A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most (though not all) have been built under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii (1885-1985), a Buddhist monk from Japan and founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji Buddhist Order. Fuji was greatly inspired by his meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 and decided to devote his life to promoting non-violence. In 1947, he began[1] constructing Peace Pagodas as shrines to World peace.
The first Peace Pagodas were built as a symbol of peace in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the atomic bombs took the lives of over 150,000 people, almost all of whom were civilian, at the end of World War II.
By 2000, 80 Peace Pagodas had been built around the world in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
Civilization is not to kill human beings, not to destroy things, not to make war; civilization is to hold mutual affection and to respect one another. -Most Ven. Fujii
The Peace Pagoda was awarded the Courage of Conscience award June 5, 1998 in Sherborn, MA. [2]
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Africa
Barrydale, South Africa
Opening ceremony of the 29th international Peace Pagoda project, Barrydale South Africa 2000
Asia
Bodhgaya, India
In 1969 at Bodhgaya, near the site where the Buddha is believed to have preached the Lotus Sutra. The event coincided with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.
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Darjeeling, India
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The Shanthi Stupas in India were established by Fuji Guru, a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, for World Peace. The Nipponzan Myōhōji Buddhist temple at Charlimont in Darjeeling is one of them. Work on the Stupa began in 1972 and it was dedicated on 1 November 1992.
Delhi, India
Currently (2007) a World Peace Stupa is being constructed in the Indraprasht Park, east of Humayun's Tomb, Delhi.
Ladakh, India
The Shanti Stupa in Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) was built by Nipponzan-Myōhōji monks, headed by Head monk Nakamura, with the help of local people. It is situated at a hilltop in Changspa village providing a bird's eye view of Leh town and the surrounding mountain peaks. The stupa was opened by the Dalai Lama in 1985.
Vaishali, India
The stupa at Vaishali was inaugurated 23 October 1996
Hanaokayama, Japan
Work on the first Peace Pagoda began in 1947 at Hanaokayama with basic hand tools. It took seven years to build, being completed in 1954.
Hiroshima, Japan
The Peace Pagoda was built in 1966 to commemorate the lives lost in the A-bomb blast, and contains gifts of Buddha's ashes from the then Prime Minister of India and Mongolian Buddhists.
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Nagasaki, Japan
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Mount Kijosumi, Japan
1969
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Narita-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan
Built in 1984, the pagoda at Narita-shi in Chiba Prefecture is 58m high and situated on a small hill.
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Lumbini, Nepal
Lumbini Stupa peace pagoda in Nepal was dedicated in November 2001 at the birthplace of the Buddha.
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Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan
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Pokhara, Nepal
Balanced on a narrow ridge high above Phewa Tal, the brilliant-white World Peace Pagoda in Pokhara QTVR is a massive Buddhist stupa which was constructed by Buddhist monks from the Japanese Nipponzan Myōhōji organisation. Besides being an impressive sight in itself, the shrine is a vantage point which offers spectacular views of the Annapurna range and Pokhara city. There are three paths up to the pagoda and several small cafes once you arrive.
Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Created by the Kingdom of Nepal for the 1988 World Exposition, Brisbane's World Expo '88, the Brisbane Nepal Peace Pagoda is now a permanent commemorative structure of the Expo, and is now located at the transformed Expo site, South Bank Parklands.
The three-storied Pagoda was constructed of Nepalese Terai timbers, and assembled on the Expo site for the Expo. It was relocated to its new riverfront location at the conclusion of the Expo for the opening of the Parklands in 1992. It now features commemorative displays of the Expo, and a place for quiet and reflection. A Peace Bell also features, as well as a Peace Post in the Pagoda garden.
Europe
Vienna, Austria
panorama picture of stupa on the shore of the Danube
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get information from their official site: http://www.peacepagoda.eu/ (in German) the Nipponzan Myohoji order and Rev. Gyosei Masunaga is active here since 25 years.
Birmingham, England
On 26 June 1998, the Dhamma-Talaka Peace Pagoda was dedicated in the Ladywood district of Birmingham. The Venerable Dr. Rewata Dhamma is a senior Burmese Buddhist Monk who is the prime mover behind the building of the Peace Pagoda and the new Buddhist Centre.
Milton Keynes, England
The Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda (52°03′28″N 0°43′32″W / 52.057697°N 0.725436°W) was completed in 1980 at the northern edge of Willen lake in Willen, Milton Keynes. This was the first Peace Pagoda in the western world.[3]
There is a Nipponzan-Myōhōji Order temple and monastery nearby (52°03′20″N 0°43′34″W / 52.055436°N 0.726181°W).
London, England
The London Peace Pagoda (51°28′55″N 0°09′32″W / 51.482018°N 0.159025°W) was completed[4] in 1985 on the south side of the River Thames in Battersea Park, London. Permission to build it was the last legislative act of the Greater London Council.
Comiso, Italy
On 24 May 1998, the Reverend Morishita[5] dedicated a stupa (36°57′43″N 14°38′02″E / 36.962°N 14.634°E) at Comiso in Sicily, near the NATO base there.
Kuchary, Poland
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Benalmádena, Spain
The Buddhist master, Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche first visited Spain in 1990, teaching at Karma Guen, a buddhist meditation center near Benalmádena. He built his first Stupa there in 1994, the Enlightenment Stupa of Benalmadena and the largest in the western world at the time, "as a landmark of peace and prosperity for the country". [6] Note that this stupa is not part of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji movement.
North America
San Francisco, CA
The Peace Pagoda in San Francisco (37°47′06″N 122°25′47″W / 37.785054°N 122.429827°W) is a five-tiered concrete stupa in Nihonmachi (Japantown) and is located between Post and Geary Streets at Buchanan. It is part of the Japan Center complex[1] which opened in 1968. It was designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro Taniguchi and presented to San Francisco by the people of Osaka, Japan. This stupa is not associated with Nipponzan-Myōhōji.
New England: Leverett, MA
All recent Peace Pagodas in the United States were erected using 100% donated funds, tools, and labor.
The New England Peace Pagoda (42°29′56″N 72°29′28″W / 42.498994°N 72.491108°W) is the first Nipponzan-Myōhōji Peace Pagoda to be built in the US and was completed in 1986.
Grafton, NY
Grafton, NY
The Grafton Peace Pagoda (at 87 Crandall Rd., Petersburgh, New York 12138 42°45′04″N 73°24′32″W / 42.751109°N 73.408756°W) was dedicated in 1993. (The mailing address of this Pagoda is in Petersburgh as Grafton does not provide delivery service, but the Pagoda is within the boundaries of the Town of Grafton.)
The site grounds consist of a temple, gardens, pond and the pagoda.
Each year on September 11, a group of marchers begin a walk that begins at the Grafton Peace Pagoda Site and ends in New York City two weeks later.
Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
The Great Smoky Mountains Peace Pagoda (under construction [7])
- c/o Nipponzan Myōhōji, Atlanta Dojo : 1127 Glenwood Ave., Atlanta, Georgia 30316
St Norbert, Manitoba, Canada
A stupa has been constructed at the St Norbert Arts Centre[2] in St. Norbert (Winnipeg, Manitoba), Canada
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Los Alamos, Valle de Bravo, Mexico
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See also
References
- ^ http://www.buddhistinformation.com/nichidatsu_fujii.htm
- ^ The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List
- ^ [http://www.mkweb.co.uk/Places_to_visit/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=411 Places to visit in Milton Keynes: the Peace Pagoda
- ^ Peace Pagoda in Battersea Park
- ^ Rev. Morishita
- ^ Benalmadena - Stupa
- ^ The Great Smoky Mountains Peace Pagoda
External links
- Dharmawalk.org: Information on Nichidatsu Fujii, Peace Pagodas and the work of Nipponzan Myōhōji.
- Peacepagoda.org, based in Leverett
- The official website for the Milton Keynes Nipponzan Myōhōji Peace Pagoda
- Pictures of the Milton Keynes Nipponzan Myōhōji Peace Pagoda.
- Grafton Peace Pagoda
- BUDDHISM FOR WORLD PEACE: Words of Nichidatsu Fujii at Milton Keynes in 1979, Translated by Yumiko Miyazaki, Japan-Bharat Sarvodaya Mitrata Sangha, 1980.
- Location on DigiLondon
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