A group of Buddhist monks from the Nipponzan Myonji Order (Japan) are on a unique pilgrimage of peace from Yasnaya Polyana in Russia to Lumbini in
Nepal and passing through Ukraine, Chechnya, Trans-Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. This Eurasian-wide Pilgrimage for
a War-free, Non-violent New Millenium began five months ago in Yasnaya Polyana, the home of Leo Tolstoy in Russia, and has already reached India. It
has intentionally chosen its routes through the heart of unprecedented historical transformation in lands once divided by the Iron Curtain.
Today, Eurasia (including South Asia) faces two choices: Increased military conflagration between competing civilizations. The pilgrimage will draw the
world’s attention to the real situation of victims in major conflict zones throughout Eurasia. The goal of the Eurasian-wide pilgrimage is to unite all peoples of
Eurasian region in the awakening for the common spirituality and humanity regardless of their different religions, cultures and nationalities. Through their
message of Peace, which the Pilgrims will spread by interacting with people along their pilgrimage, they aim to create a new non-violent, war free civilization
in the 21st Century.
In India, the pilgrimage has visited Sevagram, Wardha, to pay homage to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for independence. The
pilgrims now plan to follow the footsteps of Buddha by walking from Bodh-Gaya to Buddha’s birthplace at Lumbini, Nepal. The padyatra will begin on 12
November, 1998.
As a second stage after the padyatra to Lumbini, the pilgrims propose to make a joint declaration of peace with Indian activists, and follow it up with a peace
march to Pakistan across the India-Pakistan border. The starting date for this phase of the march is set for January 30, 1999.
The Pilgrims consists mainly of Buddhist monks of Order Nipponzan Myonoji. The founder of the order, Nichidatsu Fuji-Guruji is well known in India as a close
spiritual associate of Mahatma Gandhi, as the person who gifted Gandhi with the three monkeys. Fuji Guruji and his associates have also built Vishwa Shanti
Stupas in India, Europe and America. The pilgrims played an important role in anti-nuclear movement in America and Europe during 1970-1980s.
As part of their ongoing efforts to promote peace and understanding, the pilgrims are calling for complete nuclear disarmament by all nuclear states and
immediate cessation of the nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan.
The pilgrimage has received written messages of support from Mikhail Gorbachev; Aslan Maskhadov, President of Chechen republic Ichkena; Ruslan Aushev,
President of Republic Ingushetia; Arkad Tukasya, President of Nagorno-Karabakh; Parliaments of Georgia and Abkhazia; the Assembles of Peoples of
Kazakhstan; President Advisor of Azerbaijan; and the ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyztan.

The Yasnaya Polyana Affirmation :

(Undertaken by the Pilgrims at the start of their Yatra)
However difficult and distant our goal may seem, we are committed and determined to enter the new millenium in pursuit of creating a world free from war.
Instead of adopting new models and concepts of peace, many have continued acting according to the old concepts of fear, distrust and reliance on military
force and control. This has led to some of the bloodiest armed conflicts and massacres of all time, including the Gulf War, Bosnia, Chechnya and Rwanda.
The World Community has failed to use the crucial opportunities to reduce the military structures, which expanded so grossly during the time of cold war. As
a result, post-communist reforms have led to the brink of widespread civil war, nuclear terrorism and total economic breakdown. The double standards and
neglect of responsibility by the big nuclear powers has brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before, as recent nuclear tests in India and
Pakistan have shown.
The paramount challenge of nations and people as we enter the new millenium is to overcome the psychology and replace the structures of war. At the
beginning of the twentieth century, Leo Tolstoy foresaw the possible tragic of such trends as outlined above. His life was a soul-searching journey to
discover alternative horizons and a new non-violent world.
During this century, powerful undercurrents of non-violence have been developing simultaneously, embodied by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and
many others. We carry this momentum with us into the next millenium, determined to avert the present destructive course. We can transcend our religious
and national differences by embracing our common spirituality and humanity.
This pilgrimage is also a part of the international campaign called Hague Appeal for Peace ‘99 which is preparing the Hague Peace Conference scheduled for
May 1999. May 1999 marks the 100th Anniversary of the first Hague International Peace Conference.

We invite Chowkwalas to give their comments and suggestions about this pilgrimage, and come forward to help the pilgrims, especially for their peace
march across India-Pakistan border.