Nakashima Foundation for Peace

Preface
The art of George Nakashima is a unique celebration of both the beauty of trees and unspoiled nature and of the creativity of the human spirit. The furniture which he has designed and built for over fifty years blends in a memorable fashion Japanese and American values. It is original in conception, marvelously functional and aesthetically of the highest quality. There is a simplicity and grace of line and detail in his art of which only a person of unusual spiritual accomplishment and great technical skill is capable. It is a delight to the touch of the hand as well as to the eye. More than that, Mr. Nakashima's art has the power to provide the spirit an intimation of that world of timeless beauty and truth where there is the peace which passes understanding and inspiration for creative action. How fitting it is that this master has turned his hand to the creation of a great Altar for Peace. What a gift to the world this will be!

Steven C. Rockefeller
Honorary Chairman
Nakashima Altar For Peace

By Judith Baldwin Toy
I went to see George Nakashima's Altar for Peace. While visiting with the 81-year-old master woodworker, I ran my fingers over the glistening altar surface and listened to him relate adventures which, seemed to span the entire globe. His descriptions were so vivid I could almost hear the Sanskrit chants of sojourner Buddhist monks echoing in the room. We talked until the daylight from the high windows died and the darkness forced us to move into Nakashima's lighted studio building. Before entering the conoid studio room with its impeccable floor of walnut, rosewood and cherry we took off our shoes in keeping with Oriental tradition, and slipped into a pair of slippers provided by my host. Nakashima continued his story in a peaceful, unhurried manner. In his craft, he explained, he is constantly searching for wood. But the idea for the form the wood will take must come from the wood itself. In other words, it may be necessary to live with it for years to find a worthy way to transform and continue its life; a way that would pay homage to the tree itself.

In his constant quest for trees, Nakashima had come upon some huge and extraordinary timbers of American walnut. The use for them as an altar for peace came to Nakashima in a dream. He committed his dream to writing, and distributed the three or four pages of plans among friends. There was a rumbling of interest first in Princeton, then in New York, where a group of patrons decided the United Nations Building would be an ideal setting for the work of a great master dedicated to peace.

The committee was formed, with Nakashima's longtime friend and patron, Steven Rockefeller (son of Nelson) as Honorary Chairman, to help fund the project. "But the UN idea didn't work out," said Nakashima. "They're very political; they can't seem to get together on anything!" Before the UN idea was put to rest, Nakashima called upon two friends for help—the delegates from Sri Lanka and India, respectively, "but they had the same experience we did." The final irony was discovered late: the doors of the UN building were too small to allow passage for the altar, a half-ton of slabs of walnut measuring 10 1/2 feet by 10 1/2 feet

In the meantime, National Geographic has already begun to film the start of the project, which began for Nakashima with a pilgrimage to the island of Yaku in Japan, where he climbed a mountain to visit an ancient Japanese cedar estimated at 7,000 years old "probably the oldest tree on earth." In his beautiful 1981 book, The Soul of a Tree, A Woodworker's Reflections, Nakashima wrote of his reverence for the forest: "We woodworkers have the audacity to shape timber from these noble trees. In a sense it is our Karma Yoga, the path of action we must take to lead to our union with the Divine. Each tree, each part of each tree, has its own particular destiny and its own special relationships to be fulfilled. We roam the world to find our relationships with these trees." (The rational Geographic special on Nakashima's altar for peace was aired on cable television earlier this year.)

As many Americans already know, Nakashima's altar will not rest in New Hope for long. Its destiny has been found—in the nave of the mammoth sanctuary in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on the Upper West Side of New York City, where a joyous dedication is scheduled for New Year's Eve at 7 p.m. The guest conductor will be Leonard Bernstein. The guest of honor will be George Nakashima.

Since the UN didn't work, Pastor Dean Morton at St. John's was contacted. "My friend Steven Rockefeller knew Morton. That clinched it," said Nakashima. And what more appropriate church for the work of a man who has studied with Sri Aurobindo and D.T. Suzuki and who has been an ecumenical movement in himself—Roman Catholic, Shinto, Hindu monk and Zen Buddhist? An Episcopal church of Jewish weddings and Buddhist ceremonies, with 14' high doors: St. John the Divine.

"Going on with the project," said Nakashima, "we'd like to send an altar to Russia. I have timber for two more altars. We're working with the International Fellowship of Reconciliation in Holland toward that end . . . And I have a friend, a hibuksha, a survivor of Nagasaki, who is writing a book on the subject. She thinks she's found a building in Nagasaki with just the right space for the altar."

Nakashima's eyes twinkle. He describes the altar's purpose: "There are all these peace groups and marches and coalitions for peace, and they march, but nothing happens, they go nowhere, they have no symbol. The altar is something you can put your hand on, sing a song to, to bring people together. I envision bringing my friends here from India to lay a lotus flower on the altar."

"In New Hope," wrote Nakashima in his book, "we work with wood . . . an eternal material, for without a tree there would be no human life . . . We search for its soul . . . We meditate with a board sometimes for years. We search for the essence, to share its joys and tragedies. A thousand experiences and skills spring into action. We are making something!"

As my visit came to an end and I walked to my car, I thought about my own vision of the altar. To me its huge book-matched planks were like a great and benevolent heart; the heart of the planet beating for peace.

Copyright © 2000 The Nakashima Foundation For Peace
www.nakashimafoundation.org
a 501C3 non-profit organization
1847 Aquetong Road
New Hope, PA 18938
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