Journal200811

November 2008

(Sunday 23, November)- Last Wednesday, I attended a Reader's Meeting in
Culver City. Joy who opened her house for these meetings 7 years ago, and
Nancy co-hosted the meeting. At last month's meeting the attendees studied the
October issue of the Truth of Life magazine which introduced an article about
Starr Daily by the Seicho-No-Ie Founder Masaharu Taniguchi. Starr Daily was a
prisoner who had a very strong will. He was never daunted by the prison guards:
therefore, he was often punished. One time he was punished by being hung for
15 days with a rope. He lost consciousness, and at that time he saw a vision of a
loving Jesus. When Jesus' vision faded away, it changed its figure to a word,
"love." Because of this experience he became a message to spread of the love of
Jesus. Rev. Sugiuchi had guided this meeting in October and given a brief
background regarding the relationship between Starr Daily and our founder.
Due to a limited space in the TOL magazine the article introduced only how
Starr Daily had practiced his faith on Sundays but didn't mention anything
between Monday and Saturday. Therefore, Nancy asked me to complete the
missing part in this month's meeting.
The following was my translation of the missing part which was from
Monday to Saturday. I also added some comments which I had given at this
meeting. I hope it would help your study of the Truth.

Sunday as a day to practice love
Starr Daily decided to dedicate Sundays to learn about God's love, and
also to practice love as Jesus did. "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved
children and live a life of love" (Eph. 5:1). (p. 13)

This Sunday part was already introduced in the October 2008 TOL
Magazine; therefore, please read it again.

Monday as a day to be led by the light of God
          Daily decided to dedicate himself to his work, guided by the light of God.
He decided Mondays to realize the will of God through his work. (p. 78)
Tuesday as a day to receive abundant God's life
          There is a phrase in the Gospel of Saint John: "The thief comes only in
order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have
life-life in all its fullness" (John 10:10). Whenever Daily read this phrase, it
pierced his heart. It was because in the first half of his life he was a horrible gang
leader. Through his experience he knew exactly how this phrase fit comparing
with his prior life.
          "Joy is indeed life." Like all other enlightenment leaders Daily said,
"However, I was not aware of this joy of life while I was a thief." But now, he
realized that joy only exists in the creative life and life of love. (p. 95-96)

On Mondays Daily tried to receive guidance from the light of God as
much as possible. So, he meditated and tried not to miss any small, tiny voice
from inside of himself. On Tuesdays he tried to be happy and joyful because he
believed joy is one of the very important attributes of God. He tried to smile and
laugh as much as he could.

Wednesday as a day to obey "God as law"
Daily decided Wednesdays to abide himself by "God as law." He often
started Wednesdays with a prayer, "O God, please open my eyes to be a witness
to the great, outstanding things that will be created by Your laws." Furthermore,
he understood that whatever things happened around him was caused by the
laws as God of goodness. Whatever seemed to be difficult he reaffirmed that they
were caused by the laws as God of goodness. Therefore, he willingly followed the
teaching of the Bible, "If one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his
pack one mile, carry it two miles" (Matt. 5:41).
Daily found that it would become the nourishment of his soul when he
had carried out a "day to obey laws" with a feeling of love instead of with a
feeling of fear of punishment or sanctions by judgment. (p. 116, 129, 133)

Nancy shared one of the stories of Daily when he was in prison. He
didn't like one of the duties of sewing in prison. However, after his realization of
Jesus as love, he knew the importance of obeying laws. So, he focused himself on
working his duty honestly and sincerely. Then, he found a way to make his duty
easier and more pleasant. He shared his discovery with the members of the same
cell. Accordingly, this cell had the most productive results of the sewing duty.
After hearing this story I shared my idea as to why we had to obey laws.
Whenever we want to achieve something, we must use laws which permeate and
rule the universe. When we are able to follow and utilize these laws, the laws will
help us to materialize what we want. On the contrary, when we act against these
laws, the laws will punish us. Therefore, in order to achieve any goals in our
lives, we must obey the laws. By so doing we can utilize the laws and achieve our
goals. First, we have to obey the laws which permeate and rule the universe.

Thursday as a day to prove the absolute winning power of God
For Daily Thursdays were days to prove the absolute winning power of
God. Daily totally praised every phrase of Acts in the New Testament as the best
"power of literature" of any literatures. Therefore, he read the first two chapters
on this day without fail.
Anything which Daily didn't understand he left to God. He always asked
God to change a situation or any incident by the power of the Holy Spirit. In
particular, Daily practiced to materialize the absolute winning power of God on
Thursdays by leaving everything to the power of the Holy Spirit. (p. 134, 144)

We have learned that we can realize our goals by using the law of the
mind and power of the word. So, it is essential for us to read positive, good
words contained in the Truth of Life magazine, Holy Sutras or other
Seicho-No-Ie books at least once a day.

Friday as a day to prove the peace of God
Daily decided Fridays to prove and realize a day of God's peace. The
seventh phrase of the Sermon on the Mount states, "Happy are those who work
for peace; God will call them his children" (Matt. 5:7). This shows us that God is
peace. Daily said, "I found that peace does not come from outside of us but
reflects on it from inside to outside." He also said, "By reflecting an outside scene
onto inside, peace will be established within us." Accordingly, by keeping
tranquility inside of himself and reflecting on it outside, he used Fridays to
maintain peace in himself. (p. 154)

It is impossible for us to establish peace in our environment without
establishing peace in our minds first. Our inner peace reflects on our outside
world. At the same time it is very important to maintain a peaceful environment
around us because our environment often affects and gives strong influence to
our minds. In Seicho-No-Ie we discuss not only how to keep peace in our minds
but also realize peace in the world. The Seicho-No-Ie movement started 78 years
as the Humanity Enlightenment Movement and not as an individual salvation
movement. Since 1993, this movement evolved into the International Peace by
Faith Movement. Individual persons in each country need to realize peace by
faith in absolute God who is omnipotent, infinitely loving, infinitely perfect, and
the possessor of harmonious wisdom.

Saturday as a day to make others joyous
Daily tried to see God as a "source of joy." He said, "It cannot be exactly
said that God is joy; however, we see many phrases in the Bible that God is the
source of joy." Therefore, Daily carried out this day as a "day of joy" to make
others happy and joyful. (p. 166)

Footnote:
Sunday (from TOL Magazine, 2008 October)
Monday to Saturday (from Ai wa Kei Yorimo Tsuyoshi, Love Is More Powerful
Than Punishment)
(Thursday 20, November)- My oldest daughter complained about her new
school's spelling test the other day. When she had a spelling test, she was very
disappointed about its content. In her prior school spelling test words included
such words as "constitutional" and other seemingly difficult words. But, in this
new school spelling test words were much easier than those after former school.
For example, she was given the "tomorrow." So, I told her not to complain about
it but use this opportunity to focus her energy on things that she really wanted to
do. I also told her that I would willingly help her financially as much as I could. I
suggested her to study about acting. She wanted to become an actress. The
following essays were written by my two daughters who submitted them to SNI
Northern California for the essay contest this summer. As a father, I will help my
daughters to make their dreams come true.

"What I want to be when I grow up"
                                                      Mika
          People have a hard time picking what they want to be when they grow
up, but I already know what I want to be. I want to be an actress! I chose that I
wanted to be an actress since I was six, and I still want to be one. I will explain
many reasons I want to be an actress, and what I will be doing so I can really be
an actress.
          I want to be an actress, because when you act, you can be another person.
An actor can act out happiness when they are sad, or they can act out hate when
they are in love. They can control their mind with many kinds of emotions.
Sometimes when I watch television, there are remarkable actors/actresses that
act so well, it makes me feel that they are actually feeling that way, not just
acting. I want to be an actress like that so when people watch a show, they will be
actually feeling the way an actor acts, and understand their emotions well.
          Also I want to be an actress because I want people to see me act. When
people watch me acting, I want them to feel that I'm a brilliant actress. I also
want my friends/family to watch me act, and be proud of me. If I go on television,
I want my friends/family to say, "Hey! Mika's on television, and I know her!"
          If I become a famous actress, I want to tell people to recycle and help the
world. Right now, I can't tell everyone to recycle and be green. But if I become
famous and tell everyone to recycle, everyone would probably listen to me. Just
like a fashion magazine, if someone famous buys bags from Coach, everyone
would buy things from there. I want to be a super famous actress and tell
everyone to recycle, so they will always recycle.
          An actress is not an easy job, because you have to be another whole
different person, with a whole different personality. Just like turning into
another person! But I'm willing to practice so I can act out any emotion. There
are many emotions in this world; happiness, sadness, anger, fear, sorrow, love,
and much more. I will go to an acting school, learn all of the emotions, and act
them out very well. So everyone will admit that I can act and be an actress!
          There are many actors/actresses who aren't very good at acting, but I
will be an actress that's extraordinary. I am willing to work very, very hard to be
a great actress. I will chase my dreams and work hard, so one day I can become
an actress! -:)

"What I want to be when I grow up"
                                                       Eri
          There are three things that I want to be when I grow up, and I just can't
pick one, so I will tell you all of them.
          First of all, I want to be a doctor when I grow up. The reason I want to be
a doctor is because I really like watching TV dramas and one of the dramas I saw
was about a doctor. I saw how doctors save people's lives and to do that, they
went through a lot of hard work and went to good colleges and studied for many,
many years. Also, doctors for little kids, when the little kids are scared to get
shots and all, they smile and say nice things to them to cheer them up. I think
that also takes years of experience with children. I am also inspired by the
doctors who pull out the babies from the mother's stomachs. If it was a normal
doctor, they may have known how to fix someone's injury but didn't know how
to pull out another life out of a mother's stomach. But the doctors that pull out
the babies from the mother's stomach knows that they carry one's life and if they
screw up, they are going to make many people sad, and they have a lot of
pressure but most of the time, the baby comes out safely and everyone is filled
with joy. So the main reason that I want to be a doctor is that I want to make
everyone feel happy.
          Secondly, I want to be a chef. I want to be a chef because I liked cooking
for a long time and my parents said the things I made looked and tasted
delicious. Also, when I went to Japan this year (2008), I did fortune telling with
cards, and I asked the cards, "Am I good at cooking?" and it said, "If you try hard,
you will make that into something even better" and I felt really happy so I
started to love cooking!!
          Finally, I want to be a lawyer when I grow up. And I want to be a lawyer
the most because lawyers get to argue with the judge and say hard words that
make them look very intelligent. And in this world, there are very few people
who get to be lawyers because it is a really hard job. And I want to prove to
everyone that I can be one of those smart people who get to protect their clients
and get a lot of money! (If it was my parents or sisters or any kind of family
member, I'll of course do it for free!)
          So all and all, the dreams I have are very big, but someday, I will work
really hard that one, not two, but all three of them come true!

(Thursday 6, November)- It's been almost two months since I updated my
journal. Finally, my family moved from San Jose to Los Angeles last Thursday.
Yesterday, I was able to complete applications for my daughters' schools, and they
started going to their schools from today. I have many things to tell you, but today
I will share my address which I gave at the memorial service of Rev. Seicho
Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie. This service was held last Sunday:

Thank you very much. The hymn which we have just sung was "Like the
Shining Sun." This was Rev. Seicho Taniguchi's last song to whichhe had written
its lyrics. I love the lyrics of this song because I feel that the song exactly
embodies the life of Rev. Seicho Taniguchi. He never stopped disseminating the
SNI teaching to the world. There were some difficult times to spread the
teachings of SNI in his personal life as well as in history of SNI. However, he
never cancelled his grand lecture tour both in Japan and abroad for 45 years, not
even a single grand seminar. Furthermore, he contributed many articles to
different SNI magazines for so many years without skipping it. I would like to
read this song's lyrics again to honor and in gratitude to Rev. Seicho Taniguchi
who made his transition to the high angelic plane of the spiritual world on
October 28, 2008.

1. The sun always rises in the morning
   On clear days or rainy days
   Without ceasing or changing.
   That sun has never betrayed.
   So, I too won't betray.
   So, I will never betray anyone.
2. The sun shines as bright as possible
   During the day.
   It also shines up from above the clouds
   During the rainy day.
   The rain does not last long.
   So, I also shine brilliantly like the sun.
   So, I shine continuously like the sun.
3. The sun always sets in the evening;
   But it shines in a different place,
   And the light is always falling
   On everything generously.
   Therefore, I also bring light
   To everyone's heart.
4. The sun rises again in the morning
   And shines endlessly without asking.
   My life is also endless,
   And it has no weakness nor death.
   My life is guided by the light of God.
   Therefore I live my life as it is.

          "The Shining Sun" from this title symbolizes the True Image of a human.
In the phenomenal world we often don't see the sun shine; however, the sun
always shines from above the clouds during a rainy day. And rain does not last
long. Rev. Taniguchi taught us how important it was to always visualize
everyone's True Image and never give up regardless of imperfect phenomena
because like rainy days they do not last long.
          Then, what should we do? The sunlight is a symbol of our love. The song
says, "The light is always falling on everything generously. Therefore, I also bring
light to everyone's heart." So, we should generously give our love to everyone
and everything in the universe. Our lives are endless, so we accept the guidance
of God and just live our lives as they are, like the song says, "My life is also
endless. And it has no weakness nor death. My life is guided by the light of God.
Therefore, I live my life as it is."
          Even in this hymn we are able to learn one of the greatest Truths.
Fortunately, Rev. Seicho Taniguchi's guidance includes many important Truths.
In particular, he emphasized the importance of the teaching of "All religions
emanate from one source" which SNI Founder Masaharu Taniguchi expounded
in the Truth of Life volume 11. This is the core teachings of all religions. Rev.
Seicho Taniguchi wrote:
          "From the time Seicho-No-Ie was founded, Dr. Taniguchi explained
Seicho-No-Ie transcends all religions and conveys the Truth that 'all religions
emanate from one source;' SNI is not a teaching of one religion or one sect.
However, there must be a commonality in the essence of all religious teachings
that we call the Truth. Seicho-No-Ie was established for the purpose of relating
the essence of the Truth of various religions. This has been the basic policy from
the time of its founding" (from Gudo to Dendo no Tameni, For Seeking and
Propagating, p. 4).

          Rev. Seicho Taniguchi also emphasized that our movement was not only for our
own personal gain but also for saving all humanity and bringing peace to the
world.
          "Our movement is never one in which we busily engage ourselves to heal
illness or to become wealthy. You are well aware that our holy mission
movement is to bring salvation and peace to all nations of the world. To realize
this, we will never be unrealistic and boastful, but diligently practice the Truth
through the acts of Bodhisattava (holy mission) in our daily lives" (from Gudo to
Dendo no Tameni, For Seeking and Propagating, p. 28).
          Rev. Taniguchi said, "To realize this, we will never be unrealistic and
boastful, but diligently practice the Truth through the acts of Bodhisattva (holy
mission) in our daily lives," and he diligently performed in accordance with his
own words. He never skipped a single grand lecture for 45 years. He reformed
the current organizational structure for the SNI movement. In commuting to the
SNI International Headquarters, he even picked up trash while walking.
          My family just moved from San Jose to Los Angeles a few days ago. This
morning while I was looking for my black suit for this service among the piled up
carton boxes, I also found Rev. Seicho Taniguchi's calligraphy. When my father
visited his residence, my father asked him to write something. He pleasantly
agreed to write a word, and this is the one. The first two Chinese characters read
"umazume" which means a barren woman who cannot give birth. My father read
aloud the entire verse, "A barren women gives birth." The first Chinese character
means a stone, and the second one means a woman. In Japanese, we usually
read it "a barren women," so my father read it that way. Then, Rev. Seicho
Taniguchi told my father, "You haven't read my book which explained this
meaning, have you? This should be read a stone woman." My father was
embarrassed and read Rev. Taniguchi's book carefully and found the verse which
explained there were men and women of stone. Then he wrote, "You cannot see
that a stone gives birth through you physical eyes. However, a woman of stone
will give birth" (from Shobo Genzo wo Yomu, Commentary of Shobo Genzo, vol.
2, p. 404-405).
          This means there are many things that we, physical human beings, do
not understand. However, the True Image man surely can do anything which is
beyond our understanding. Even a woman of stone can give birth, so it is much
easier to understand a barren woman can give birth. There is nothing that you
cannot do because you are all wonderful children on of God. Once we realized
our real selves, True Image, we would be able to manifest power of children of
God. We must use this power, and we will be one step closer to heaven on earth.
          Let us follow in the footsteps of Rev. Seicho Taniguchi and save
humankind from their sufferings and contribute ourselves to world peace under
the guidance of Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, the successor to Rev. Seicho
Taniguchi.