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Tel. (095) 183-30-11; mailto: gordina@mail.ru ,
http://www.newhumanity.org.ru , Р akferma.org/news, expo2005
REPORT of professor Nakazawa
На Дне Ассамблеи Мира,
в российской секции ЭКСПО-2005, г. Нагоя, Япония,
25 августа 2005 года
About the World Peace Prayer Society and the Goi Peace Foundation (NSEWA in NAGOYA, August 25, 2005)
Prof. Hideo Nakazawa (Tokyo University, Trustee of Goi Peace Foundation) 
First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ms. Liubov Gordina of Noosphere Spiritual Ecological World Assembly, the staff of the Russian Section in the Exhibition, and Ms. Mayumi Jingu of the Planetary Academic Federation.
Until only a few months ago, I knew nothing of the Noosphere Spiritual Ecological World Assembly. Ms. Barbara Wolf, founder of the Global Meditations Network, whom Ms. Gordina mentioned in her speech, introduced me to the World Assembly. Please let me first introduce the Global Meditations Network and Ms. Barbara Wolf.
The Global Meditations Network is an Internet organization whose members work continually for world peace. The network emphasizes the need to expand global consciousness and it works to heal the earth and help with human problems. I myself belong to the Network.
Ms. Wolf and I became friends through activities of the World Peace Prayer Society, a peace organization located in New York State. The Society, a NGO of the United Nations, holds a Flag Ceremony praying for World Peace at the UN New York headquarters every year on September 21, the annual International Peace Day. This is a ceremony during which a prayer is recited for peace and happiness to prevail in every nation of the world while raising the national flag.
The World Peace Flag Ceremony has been held in almost every large city around the world. I would like to show you photos of events I have attended.
-Flag Ceremony in Hiroshima, December 2000, where I first met Ms. Wolf.
-Flag Ceremony in Hiroshima Park of Kiel, Germany, August 6, 2001.
-Flag Ceremony with indigenous people for Gratitude to Mother Earth at the foot of Mount Fuji, June 2004.
-Flag Ceremony in Hiroshima, August 6, this year.
These events have been also featured in television news and newspapers.
-an article of a German newspaper, August 7, 2001
-an article of Asahi Shinbun newspaper, August 7, this year.
Besides Flag Ceremonies, another important peace activity of the Society is a peace pole project. A peace pole is a 2 meter high pole with the inscription of "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in different languages on its four sides. The peace pole is a silent prayer which reminds us of the most important value in our times. We have planted more than 300,000 peace poles in about 180 countries.
I would like to show you some photos of peace poles.
-Hiroshima Park in Kiel, Germany, Aug. 6, 2001
-Rawalpindi, Pakistan, March 2002
-Israel, July 2003 (UN's International Year of Fresh Water)
-Baghdad, Iraq, March 20, 2004.
This world peace movement originated in Japan shortly after the end of the Second World War. As is well known, Japan suffered tremendous damage from this war, especially from two atomic bombs that exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing hundreds of thousands of people in a moment. The Japanese people who had experienced the terrible destruction strongly longed for a peaceful world without war and nuclear weapons.
This longing for peace found expression in a simple prayer "May peace prevail on earth" proposed by Masahisa Goi, a Japanese teacher, philosopher, poet and author. He himself had lost his brothers and friends in the war. His wife, whose roots were in Hiroshima, lost her entire family from the atomic bomb explosion over the city.
Such devastating experiences encouraged him to start a world peace movement to spread the message and prayer, "May Peace Prevail on Earth", to unite the hearts of humanity regardless of faith or creed.
Masahisa Goi passed away 25 years ago. To promote this universal peace movement internationally, the World Peace Prayer Society was incorporated in New York in 1988 as a nonprofit organization. It was then recognized in 1990 as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) associated with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations.
The Goi Peace Foundation was established in Tokyo in 1999 as a sister organization of the World Peace Prayer Society. The two organizations cooperate closely through their shared projects and network while at the same time pursuing activities specific to their missions.
The Goi Peace Foundation is dedicated to promoting world peace, transcending all boundaries of race, religion, or politics, with a belief that peace begins in the mind of each individual.
The Goi Peace Foundation launched the Declaration for All Life on Earth to promote a shared vision of a truly peaceful and harmonious world for all life in the 21st century. Our collective wisdom and joint efforts are needed to ensure a bright and sustainable future. It is our hope that the Declaration will serve as an instrument that brings together individuals and organizations committed to this aim.
At the outset, the Declaration says: "The earth is an evolving living entity. Every form of life on earth is an important part of this living entity", an underlying idea of the so-called Gaia hypothesis promoted by English scientist Dr. James Lovelock. The Declaration sets forth four major principles.
1. Reverence for life
We shall create a world based on love and harmony in which all forms
of life are respected.
2. Respect for all differences
We shall create a world in which all differences are respected.
Admiration and respect must be mutually given among different races,
ethnic groups, religions, cultures, traditions and customs. The world
must be a place free from discrimination or confrontation, socially,
physically and spiritually - a place where diversity is appreciated
and enjoyed.
3. Gratitude for and coexistence with all nature
We shall create a world in which each person is aware that we are
enabled to live through the blessings of nature, and that we must live in harmony
with nature, showing gratitude for all animals, plants, and other forms
of life.
4. Harmony between the spiritual and material
We shall create a world based on the harmonious balance of material
and spiritual civilization. We must break away from our overemphasis
on the material to allow a healthy spirituality to blossom among
humanity. We must build a world where not only material but also
spiritual richness is valued.
Every year the Goi Peace Foundation awards a Goi Peace Award to a person who has done distinguished service for world peace. The recipients have included:
-Dr. James Lovelock whom I have already mentioned.
-Dr. Erwin Laszlo, Founder and President of the Club of Budapest.
-Pfofessor Takeshi Umehara, a famous Japanese philosopher who has received the Order of Cultural Merit, Japan’s most prestigious award.
-Dr. Robert Muller, Chancellor Emeritus of the UN University for Peace and a former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations.
-Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, former President of Costa Rica and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize of 1987.
I have researched Noosphere Spiritual Ecological World Assembly material and found purposes and ideas similar to those of the Goi Peace Foundation. I think the two organizations share the recognition that mankind is gradually being systematically swept by global crises so that urgent measures are needed for sustainable and harmonic development of the civilization.
It is my hope that the two organizations will be able to work together for global peace in future.