Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Our Trip to Northern California

   My family and I went to San Jose to attend a Japanese Spiritual Training Seminar sponsored by Seicho-No-Ie Northern California Missionary Area from September 26 to 29. I was invited as a guest speaker at that event. About 50 people participated the seminar at which we've got a lot of inspiration and wonderful memories. At the last part of the seminar, there was a time for every participant to make a resolution. That many of them resolved to propagate the teachings more enthusiastically really impressed me. Thank you very much for the hospitalities and kindness that provided us.

   Other than the seminar, one of what I noticed was the foods they served at the seminar were very similar to the foods what we ate in Japan. In other words, the Japanese foods we eat in Hawaii are a little bit different from the ones we had in Japan. To tell the truth, just after I came to Hawaii, I was disappointed with the Japanese foods because they were not exactly what I expected. To me, it was even the fly in the ointment. However, as I made an adjustment my life in Hawaii, I came to understand the fact that the Japanese foods are deeply rooted in the culture of Hawaii. That is why a taste is fine-tuned suited to people here. From a perspective of a globalization of the Japanese foods, it should be highly appreciated.

   I think a similar thing is applied to religion. Let us consider a case where a religion originated in country A is passed on to country B. If that religion is not changed at all, it means the religion is not taken root in country B. On the contrary, if that religion is fine-tuned and changed in accordance with the needs of people in country B, although their core messages are not changed, it means the religion is appreciated to people of country B. This is the reason why we need to change in rituals and ceremonies, which are the peripheral elements of religion, according to people, time, and places.

   By the way, after the seminar, on our way to the Hotel we stayed in San Francisco, Rev. Kawakami, Chief of the Missionary Area at that time, took us to Golden Gate Bridge. It was a windy and cold day.

   We appreciate to have such a priceless experience this time.




-TA

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

There Is No Such Thing As "Coincidence"

Rev. Tetsuya Abe
Acting Chief, Hawaii Missionary Area

I wrote this article more than a year ago, however, since it may be intriguing, I posted today. I hope you will find it interesting.

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   Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi, the founder of Seicho-No-Ie, once taught that there is no such thing as "coincidence." He also taught that we know SNI teachings today because of the good deeds we accumulated in the past. I truly experienced the teaching Dr. Taniguchi taught that there is no such thing as "coincidence" at "The Seicho-No-Ie 2007 U.S. Special Conference for World Peace with Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi" held in New York in early August.


   I left Honolulu in the evening of August 1 and arrived at JFK Airport in New York around noon on Aug. 2 by way of Atlanta. When I visited Seicho-No-Ie New York Center around 2 p.m. on August 3, I met many SNI leaders who came from Brazil, other Latin American countries, Germany, Britain, Japan, and the United States. Some were very familiar and others I met for the first time.

   The theme of the Conference was "Islam." It is very rare for Seicho-No-Ie to hold a conference or meeting concentrated on learning about other religions. However, on this special occasion, it was a magnificent attempt that we take Islam very seriously, for it has been giving the world a great impact as well as being number two in terms of number of believers. You also have information on the content of the Conference through Seicho-No-Ie Online, an electronic newsletter edited by Seicho-No-Ie International Headquarters and in an article by Rev. Leslie Iwatani in the September newsletter.

   The Conference was filled with energy, brightness, warmth and sincerity which emanated from all the leaders. The first day's program began with a keynote lecture by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a law professor at UCLA with a Ph.D. from Princeton University and Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Pennsylvania and is a highly respected jurist in Egypt, his native country, and Kuwait.

   To tell the truth, Dr. El Fadl suffers from brain tumor and is unable to lead an ordinary life including walking by himself. He is supposed to concentrate on meditation and reading spiritual books in his native country around this season and has kept this habit for more than ten years. However, he said in his lecture that he broke this practice to attend the Conference and flew directly to New York from his retreat in Cairo. According to a minister who took care of him at the Conference, when he arrived in NY the day before his lecture, his health seemed extremely bad that the minister wondered whether the doctor could fulfill his responsibility. However, Dr. El Fadl appeared at the podium almost on schedule and preached about Islam vividly and clearly in a standing position despite his condition. I saw from his performance his enthusiasm and a sense of mission that he could convey the true Islam. He focused on the fact that Islam teaches God is love and human beings are born to spread His divine attributes such as justice, mercy, compassion, goodness and beauty, and a jihad does not mean war but a struggle to overcome our ego, and so on. His presence deeply impressed all attendees so that the applause from the congregation continued for 10 minutes or so after his lecture.

   The following day, Reverend Masanobu Taniguchi, Vice President of Seicho-No-Ie, also gave an impressive lecture. He mentioned that there are many similar points between Islam and the Seicho-No-Ie teachings. I thought he courageously started to explore the world of Islam in a sincere manner that Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi took toward Christianity, Buddhism, and Shintoism. And Rev. Taniguchi taught that Islam is a very diversified and tolerant religion by quoting the following from the book The Great Theft by Dr. El Fadl.

   In Qur'anic usage, the phrase "People of the Book" refers to the followers of the Abrahamic faith, mostly Christians and Jews. (The reason I say mostly Christians and Jews is that the Qur'an mentions Sabians as well, but Muslim jurists extended the People of the Book status to Zoroastrians, Hindus, and Sikhs, and some jurists even added Confucians to the list.)(The Great Theft, p. 115)

   At Special Conferences recently held in the U.S. and Brazil in the past few years, Rev. Taniguchi explained that there is a central truth and peripheral truth in religious truth. By listening to his explanation, I am firmly convinced we can shake hands with Islam in terms of the central truth.

   In his lecture, Dr. El Fadl expressed over and over his appreciation to the warm hospitality from the Seicho-No-Ie leaders and seemed interested in the Seicho-No-Ie teachings. According to a minister who took care of the doctor, he said that he wants to purchase all the Seicho-No-Ie books available in English.

   Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi mentioned in his lecture how he found Dr. El Fadl's book. The following comes from Rev. Taniguchi's blog (available only in Japanese):

By the way, I actually wrote how I came to know Dr. El Fadl in the January 24, 2006, issue of my blog. In the article titled "Buying Books in New York" was a list of books that I purchased at a major bookstore in New York when I dropped by on my way home from the Special Conference held in Brazil. In the list was a book, "The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam From the Extremists,"by Khaled Abou El Fadl (New York: Harper-Collins, 2005). If I did not enter the bookshop or find the book from the thousands of books, the theme of the Conference would have been completely different. The Seicho-No-Ie teachings tell us that there is no such thing as "coincidence;" I've never felt the significance of the word as much as I had this time. It reminded me of the story about Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi who discovered a book by Dr. Fenwick Holmes at a bookstore before he founded Seicho-No-Ie.
(Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi's blog, "Random Thoughts" Aug 6, 2007)


   I myself also experienced an occasion that proves "there is no such thing as coincidence." On my way home from NY, I was scheduled to stop over in LA and fly to Honolulu. However, due to a flight delay from NY to LA, I ended up staying one more night at a hotel that the airline designated in LA. There I met a young man and woman who also had to stay one more night under the same circumstances. We talked and had dinner together at a hotel restaurant. The young woman, Diane, lives somewhere on the mainland but her mother lives in Kaneohe, just a five-minute drive from Jisso Center.

   The next day, Diane told me that she had talked about Seicho-No-Ie to her mother on the phone and the mother seemed interested in the teachings. Actually when she came to the Honolulu International Airport to meet Diane, I talked to her about Seicho-No-Ie and was asked whether Seicho-No-Ie has Sunday Services. I gave her the August issue of Truth of Life and some SNI books.

   There was another wonderful opportunity for me to convey the teachings of SNI. On my flight from LA to Honolulu, a guy next to me over the aisle talked to me just after I finished reading the Holy Sutra, Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines:

   "What is that book? I felt spiritual vibrations coming from it."

   I was extremely pleased to hear that and explained the teachings of SNI wholeheartedly. As he seemed to be interested in the teachings, I gave him the Sutra and recommended he read it. He read it in one breath and shouted, "This is what I've been seeking for a long time!" He thanked me for the Sutra over and over again after arriving at Honolulu International Airport.

   The Special Conference gave me not only a great opportunity to learn the heart and essence of the SNI teachings but also to learn what it means for me.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Address At Jisso Center 25th Anniversary, Sep. 2008

September 7, 2008
Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Jisso Center

  This is my address at the Jisso Center 25th Anniversary Celebration Ceremony titled, "Bright Future Is In Our Hands."

  As we conclude the Jisso Center 25th Anniversary Celebration Ceremony, I, as Acting Chief of Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Missionary Area, would like to address about how we can proceed toward a bright future. Throughout the speeches presented at this ceremony, I could understand how the construction of Jisso Center was planned and built, and learned that the loving thoughts of many predecessors including Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi, and the fruits of their efforts, sweat, and gratitude led to the construction of Jisso Center and made the Center what it is today. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to every one of them from the bottom of my heart.

  One of the three major principles of the Seicho-No-Ie teachings is the phenomenal world is a reflection of our mind. It means that our physical body and our destiny are a reflection of our mind and it also means that this building is a reflections of all concerned who worked on its design and construction. Therefore, the loving thoughts of Dr. Taniguchi are resounding, the loving thoughts of International Headquarters are permeating, and a sense of gratitude and joy of all those were enlightened by attending spiritual training seminars and other events held at the Center are resonating throughout the facility. Since the Center is filled with a vibration of joy and gratitude, loving thoughts, everyone who attended an event here is aware of being a child of God, is reborn, and manifests the will of God, which will finally lead to the basics of true world peace.

   Throught the dedication of those with a deep awareness of the Truth of Life, and a strong desire to illuminate the life of all humankind, there are many "Seicho-No-Ie" families in Hawaii. Those members sincerely respected and entrusted in Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi, put his teachings into their daily lives, and happily shared the teachings with families, relatives, neighbors, communities, and others.


   Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi single-mindedly desired the happiness of all mankind, and the grand harmony of the whole universe, totally devoted himself to God's Humanity Enlightenment Movement, and advanced to a high spiritual world in 1985. His desire was sincerely conveyed to his successor, Rev. Seicho Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, and the desire is now conveyed to Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, Vice President of SNI. This transition should be worthy of note.

   Then, SNI International Headquarters discussed how to realize Dr. Taniguchi's desire, that is to say, to propagate the teachings to all mankind, and reached the following conclusion: to promote the movement to disseminate the teachings throughout the world in English. As you already know the number of English-speaking population is said to be 1 billion or 1.5 billion worldwide and the language is spoken all over the world. On the contrary, Japanese, the language of SNI's birthplace, is only spoken by 130 million people. If we wholeheartedly want to promote God's Humanity Enlightenment Movement ---- this is a movement to brighten the thought of all human beings ---- we must spread the teachings in English. International Headquarters pondered that it is essential to propagate the teachings in the United States, the country that has the greatest impact on world economy, politics, and all fields, and it is the only way to realize the will of God and the will of Dr. Taniguchi. The Headquarters named the movement "International Peace by Faith Movement" and started it in 1993.

   Based on its concept, the International Spiritual Training Center was established in New York, and the International Spiritual Training Seminar or ISTS which is aimed mainly at new- comers started in 1995. ISTS is also an opportunity to nurture leaders to shoulder the propagation in English. Among the 44th ISTSs held so far, Jisso Center offered its facility to 6 ISTSs and welcomed attendees from all over the world.

   In the ISTS, we are taking unprecedented steps in the history of SNI. One of them is a change in the rituals and ceremonies. Since SNI was founded and spread in Japan, the procedure of rituals and ceremonies were in line with the Japanese cultural background. To put it simply, SNI adopted the Shinto style because it is the least controversial. In this regard, Dr. Taniguchi taught that "there are no so-called Seicho-No-Ie ceremonies." Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi gave further explanation on this matter as follows: "Notwithstanding the worth of these ritualistic manifestations, the Truth ---- God's message to us which lies behind them ---- far surpasses these manifestations in importance."

   Shinto style rituals may be favored by some westerners or others who like the Japanese culture; however, they are not favored by people in China and Korea, and they are not necessarily accepted by the average Americans or Europeans. Therefore, to fit the rituals and ceremonies to the American people, leaders in the U.S., purposely excluded Japanese leaders, and fully discussed and decided to remove the bow and clap when worshipping God. This new method was adopted by the ISTS from the beginning and we started to use this method at English seminars, services, and meetings since this June in the Hawaii Missionary Area .

   Please note that these changes have been made to have Dr. Taniguchi's magnificent dream come true, the dream ---- to convey the teachings to all human beings. And also to practice the following teaching; "To express life, a form is always necessary; however, at the same time, we must throw away that form of expression. The same applies to Seicho-No-Ie."

   Moreover Dr. Taniguchi contributed to our society, nation, and the world by putting the teachings into practice. The same things are being done by the President and Vice President. What humanity has to deal with urgently right now is the issue of global environment. Nowadays, almost everyone raises this issue including presidential candidates; however, Rev. Masanobu started to touch upon this matter more than 15 years ago. What a foresight he has! Furthermore, SNI is not just a global environment preservation group but a religious group to educate everyone that the whole universe is a manifestation of the life of God. By raising an awareness among people that everything is a manifestation of the life of God, and being a role model for religious practitioners, we believe we can contribute to solving this environmental problem and bequeathing this beautiful earth to the next generation.

   In this way, what SNI International Headquarters is carrying out is nothing more than the application of what Dr. Taniguchi taught for this day and age, and when we unite together in harmony based upon their policy as an international family of Seicho-No-Ie, I believe our movement will catch a wave and grow and grow in intensity.

   The points I would like to address here is to have you understand correctly what is going on now, return to the basics wholeheartedly, and create a new movement in accordance with the guidance from the current leaders. By doing so, I believe our future becomes much brighter and we can change the world as it should be because we have so many wonderful members and friends in Hawaii and we are all children of God with infinite power and potentiial. This concludes my remarks. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

2008 September Message

To Revere the Center (3)
Rev. Tetsuya Abe
Acting Chief, Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Missionary Area

  In the July and August issues of this Newsletter, I wrote the articles, "To Revere the Center." This month, I will talk about the Seicho-No-Ie movement in reference to the same title. Reviewing what I mentioned before, the True-Image World created by God has an unshakable center, and when we live life with a mindset to revere the center, our life will be well organized, and a "paradise on earth" ―a manifestation of the True Image World-will appear.

  As I write this article, it is the opening day of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In the Olympics, there are several kinds of team competitions such as baseball, volleyball, and soccer. One characteristic of the teams is to be well organized with a manager or captain at the center. Since all the team players should be top-notch, they must direct their individual ideas toward their game plans, however once the game plan is decided, they play in perfect coordination by sincerely carrying out their roles which will lead to their triumphs. It goes without saying that their daily efforts will bear a wonderful result.

  "God's Humanity Enlightenment Movement" is the movement that Seicho-No-Ie has been promoting since its founding. Its goal is magnificent. Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi envisioned a big dream to enlighten all humanity by disseminating the teachings. In other words, both his and the movement's ultimate goal is to realize world peace through true faith. For this reason, we meditate on the "Prayer for World Peace" whenever we practice Shinsokan and in the opening and closing prayers at our events. Please note that the "Affirmation" is originally also a prayer for world peace. It was revealed to Dr. Taniguchi when he sincerely prayed for world peace when a significant incident occurred in Japan in 1936.

  Then, what is the center of our movement? Needless to say, it is the will of God. This is why we should sincerely listen to "God's will" with our heart by practicing Shinsokan Meditation every day. However, if individual members were to claim that whatever came to their mind was the will of God, we cannot maintain order in our organization. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that we have a central figure. Dr. Taniguchi, in order to ensure orderly succession, made it thoroughly clear that after his demise, Seicho-No-Ie will continue to fulfill its aims without losing the center.

  "Lord of Seicho-No-Ie ― President/Vice President ― Teachings of Seicho-No-Ie. The members of Seicho-No-Ie should never forget the unfoldment of the will of God uniting and permeating the above three as the immutable center of the Enlightenment Movement."
  This comes from Article Nine of "A Guideline for the Seicho-No-Ie Humanity Enlightenment Movement." Dr. Taniguchi expounded on its meaning as follows; "You should keep in sight what is at the core of the Enlightenment Movement regardless of its expansion over a wide range and increase in the complexity of the propagational areas. As described in this Article, the "Teachings of Seicho-No-Ie" follows "President/Vice President which in turn follows "Lord of Seicho-No-Ie." This indicates the order in which the teachings are passed down from their original source."

  Some SNI followers say that the President and Vice President of Seicho-No-Ie are not repeating every word and phrase expounded by Dr. Taniguchi. I have to say that this is a view of the fundamentalists and it is NEVER the will of Dr. Taniguchi or the will of God. Dr. Taniguchi wholeheartedly placed his trust in the next President, Rev. Seicho Taniguchi, who inherited the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie, and in the same way, Rev. Seicho Taniguchi has passed them on to his successor, Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, the Vice President.

  As we deepen our awareness that the will of Dr. Taniguchi is being passed on to the President and Vice President, our movement, under the guidance of Dr. Taniguchi from a high spiritual plane, is moving forward in unfolding the International Peace by Faith Movement to bring about true world peace, hand in hand with Seicho-No-Ie U.S. Missionary Headquarters and Seicho-No-Ie International Headquarters.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Manami's school life (Aug. 2008)

Manami's teacher, Mrs. Amy, sent us further photos that tell me how her life in the school is going on. Photos are very helpful because we can enjoy and share even with my families in Japan. Thank you, Amy!

-TA

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Aloha!
I thought you might like to see some of these- Manami is always very interested in doing the art projects! Enjoy!



This was today at circle time- the children were all showing happy faces when we were talking about feelings.





Experimenting with stamps








This was today- Manami and Taisha using stamps. Each stamp is a face that shows a different feeling.





Manami doing her "Me Collage"- the cut and paste activity where the children looked trough magazines for things they really liked and cut and pasted them on paper. Manami really liked this one!





Manami and Aulani fingerpainting with shaving cream


I couldn't remember if I sent you this one- Manami and Summer were so proud that they traced their names.