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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice post. thanks.

Tetsuya Abe said...

Thank you for your kind comment.

-TA