivate that power?

These are the two questions I posed to our guests. In other words, I think it is about how we need to live our lives in order to cultivate and elevate the divine spark within ourselves, as described in the Fuji Declaration.

Most of us today live very busy lives, always pressed for time, and at a surface level of consciousness, we often experience negative emotions like anger, anxiety, and hatred. At such times, I think, it is quite difficult to be conscious of reviving our essential goodness.

Therefore, I think it is important to take time once or twice a day to quiet the mind, calm the heart, and reflect on ourselves. In doing so, we can distance ourselves from our negative thoughts and emotions and get a bird’s eye view of our true self.

Concrete methods for doing this include things like prayer and meditation. Some people practice zazen or yoga. We can also listen to music to calm our mind, or bring ourselves in contact with nature, which is another way to cultivate our sacred spirit.

In other words, I think it’s crucial to have a method for returning to our original, true self, and to make this a habit. However, busy people cannot meditate all day, so the question becomes how we can carry the heart and mind cultivated through these practices into our daily lives and work.

One person whose life can serve as an example for us is Kazuo Inamori, who received the 2014 Goi Peace Award. Mr. Inamori advocated management based on altruism, and made benefitting people and the world the basis of his business management. At the same time, he was a highly spiritual person, taking novice monastic vows while remaining in secular life, and always following a religious path.

When making important business decisions, Mr. Inamori always asked himself whether his motives were good or whether they were based on his own selfish desires. He would affirm his decision only after confirming the absence of any selfishness.

Whenever he undertook a major project like the restructuring of Japan Airlines or launching the DDI Corporation, he asked himself that question every day, and only proceeded after confirming that his decision came from the goodness of his true self and was free of selfish motives.

Mr. Inamori founded the Kyocera Corporation, originally the Kyoto Ceramic Company, and he said that when he was thinking and working diligently to come up with new products, he felt that there was a wellspring of wisdom within him. From this wellspring, he said, various inspirations and ideas emerged. However, it’s not that ideas came to him while he was doing nothing. It’s when he was thinking and working hard, so immersed in his work that he lost himself in it, that ideas came to him. He felt that when he lost all sense of ego or self and returned to his true mind, then he was able to connect with that wisdom.

Mr. Inamori’s message resonates with what Masahisa Goi taught about believing in our heavenly mission and devoting ourselves to it. That is to say, by doing everything we can to fulfill our mission within our given circumstances, we can connect with our true, essential self and move ahead with our work and our life.

Therefore, if I were to answer the two questions posed today, my answer to the first would be to take time for quiet self-reflection, through prayer, meditation, and the like. To the second question, I would answer that we should earnestly dedicate ourselves, free of ego, to the work and the mission that we are given.

By doing these two things, I believe we can manifest our essential goodness—our innate divine spark. I would like to present these two points as my answers to today’s questions. Thank you very much.

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