by Masuo Nezu

"The world is my home"

Rev. Niwano "encountered" Dr. Shin'ichiro Imaoka, president of the Free Religious Association of Japan, at a round-table discussion entitled "The Age of Inter-Religious Cooperation Has Come." (Their discussion was published in the December 1965 issue of Kosei.) "Encounter" (deai in Japanese) was a favorite term of Dr. Imaoka's.

Dr. Imaoka and Rev. Niwano had first met in the late 1950s. In those days, at meetings of the Japan Council for Inter-faith Cooperation, Dr. Imaoka noted Rev. Niwano's great passion for religious cooperation, as well as his remarkable efforts toward that end.

On March 15, 1983, Rev. Niwano had a friendly chat with Dr. Shin'ichiro Imaoka (right) at a Tokyo hotel.

"The world is my home" was virtually Dr. Imaoka's slogan. He was fond of reading history, and was especially keen on Arnold Toynbee's belief that we need not distinguish between the ancient, medieval, and modern ages, since all ages are the present to the historian. Dr. Imaoka once referred to the pleasure of reading history and contemplating historical events and persons in his study: "When I look at history with my mind's eye, the actions of heroes, saints, wise men, and ordinary people from ancient times to modern times in the East and West are developed before me. It is my greatest happiness to come into contact with all of humankind."

Although he was a man of quite small stature, he had a broad vision which allowed him to see and understand Rev. Niwano's "bigness." Therefore Dr. Imaoka was keenly responsive to the founder's ideal of interreligious cooperation. It is well known that later, Dr. Imaoka introduced Dr. Dana MacLean Greeley, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, to Rev. Niwano, and that "encounter" helped lead to the establishment of the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP). (See the installment on Dr. Greeley, number 18).

Dr. Imaoka graduated from Tokyo Imperial University at the beginning of the twentieth century, and then from the Harvard Divinity School in the United States. He was a pioneer of religious liberalism in Japan. Several of his talks with Rev. Niwano were published in the Kosei Shimbun newspaper. On such occasions, Dr. Imaoka sometimes said that it had been his decades-long dream to hold the World Congress of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) in Japan. He always added that there was no one other than Rev. Niwano who could make it come true. That dream of his was realized by the 25th World Congress of the IARF, held in Tokyo in 1984. At that time, Rev. Niwano was the president of the international organization.

Dr. Imaoka addressed the opening ceremony of that Congress--held in the main auditorium of Fumon Hall and attended by some 5,000 people, including 800 delegates from 22 countries around the world. He began by reading a few lines from his prepared text written in Japanese, then suddenly stopped. The audience held its collective breath. After a momentary pause, he resumed his speech extemporaneously in excellent, fluent English. Dr. Imaoka had been born in Japan in 1881. By this time, he was already well over one hundred years old. His English, which he had studied since the nineteenth century, was vivid and clear--to the wonderment of the entire audience. It was admired not only by native English speakers from Great Britain, the United States, and Canada, but of course by everyone else as well. When he finished his speech, resounding applause echoed throughout the huge hall.

Rev. Niwano's talk with Dr. Soshitsu Sen 15th Grand Tea Master of the Urasenke School in northern Kyoto, was titled "Utilizing Tradition in the Present Day." (It was published in the November 1970 issue.)

Dr. Sen wore kimono, and he elegantly served ceremonial tea to Rev. Niwano, according to the Otemae ritual. His first words to Rev. Niwano were naturally a graceful introduction to his discussion of the "Way of Tea" and its history--beginning with the sentiments of wabi and sabi (peculiarly Japanese concepts of simplicity and elegance). Then they discussed the spirit of Buddhism. This was, by chance, the time of the First World Assembly of the WCRP, then being held in Kyoto. Rev. Niwano spoke a great deal about peace.

Dr. Sen said, "What are you doing is putting into practice the wakei (peace and respect) that is esteemed together with seijaku (purity and tranquillity) in the Way of Tea. Don't you think so?"

And he referred to the following words of Dogen, the Japanese Zen master: "To learn the Buddha Way is to learn about oneself. To learn about oneself is to forget oneself."

Rev. Niwano responded, "Well, Shakyamuni Buddha, who himself taught us all of the teachings, says, 'I preach not even a single word.'"

So the conversation of these two men of one mind continued without pause--such that the moderator sitting beside them could not get in a single word.

There is one contrary example, however. With Rev. Mumon Yamada, president of Hanazono University, the title was, "World Peace Is to Be Built with the Spirit of Buddhism." (This was published in the December 1970 issue.) Yet, although each had read several books by the other before their talk, the moderator was unable to pull Rev. Yamada into the topic from the beginning. Finally, after they had digressed for awhile, the tense atmosphere was eased as both Rev. Yamada and Rev. Niwano spoke of their recollections, and of their excitement upon visiting various sacred Buddhist sites in India. That led in time to their referring to the very points at issue--which people face today. So by the end of their talk they found they were mutually congenial spirits and concluded together that those who hold the key to peace are people of religion and that they should strive further toward that end.