Guest column by Shayla Paradeis & Mateo Sandate
Being asked to be delegates for a peace summit in Hiroshima on the International Day of Peace was one of the greatest honors we could have imagined. We said, yes, and immediately followed it with two questions: What is a peace summit? And how are we going to get there?
The event was a culmination of 12 years of spiritual pilgrimage. A troop of peace leaders from around the globe, led by an organization called Unity Earth, had been gathering in sacred places. They’d visited Thailand, formed a ‘Caravan of Unity’ across the United States (which included Carbondale) and bathed together in the River Jordan of the Holy Lands. Their mission was to promote peace through living examples of the coexistence humanity is capable of.
It sounded wonderful to us, but how would two Colorado musicians pay for a world class tour? We had two months. Without hesitation, we turned to our community.
We put together a fundraiser, beginning with a recording session donated by Cool Brick Studios, events hosted by the Center for Human Flourishing, interviews with The Sopris Sun and KDNK and a donation from Rebekah’s Lodge large enough to pay for our flights. We reached our goal of $10,000 the day before our payment was due. By the grace of our village and the seat of our pants, we were on our way.
The pilgrimage took place during Peace Week, Sept. 15-22. It led from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji and on to Hiroshima for the summit ceremony on Sept. 21 — a United Nations sanctioned holiday known as the International Day of Peace.
We gathered in Tokyo to meet our tour group. There were 51 delegates from 19 different countries. We sat among representatives from the United Nations, Sufi priests, Buddhist Monks, Aboriginal Elders, Toltec leaders, Native Americans, hip hop artists, new age musicians, sound healers and more.
After visiting a Shinto Shrine, we participated in a convergence seminar with 45 Japanese delegates who have built their careers on promoting peace. We sang together and shared our stories of what peace meant to us and how our lives’ work became dedicated to it. We were especially touched to connect with Dr. Masaru Emoto’s team, who have provided remarkable evidence of the effects of human consciousness on the molecular structure of water.
The next day, mesmerized by a 12,000-foot cinder cone backdrop, we were welcomed to the Mount Fuji Sanctuary by the Goi Peace Foundation. Masami Saionji, the head chairwoman, greeted us through tears, saying that each of us was born with the destiny to gather there on that day, and that she’d been waiting. She is the daughter of the enlightened master, Masahisa Goi, who had received the message to hold prayer for world peace in the sacred shadow of the mountain.
On the grounds of the sanctuary was a circular yard the size of several football fields, surrounded by every flag in the world. Members of the Goi Peace Foundation meet by the thousands to pray for peace in every country. Their prayer, “May peace prevail on earth,” originally received by Masahisa Goi, has been recited millions of times since the atomic bomb dropped in 1945.
We took that prayer with us to Hiroshima. On the International Day of Peace, our group had now bonded like family. We walked together through the Peace Park at the hypocenter of the atomic bomb site, and were invited to experience the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. There were no words for what we experienced among the tattered clothing and real photos of moments after the bomb was dropped. When we emerged into the sunlit trees, the preciousness of life was deeper in all of us.
Later that afternoon, an atomic bomb survivor, Miss Toshiko-san, greeted us with a warm smile. She shared her story. Her advice was to be in nature and meet people from other countries; to feel the connection that’s so naturally friendly and human. Later in life, she found much healing in expressing herself through art. Her paintings have been raked into the sand of Zen gardens all over the world. We all laughed when she admitted, “It took me 80 years to get this smile.”
The next morning was our closing ceremony. The two of us were asked to sing on a platform stage along the Motoyasu River, next to the only bridge that withstood the blast. We couldn’t help but giggle as the fish jumped in the water, now surrounded by a beautiful Peace Park woven with walking paths through ancient trees. We presented a song we had written in Japan, Peace Prevail, an offering to the extraordinary people of Japan, and to the river itself.
After our return home, we got news that the organization of atomic bomb survivors who had hosted us in Hiroshima, Nihon Hidankyo, had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024. We reflected on the honor to sit with one of its members, and thought of her smile receiving the award.
In Japan, we awoke to the awareness that peace is within. Peace is available every second, with every beat of the heart, in all of us.
Thank you, Carbondale, for sending us to Japan on the currency of community. May peace prevail on Earth!
For more stories, photos and songs, please join us at A Spiritual Center (Suite 31 at the Third Street Center) on Sunday, Nov. 24, at 10am. Or, for a holiday sing along, join us in the Round Room of the Third Street Center on Dec. 8 at 4pm.
For more info, visit www.MateoAndShayla.com
