The Story of the Grafton Peace Pagoda
In 1978, Native Americans organized the "longest walk," wherein participants walked cross-country from San Francisco, CA to Washington, D.C. Accompanying them on their walk was a Japanese, Buddhist nun from the Nipponzan Myohoji Order. Since then, Jun Yasuda has crossed the country four more times on foot, beating her drum while chanting a prayer for peace:
Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo.
In 1983, during one of her fasts, she was approached by Hank Hazelton, a long time activist for Native Americans. Hank had heard of her work and offered her a parcel of land in Grafton, NY, once inhabited by the Mohicans, for the purpose of building a "monument for peace." In October of 1985, work began on the structure soon to be called the Grafton Peace Pagoda.
Since the Japanese Nipponzan Myohoji Order is not permitted to solicit money for any reason, the pagoda was built entirely with donated labor, funds, and materials. Many volunteers contributed tens of thousands of hours of labor to complete the pagoda. After eight years of toil and struggle, the pagoda was completed and dedicated in the fall of 1993.
Over the course of time, visitors from many nations and all walks of life began to arrive at the site. Representatives of numerous faiths: Christians, Catholics, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Native Americans, Sufis, Buddhists, Baptists, and agnostics have all been drawn to this special place.
Peace Pagodas are a symbol of non-violence dating for as far back as 2000 years ago During that time, the Emperor Ashoka of India, a notoriously bloody warlord, was approached after a particularly wretched battle by a Buddhist monk who admonished him for his wrongdoings. From that time on, Ashoka became a fervent believer in Buddhism. After his conversion he gave up his warlike ways and began erecting buildings in the name of peace. It is believed that more than eighty Peace Pagodas no exist throughout the world. (The next closest one is the Leverett Peace Pagoda in Massachusetts.)
In 1931, Nichidatsu Fujii, founder of the Nipponzan Myohoji Order, met Mahatma Gandhi in India. They became friends and together joined in sending out prayers for peace and n on-violence throughout the world even as the clouds of World War II began to grow on the horizon.
"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 Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii -
] Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo ]