Global Peace Walk Benefit at Mateel
Shinto prophecy finding the red-skinned people

Southern Humboldt Life and Times

Humboldt/Mendocino California Weekly Newspaper

Tuesday, March 19, 1996

Global Peace Walk Benefit at Mateel

By Dalia Roddy

On Friday, March 29, the Mateel will open their doors at 6 p.m. for a gala evening of food and music. Tickets are $10 at the door and the proceeds will be used to help fund Reverend Yusen Yamato's participation in an upcoming Global Peace Walk.

Reverend Yusen Yamato was born in Japan. At the age of 12, he entered a Buddhist monastery where he lived for the next eight years. Upon leaving the monastery, he joined a Zen Buddhist temple as a master disciple. He studied under his master for three years, and, when his master died, Reverend Yamato left the temple and began a life of pilgrimage.

Over the years, he traveled extensively, visiting temples and churches and involving himself with a broad spectrum of religions. His mission was to carry forth a message, one which had been passed down for 700 years, linked with an ancient Shinto prophecy.

The prophecy details world events and points to the time when global peace will become an essential ingredient for global survival. The message is: That time is now.

"All over the world," Rev. Yamato said, "there is fighting for land and life. One government's logic doesn't work. We must get our house in order and look beyond it to protect the globe."

According to Rev. Yamato, part of the Shinto prophecy entailed finding the red-skinned people. It said that there would be the white, the black, and the yellow, but that the prophecy could not be fulfilled until the red was found. For hundreds of years, monks had been searching for the red, not knowing who they were, or where they could be found.

Rev. Yamato came to America in 1975, searching for the red-skinned people and carrying his message. In 1976, he encountered the Hopi tribe and found that an ancient Hopi prophecy closely detailed some aspects of the Shinto prophecy.

In the next 20 years, Rev. Yamato worked with many Native American spiritual leaders, helping to develop special international relationships with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has participated in several peace walks, introducing the interfaith peace pole ceremony as a symbol of unity and peace.

Five years ago, Rev. Yamato came to Humboldt County and initiated a Tree of Life Ceremony in the Sinkyone area. At that time, he and many others planted 2,700 redwood trees, symbols of peace.

In 1991, the Reverend Participated in the Sunrise Ceremony in Central Park in New York. At 4 a.m., 15,000 people gathered together in the park to celebrate their message of peace, hundreds of monks among them. With Rev. Yamato was Hopi Elder Thomas Banyacya .

According to the Reverend, part of the prophecy said that three times the fellowship of the red would knock on the western gate.

Together, the Reverend, Hopi Elder Thomas Banyacya, and many others approached the United Nations. According to the Reverend, they were met at the gate by the United Nations Secretary who had the official papers accepting Thomas Banyacya into the U.N. It was the fourth knock.

The purpose of the Global Peace Walk, according to an organizational handout, is to "bring out Global Peace Now as a prayer by all of humanity and to foster the development of a Spiritual United Nations to affect Global Peace Now by establishing, with The Peace Pole Ceremony, Global Peace Zones across the country and around the world. After the Earth Day Peace Pole Ceremony in Taos, New Mexico (April 20, 1995), the Mayor declared Taos the first Global Peace Zone pursuant to this campaign."

Reverend Yamato is working to declare Humboldt County a Global Peace Zone. His message is, "Someday, all human beings must recognize that The Globe is our house and our altar. Someday, all human beings must pray 'Global Peace Now!' to protect our land and life."

Reverend Yamato will be at the Mateel on March 29. He encourages anyone wishing to join him on his trip to Taos and the subsequent Global Peace Walk to Santa Fe, to do so.

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