Monday, July 28, 2008

Unknowing Song

  Manami, my 3-year-old daughter, started to go to preschool from the beginning of this year. She is only the Japanese at the school, therefore, we worried about her and its situation. However, thanks to teachers' appropriate and kind guidance, she's got accustomed to this environment. Nowadays, she sings many English songs, but some of them are not understandable to me. Do you know what song she is singing? Another one she is singing is "Old Mac Donald."

-TA




Wednesday, July 02, 2008

2008 July Message

July Message
To Revere Center
Rev. Tetsuya Abe, Acting Chief, SNI Hawaii Missionary Area

  One of the foremost teachings that Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi taught us is to revere the center. What we should place in the center of our life is the "will of God." Dr. Taniguchi taught us Shinsokan Meditation (to visualize God) since the founding of Seicho-No-Ie so that the SNI followers can directly know the will of God and live the life of God.

  The True-Image World created by God is well organized and in harmony. The world has an unshakable center in that what should be placed on top is up, below is down, and everything is in good order. SNI teaches that there is no evil in the True-Image World, but the so-called “evil” can be defined as the state of being disorganized and in disharmony. Dr. Taniguchi staked his life to manifest the harmonious True-Image World into the phenomenal world by teaching us to revere the center.

  For each and every one of us to live the life of God by practicing Shinsokan Meditation is important more than anything else; however, if people claim that only the ideas they conceive during Shinsokan are the will of God, chaos will come to our society. Therefore, our father and ancestors should be the center of our family, kings or presidents the center of our country, and this will truly make our homes or organizations function in an orderly and organized way.

  Let’s suppose there is a family problem. A husband uses offensive language, drinks excessive alcohol outside the home, and seems to be having an affair. Their home is a complete mess. The wife of such a husband comes to Seicho-No-Ie seeking a solution. How should we deal with her?

  I believe faithful readers of books by Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi and Reverends Seicho and Masanobu Taniguchi already know how to solve the problem. First of all, the wife must show her reverence to her husband and visualize his True Image and see him as a perfect and consummate child of God. And she must reflect upon herself, "Did I look down on him or did I try to understand his feelings?" He might feel very lonely if treated coldly by his wife and other family members.

  From the perspective of common sense, it is the husband who is to blame. However, from the perspective of "Life," we are each a child of God without exception. Therefore, SNI believes that true salvation will come when she changes her mind from seeing him as a "bad husband" to "wonderful child-of-God husband.”

  You may be able to practice these measures at home, but it is often the case with SNI testimonies that there is a miraculous improvement in their lives by attending a Spiritual Training Seminar where all attendees come together and intensively practice the SNI teachings.

  Recently, a woman whose relationship with her husband had deteriorated and on the verge of divorce attended the 44th International Spiritual Training Seminar held at Jisso Center in February 2008. After returning home, she wholeheartedly practiced what she had learned at the seminar. After a while, she was perfectly able to be reconciled with her husband and is now leading what she calls "a heavenly happy life." She is Mrs. Cindy Murakami of Hawaii Kai. (To be continued)