Speech of Shoten Minegishi

(1) My personal experience

①Question from the floor

Two years ago, in 2022 in Rome, at a meeting of the Community of St. Egidio, I took part in a round table discussion on Forum 4, ‘Prayer as a Source of Peace’. After our speeches, there was a question from the floor: ‘I have been interested in this meeting and have continued to attend for several years, but there is no end to the wars and conflicts in the world. Is it because our prayers, including my own, are not good enough?

 

② Opinion of Ms. Michiko Nojiri

This question was very interesting to me. One of the things I felt when I was young was, ‘Even though I participate in peace prayer gatherings every year, peace does not come. Is there any point in participating in gatherings like this?  At that time, I once asked this question to Ms. Michiko Nojiri, who was Director of the Centre Urasenke in Rome and supporting the activities of the community of St. Egidio. Ms. Nojiri gave her opinion, saying, ‘It is precisely because peace has not come that we must continue to hold gatherings like this.’

 

③The conflict within me

From the early 30s, while participating in the prayer meetings for peace held by the Community of St. Egidio, I had two worries. One was that I was not an expert in the peace movement. The other was that as a human being and a religious person, I was a small and poor existence. I constantly asked myself, ‘Am I doing enough work in Japan to be able to participate in such large-scale, global gatherings?’

Despite this awareness, I have continued to be involved in this gathering for peace up to the present day. The main reason for this is that I have a deep sense of fraternity with the people of the Community of St. Egidio.

 

④The anger of a friend

This is a story from a long time ago. There was an incident in which someone tried to handle part of this gathering between Japan and Europe in a way that suited him. I happened to be there and witnessed the body of a friend from the Community of St. Egidio begin to shake. His anger was expressed in the trembling of his body. At that moment, I realised that the people of the Community of St. Egidio truly and genuinely respect interreligious dialogue from the bottom of their hearts.

 

⑤Obligation to participate in the Assisi Gathering

Even so, I still had some doubts about whether I should participate in the gathering. However, this year, I felt a different kind of feeling. It was the realisation that it was one of my responsibilities as person who had participated in the 1986 Assisi Gathering to take part in this year's gathering. I felt that I had to be involved in this gathering as a witness.

 

6. Three reasons

There are three reasons for this.

The first reason is that many of the people who participated in the Assisi gathering have already passed away. The second

reason is that I concluded that if we leave it to chance, these gatherings will not continue naturally, and at some point, the energy to hold them will weaken, and there is a possibility that these gatherings will disappear in the same way as many gatherings in history.

Thirdly, when I became aware of my own age and circumstances, I felt that I didn't know how long I would be able to continue to participate.

 

(2) Reflections on interreligious dialogue

⑦ Our judgment becomes clouded day by day - the fundamental weakness of human beings

With the above in mind, let's return to the beginning of the talk. How should we accept the reality that ‘peace will not come even if we pray for it’? Although humans have a cooperative nature, they also seem to have a natural tendency to oppose each other. Since the beginning of time, it is thought that humans have been fighting against each other. They have experienced the tragedy of war many times and have probably thought many times that they don't want war. However, humans lack a certain kind of learning ability, and they keep repeating the same mistakes. Perhaps the reason why war will never disappear is because of the sad nature of humans.

 

⑧ The need to repeatedly appeal for peace as a religion

When we reflect on the nature of human beings, we realise that it is necessary to appeal to human beings to never wage war again, no matter how many times it takes. There is a particular reason why religion must play this role.

This is because war is characterised by the expansion of power and interests. Behind this expansion of interests lie the desires of individual human beings. As human beings, we tend to expand our desires and incline towards war, and I believe that religion can help us to control our individual desires.

 

⑨ The self is established by others

In Buddhism, the position is taken that everything is related to and supports each other, and that we exist. This means that all existence, including harmful bacteria, is related to each other and that our world is established. In other words, the self is an existence that is established by others other than the self. Therefore, coexistence with others other than oneself is the key to one's own existence. The main theme of the gathering of the St. Egidio Community held in Rome in 2020 was ‘No one is saved alone’. In the same way, as a Buddhist, I feel that ‘no one can live alone’.

 

(10) The means to destroy desire - self-inquiry

In summary, if you only prioritise your own desires, the existence of others will be put at risk. In other words, this will ultimately lead to the survival or extinction of the self. I think that if you think about today's critical environmental issues, climate change, etc., you will immediately understand this.

Unless we look at ourselves and open ourselves up to others, we tend to miss the fact that we ourselves are formed by others. We are unable to make correct judgements about ourselves and the world.

 

11. Why we need to continue interreligious dialogue

Normally, people involved in religion try to judge and interpret the world based on their own understanding of their faith, which is expressed in the form of doctrine. I believe that the validity of the framework and coordinates underlying these judgements can be examined through interfaith encounters and dialogue. My own experience is that interreligious dialogue is a place of tension where we can refine the framework of each other's religions and work hard to make each religion more adaptable to its own situation. In other words, we human beings are beings who stagnate if we do not encounter something different. I have experienced that the journey of interreligious dialogue is an effective means of leading each religion to self-renewal.

 

⑫The direction that interreligious dialogue should aim for

A journey trains a person. My pilgrimage for peace with the Community of Saint Egidio has given me many trials and joys. From this experience, I think that the direction that interreligious dialogue should take is to establish a level of respect and peaceful coexistence, even when there are differences of opinion, by delving down to the level of doctrine. Therefore, I believe that when we are aware of our own inclinations towards self-interest and are conscious of coexistence and symbiosis with others, the path to peace will open up.

If we can continue to open our hearts and take the attitude of approaching others with a step of our own accord, as we naturally do when we wash our faces every day, then peace will become something much closer to us.

 

Conclusion

Finally, I would like to emphasise three points.

1.     Although it is a long way, ‘the path to true peace lies in interreligious dialogue’.

2.     We must not lose hope for peace. It is important to always imagine peace in mind as we move forward.

3.     As I have said, my pilgrimage for peace has been supported by fraternity. In other words, fraternity is inseparable from interreligious dialogue and peace.

 

Thank you very much for listening.