KENYA: Japanese Buddhists hold peace summit with Kenya's warring communities

Record ID: 362241

  • Title: KENYA: Japanese Buddhists hold peace summit with Kenya's warring communities
  • Date: 8th March 2012
  • Summary: TROOP DANCING AROUND FIRE DRUMMERS ON STAGE WIDE OF DANCE AND JAPANESE DELEGATION WATCHING
  • Embargoed: 23rd March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Conflict,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA1F8DGK68FI7M9XCIXR19D6PGT
  • Story Text: Young men from Kenya's Njemp ethnic community perform a traditional welcoming dance in front of a giant sculpture of Budda. Dressed in full warrior regalia complete with elaborate head dresses made from colourful beads and flowers, the boys sing a song used to congratulate fighters on their way home from battle.
    At first sight the scene might seem incongruous - Buddhism is not religion often associated with Africa.
    But on this occasion, the ritual is not performed for warriors. It is being used as a welcome dance for one of Japan's most celebrated spiritual leaders, Head Priestess Shinso Ito of the Esoteric Buddhist Sect, the Shinnyo-En.
    The Priestess came to Kenya to hold a Buddhist healing ceremony as part of an initiative to bring traditionally warring communities closer together.
    Held on a private conservancy in Laikipia in central Kenya on Sunday (March 04), the event was attended by representatives from the Samburu, Pokot, Njemp and Turkana communities as well international spiritual leaders from India, Afghanistan, America, Japan and Europe.
    The ceremony was a culmination of several weeks of preparation through peace workshops held with different community groups.
    Wilson Kithai is one of a number of young Pokot men who took part in acrobatics, yoga and dance workshops.
    More often associated with armed gangs and in particular illegal wildlife poaching in the region, the Pokot youth were supposed to use the occasion to explore ideas of peace and equality associated with Buddhist teachings.
    While Kithai said he didn't know much about Buddhism as a religion, he said the workshops had helped build a sense of identity and cohesion in the group.
    "When you just sit back no one will ever know who you are only people at home will know you, but I have found with acrobatics we can stand out and people like the Turkana will know us," he said.
    For the event itself, communities gathered at a temporarily constructed outdoor auditorium facing a large lake and giant Buddha statue built out of mud and sand.
    Hundreds came to witness the ceremony, presided over by the Japanese priests and contributed to by each different community group with pieces of dance and theatre.
    At one point, Head Priestess Shinso Ito carried out a traditional healing ritual involving fire and water and accompanied by chanting from her delegation of Buddhist priests.
    As darkness fell the stage was taken by a group of dancers from Kenya's capital Nairobi who performed a choreographed sequence in front of the Buddha and around the flames of a central fire.
    While it's not clear what impact, if any, such a lavish ceremony can have on reducing conflict between the communities, the symbolism at least seemed to leave an impression on those who took part.
    "I am really deeply moved, I am really excited and I would never have expected something like this to happen I my life," Minoru Shitara, one of the visiting Japanese Buddhist priests said.
    "I felt connected. Though not really practicing the Buddhism but I felt really connected to them, as in spiritually wise it was really moving, it was interesting yes," said Agnes Kiunga, one of the dancers from Nairobi.
    The night was rounded off with a moment for contemplation as a boat carrying a tree - a symbol of hope in some parts of Kenya - floated past performers, lit by a single flickering flame.
    Ethnic conflict has for centuries been a fixture among certain communities in Kenya who live in close proximity and regularly clash over the use of water and land resources.
    Various initiatives including arms amnesties and peace talks have been used in the past with varying success to persuade groups to down their weapons and get along harmoniously.
    But this is the first time on record Japanese Buddhists have become involved.
    The Shinnyo-En branch of Buddhism originated in Japan in the 1930s and today has more than a million followers worldwide. Central to the group's teachings is the idea that all beings possess a natural, unfettered purity that can breed compassion and creativity in all walks of life.
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