Recently, many scholars and intellectuals have noted that, due to the massive destruction of our environment, we are now on the verge of the total demise of humankind. Meetings concerning this problem have been held where similar warnings verifying this fact have been issued. Yet, even at this critical stage, no viable solutions to our global problems have been put forth.

It was thirty years ago that the Jikobukkyo-kai first sent out warnings concerning the eventual destruction of our global environment and ecological system, as well as the destruction of humankind, due to our overemphasis of a life-style that pursues comfort and luxurious pleasures; a life-style that, at the same time, defies life itself including the ecological system we live in. Now our fears have come to pass. We have now reached a point where we either take the necessary actions needed to restore our endangered environment and avoid human destruction or suffer the consequences. There is no tomorrow. We ask for your help in undertaking the drastic measures needed to curb this crisis as soon as possible.

All the peoples of the world are aware of the disastrous results that would occur if one country decided to assert its national ego through the use of military force. We are, however, less aware of the ramifications of countries attempting to manifest this national ego through economic force. This force is much more damaging than the former. Yet, in order to develop economically, each country throughout the world has adopted this force as a national aim. This has resulted in the world reaching a critical point in its history and has threatened the very existence of human beings.

The time has come for us to forgo our national egos and devote our energies towards helping one another; cooperating with each other in the search for viable solutions to the crisis we all face in order to ensure the eternal existence and happiness of humankind. The world we live in today can no longer contain a civilization that pursues such nationalistic happiness. We are at a time when we must pursue this happiness and well-being through cooperative, rather than competitive, means. To accomplish this, we propose that all nations of the earth truly unite in discussion in order to form a United Nations that is a place of harmony for co-existence and to gradually proceed to construct a peaceful world nation.

Our concept of economics is erroneously based on a system that stresses mass production and mass consumption. Our terrestrial resources are limited. If we continue on this path, we will inevitably find ourselves facing a world of depleted resources leading to the degradation and eventual collapse of all living matter on earth.

The environmental crisis we face today is a result of the cutting off of various life-sustaining cycles of Nature that depend and interact with each other (for example, the O2 and CO2 cycle between plants and animals, the water cycle, the ecological transmigration of animals, plants, and microorganisms both above and below the earth, as well as others). Our quest to attain the pleasures and comforts of life must be limited at least to the extent that it does not disrupt these cycles of Nature.

To ensure the continuance of human life, the present economic system must be scaled down to a more manageable level. Also, national budgets must allot funding for the recycling of paper, the recovery of heavy metals, the neutralization of industrial poisons, and the reexamination of domestic detergents, regardless of the toll such action may take on the economy as a whole.

The development of industry is given top priority in most, if not all, nations of the world as it is believed that industrial development is vital in attaining successful economic growth. Yet, it is this development of industry that has had the most destructive effect on our global environment. Industrial smog and smoke pollute our air resulting in acid rain. Factory drainage spills into our rivers, lakes, marshes, and seas. An abnormally high level of O2 consumption causes an irregular accumulation of CO2. The use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS) depletes the ozone layer. Nuclear power generation leaves behind radiation pollution. Industrialization, which has disrupted numerous natural cycles of the earth and has damaged the self-cleansing power of Nature, will eventually lead to the demise of all life on earth. Thus, industrialization as it stands today, equates to nothing less than death, in the true sense of the word.

In light of this, we call for a general scaling down of industry in the developed nations of the world to the extent that it ceases to interfere with the natural cycles of Nature. Too, we call for a moratorium on the further development of present industry. Industrial development in other areas of the world, including Third World nations, must be carried out at a moderate scale with full attention given to the conservation of Nature.

Agriculture, which is vital to the continued existence of humankind, must be regarded as our most important industry. Thirty years have passed since we first issued warnings concerning the hazards of using chemical fertilizers and agricultural chemicals in the farm industry. This agricultural technique does nothing more than reject living entity and the ecological system killing the soil, useful worms, and, over time, human beings. In particular, agricultural chemicals act on our brain, our nervous system, as well as our endocrine system. Through the continual use of these chemicals in agriculture, over a thirty-year or so span, it gradually leads to cancer, leukemia, rheumatism, collagen diseases, as well as liver disorders. To a certain extent, the occurrence of criminal action, as well as suicide, can also be indirectly attributed to these agricultural chemicals.

We call for a return to the use of non-chemical based agricultural practices that rely on organic fertilizer, in order to ensure the maintenance of a soil that is healthy and has productive powers. The use of organic farming techniques conforms with the laws of ecological reincarnation. That is, we turn everything that comes from the soil into an aerobic, fully ripened compost and return it back to Mother Earth. We have been practicing this technique for over thirty years and have discovered that not only is this method possible, it is also healthy, labor saving, and economical. The harvests we have reaped from this soil, as well, have been both qualitatively and quantitatively fruitful. By scaling down industry and promoting chemical-free organic agriculture, not only will we have enough food to eat, but enough work to do, as well. We must first, though, realize the necessity of agriculture itself in terms of our personal health and livelihood before we can understand the destructive effect present-day agriculture techniques, along with the food distribution system, which are based on the concept of economic efficiency, have had on us. With this in mind, we should extend our full support to protecting agriculture and promoting organic agriculture.

The fishing industry is also in need of our attention. Taking in more fish than we really need through the use of various kinds of apparatus threatens their existence as well. In order for us not to destroy the ecological system of fish, a thorough investigation, followed by bilateral agreements on fishing, is desperately needed.

Despite great financial expense as well as labor expense on the part of many doctors and scholars; despite tremendous strides being made in creating effective medical treatment, modern medicine has failed in its quest to conquer sickness and heal sick people. To the contrary, the number of diseases as well as the number of sick people have increased. Modern medicine has made progress in emergency treatment. Yet, in reality, this advancement has resulted in a curing-the-illness-but-contaminating-the-patient phenomenon. This is due to the fact that modern medicine has overlooked one serious piece of reality. That is that most illness does not exist independent of life itself. Essentially, illness stems from an erroneous life-style; a life-style sustained by a diet that is unbalanced and relies on chemically-treated foods; a life-style that is being chronically poisoned from environmental pollution. Treating people who are sick only at the point of the illness itself using predominantly industrial conceptions and methodology, as is the practice of modern medicine, is like picking the weeds from the surface of the earth and disregarding the roots of the weeds below the earth's surface. At best, this leads to a temporary containment of the illness providing temporary relief to the patient, ensuring that, like weeds, the sickness will surface even stronger than prior to treatment the next time around.

In order for us to overcome sickness and reduce the number of people seeking medical treatment, we need to supplement the great progress being made by modern medicine in emergency treatment with a more holistic form of treatment that aims at strengthening the patient's life through the correction of the patient's life-style itself and thus cutting sickness off at its roots. This new treatment must establish close ties with the agriculture industry, environmental science, as well as philosophy and religion.

A people-oriented society is managed by the people. For this reason, society must strive to develop the whole youth in attempting to cultivate a righteous human nature. An educational system like the one at present, that exists for the sake of producing machine-like human beings for the sole benefit of industry and the economy, will surely meet with grave disaster in our future society.

To develop an effective education system, within the teaching of science, the study of the ecology must be completely woven into a deep awareness of "life." Moreover, the essence of science must be presented from a philosophic perspective in order for it to prevail over contemporary scientific myths concerning the role and function of human beings within Nature. Also, education must emphasize the significance of Nature, including the benefits bestowed upon us by Nature. Furthermore, in educating the youth of our society, we must instill in them a deep physical as well as emotional awareness of religion and art.

Human beings, in their arrogant illusion of being the supreme living entities on earth, have forgotten the gifts we are recipient of though Nature and have neglected our due respect to Nature itself. We have also forgotten the benefits and importance of love in respect to life itself. Consequently, cooperation amongst human beings has all but disappeared and, in its place, a competition for human survival has surfaced. This wild fantasy of contemporary human- kind has resulted in the creation of a renegade culture with earth pollution and destruction to show as its "accomplishments." It is surely a time for religion to take an active role in seeking out solutions to these problems.

Despite the critical situation we find ourselves in, the religious sector has not responded to the world in its time of need. Religious bodies, thinking only of their own preservation, and lacking a true understanding of the essence of science, needlessly compromise, submit to, and flatter modern civilization while neglecting to preach the meta-scientific Truths that enlightened their founders. Thus, their work concerning the salvation of humankind is left undone.

Now is the time for the religions of the world to come to grips with the actual circumstances, the actual conditions, as well as the limitations of modern culture and its driving force, modern science, and demonstrate authority in guiding people. It is also a time for people of different creeds to acknowledge their points of difference as they are and to devote their energies to saving the earth from demolition. Now is the time for us to join hands in unity with each other at our common points of true faith leading to the existence of wisdom, love, and ability while transcending human nature, repentance of the ego, and the practice of love and mercy. Religion, however, being attributed to a meta-scientific element, often goes beyond reason thus producing "fake religions" that poison society. Thus, if a particular religion lacks even one of the above three elements, it must be regarded as being in error. Too, extravagance and monetary profit should not be a part of matters concerning religion.

The education and government policy of Meiji-era Japan (1869-1911) which oppressed all other religions and, through its ultra-right wing National Shinto religion, brainwashed the people of Japan, committed an unpardonable crime against not only the Japanese nation but all other nations of Asia and the world, bringing about misery and sorrow. We reflect on this and, from the bottom of our hearts, we repent for this, Yet, at the same time, as our present atheistic culture professes to be a country of peace, we have to ask ourselves whether or not our words are nothing more than just empty slogans. What are we doing to attain this culture of peace? I get a chilly feeling from modern culture, based on false religions or atheistic principles, running helplessly out of control, lacking direction.

It is only through the blessings of Nature and through the creation of a harmonious relationship amongst the living creatures of the earth (the ecological system) that the existence of humankind will be allowed to continue. We have failed to realize this critical fact. As a result, we have been hallucinating in thinking that it is our natural right as human beings to be able to destroy and remove from Nature as we please, killing countless numbers of other living creatures and destroying their livelihood. The modern civilization constructed upon this hallucination is on the verge of collapse. It is time we reflected on and repented for the sins we have committed against Nature and drastically reform the life-style our modern culture has brought upon us. If we choose to continue on this suicidal course of life, it will only lead to the destruction of humankind and the demolition of our global environment in the near future.

We are running out of time. All nations of the world must relinquish their national egos and, through harmony and cooperation with other nations, choose a path of life that will assure future generations a chance to live happily in the world we now inhabit. To attain this, the developed nations of the world must first realize that there are limitations to our quest for attaining the comforts and pleasures of life, and that they have far exceeded these limitations in many areas. The developing nations of the world must realize that this fanatic pursuit of luxury on the part of the industrially advanced nations of the world is clearly in the wrong. All nations of the world must realize that the basis for human happiness is physical and mental health, and not materialistic wealth.

We are firmly convinced that the sole way to ensure the continuance of human life on earth lies in the creation of a society where each and every nation throughout the world cooperates with each other in the pursuit of peace and good health and not through competing with each other for the luxuries of life; where each and every nation returns its due respect to Nature through the recycling of waste matters, through the realization of the importance of agriculture over industry, and through the reverence of true art and true religion.

We pray to God and Buddha that you join hands with us through your understanding and assistance in putting a halt to the destruction of our earth.