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	My conviction remains firm today. Peace is not some abstract concept far removed from our everyday lives. It is a question of how each one of us plants and cultivates the seeds of peace in the reality of daily living, in the depths of our being, throughout our lives. I am certain that herein lies the most reliable path to lasting peace. ~ Daisaku Ikeda, 2004 Peace Proposal
Please note that this web page is under continual development as new issues and questions arise on how to apply the Earth charter in our daily lives. If you have further submissions or questions, please email us at earthcharter @ sgicanada.org (no spaces). Planting the Seeds of Peace Many people speak of peace as a social or political state; as something that depends on others to exist. By this line of reasoning, peace is created by society, or created by government. From a Buddhist perspective, however, the starting point for creating a lasting peace begins with the life of an individual. Peace begins with one person, making a life-long determination to nurture personal qualities that recognize the intrinsic value of a single life on our world. In Buddhist terms, peace begins by recognizing that each person has the potential to live a valuable and constructive life. While we may all have the capacity to do great harm, Buddhism teaches that despite this negative potential, we are just as able to create positive good. Shakyamuni's highest teaching known as the Lotus Sutra gave the example of Devadatta, one of Shakyamuni's disciples who later became jealous of Shakyamuni and attempted to kill him. Despite everything Devadatta tried to do to Shakyamuni, In the Devadatta Chapter of the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni stated that despite everything Devadatta did, he would in fact attain Buddhahood. As this story illustrates, in Buddhism, regardless of the evils one person may cause, the potential for Buddhahood, or enlightenment still exists because it exists in all life in the universe. Only when we are deluded into acting upon the Three Poisons of Greed, Anger and Foolishness, is our potential for enlightenment--for creating value in our lives--side-tracked by selfish, destructive desires. "A great revolution of character in a single individual will help achieve a change in a society, and further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind." ~ Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution How does this relate to the Earth Charter? The Earth Charter, as a multi-national, multi-faith, multicultural grassroots document, recognizes at a fundamental level the importance of supporting programs and activities that nurture humanity's capacity to live a truly sustainable, equitable and just way of life. Only through nurturing positive qualities that will develop a culture of peace and non-violence can genuine peace exist in our world. The Earth Charter is inherently a document that depends and encourages grassroots activities to forward the goals expressed in itself. Individuals, through creative and dynamic engagement with others in the community, are able to make a difference by positively affecting their environments through their example and their activity. By spreading the values of the Earth Charter in our daily lives, we can then create waves of peace that can withstand the violence others can create out of fear, greed, anger and foolishness. By staying steadfast in our determination to establish a culture of peace at the community level, we are then capable of using non-violence as a tool to change society and the culture of conflict that has plagued humanity since the dawn of civilization. Only by nurturing the qualities of tolerance, understanding, and recognizing the humanity in everyone, can non-violence be the strong tool that Mahatma Gandhi used to unite a nation and quell its violent tendencies. What can I do? The first thing you can do is be more aware of your attitudes and habits towards yourself and towards others. The more we recognize our own potential to create positive value in society, the more we have the confidence to engage in meaningful dialogue with others. The more we recognize the potential of others to create value, the more we can appreciate what others bring to the discussion on creating a world of genuine peace. This is more than mere rhetoric. But it all depends on our own determination to translate the ideals of peace into concrete reality through our own attitudes and actions. It is up to us. Copyright SGI Canada 2004-2007. All rights reserved.