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Ring that peace bell, mama!
I just discovered that the Japanese gave a Peace Bell to the United Nations in 1954! Did you know about it? I didn’t, but then I realized that if my mother were still alive, I probably would have. She was a tourist par excellence.
I’m planning to visit the United Nations on our mini-holiday to New York in May. Amazing, isn’t it, that I lived there for 17 years and never knew about the bell? I hope I’ll get to see it. Here’s a little background material:
“The Japanese Peace Bell was presented to the United Nations in June 1954 by the United Nations Association of Japan. It was cast from coins collected by people from 60 different countries including children and housed in a typically Japanese structure, resembling a Shinto shrine, made of cypress wood.
“It has become a tradition to ring the bell twice a year: on the first day of spring, at the Vernal Equinox, and on 21 September to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. In 2002, the General Assembly set 21 September as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.
“In 1994, there was a special ceremony marking the fortieth anniversary of the Japanese Peace Bell. On that occasion, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said: ‘whenever it has sounded, this Japanese Peace Bell has sent a clear message. The message is addressed to all humanity. Peace is precious. It is not enough to yearn for peace. Peace requires work.’”
Upon gifting the bell to the United Nations, Renzo Sawada, the then Japanese Observer to the UN said, “The bell embodies the aspiration for peace not only of the Japanese but of the peoples of the entire world. Thus it symbolized the universality of the United Nations.”
Here are some particulars. “The bell is 3 feet 3 inches high and 2 feet in diameter at the base; it weighs 256 pounds. It is housed in a Shinto-like shrine made of cypress wood and is located in a landscaped area north-west of the Secretariat building at UN Headquarters in New York City at 42nd Street and First Avenue. The bell bears the inscription in Japanese: Long Live Absolute World Peace. The base of stone for the Peace Bell structure was donated by Israel.”
If I were going to see the peace bell with my mother, she would have in her hand a guidebook that would provide particulars like these. As we looked at the bell, she would read these fun facts to me. It drove me crazy as a child, and I’d give just about anything today to have her here to drive me crazy.
Here are some remarks from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Headquarters, 21 September 2007, at the ringing of the Peace Bell:
“Peace is the highest calling of the United Nations. We were scheduled to have this Peace Bell ceremony six years ago, on September 11, the day the General Assembly was to begin. Of course, this Peace Bell ringing ceremony was canceled.”
Did you know this?! I did not. It felt so poignant to hear this of that frightening day. At the time, I lived less than a mile from the World Trade Center. Had my mom been alive at that time, I know she would have been frantic to reach me.
“Peace defines our mission. It drives our discourse. It draws together all of our worldwide work. This work for peace is a constant work in progress. In countless communities across the world, peace remains an elusive goal.
“On this International Day, let us promise to make peace not just our priority, but our passion. Let us pledge to do more, wherever we are in whatever way we can, to make every day a day of peace.”
He then suggests we sit in silence at noon for one minute on that one day. But, wait. My grandmother collected bells. There is a bell which sits on my altar every day. Is there any reason I can’t create it as my own personal peace bell and ring it once every day for world peace? None that I can think of.
And besides, then I’ll have a daily practice to remember my mama’s love for me. Ring that peace bell, mama!
Visit Dr. Susan Corso’s website www.susancorso.com.
P. S. Let all the peace bells ring! This is my 100th post for Ode. It is an honor and a privilege to share my peacework in this community.
Congratulations Dr. Corso for hitting a century=)
Wow! I hope, I too hang around here long enough to post my 100th story on Ode.
I remember buying a "singing bowl" from a Tibetian seller two years ago when I was visiting Mcleod Ganj at Himachal. He convinced me that ringing it once a day will dispel every negativity from the house and fill it with peacefullness and prosperity.
I was not sure about his claims, but I paid a bomb for it only because I loved the music it made. It did bring a certain calmness to the mind.
Well I brought it with me and forgot about it. While reading your post I just remembered how beautifully it sang when I rubbed the wooden stick around its rim rythmically.
I must go and pull it out from my cupboard!
posted by Nazia Mallick on 5/11/2009 11:03 pm