Saturday, November 22, 2008

Rev. Seicho Taniguchi's Last Article

I sincerely and respectfully place the last article of Rev. Seicho which was written on January 10, 2008.

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About True Love
Rev. Seicho Taniguchi

Expression of Love
  There are various ways to express love in this world. One can say that our life is a place to express our love. God is love. In other words, love transcends like or dislike from the beginning. Love has no boundaries.
  One day I heard on the radio that Princess Aiko, the daughter of Prince Naruhiko and Princess Masako, went to a sumo match. If I am correct, the radio announcer said Princess Aiko and her mother Princess Masako are fans of Kotomitsuki, a sumo wrestler of the second highest rank, and Hakuho, a Mongolian sumo wrestler of the highest rank. They seemed to enjoy the match. This proves that Princess Masako's condition has stabilized, and there is no need to worry about her. (Editor's note: Princess Masako was reportedly recuperating from sadjustment disorder).

Phenomenal World
  You must not be attached to the world of false image and phenomena, and forget the eternal infinity of the world of true existence. The "phenomenal world" is imperfect. It's not enough for you to hope that only your own country is safe. If you love only your country, since that love is distorted, it is imperfect. In the same way, love that is given exclusively to the sick is also imperfect. Love cannot be measured materially. It temporarily appears in the world of the five or six senses.
  There seems to be some who have stopped taking medicine regardless of the fact that Seicho-No-Ie does not teach that you must not take prescribed medication. It is erroneous to think that “all you have to do is practice Shinsokan Meditation and read the Holy Sutras whole-heartedly and avoid taking medicine." Since the "Divine Message of Seicho-No-Ie Meals" says how you should take medicine, I hope you will read it carefully.
  It is a fact that as I, Seicho Taniguchi, have been getting on in years, my physical body is deteriorating. However, we can say that this physical body is nothing but a temporal instrument borrowed from God.
  It may not be accurate but I remember among Founder Masaharu Taniguchi's words was the following message: It is wrong to think that Seicho-No-Ie is a narrow-minded, distorted religion that "all you have to do is practice Shinsokan Meditation and read the Holy Sutras whole-heartedly and avoid taking medicine." This may be his handwritten article printed earlier. The great and fundamental Truth of Seicho-No-Ie is unchangeable. I hope you will comprehend the Seicho-No-Ie doctrines.

Seicho-No-Ie's Meal
  A meal is something very important in our life. You can think of it as the "source" which sustains our physical body to live. The "Divine Message of Seicho-No-Ie Meals," is as follows:

  It is written in the Holy Bible that when we make offerings at the altar of God, we must first become reconciled with our brothers. We must do the same thing when we take a meal, for taking a meal is really the most solemn ceremony that we undertake in which we make an offering to God who dwells within us. We take the first dish believing that it is an offering to God whereby our past sins of hate and anger, mistakenly committed against others, will be forgiven by God. We take the second dish believing that it is an offering to God whereby the sins of all persons will be forgiven by God. We take the third dish believing that it is an offering to God whereby, under his protection, we will not repeat the sins of hating and becoming angry at our neighbors ever again. And fourthly, we take a drink of water believing that it is an offering to God symbolizing the thorough washing away of the sins of all persons from our mind. If anyone has to take medicine for his illness, he should divide it into four portions and take each portion with the same thoughts as above. He shall then be cured of his disease quickly without fail. When we forgive the sins of all other people, it is because we, too, must be forgiven of all our errors and sins by God, the Grand Life. If we were to close our mind and refuse to forgive others, the healing power of the Grand Life would also be turned off and would not, therefore, flow into us. (Message from the Spirit of the Lord on November 4, 1930)

January 10, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

What is Seicho-No-Ie?

This is my lecture draft on "What is Seicho-No-Ie" presented at 2008 Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Public Lecture at Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu on Noveberm 9.
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   Thank you very much. Welcome to this Public Lecture that Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii annually sponsors in the fall. We have been looking forward to seeing you. My name is Rev. Tetsuya Abe, Acting Chief of SNI Hawaii Missionary Area, the person responsible for all propagation activities of SNI Hawaii. I am very pleased to see you all. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all of you. Thank you very much.

   Today, we are honored to welcome Rev. Bruce Mallery, Chief of SNI New York Missionary Area, as our guest speaker. Rev. Mallery, I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to you for coming all the way to Hawaii from New York to give us your life-changing and inspiring lecture. Thank you very much.

   Now I would like to talk about what Seicho-No-Ie is and how it started. Seicho-No-Ie was founded by Masaharu Taniguchi in March 1930 in Kobe, Japan. He published a monthly private magazine named "Seicho-No-Ie." "Seicho-No-Ie" means "The Home of Infinite Life, Wisdom, and Abundance."

   Before publishing the magazine, our Founder Masaharu Taniguchi studied and researched various eastern and western religions and philosophies in the world. He also experienced a position that put him in trouble with capitalists and laborers, and saw lots of vulnerable workers who were exploited by those in power. He meditated and deeply pondered "What is God?" and "What is a human being?" He once belonged to Omotokyo, a branch of Shintoism. In that organization he became a lecturer and lectured on the Last Judgement. However, he gradually lost his faith in God because he thought that God exists in this world, why couldn't He save those who were suffering? Around that period, the stock market crashed, which brought the Great Depression. The Great Depression caused other major financial problems in Japan the following year in 1930. The entire world including the U.S. and Japan saw lots of unemployment, and there was a war beginning in China, which led to World War 2.

   Regarding that situation, our Founder Masaharu Taniguchi once denied God because he thought that such a God who could not save people did not deserve to be called God. However, no matter how much he denied God, his deep-rooted desire to seek the real God who cannot help but save people was bubbling forth within, therefore, he continued his meditation and contemplation seeking the "Real God." One day, Our Founder Masaharu Taniguchi had a revelation from God which he himself described as follows:

One day, I was meditating with eyes closed and hands held in prayer in the hope of receiving a revelation of the Truth. Perhaps it was coincidence or perhaps it was God's guidance, but at that time I happened to think of the words, "matter is at once emptiness," which is a phrase out of the Buddhist scriptures. Then out of nowhere, a voice like a huge wave, low but intense, soft and yet overpowering, came to me:

   "Matter does not exist!" the voice said.
   Then, I wondered whether my mind existed.
  Instantly the voice replied, "The mind also does not exist!"
   "If there is no mind, does that mean that there is nothing?"
  I asked the owner of the voice once again.
  "There is the True Image!" the voice replied clearly.
  "Then what is the True Image?" I asked.
  "The True Image is God. What exists is only God... only the Mind of God and the manifestation of the Mind of God. This is the Truth."


   After he found the true God of absolute goodness and love, he was impelled to share his enlightenment with as many people as possible, and started to write a magazine. He published one thousand copies of the magazine in March 1930 at his own expense, and distributed them to his friends, colleagues, and others free of charge. Since the articles written in the magazine were about the joy of living and the joy of knowing one's own True Image, they inspired many readers; as a result, thank-you letters such as disease healing, family problems resolved, and others were rushed to him.

   After publishing the magazines, he continued to issue the magazine and also held a home meeting for the readers. Those people who were impressed with his articles conveyed their joy to people they know one after another. Later Founder Taniguchi established an edification organization for the readers. However, when he tried to register the organization to the Japanese government, they ordered him to register as a religious organization because it brought salvations to many. Since then, Seicho-No-Ie has been registered as a religious organization.

   One of the characteristics of our movement is that the phrase, "God's Humanity Enlightenment Movement" was used from the inaugural issue. Founder Taniguchi sincerely desired to deliver his thought to all people worldwide and thereby establish a heaven on earth. He meant to be helpful not only to individuals but also to the nations and all humanity.

   As his resolution, he traveled all over Japan and also came to the U.S. including Hawaii and went on to Brazil and other South American countries and European countries to convey the teachings and share the joy of living. His legacy was praised by many people including Rev. Roy Eugene Davis, a New Thought minister. He wrote a book titled, "Miracle Man of Japan" in 1973. His book was revised this year and is now on sale at the reception table.

   55 years after the founding of SNI, Founder Masaharu Taniguchi passed away on June 17, 1985, in Nagasaki, Japan. His last words were, "Disease does not exist. Delusion does not exist. Sin does not exist. This is the basic teaching of Seicho-No-Ie. Dear God, I shall now allow myself to rest," which were repeated twice before leaving this physical world.

   The flame of Seicho-No-Ie that was lit by Founder Taniguchi was passed to and taken up by Rev. Seicho Taniguchi. As President of Seicho-No-Ie, Rev. Seicho Taniguchi, through his writings and lectures, provided guidance regarding the teachings not only in Japan but also around the world, and dedicated himself daily to the development of the Movement and the Organization. His books, filled with beautiful real stories about people's salvation and improvement in their life, are especially popular throughout the world. You can see and buy some SNI books at the reception table. "Open the Doors of Your Life," vol. 1,2,3, edited by Rev. Seicho Taniguchi, Truth of Life, vol. 11 written by Founder Taniguchi, Messages of Wisdom and Love written by Rev. Seicho are designated as today's text books.

   Other than writing articles, giving lectures, and managing an organization, Rev. Seicho manifested his inner ability as a child of God by composing songs, taking photos, and writing calligraphy. Even when he was over 80, he used to walk to his office in 20 minutes picking up rubbish along the way. It shows that he not only preached a sermon, but he also practiced what he preached. October 28, about 10 days ago, he completed his 89 year-old life and peacefully made a transition to a high spiritual world.

   After Rev. Seicho, the flame of Truth was received by the Acting President/Vice President of Seicho-No-Ie, Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi. He is extremely busy with his writings and providing guidance at various events, and also manages to provide guidance at the "Seicho-No-Ie Lecture Meetings" at all fifty-nine missionary areas throughout Japan.

   After Rev. Masanobu assumed the post of Vice President of SNI, he's been paying attention to realizing world peace by spreading the truth, which had brought about harmony to individuals and homes since SNI's founding. This movement is called International Peace by Faith Movement and was launched in early 1990.

   In 1992, Rev. Masanobu visited the United States and Canada; the following year, 1993, he visited Brazil, returned to the United States again in 1994, and in 1995 traveled to Taiwan and Hong Kong to propagate SNI. He again came to the United States both in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and, in August of last year, he came to New York to provide us with his guidance at an event, in which leaders from nine different countries, including Brazil and other Latin American countries participated.

   In the history of humankind it can be said there is a history of war. War in Iraq or Afghanistan was focused on this presidential campaign. Every single person in the world doesn't want war, however, there are still many wars around the world. In Seicho-No-Ie, we are promoting a movement that aims at world peace by disseminating a faith in God of absolute goodness and love, and controlling our mind appropriately.

   Furthermore, SNI is now focusing on global environment preservation activities. Based upon our basic principle, every man and woman and everything is a manifestation of the life of God. We consider the key to resolve the problems having to do with our environment is to live a life of faith in gratitude to the blessings of Nature, and to revere the life that is in the mountains, rivers, grasses, trees, minerals, and energy, as manifestations of the life of God, life of Buddha, always keeping in mind that we are all one in life.

   In order to do this, Seicho-No-Ie has implemented measures to receive ISO14001 certification which is a barometer of international compliance to resolving environmental issues. Recently, a bimonthly magazine called ISO Management Systems, published by the ISO Headquarters located in Geneva, Switzerland, had an article in the July-August 2008 issue that SNI Japan acquired ISO14001 certification among its 66 missionary centers, spiritual training centers, and other sites in Japan and that SNI in the U.S., Brazil and Taiwan are also trying to acquire that certification by 2011. Now other religions have started to show interest in obtaining this certification. For example, just a few months ago, a SNI minister was invited to the largest Buddhist group in Japan to talk about our activities and they decided to make an effort to get the certification by following us.

   Lastly, I would like to introduce Rev. Bruce Mallery. He is the person responsible for the SNI propagation activities in NY. He was born to a Protestant minister's family and discovered SNI through Truth of Life magazine, which is our monthly magazine published by SNI US Missionary Headquarters. He was impressed with SNI because the teachings emphasize bringing the Truth into our daily life and joined the SNI US Headquarters in Gardena, California in 1994. His lecture is so inspiring and soul-stirring, therefore, he was sought after by every SNI Missionary Area in the U.S. If you listen to his lecture carefully and put a thing or two into practice in your daily life, I firmly believe your life will change in the direction you want.

This concludes my lecture. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

2008 November Message

Let Us Propagate the Teachings Sincerely, Correctly, and Enthusiasitically
Rev. Tetsuya Abe
Acting Chief, Seicho-No-Ie Hawaii Missionary Area

   Today is October 12, the last day of the Seicho-No-Ie Inc., Board of Directors In-Person Meeting in LA. Before going to LAX, I am writing this article at the U.S. Missionary Headquarters. I suppose you will receive this Newsletter just before the Public Lectures. Let me ask you once again to invite as many people as possible to these wonderful inspiring events.

   At this meeting, the Board of Directors of Seicho-No-Ie, Inc. and the ordained ministers assigned to the U.S exchanged ideas proactively for further development of our movement, and I was very impressed with their sincerity and great passion to propagate the teachings based on Seicho-No-Ie, Inc.'s policy. The point, "to propagate the teachings based on Seicho-No-Ie, Inc.'s policy," should be greatly emphasized. The more enthusiasm you have, the more you should be careful about going in the right direction, otherwise you go with the wind.

   Rev. Seicho Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, once taught the following: There is a printing company whose employees work very hard. They worked diligently to the extent they didn't have any rest for three days and nights over a certain printing order. Their efforts paid off and they completed the order on time. After a while, however, all of those employees were arrested. What happened?

   To tell the truth, what they were printing for three days and nights without any sleep was fake bills. Although they had the enthusiasm and energy, they were heading in the wrong direction. This is an extreme case, but we can learn from this case in terms of propagation of the teachings.

   Since the advent of Seicho-No-Ie, organizations that seemed to expound a similar teaching appeared and disappeared just as when a masterpiece is created, a fake is circulated. This made our Founder Masaharu Taniguchi feel so bewildered that he taught we should not be deceived by an imitation and that there was a difference between being similar and the same.

   Certainly, one of the most important pillars of the Seicho-No-Ie teachings is that all religions emanate from one universal God. However, if you think all other religions are the same as Seicho-No-Ie or you can go to any organization without discretion, it is a misunderstanding of the teaching that all religions come from one universal source. Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi clearly taught, "Other than the religions that appeared like mushrooms after a rain and disappeared soon after, the religions that have lasted for several hundred years and failed to cease illuminating people profess the great truth for salvation." ("365 Golden Keys to the Wisdom of Life," p. 54)

   As I reiterated on this monthly message, the center of the SNI teachings is the will of God and the will of Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi is the unfoldment of the will of God. That is why as you practice Shinsokan Meditation, read the books of Dr. Taniguchi, Rev. Seicho and Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi who succeeded Dr. Taniguchi's will, learn from and convey those teachings, for the first time, you will feel joy as a member of Seicho-No-Ie and the joy of propagation will bubble forth.

   Various organizations including religious ones have their own ideas, purpose, and approach. Some are worthy of respect and others are not. Since its founding, Seicho-No-Ie has carried out its propagation in its own way. We worked together with other groups on one occasion, while we didn’t on other occasions. It sometimes worked and sometimes failed. Now, our policy is to be very careful when doing so.

   I would like to ask all of you to keep in mind that the only way that makes Dr. Taniguchi happy is for us to learn, practice, and propagate "the Seicho-No-Ie teachings" wholeheartedly, correctly and enthusiastically everyday. And by doing so, you can experience a spiritual joy that comes from the universal God that also dwells within you. Thank you very much.