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.