BERLIN WALL


                   Reconciliation?

What does that mean? The Chapel of Reconciliation in the Bernauer Strasse in Berlin  raises this important question.


Located on the very "no man's land," the "death strip" which divided East Berlin and West Berlin for most of the Cold War Years, the Chapel has a special significance, for it is a symbol, and it could be a focal point for all of us to reflect on the word reconciliation.


Just when the original bells from the old and blown-up Church of Reconciliation were sending-out the "Sounds of Peace into the Four Directions," into a world so deeply troubled by plague, famine, and war, just at that moment Wibke and Rebecca and Hiromi and the Pastor and I offered "A Bowl of Tea for Peace into The Four Directions." And then we have the question: what is reconciliation?  Is it just a good word? A good idea?


Is reconciliation just a good word? A nice idea? Or is it actually a high-level human activity, as opposed to low-level human revenge? Could it even be a daily practice, that follows us about like our shadow in our everyday comings and goings with people? We create habits, so we can also undo habits. When we open to the creative possibilities of the mind, we then open to the inherent beauty of the mind. Not trapped by the guilt and blame of our culture and upbringing, sadness can rise-up from the depths of our heart of basic good-ness. Like ice melting into our glass of water, the unkindness of revenge dissolves, and we discover that self and other are not so different. Blame is undermined. Revenge is paralyzed. In the open space of mind free from like and dislike, we discover compassion mind, free from hope and fear. Free from good for me, or not good for me. This is the daily practice of discovering that guilt and blame are simply out of date. Somehow we discover genuine power. Bravery for example. Remorse for example. Commitment for example.


Turn the mirror inward, and we see that somehow we too are a part of this personal and environmental break-down. Turn the mirror inward, and we discover commitment to kindness.


This is called, turning the flower out-ward. Together these two turnings are the daily practice of reconciliation in every-day life. Very very simply, we connect with how we are personally caught-up with all the dramas, and how we personally add something to all these dramas.

WA-HIN-DO

                                                                                                                                                                                          (日本語で読む)
    A few years ago, a few guys from the Rolling Stones staff came to Shotoku-an. We enjoyed tea together, and the next day a gift and a letter arrived; and in that letter they spoke of their travels around the world with the Rolling Stones for the last 25 years, and they spoke about traditional cultures losing ground everywhere they went. They said they just want to support this dojo, as a study place for traditional culture. It was quite wonderful at that time; and today it was again quite wonderful, because at a small shop, Wa-Hin-Do,                                                          


a young Japanese guy is keeping alive the traditional art form call "Kin-tsugi." And I too felt like these visitors to Shotoku-an. So very touched that at Wa-Hin-Do, Hattori-san is one of the very few people still repairing cracked and chipped pieces with pure gold-powder and natural urushi lacquer from the urushi-tree.


In his hands, something once beautiful becomes more beautiful. Something damaged becomes whole. What was, becomes what is. These pictures are the five-step process he follows to bring new life into a broken sake-cup.

These are the same five-steps he followed to bring "KOSMOS" back to life. #1 lacquer is used to glue the pieces back to together. For "KOSMO," he did  this three times for about two weeks, applying urushi-lacquer, scraping, polishing, and again applying urushi.  #2 is a different kind of urushi, to build-up the base coat. For "KOSMOS" he did this five times times for severaal weeks. #3 is the first layer of gold powder. #4 is the second layer of gold powder. #5 the final layers of gold powder. For one month, Hattori-san applied clear urushi and gold powder. And again and again he polished the gold and applied urushi. This is a critical step which includes the problem of dust; so traditionally this was done in a boat out on a lake. In the case of  "KOSMOS," did he do this? The gold powder is not the usual type, but very finely ground by special gold-smiths. Today's price is one gram for 7000¥. Mr. Hattori-san worked on "KOSMOS" everyday for about three months,

and listening to him and looking into his eyes, we could see his deep feelings for this chawan. Usually he does not feel this way, but he spoke of almost crying when he first looked at the broken pieces. Immediately for him this was a very special chawan, and he was almost afraid to start the repair process, which would take three months, and skills he was not up to. He was very touched by the fate of this chawan, because the break was not from the top or bottom or the left or right. The impact point was perfectly from the front. Directly and head-on. Not surprisingly, it was right on the point of greatest beauty. For him this was not some coincidence; he felt something about her fate, that this was not a surprise but was bound to happen.


"If it breaks again," he said, "you must bring her back to me at once. Must!"

HIROSHIMA-NAGASAKI

Ryukyu Kingdom, once a proud and cultivated kingdom, was taken-over by colonial control and became the place of the last battle in 1945. And the worst battle in world history with 500,000 people killed, heavy loss to native peoples, heavy rape, heavy suicide, heavy shame from defeat. 80% of all native culture and historic buildings destroyed.  Things happened quickly. In February "they" started looking for the atomic bomb test site. April-May-June was the battle of Okinawa. July 16, just two weeks later was the testing of "the gadjet" at the Desert called "Journada del Muerto," the Journey of Death Desert in New Mexico. Then it took only three weeks to ship the bomb to Tinian Island and fit it into the airplane, fly it from Tinian, and "drop it-off" over Hiroshima. A few days later the target for the second bomb was the christian church of St. Mary in Nagasaki. Very interesting: the plutonium for this "Fat-Man" bomb was mined in north Canada.


Also very interesting: this first bomb called "Little Boy" was not actually tested due to not enough fuel, but just four hours after the testing of "the gadjet," the cruiser Indianapolis left San Francisco. The code-name for the test was "Trinity," meaning Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Following the explosion, Director Robert Oppenheimer read from the Bhagavid Gita: "If the radiance of 1000 suns were to burst at once into the sky,  that would be like the splendour of the Almighty One. I am become death, the shatterer of worlds. The destroyer."


Asako and Maiya offered "A Bowl of Tea for Peace into the Four Directions." At Hiroshima.


And at the Nagasaki Peace Angel, Yuko, Pascal, and I offered the same. At the UNESCO Peace Garden. In Paris.


Writing this today is 66 years later; and already people want to forget, to not remember, to repeat. Do not want to feel implicated in any way. Do not mind the twisted usage of language and words like Journado del Muerto, Trinity, Bhagavad Gita, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indian-apolis, San Francisco, Christian church of St. Mary, the gadget.