• by Daisaku Ikeda (965 words)
• Thursday, July 21, 2011
• Inter Press Service

The human spirit has a truly remarkable capacity -the ability to generate hope from the most devastating of crises. This ability to create value can be seen in the response to the earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, writes Daisaku Ikeda, a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and peacebuilder and president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI).

In this article, the author writes that our response to the disaster must be to create enduring value out of tragedy. This means coming to a deeper understanding of the true nature of human happiness. This in turn will reshape the way humankind envisions the future in all its aspects, including the critical area of energy policy.

Just as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 forced a rethinking of many issues, the accidents at the Fukushima nuclear power plant are having a profound impact on people's views and attitudes the world over.

Although the concrete options available to each country will vary, there can be no doubt that a new current in human history is being born. This is seen in the aggressive promotion of renewable energy sources, the development of energy-efficient technologies and the more careful management of resources generally.

(*) Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and peacebuilder and president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI). For details of Soka Gakkai's response to the March 11 earthquake, visit www.sgi.org.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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