Buddhist fire and water ritual for world peace comes to Africa

At the Aqua Theatre by the dam in an indigenous forest, a pair of tall, lean Samburu warriors light a fire.

It sets the stage for the Japanese Shinnyo-en Fire and Water Ceremony.

Community elders chant prayers while the Samburu morans stage a warrior dance alongside the Sarakasi Dancers, as the singer Hellen Okoth’s mellow voice resonates in the background.

The drumbeats quieten. An entourage of splendidly dressed men and women in flowing silk gowns walk down the red earth path.

They pay their respects to the Buddha and take their place on the stage to await Her Holiness, Shinso Ito.

Her Holiness, who holds the highest rank in Japanese Buddhism, is the head of the Shinnyo-en or Borderless Garden of Truth, a Buddhist school that has more than a million followers worldwide.

Central to Shinnyo-en is the belief, expressed in Buddhism, that all beings possess a natural, unfettered purity that can respond creatively and compassionately to any situation in life.

In 2007, the Aqua Theatre put on its first show — Prelude. The awe-inspiring show featured performing artists from around the world who portrayed the story of the Earth.

Since then, founder of the Gallman Nature Conservancy in Laikipia in Kenya’s Rift Valley, Kuki Gallmann, and her daughter Sveva have turned it into a theatre for the arts and cultures that are inclined towards environment and peace.

Global peace anniversary

This year, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW) — of which Kuki is a founder member — the gathering met at Ol Ari Nyiro.

Founded a decade ago, the GPIW promotes the leadership of women at both grassroots and global levels.

But it’s not exclusive to women. It has a three-fold focus: Deepening inter-religious dialogue; leadership training for youth and raising environmental concerns.

It’s surreal to watch the Shinnyo-en Fire and Water ceremony performed for the first time in Africa.

Created by Her Holiness Shinso Ito, it is based on an ancient fire ritual (Homa) performed in various forms in Hindu, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhist and Jain traditions.

The contemporary ceremony has fire as the purifying element to light the way to universal knowledge, allowing individual spirits to shine. But if misused, fire has the power to destroy.

Water offers solace, heals and represents compassion. In Buddhism, incessant desire and ignorance create a “thirst” that is calmed by Buddha’s compassion that is symbolically water.

As the last of the prayers are said and the fire quelled by the two morans, the lone hippo from his watery abode grunts as if in agreement and then amid the drumbeat and theatre lights, the youngsters in animal costumes conclude the ceremony with the boat sailing past, lit with lanterns on a tree full of messages for peace wrapped around the Leleleshwa twigs under a starry night.

To say it’s ethereal is not an over statement and once again, the Gallmann girls take the accolade for another spectacular event.

Peace initiative

The three-day gathering in Ol Ari Nyiro brims with women and men from conflict areas across the globe talking on the theme of “Reconciliation and Forgiveness,” and exploring models of healing caused by the politics of war, violence and elections.

“Members discuss topics that are diverse but interrelated on environmental degradation, conflict, economic inequality and gender imbalance, and foster a new generation of leaders who understand the complex nature of the globalised world in which we now live and who are adequately equipped to find creative solutions,” states Dena Merriam, GPWI’s founder and convener based in the US.

The heady mix consists of delegates from close and far-flung countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Japan, China, India, America and Cambodia.

Dr Juuko Ndawula, president of the International Institute of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine from Uganda starts the session with a prayer from the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, which epitomises the universality of God — ek on kar (in Gurmukhi) — God is one.

Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute for Learning, relates how in the face of the horrors of the three-decade-long war in her country, she has built a 100-bed-hospital without government help and started outreach programmes working with traumatised citizens.

GPIW is instrumental to her work in seeking ways to enable her to progress and network.

“The Koran does not allow violence,” reflects Dr Yacoobi.

“My organisation reaches 9.1 million people in a country where the Taliban has wrought misery. Afghanistan has an ancient civilisation.

"It is the home of Sufi saints like Rumi and Hafiz who preached love and forgiveness, but we have forgotten all that. We don’t want guns and tanks, which create a vicious circle of violence.

"We want education and love. It’s a completely different reaction to violence. Humanity is that l cannot do to others what l cannot have done to me.”

The silver-haired Kuki arrived in Kenya in the 1970s, became a citizen, lost both her husband and son in tragic accidents and over the years has become a crusader for peace and environmental justice.

Her best-selling novel, I Dreamed of Africa, became a Hollywood blockbuster.

“The Great Rift Valley is the cradle of humanity. But the world is losing the plot and hence the environment is taking its revenge with increasingly frequent floods, droughts and other environmental disasters,” she says.

“This is a time for reflection and reconnecting with Mother Earth; to say sorry for what we have done to her; to patch up the damage and restore health.

"We have a strong commitment to protect and look after the environment on which our lives depend. This is why the Laikipia Nature Conservancy is a sanctuary to protect biodiversity and life.

"Nothing is killed here; life is nurtured from the smallest to the largest being.”

Peace for all

Rev Dr Celestine Musekura, the founder of African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries from Rwanda continues the forgiveness dialogue, reflecting on her country’s 1994 genocide and its aftermath.

“We had to let go of hatred and replace it with forgiveness,” she says. “To end violence is a process, to be replaced with justice and reconciliation.”

Dr Alia Rafaa from Egypt, co-founder of The Human Foundation, says: “Peace is a common goal; Women have been marginalised in this important issue and we need a balance.”

She adds: “Justice is a masculine characteristic while mercy is a feminine characteristic. Peace cannot be found without spirituality. It is not abstract but overwhelms our existence.

"We have reached a state of knowledge, unprecedented in our history. Now we have to look for ways to make the world a better place and realise peace in conflict areas."

“Sisi tunataka amani na umoja (we want peace and unity),” says young Jackson Jaspara, a member of the Pokot Peace Youth Team performing at the Shinnyo-en ceremony.

“Mama (Kuki) called us here to talk about peace because of the fighting with Samburu and Kikuyu. Now we are not fighting. Peace is good.”

Mentoring the youth

In 2004, GPIW selected former journalist Barbara Hachipuka Banda from Zambia, who was attending a youth summit in Senegal, to grace the Pan Asian Pacific Summit in Japan.

“It’s focus was on how to involve more youth in decision making with regard to the Millennium Development Goals.”

In Japan, Banda met the nuns from Shumei International and learnt about natural agriculture.

“It is based on the philosophies of Joyrei, which is prayer and meditation to pass the flow of positive energies to the next person and Himisono, which is about art and beauty,” explains Banda.

Banda’s late mother had started a women’s co-operative where rural women could access loans to better their lives.

For Banda, this offered her the venue to progress with her new training in natural agriculture.

“It fits with the MDG 7 – which is to keep the earth safe,” Banda adds.

“In 2002, we started the natural agriculture programme with 2000 women. Our motto is ‘natural food is healthy eating’.”

It is sold in supermarkets in Zambia under the label NADPZ (Natural Agriculture Development Programme Zambia).

“GPIW has had an unbelievable impact on m. It developed me to who I am, which in turn helped me develop my project that now helps 6,000 women in agriculture and is growing.

In Zambia, women are supposed to be seen and not heard and there is a major gap between the classes.

GPIW is about mentorship and thinking out of the box. Today, I am a powerful Black woman because of it,” says Banda.