FOREWORD

Foreword ~ 9 ~ extends to all of humanity. It has positive value in the full sense of the word. My pacifism is an absolute good, it has the status of a summum bonum for me. It is not simply a theory. It is a part of my flesh and blood. It is the pain of my heart. It is my life. It is the voice of my soul. I have watered the plant of peace with my tears. I have lived for the cause of peace for the whole of my life and I finally want to die for the cause of peace. The public phase of my peace mission started on 28 February, 1955, when a public meeting was held in the historic city of Lucknow. I made a speech on that occasion, which began with these words: “We stand at the threshold of a new era. Future historians will call it the atomic age, but perhaps no historian will survive to tell the tale of the destruction of humanity.” This speech was published in 1955 in the form of a pamphlet titled: On the Threshold of a New Era. After the Second World War, the succeeding halfcentury had cast a gloom upon it by the danger of atomic war. However, it is a matter of great satisfaction that we have now stepped into the