Peace Activist & Buddhist Monk Handa Shonin San R.I.P.

by Ciaron O'Reilly - London Catholic Worker Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:11

On Thursday Feb 21st., I headed up to the Nipponzon Myohoji temple in Milton Keynes. http://www.mkbuddhism.org.uk/
I travelled for the inquest of Gyosei Handa slated for the following day.

At the temple, I met up with Sr. Maruta who I had first met at the "Seeds of Hope Ploughshares" trial in Liverpool '96. She has lived at the temple for over 20 years. Astrid who I had first met on a peace walk form London to Belfast in the summer of '96 had also travelled up from London for the inquest. Astrid had been a nun in the order, resident at the temple for 15 years, she has since worked at L'Arche and is presently studying nursing. Karen Fallon who I first met at the temple in 2000, and was later to join in with a ploughshares action in Ireland www.peaceontrial.com , had volunteered to temple sit. It was great to see Karen again - especially as it was back in the setting, and with the people in whose company, we were first introduced. Karen was living at the temple for a year when we first met.

Handa entered the order in Sri Lanka in January 1978. He had died at the Milton Keynes Temple October 31st. 2007, a few months short of the 30th. anniversary. Sr. Maruta would be departing for Sri Lanka immediately following the inquest to attend the celebrations Handa had been due to attend.

We chanted, meditated, dined and slept in the temple. A temple Handa was pivotal in physically constructing http://www.pbase.com/chrisayriss/image/70051204

It was great to be amongst Karen, Astrid and Sr. Maruta with whom I had shared so many experiences on vigils, nonviolent resistance to warmaking, court scenes and celebrations over the last 10+ years. Many of those experiences were shared with Handa who was no longer with us but whose work and love enveloped us.

Handa was born 2/12/56 in Niigita, Japan. He left Japan at 18 years of age on a pilgrimage through Thailand and India. In India, he encountered the small Japanese Buddhist order Nipponzon Myohoji. The order was founded by Fujii Guruji in 1918. It is an order commmited to nonviolence, world peace and compassion. The order teaches a deep reverence for others through mouth - body - heart. It is commited to solemn prayer physically enshrined by the building of peace pagodas and walking across the world disarmed, beating their meditation drums and chanting the mantra Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo. The order's founder was particular challenged by the devastating bombing of Hiroshima August 6th.1945.

Handa volunteered building peace pagodas in India before travelling to Sri Lanka where he became a monk on 15/1/78 and where he helped build the Sri Pada peace pagoda.

Handa arrived in Milton Keynes later in 1978 where he began the building of the peace pagoda and also a temple on the edge of Willen Lake. The area was leased to the order by the Milton Keynes Park Trust for the symbolic rent of one newly planted cherry tree a year and the maintaining of the 12 acre grounds. The monks and their guests live simply and the temple is sustained by voluntary donations of money, time and labour. This involved regular mowing - an old tractor and a hay topper were acquired for the task. This machinery was maintained by Handa.

Handa was well known locally and in the international peace movement for his simplicity, sincerity, smile, tranquility, hard and gifted labour.

The morning of the inquest we rose at 5 am for the daily chanting and meditation in the temple. We chanted and drummed for an hour, visited a back room containing memorials to the founder of the order and Handa. We then exited the temple into the cold and dark, walking, chanting and drumming our way to the peace pagoda http://www.pbase.com/chrisayriss/image/70025903
We circled it three times, bowing, chanting and drumming and faced the direction of the sun rise. We then went nearby to where Handa had died and where there is a small shrine and photo, we lit incense, candles and prayed.

The inquest was downtown at the Milton Keynes civic offices on Friday morning Feb 22nd.. The coroner facilitated preceedings with dignity and a number of witnesses were called.

The day on which Handa died was described as wet, drizzly and overcast. A woman with four children walking along the lake noticed Handa driving the tractor and hay topper on the slope above the pagoda. As she walked with the children up the hill, she noticed Handa was off the tractor. She then noticed the tractor begin to head down the slope, she saw Handa running after it trying to board it. She then lost of sight of him.

The hay topper was described by the engineer, who had examined it, as 3 part hitch unit, consisting of 3 rotary blades belt driven with universal drive and 3 discs. The tractor had shown signs of wear and maintenance. The hand brake ratchet had gone, the only effective way of braking this tractor would be to raise the lever and hold it. The lever to hold the foot brake was missing. The foot and handbrake were both working well, but the only way to leave the tractor stationary after dismounting would be to turn the engine off and leave the tractor in gear. There was nothing wrong with the mowing device. but there was a lack of a safe braking device. The engineer assessed that it should not have been in use given these braking deficiencies.

The tractor seems to have run of its own free will down the hill. Handa would have been concerned with the possibility of it running down to a point where it would threaten pedestrians and cyclists along the lake path at the bottom of the hill. Once it started rolling there was no easy way to reboard this tractor. The door had to be open to gain access to a small footstep, the grass was wet. The mower machinery (2.5 metres) was wider than the wheel base (1.7 metres)

It appears that Handa trying to reboard the moving tractor slipped on the wet grass between the tractor and the hay topper. He was caught completely under the mowing device and dragged by the tractor down the hill. The Consulting Orthapedic Surgeon who attended the scene assessed that Handa would have been killed immediately by crushing and asphyxiation and of multiple injuries by the mowing device. A passing cyclist, who answered the initial cries of the woman on the scene with the four children, attempted to take a pulse but could not access Handa's neck, only the head protruded from under the mowing device. The cyclist also tried to turn off the tractor by accessing the keys in the ignition but couldn't, he was unaware of a lever that turns off the vehicle. The attending surgeon, emergency services and police testified to much muscle, bone and remains left on the grass where the tractor ran down the hill before coming to rest on a slope.

After recess, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

My earliest memories of Handa are walking through the north of Ireland in '96. This was before the ceasefire had kicked in, following the huge IRA bomb in Manchester, 10,000 plastic bullets were fired in Derry & Belfast that summer. It was my earliest encounter with the Nipponzon Myohoji order and it seemed odd to be walking through the north of Ireland during "marching season" with a group of people dressed in orange and beating drums. But as they say "if anyone offers to take you on a strange journey. Go!"

I have this beautiful memory standing on the rocks of the Giants Causeway looking up to see Handa striding along the cliff his robes blowing holding aloft a purple Buddhist banner against the sky. I remember sharing a room with him at Corrymeela. He was expressing an interest in coming along on a ploughshares action. I expressed a concern that his drum beating might give us away before we got to target!

Handa's humility, grace and chanting for hours outside military bases, arms corporations, various trials and in the thick of anti-globalisation fracas was like a heartbeat. Whether you were growing increasingly tired, grumpy, frustrated or scared his mantra and drumbeat would call you back to the goodness of your original motivations for being there confronting power. It created the space to let you psychically and emotionally regroup and regain the intiative.

Handa's resonant tone while chanting was beautiful. His quiet chuckle and the way he'd nod and respond "huh" in acceptance to the dodgy explanations for the ridiculious situation I, or others, had created was also beautiful. The feeling I would get from being in the presence of Handa was similar to what I experienced in the presence of Phil Berrigan. Even with a healthy chunk of self doubt and awareness of my frailties and excesses - the realisation that I was on the same team as these guys who were so gifted, humble, disciplined, focussed and of service meant I couldn't be too far wrong or off course. Handa's presence was reassuring.

by Scottish Stephen - Buddhist Wed Jan 16, 2008 19:45 henntsp at yahoo dot com

I stayed in both London temple and milton keyness too. Handa Shoni helped me and I know of other people he helped too.

He was a very great man. Sometimes he was intimidating to be around as he was so talented.

It was easy to feel guilty and humbeled around him as things seemed to happen so easily and effectivelly for him.

Gone but not forgotten.

Handa Shonin the other Nipponzan Sangha will continue the work of spreading peace which you devoted your life too.

Na Mu Myo Ho Renge Kyo.

by Ross Wilcock Tue Aug 28, 2007 17:51 arwilcock at sympatico dot ca

How sad it is when a good man passes - yet he is our examplar.
The world, indeed the universe - is enriched by such work and gracious example.
How wonderful to have participated in building the Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda - in England!
When England builds Peace Pagodas where its wars have been fought - there will be change for the better.
Rev. Handa has planted seeds for peace. May they grow and flourish.

Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo

by patricia murphy Mon Aug 27, 2007 21:34 regener8now at yahoo dot co dot uk

this is a terrible loss and l am deeply saddened by the news of Handa Shonis death. l rode on the back of that tractor and worked some of that land along with Handa and the nuns,Maruta and Yuko Anji San.
It is all the more tragic that the accident happened on the land that he tended with such care.l remember discussing the possible trees l could plant in the grounds as a memorial to my son John Carley who had died tragically in 2002. l chose a Red chestnut and it grows today on the hill behind the temple.
Handa and the sisters showed me a great deal of generosity,kindness and a willingness to be with me in my grief during that terrible time. l have never,ever forgotten their support.
May Handa be remembered for his care and concern for all sentient beings.
My deepest condolences to Maruta and Yuko anji san,and family members.

by Doug Blane - www.MKBuddhism.org.uk Sat Aug 25, 2007 17:05

Handa Shonin San the head monk at the Milton Keynes Nippon Myohoji Buddhist Peace Pagoda, sadly passed away in Milton Keynes on Tuesday 21st August 2007 after an accident involving a tractor.

For further details about the funeral arrangements,
please call: +44 (0)1908 663652

Or look online at:

http://www.MKBuddhism.org.uk

Na-mu Myo-Ho-Ren-Ge-Kyo

Picture © Doug Blane

Handa Shonin San during the 2007 Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda Ceremony

by fr stephen cummins Fri Aug 24, 2007 15:20

Amidst all of the words flying about the Four Courts, during the Ploughshare's Trials, Handa stood in silent prayer/meditation outside the court. He stood as a still-point amidst the swirling words in the court and the moving traffic of vehicles and people outside. A good epitaph for Handa: he kept vigil. May he do so eternally. We are all the better for his presence.
fr stephen cummins, cork

by Deirdre Clancy - formerly Pitstop Ploughshares Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:16

I will always remember Handa's big strong hiking boots, slightly incongruous underneath his traditional monk's robes, designed for walking the (peace) walk, which was what he did in life, quietly, consistently, yet with what I sensed was huge stubborn determination. I loved his presence outside court; it was calm, humorous, sane, loving and (importantly for us at the time) emotionally undemanding.

Rest in peace, Handa Shonin San - until we meet again.

by Justin Morahan Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:28

Along the Quays and in inner Dublin your chanting and drumming, along with Marta, wakened the dead of the city to the drama unfolding in the Four Courts. Unassuming and gracious, your constancy was appreciated, also your patience in the cold wind and rain over the prolonged trials of the Pitstop Ploughshares.

Heartfelt sympathy to all who loved and appreciated you.

by pat c Fri Aug 24, 2007 09:59

I saw a short piece about a Buddhist monk being killed in a lawn mower accident but I didnt realise who it was. May Handa Shonin San Rest In Peace.

by Robbie Sinnott Fri Aug 24, 2007 09:40

Very sorry to hear the news; a peaceful, cheerful, inspirational man; I'll try to dig up the interview he did in March 2005 about the legacy of nuclear holocaust.