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