Part II — Brothers in peace: Tokuma Utsunomiya and Sri Chinmoy

On December 20, 1985 Sri Chinmoy met with Mr. Tokuma Utsunomiya, a member of the House of Councillors, National Diet of Japan, and a prominent spokesman for peace. Excerpts from their discussion follow.

Mr. Utsunomiya: I have heard a lot about you.

Sri Chinmoy: I have also heard much about you. I am told that you are the greatest lover of peace. You and I are sailing in the same boat. In my limited capacity, I also have been trying to serve mankind by trying to bring about peace. Your inner wisdom has touched the very depths of my heart. You have written that after World War Two the Japanese got the real experience of suffering, pain and agony. Their entire existence felt what disaster can bring. The way you have expressed in your writings the experience of the sufferer is so remarkable. The one who strikes does not know how hard he has struck. But the one who has received the blow feels how severe the blow was. The experience that the Japanese got is the real experience. The victors, the Americans, got a different kind of experience.