Always remember this:
You are a miracle
Made up of dancing atoms
That can talk and sing,
Listen and remember, and laugh,
At times even at yourself.
You are a miracle
Whose atoms existed before time.
Born of the Big Bang, you are connected
To everything – to mountains and oceans,
To the winds and wilderness, to the creatures
Of the sea and air and land.
You are a member of the human family.
You are a miracle, entirely unique.
There has never been another
With your combination of talents, dreams,
Desires and hopes. You can create.
You are capable of love and compassion.
You are a miracle.
You are a gift of creation to itself.
You are here for a purpose which you must find.
Your presence here is sacred – and you will
Change the world.

*Dr. Krieger’s poem, composed in March 2000, was read at the Soka Junior and Senior High School graduation ceremony in Tokyo, during which the foundation’s World Citizenship Award was presented to Daisaku Ikeda, the president of Soka Gakkai International.