238 quotes found
"、日ぐらし硯に向ひて、心に移り行くよしなしごとを、そこはかとなく書きつくれば、怪しうこそ物狂ほしけれ。}}"
"One should write not unskilfully in the running hand, be able to sing in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and, lastly, a man should not refuse a little wine when pressed upon him."
"If man were never to fade away like the dews of Adashino never to vanish like the smoke over Toribeyama, but lingered on forever in the world, how things would lose their power to move us! The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty. Consider living creatures — none lives so long a man. The May fly waits not for the evening, the summer cicada knows neither spring nor autumn. What a wonderfully unhurried feeling it is to live even even a single year in perfect serenity."
"The pleasantest of all diversions is to sit alone under the lamp, a book spread out before you, and to make friends with people of a distant past you have never known."
"It is excellent for a man to be simple in his tastes, to avoid extravagance, to own no possessions, to entertain no craving for worldly success."
"A certain recluse, I know not who, once said that no bonds attached him to this life, and the only thing he would regret leaving was the sky."
"In all things I yearn for the past. Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased. I find that even among the splendid pieces of furniture built by our master cabinetmakers, those in the old forms are the most pleasing."
"What a foolish thing it is to be governed by a desire for fame and profit and to fret away one's whole life without a moment of peace. Great wealth is no guarantee of security. Wealth, in fact, tends to attract calamities and disaster."
"One would like to leave behind a glorious reputation for surpassing wisdom and character, but careful reflection will show that what we mean by love of a glorious reputation is delight in the approbation of others. Neither those who praise nor those who abuse last for long, and the people who have heard their reports are like likely to depart the world as quickly. Before whom then should we feel ashamed? By whom should we wish to be appreciated? Fame, moreover inspires backbiting. It does no good whatsoever to have one's name survive. A craving after fame is next foolish."
"The truly enlightened man has no learning, no virtue, no accomplishments, no fame."
"All is unreality. Nothing is worth discussing, worth desiring."
"Things which seem in poor taste: too many personal effects cluttering up the place where one is sitting; too many brushes in an ink-box; too many Buddhas in a family temple; too many stones and plants in a garden; too many children in a house; too many words on meeting someone; too many meritorious deeds recorded in a petition. Things which are not offensive, no matter how numerous: books in a book cart, rubbish in a rubbish heap."
"There's no escaping it-the world is full of lies. It is safest always to accept what one hears as if it were utterly commonplace and devoid of interest."
"It is popular superstitions uncritically, but to dismiss them as being "most improbable" serves no purpose. In general, the best course is to treat such matters as if they were true, neither giving one's unqualified belief nor doubting or mocking them."
"They flock together like ants, hurry east and west, run north and south. Some are mighty, some humble. Some are aged, some young. They have places to go, houses to return to. At night they sleep, in the morning get up. But what does all this activity mean ? There is no ending to their greed for long life, their grasping for profit."
"I find it insufferable too the way people spread word about the latest novelties and make a fuss over them. I am charmed by the man who remains unaware of such fashions until they have become quite an old story to everyone else."
"Bishop Köyu said (it seems to me very admirably), 'It is only a person of poor understanding who wishes to arrange things in complete sets. It is incompleteness that is desirable.' In everything regularity is bad. To leave a thing unfinished gives interest, and makes for lengthened life. They say that even in building the [imperial] palace an unfinished place is always left. In the writings of the ancients, inner and outer [Buddhist and non-Buddhist], there are many missing chapters and parts."
"Even a false imitation of wisdom must be reckoned as wisdom."
"Why is it so hard to do a thing Now, at the moment when one thinks of it."
"A bystander...remarked, '...One day of life is weightier than ten thousand pieces of gold...It is not because they do not fear death, but because they forget the nearness of death that men do not rejoice in life. One may say that he has grasped the true principle who is unconcerned with the manifestation of life or death.' When he said this people scoffed at him more than ever."
"There are innumerable instances of things which attach themselves to something else, then waste and destroy it. The body has lice; a house has mice; a country has robbers; inferior men have riches; superior men have benevolence and righteousness; priests have the Buddhist law."
"Leave undone whatever you hesitate to do."
"If a man strictly observe the rules of his Way, and keep a rein on himself, then no matter what Way it be, he will be a Scholar of renown and be a Teacher of multitudes."
"He is of low understanding who spends a whole life irked by common worldly matters."
"A man who would follow the world must first of all be a judge of moods, for untimely speeches will offend the ears and hurt the feelings of others, and so fail in their purpose. He has to beware of such occasions. But falling sick and bearing children and dying — these things take no account of moods. They do not cease because they are untimely. The shifting changes of birth, life, sickness, and death, the real great matters — these are like the surging flow of a fierce torrent, which delays not for an instant but straightway pursues its course. And so, for both priest and layman, there must be no talk of moods in things they must needs accomplish. They must be free from this care and that, they must not let their feet linger."
"The Hour of Death waits for no order. Death does not even come from the front. It is ever pressing on from behind. All men know of Death, but they do not expect it of a sudden, and it comes upon them unawares. So, though the dry flats extend far out, soon the tide comes and floods the beach."
"Action and principle are fundamentally the same. If the outstanding appearances do not offend, the inward reality is certain to mature. We should not insist on our unbelief, but honour and respect these things [i.e. Religion]."
"The truth is at the beginning of anything and its end are alike touching."
"Ambition never comes to an end."
"What is true zazen? What do you mean by Zen becomes Zen and you become you? You become you is a very important point. You become you. When you become you, even though you are in bed, you may not be you most of the time. Even though you are sitting here, I wonder whether you are you in its true sense. So to be you is zazen."
"So it is not a matter of whether it is possible to attain Buddhahood, or if it is possible to make a tile a jewel. But just to work, just to live in this world with this understanding is the most important point, and that is our practice. That is true zazen."
"So I say, ‘Oh, I am sorry but soon you will see the bright sunrise every morning and beautiful sunset in the evening, every evening, but right now perhaps you…under your situation it may be impossible to see the beautiful sunset or bright sunrise, or beautiful flower in your garden, and it is impossible to take care of your garden, but soon you will see the beauty of the flowers and you will cut some flowers for your room.’ When you start to do this kind of thing you are alright. Don’t worry a bit. It means when you become you, yourself, and when you see things as they are, and when you become at one with your surrounding, in its true sense, there is true self."
"The highest truth is daiji, translated as dai jiki in Chinese scriptures. This is the subject of the question the emperor asked Bodhidharma: "What is the First Principle?" Bodhidharma said, "I don't know." "I don't know" is the First Principle."
"Communication is — start by understanding — your own understanding about people. Even though you want them to understand you, you know, it is — unless you understand people, it is almost impossible. Don't you think so? Only when you understand people, they may understand you. So even though you do not say anything, if you understand people there is some communication."
"When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself."
"You may say you attained some stage in your practice. But that is just a trivial event in your long life. It is like saying the ocean is round, or like a jewel, or palace. For a hungry ghost the ocean is a pool of blood; for a dragon the ocean is a palace; for a fish it is his house; for a human being it is water. There must be various understandings. When the ocean is a palace, it is a palace. You cannot say it is not a palace. For a dragon it is actually a palace. If you laugh at a fish who says it is a palace, Buddha will laugh at you who say it is two o'clock, three o'clock. It is the same thing."
"There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity."
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few."
"The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind."
"Doing something is expressing our own nature. We do not exist for the sake of something else. We exist for the sake of ourselves. This is the fundamental teaching expressed in the forms we observe."
"You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice."
"Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice; there is no other way of life than this way of life."
"Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. Even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to. After we bow to the floor nine times. By bowing we are giving up ourselves. To give up ourselves means to give up our dualistic ideas. So there is no difference between zazen practice and bowing. …, the founder of the , committed (ritual suicide by disembowelment) in 1591 at the order of his lord, Hideyoshi. Just before Rikyu took his own life he said, "When I have this sword there is no Buddha and no Patriarchs." He meant that when we have the sword of big mind, there is no dualistic world. The only thing which exists is this spirit. This kind of imperturbable spirit was always present in Rikyu’s tea ceremony. He never did anything in just a dualistic way; he was ready to die in each moment. In ceremony after ceremony he died, and he renewed himself. This is the spirit of the tea ceremony. This is how we bow."
"Practice does not mean that whatever you do, even lying down, is zazen. When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice…. When you sit, you will sit. When you eat, you will eat…. If you say,”It doesn’t matter,” it means that you are making some excuse to do something in your own way with your small mind. It means that you are to some particular thing or way. That is not what we mean when we say, “Just to sit is enough,” or “Whatever you do is zazen.” Of course, everything you do is zazen, but if so, there is no need to say it."
"After you have practiced for a while, you will realize that it is not possible to make rapid, extraordinary progress. Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, "Oh, this pace is terrible!" But actually it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself. So there is no need to worry about progress."
"The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism but to study ourselves. You are not your body. You are the Big Activity. You are just expressing the smallest particle of the Big Activity. That is all. But when you become attached to a temporal expression of the Big Activity, it is time to talk about Buddhism."
"Once I had left Eiheiji and been away for some time, coming back was different. I heard the various sounds of practice—the bells and the monks reciting the sutra—and I had a deep feeling. There were tears flowing out of my eyes, nose, and mouth! It is the people who are outside of the monastery who feel its atmosphere. Those who are practicing actually do not feel anything. I think this is true for everything. When we hear the sound of the pine trees on a windy day, perhaps the wind is just blowing, and the pine tree is just standing in the wind. That is all that they are doing. But the people who listen to the wind in the tree will write a poem, or will feel something unusual. That is, I think, the way everything is."
"It is all right to talk about ourselves, but actually there is no need to do so. Before we open our mouths, we are already expressing the big existence, including ourselves. So the purpose of talking about ourselves is to correct the misunderstanding we have when we are attached to any particular temporal form or color of the big activity."
"The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency or change. That everything changes is the basic truth for each existence. No one can deny this truth and all teaching of Buddhism is condensed within it. This is the teaching for all of us. Wherever we go this teaching is true. This teaching is also understood as the teaching of selflessness. Because each existence is in constant change, there is no abiding self."
"Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure."
"If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall."
"Eyes only see things outside, objective things. If you reflect on yourself, that self is not your true self any more. You cannot project yourself as some objective thing to think about. The mind which is always on your side is not just your mind, it is universal mind, always the same, not different from another's mind. It is Zen mind. It is big, big mind."
"We must have beginner's mind, free from possessing anything, a mind that knows everything is in flowing change. Nothing exists but momentarily in its present form and color. One thing flows into another and cannot be grasped."
"When we do not expect anything we can be ourselves. That is our way, to live fully in each moment of time."
"It is a big mistake to think that the best way to express yourself is to do whatever you want, acting as you please. This is not expressing yourself. If you know what to do exactly, and you do it, then you can express yourself fully."
"All descriptions of reality are limited expressions of the world of emptiness. Yet we attach to the descriptions and think they are reality. That is a mistake."
"Instead of respecting things, we want to use them for ourselves and if it is difficult to use them, we want to conquer them."
"Real Freedom is to not feel limited when wearing this Zen robe, this troublesome formal robe. Similarly, in our busy life we should wear this civilization without being bothered by it, without ignoring it, without being caught by it."
"Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality."
"From far, far in the distant past, Down to this day, this very instant, Those things we have longed for most Have not been attained, and we sorrow."
"Once our false thinking has completely ceasedThere is neither start nor conclusion, beginning nor endIn the oneness of Buddha and sentient beingsSay Namu-amida-butsu."
"To reach the borders of the uncreated, Just let go! This is genuine gratitude."
"In this brief span this body exists, Clothing and food are of course indispensable; But knowing them to be fruits of former lives, I make no effort at all to obtain them."
"With aversion for sect superiors and their pomp, I have no wish for monk disciples; Not in search of lay supporters, I court the favor of no one."
"In the Buddha’s teaching, unless you cast away body and life, there can be no realization of benefit."
"To become solitary and simple in utter aloneness -- living wholly unconcerned about the multitude of worldly affairs, and abandoning and disentangling yourself from all things -- is to die. We are born alone; we die alone."
"Food, clothing, and shelter are the three evil paths. To desire and make a display of clothing is karma for the path of beasts. To greedily crave food is karma for the path of famished ghosts. To set up a shelter is karma for the path of hell. Hence, if you aspire to part from the three evil paths, you must free yourself from food, clothing, and shelter."
"All beings are by nature are Buddhas, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddhas. How sad that people ignore the near and search the truth afar: like someone in the midst of water crying out in thirst: like a child of a wealthy home wandering among the poor."
"Should you desire the great tranquility prepare to sweat white beads."
"If you forget yourself, you become the universe."
"Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit."
"Train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the martial arts is not there."
"You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair."
"You have to practice until you die."
"Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance — embracing all opposites."
"If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is really and truly composed of H-2-O, or even mineral water, or saki. Meditation is Drinking it!"
"Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance."
"We feel our shell keeps us safe, but it crushes us and others, and keeps out light and sun."
"You must not take out your sword because if you try to kill someone, you must die for it yourself. What you must do instead is kill yourself, kill your own mind."
"You are the strongest and the others keep their distance. It is no longer necessary to win victories over them."
"To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give."
"If you are not happy here and now, you never will be."
"Think with your whole body."
"We should learn to think with our fingers."
"Religions remain what they are. Zen is meditation. Meditation is the foundation of every religion. People today feel an intense need to go back to the source of religious life, to the pure essence in the depths of themselves which they can discover only through actually experiencing it. They also need to be able to concentrate their minds in order to find the highest wisdom and freedom, which is spiritual in nature, in their efforts to deal with the influences of every description imposed upon them by their environment. Human wisdom alone is not enough, it is not complete. Only universal truth can provide the highest wisdom. Take away the word Zen and put Truth or Order of the Universe in its place."
"You can’t even trade a single fart with the next guy. Each and every one of us has to live out his own life. Don’t waste time thinking about who’s most talented."
"Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone."
"Hey! What are you looking at? Don’t you see that it’s about you?"
"The asshole doesn’t need to be ashamed of being the asshole. The feet don’t have any reason to go on strike just because they’re only feet. The head isn’t the most important of all, and the navel doesn’t need to imagine he’s the father of all things. It’s strange though that people look at the prime minister as an especially important person. The nose can’t replace the eyes, and the mouth can’t replace the ears. Everything has its own identity, which is unsurpassable in the whole universe."
"I went to the Russo-Japanese War and killed people until I had enough of it. If you think about it soberly, this is a serious matter. Today the newspaper writes about the extermination of the enemy or how we clean them away with machine gun fire. That almost sounds like everyday household cleaning. They fire with machine guns and call it "cleaning away the remains of the enemy". Imagine that would happen in the midst of the ginza: people getting "cleaned away" as if you were shooting animals! It would be a serious affair. Compared with today the former war was old fashioned. We shot only one bullet at a time. That was not so gross like shooting your machine gun as if you were spreading water with a watering can, or throwing big bombs, or poison gas. I also once killed enemies at the battlefield of Baolisi, chasing them into a hole, and I was never punished for it. I even received monthly payments as a veteran after I came back from the war. That means that you do not always get punished for killing a person. It depends on the regulations of the time if you get punished or not. But these regulations are made by men."
"We stop the one who can't cease from seeking things outside, and practice with our bodies with a posture that seeks absolutely nothing. This is zazen."
"Once there was a megalomaniac in the Sugamo hospital who called himself "Ashiwara Shōgun." He hung a cardboard medal around his neck and bestowed dignified words to those he met to take with them on their way. Now that the war is over, we can see clearly that what the military did wasn’t at all different. And now they want to reintroduce medals yet again... After winning the Russo-Japanese war, we thought we’d won colonies. But what really came of it? After losing the Second World War, we realized that we had only earned the hatred of the Russians... Everyone is talking about loyalty to the fatherland. The question is simply where this loyalty will take us. I too was completely convinced when I went to war against the Russians, but after our defeat, I realized that we had done something that we shouldn’t have. In any case, it’s better not to make war in the first place."
"My sermons are criticized by certain audiences. They say that my sermons are hollow, not holy. I agree with them because I myself am not holy. The Buddha's teaching guides people to the place where there is nothing special... People often misunderstand faith as kind of ecstasy of intoxication... True faith is sobering up from such intoxication."
"How we live our everyday lives has to be the main concern of religion."
"From the first, in people and in things, there is no such thing as trash. These words point to the fundamental truth of Buddhism, a truth I could not as yet conceive in those days."
"When a Zen Monk writes the word "dew," it is not to the natural phenomenon that he refers, but to direct revelation. Nothing concealed anywhere. Truth, revealed in all things. Buddha revealed in all things. Dharma revealed in all things. If you all just let the scales drop from your eyes, you realize that everything everywhere is filled with truth; everything is filled with Buddha; everything everywhere is to be appreciated! That is what the scroll of "dew" is hanging there to say."
"我は元の神・実の神である。この屋敷にいんねんあり。このたび、世界一れつをたすけるために天降った。みきを神のやしろに貰い受けたい。"
"Whoever may come, God will not retire. It is natural that you are filled with anxieties at present, but after twenty or thirty years have passed, a day is sure to come when all of you will admit the truth of My intention."
"You shall do as God of Origin wills and comply with My demand. I shall save all humankind if you will listen to Me; but if you should object to it, I shall destroy this house so completely that not a trace of it will remain."
"Whoever comes to this house shall never leave without being filled with joy. To Me, the Parent, all human beings in the world are My children."
"Now I shall begin to build a new world. Celebrate the occasion with Me!"
"Whatever I intend to do, I shall test it first on My own family."
"However wretched you may be, never say you are wretched, for I shall never make beggars of you."
"There is no need for a shrine. Start building something small. [...] It is to be one square tsubo. This structure of one square tsubo is not for human habitation. [...] Additions can be made depending on your minds."
"この所に、おばあさんは居らん。我は天の将軍なり。"
"January 13, 1887 (Dec. 20, 1886, lunar calendar) Sah, sah, because Tsukihi exists, the world exists. Because the world exists, things exist. Because things exist, your bodies exist. Because your bodies exist, law exists. Although the law exists, to resolve your minds is primary. Sah, sah, where there is sincerity, you shall receive sincerity. You may not know what My sincerity is. It is My providence—fire, water, and wind. Sah, sah, you are to purchase My sincerity. Purchase My sincerity with your own sincerity."
"February 17, 1887 (Jan. 25, lunar calendar), night Sah, sah, I shall begin to level the ground completely. Sah, sah, with the portals opened, opened, I shall level the ground all over the world. Sah, I shall step out to level the ground. Sah, sah, shall I open the portals and level the ground? Shall I close the portals and level the ground?"
"This path cannot be followed by human thinking. It is the path that is being formed by the law of nature."
"You know there is the Fudesaki. What do you think of it? The seventeen parts of the Fudesaki were not completed in a short while. God spoke into my ears, saying, ‘Do not look at any writings, even the charge book from a bean curd shop.’ I wondered why. Then God said, ‘Brush, brush, take up the brush.’ I took the brush up for the first time at New Year’s when I became seventy-two years old. And when I took the brush up, My hand moved by itself. From heaven, God did it. After what was to be done was finished, My hand became numb and it could not be moved. God said, ‘Calm Your mind, and read this. If You find something You cannot understand, ask Me.’ I added brush strokes when I found something I could not understand. That is the Fudesaki."
"If the path is cleared from up above, can the people down below get near? If the path is cleared from down below both the people up above and the people down below can easily get near, can they not?"
""Oh, I am so glad to see you have come. God the Parent lent a hand to bring you home. You had a hard time, slipping at many places. However, you were joyful. Sah, sah, God the Parent accepts fully, fully. Whatever you ask, it is accepted. God protects you. Enjoy it, enjoy it, enjoy it!" So saying, Oyasama grasped Rin’s cold hands with both Her own. It was something more than warming them over the brazier. Rin was moved with gratitude and awe at the inexpressible warmth of Oyasama."
"Early rising, honesty, and work. There is a great difference in merit between being awakened and waking up someone else. Working in the shadows and praising others is honesty. If you do not put into practice what you hear, you will become a lie. Work on top of work, saying to yourself, ‘Just a little more, just a little bit more’; this is not greed, it is work that comes from true sincerity."
"That is it. Did you notice those pumpkins and eggplants? They are big, aren’t they? The plants bear fruit because the flowers bloom. Not a single plant bears fruit without its flower. Now ponder deeply. The world says woman is unclean, but there is nothing unclean about woman. Man and woman are equally children of God and there is no discrimination. Woman has a duty, a duty to bear children. Her monthly period is the flower. Without the flower there is no fruit. Understand this well. Take the pumpkin; if its big flower is gone, that is the end of it. In many things, there are flowers that bear no fruit. But to bear fruit without any flower is impossible. Ponder deeply. There is nothing unclean about it."
"If, doubting God's words, you believe this Grant to be false, it will indeed be false. Yet, if you truly believe that you have received this Grant from the Parent and do just as God says, you will be blessed, regardless of whether there is usually good or bad in your mind. The bad will appear elsewhere. In the case of childbirth, you will be blessed with a rapid and easy delivery if you just discard doubt from your mind and follow the teachings of God. But if you harbor doubt and fear, even though there be no wrongdoing in your mind, then the wheel of fear will be set in motion and your fears will be borne out."
"The sign of God's blessings: the Divine Model."
"June 9, 1907 (April 29, lunar calendar), 9:00am [...] I am fully satisfied. The Seki is satisfied, is satisfied. At this moment, as the Seki's position becomes critical, all of you have gathered to seek the resolution for his illness, and united your hearts in spite of your problems, to pray for his recovery once again for ten more years of life. I commend your sincerity. It is a sincerity deserving of My free and unlimited workings. You need not worry whether he will recover or not. Firmly calm your minds. All of you take heart and rejoice, take heart and rejoice."
"How thankful, what a delicious meal. (おおきに ごちそうさん ōkini, gochisō-san)"
"Peter Kibe and his 187 companions send us Christians, and also non-Christians, a message containing many things, such as following: persistence in the faith in God, who alone can save the humanity; keeping the liberty of religion which is one of fundamental human rights; non-violence in front of those who persecute and attack with violence is necessary for making peace. We expect that the Beatification for the Christians of Japan will be an occasion for rediscovering the importance of the faith and of bearing testimony to the love of God manifested through Jesus Christ and the Martyrs."
"Perhaps because of Japan's mentality and culture, our faithful are reluctant to talking about their Christian faith to others. Today we need a more explicit Gospel proclamation."
"Peace first of all, is a question of one's soul. However, peace is about our faith in God and interpersonal relationships of trust and forgiveness that do not discriminate and hate anybody. Peace is about the necessary conditions that guarantee life in society (health, education, security) and the environment, our common home."
"We know that a world without nuclear weapons does not automatically make for peace. We have to make many efforts toward renewal, to recreate the human spirit by insisting on the importance of the practice of love taught and showed by Jesus Christ."
"Disabled people have to be protected. A society which will not protect the weak has no respect for human dignity."
"People have been emailing and calling one after the other to say they had seen the announcement. I myself did not know about the announcement at all and I had no contact in advance. Personally, I don't think I'm the most suitable person to be a cardinal, so I still find it hard to believe."
"I pray that our collaboration and exchange over these few days will convey to the world our shared hope that the abolition of nuclear weapons is possible, that world peace is attainable, and that the circle of cooperation for the realization of peace will further expand."
"This is the community of today: a community of faith that, after having experienced such tragic moments, bears witness to the hope of the risen Christ: precisely because we are facing death, persecution, death of the atomic bomb, and from these shocking events, we have risen again, there is hope in our hearts, yes, recovery, rebirth, thanks to the work of God."
"それは、恐ろしい蔭の力を以て、弓き廻されるような感じで、不可抗力と言うべきで、甘露台様御自身、意識して行動せられたのでは無かったのである。宵から夜半まで無我夢中に歩き廻られて、突然、甘露台様が立ち止まられた。そして、座敷の中央へ出られた時、「此処は甘露台や」と思われた。"
"Astronomy is religion (天文即宗教)."
"The state of “Kishin (帰神)” uniting in one with God, is that in which all these virtues are united, while spiritual sense is that in which a part of the divine power is received separately. The great virtue is a name given to the state of “Kishin (帰神)”, the virtue is incomparable and beyond description and is so called throughout the three worlds of past, present and future existence. This is called the divine virtue also."
"The method of investigation of the spiritual world, which I am leading many peoples is called the “Chinkon (鎮魂)”, and this is the holy and divine method. About seventy years ago, a divine man named “Chikanori Honda, Heikuro” lived in this country, who primarily [taught] it, and he is the restorer of this method. The “Chinkon (鎮魂)” had been carried out from ancient times in our country, but he revived and reformed, which I am now teaching. In this method, there are three ways to feel in the spiritual world, namely the “Jikan-ho (自感法)”, the “Takan-ho (他感法)” and the “Shinkan-ho (神感法)”, and the first means the self-feeling, and the second means the feeling by another person, and the third means the feeling by God. These are all the ways to get the spiritual senses or inspirations, which let men understand the spiritual world. This method should be performed before God, and by praying to Him. The executor sits against the “Chinkon stand” on which a small pebblestone is put in front of him, and he looks at this object by half opened eyes, for about thirty minutes. The “Chinkon stand” is placed about one and half meters forward from the executor. By chanting a spell he unfolds his soul to the Cosmos without any thinking. After a while, the bodily senses vanish away and the spiritual senses take place, which are very fine and delicate."
"physicographē of heaven: physico-; physio- (Gk. φύσις ‘nature’) + graphē (Gk. -γράφος ‘writing or drawing’). The sense of this compound word intended is ‘natural literature of heaven.’ As we have the letters to describe the words to express our thoughts, there are miscellaneous phenomena (in the heaven) that are displayed by numberless visible and invisible celestial bodies. Such phenomena are compared to the letters that we use for writing. Physicographē of heaven is a science in the world of spirit which corresponds to the science of astronomy in our world."
"It goes without saying that the science of astronomy is the highest grade subject of learning. To my thinking, it is scientifically related to all other subjects of learning, and is the foundation of basic education for all human race. What is more, it is the primal basis that uplifts one and all men intellectually."
"The sacred spirit-training Chinkon [鎮魂] is applied to a man as self-discipline for acquiring a knowledge as to the Soul of the universe by deciphering physicographē of heaven. When one sits at Chinkon, he must sit straight and try to have a zero-state of mind, but with self-consciousness and a firm conviction that he himself is a god so that he may be made as sacred as a god. In this case, he must not try to create a mind-state of nihility or voidness, but he must let it be made naturally in his spiritual-self. This is the way of self-discipline or spirit-training at Chinkon to reduce or annihilate the ‘I’ to nothing."
"There may be some other ways to communicate with the Great Spirit of the universe besides Chinkon, but at present Chinkon is the shortest course of such a sort of training among all. Not only that, but it is the surest training of reaching the noumenon of cosmo-nature."
"There is existent what is called zero, in other words incorporeity; and therefore corporeity, that is, existence, can be recognized. If there were not existent what is called zero, corporeity, that is, 'non-zero' could not be recognized. Now that there is what is called corporeity, incorporeity namely zero can be recognized. Corporeity and incorporeity, due to the principles of duality, are regarded as a two-in-one body. This world has been and is and will be existent as a being of corporeity-plus-incorporeity due to the principles of duality. "Existence is inexistence," or "corporeity is incorporeity," is a stern truth, as one adage goes, "Matter is void.""
"A science of researching the reality that there is existent the Void in the cosmos, is called religion-astronomy in the sense that religion and astronomy are the two sides united in one. For this reason, I call religion-astronomy 'King of sciences,' which means the highest of all lines of learning."
"2. 天地は生き通しである。天地が生きているから、人間もみな生きていられるのである。"
"24. 鳥や獣がどのようにして生きていくかを考えてみても、神のお恵みがわかる。冬になったといって重ね着をするでもなく、夏になっても一枚も脱ぐことはない。神はそれでちゃんとさしつかえないように育てておられる。"
"39. 天地金乃神はこの世の親神であるから、天地金乃神に信心しているといっても、していないといっても、天地の間に生きているからには、天地金乃神の子に変わりはない。"
"54. 人のことをそしる者がある。神道はどう、仏教がこうなどと、そしったりする。自分の産んだ子供の中で、一人は僧侶になり、一人は神父になり、一人は神主になり、また、役人になり、職人になり、商人になりというようになった時、親は、その子供の中でだれかがそしられて、うれしいと思うだろうか。他人をそしるのは、神の心にかなわない。釈迦もキリストもどの宗祖も、みな神のいとし子である。"
"55. 生きている間も死んだ後も天と地はわが住みかである。生きても死んでも天地のお世話になることを悟れ。"
"56. お天道様のお照らしなさるのもおかげ、"
"60. 死ぬ用意をすな。生きる用意をせよ。死んだら土になるのみ。"
"66. 金光大神が、"
"67. 死ぬということは、もみを臼でひいた時、殻と実とが分かれるようなものである。時が来れば魂と体とが分かれるのである。"
"80. 用心せよ。わが心の鬼がわが身を責める。"
"90. 今、天地の開ける音を聞いて、目を覚ませ。"
"91. 日に日に生きることが信心である。"
"111. 心は広く持っておれ。世界は広く考えておれ。世界はわが心にある。"
"117. 拝めとも何をせよとも言わない。ただ一つ真の信心をせよと言うのに、その一つができないのか。"
"128. 真にありがたいと思う心は、おかげのはじめである。"
"133. おかげはたらいの水である。向こうへやろうとすれば、こちらへ来る。こちらへ取ろうとすれば、向こうへ行く。"
"159. 神が天地の理を説いて、安心の道を授けてやる。"
"163. 信心は話しを聞くだけでは十分でない。わが心からも練り出すがよい。"
"165. 神は昼夜も遠い近いも問わない。頼む心にへだてなく祈れ。"
"166. 神を礼拝するのに、別に決まりはない。実意丁寧、正直、真一心がかなめである。 日々生かされているお礼を申し、次に、お互い凡夫の身で、知らず知らずにご無礼、お粗末、お気障りなどをしている道理であるから、それをお断りおわび申して、それがすんだら、身の上のことを何かと実意をもってお願いさせてもらうがよい。"
"167. 信心といっても別にむずかしいことはない。親にものを言うように、朝起きたら神にお礼を申し、その日のことが都合よくいくように願い、よそへ行く時には、行ってまいりますと言ってお届け申しあげよ。 そして、帰って来たら、無事で帰りましたとお礼を言い、夜寝る時にはまた、その日のお礼を申して寝るようにすれば、それで信心になる。"
"183. 信心する者は、山へ行って木の切り株に腰をおろして休んでも、立つ時には礼を言う心持ちになれ。"
"201. 世間には、水の行、火の行などがあり、いろいろの物断ちをする人もあるが、そのような行はしなくてもよい。巡礼のように白い着物を着てあちらこちらを巡り歩く暇に、毎日の家業を信心の行と心得て勤め、おかげを受けるがよい。"
"202. 水をかぶって行をするというが、体にかぶっても何にもならない。心にかぶれ。寒三十日の水行をするといっても、それは体を苦しめて病気をこしらえるようなものである。家内や子供の病気のために水をかぶって、一週間日参をしても治らなければ、自分の体に傷がつくだけである。水をかぶったから真である、水をかぶらないから真がないとはいえない。食わずの行をするのは、金光大神は大嫌いである。食べて飲んで体を大切にして信心をせよ。"
"203. しかし、何もわざわざそんな不自由な山に行かなくても、心の中に山をこしらえて、その中で修行をしたらそれでよい。自分が山に入った心になっていれば、どんなに不自由なことがあっても、また家内のこしらえたものがまずくても、けっして不足を言うことはないであろう。"
"204. 人間は人間らしくすればよい。何も求めて不思議なことをしなくてもよい。"
"209. 木のもとへ肥料をやれば、枝振りまで栄える。 先祖や親を大切にすれば繁盛させてくださる。"
"219. 手厚く信心をする者は夢でもうかつに見るな。神は、夢にでも良し悪しを教えてくださる。"
"223. 思う念力岩をもとおすというが、信心する者が一心を出して願えば、どんなことでもかなえてくださる。"
"226. 「一心になることは、はなはだむずかしいものと思います。拝みながら、いろいろのことが思われたりして、心の内が定まりませんが、どういうものでありましょうか」と申しあげると、 「一心になる心は、子供をこしらえる時のようなぐあいに思い知れよ」と仰せられた。"
"230. 金の杖をつけば曲がる。竹や木の杖をつけば折れる。神を杖につけばよい。 神は、曲がりも折れも死にもなさらない。"
"254. 若い時の信心は、老いての楽しみである。"
"279. 「苗代にひきがえるが入って卵を産んで困ります」と願う者に対して、金光様は、「よそでは封じると言うが、うちでは封じない。かえるに、あぜで遊んでもらうようにすればよい。うちの田に入らないようにすれば、よその田に入るから」と教えられた。"
"289. 人から出る日給はわかっても、神から出る日給はわかるまい。"
"291. 何を飲むにも食べるにも、ありがたくいただく心を忘れるな。"
"293. 食物は、わが心で毒にも薬にもなるものである。"
"343. 縁談には、相性を調べ見合わせるより、真の心を見合わせよ。"
"354. 金光大神の話は、学者の話や講義と違って、ここが続き、ここが切れ目ということがない。天地のある間は、天地の話が尽きることはない。金光大神は天地の道理を説くのである。"
"375. たとえ人にたたかれても、けっして人をたたいてはいけない。人に難儀をさせるな。よい心にならせてもらえばありがたいと思い、すれ違った人でも拝んであげよ。できるだけ人を助けるようにせよ。"
"396. 欲を捨てることについておたずねした時、 「いやいや、私にも欲がある。世界の人を助けたい欲がある。欲を捨ててはいけない」と仰せになった。"
"400. 金光とは、金光るということである。金は金乃神の金、光は天つ日の光である。天つ日の光があれば明るい。世界中に天地金乃神の光を光らせて、おかげを受けさせるということである。"
"With the completion of this sacred staff, I will end your farming career. Please understand. ... There are many people like yourself, who have sincere faith in kamis, but still have many problems. Help these people by performing toritsugi. This will help Kami and save people. Man exists because of Kami, and Kami exists because of man. Thus, Kami supports man as Kami's child, and man supports Kami as his parent. There will be eternal prosperity through aiyo kakeyo, mutual interdependency."
"今般、天地乃神より生神金光大神差し向け、願う氏子におかげを授け、理解申して聞かせ、末々まで繁盛いたすこと、氏子ありての神、神ありての氏子、上下立つようにいたし候。"
"Konkō Kyō not only declares itself as monotheism but, at the same time, repudiates all ordinary superstitious beliefs and practices so widely prevalent among the nation at large, such as the selling and the wearing of charms and the use of exorcisms, divinations, and formal, repetitious prayers. Its founder, like Jesus of Nazareth, began life as a simple peasant and, like Jesus, Kawate Bunjirō eventually came to the conviction that the great Father of All Life had come to self-knowledge in himself. Chronologically Konkō Kyō is almost exactly coextensive with the history of Christianity in modern Japan. Its study affords material that is remarkably suggestive in making comparison with the progress of the Christian movement."
"It was not until after he had founded his church that he began to call himself by the extraordinary title, "The Living God, The Great God Konkō." He declared that his "roots" were the same as those of God. Yet this remarkable manifestation of an expanded ego was united with the utmost humility. To the end of his life he preserved the character of a simple, self-abnegating farmer. There is no evidence that during his lifetime he ever invited or permitted worship on the part of his followers. Almost on his death-bed he declared with tears of gratitude and humility in his eyes that he could not cease to thank God that He had opened His truth to an ignorant man like himself. The followers of Konkō Daijin have described this dual consciousness as the union of complete man and complete God. It suggests the twofold nature ascribed to Jesus."
"神仏に信すれば，人様にも神仏のように心持ちて。"
"Of course the pen in my hand writes the spiritual teachings in this book, but once I sit at my desk to write for it, I am no longer the ordinary “I.” Holy spirit comes over and inspires me. The strong words for my weak character pour out from my pen. I was surprised at my own words pouring down into the “Holy Song for the Seicho-No-Ie” which has appeared in the House Organ No. 2. When I was at Kameoka I was one day concentrating my mind to write on our teachings. Mr. Kato who had the faculty of clairvoyance was sitting beside me, and told me afterward that he saw a spiritual man quite different from myself writing at the desk. I do not know if we may believe his words. But if there is any founder of the spiritual teachings of “Seicho-No-Ie” it can not be this earthly I."
"O Parent God who gives life to all living beings, fill my whole being with Your Spirit and all blessings. My life is not my own to claim, it is the life of God, who permeates the universe. My acts are not my own to claim. They are the acts of God, who permeates the universe. May the Lord of Seicho-No-Ie, who has appeared to teach us the Way of God, the Parent of heaven and earth, guide us and protect us."
"God is all of everything, everywhere. I'm a child of God, His spirit within me. When in Oneness I pray, Heaven and Earth respond. When in Oneness I move, the Universe moves."
"[And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)] What must be noted here is the plural form used in the statement, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us....” It is not only in Jesus the Christ that the Word dwelt. The Word of God—the Holy Name of the Buddha—dwells in all people and that is what is appearing as the physical body. It is stated here, “... we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Here, St. John is saying that within us dwells the Word of God, that is, the Holy Name of the Buddha, that he saw the glory of it, that this was the glory of God’s only begotten son. This means that we are all the only begotten of God. There are a large number of only begotten sons. People who are lost because they do not realize that they are the only begotten of the Father are like the “prodigal son” who has lost his way. Christians who stick to the usual explanation on this point think that Jesus was the only begotten son of God. However, St. John tells us that we are all children of God, that the glory of God dwells in all human beings, that we are all shining forth, and that we are all the only begotten son of the Father."
"必ずや霊魂の其物体に憑依するの神法有りて、確乎として動す可らざるを信ず。"
"人心也者大精神之分派。"
"天降生民有一生而無再生。"
"親德拾は歳皇史を拝読し、此の神法の今時に廃絶したるを慨歎し、岩窟に求め草庵に尋ね、終に三拾五歳にして神懸三十六法あることを覚悟り、夫れより幽冥に正し現事に徴し、古事記日本紀の真奥を知り、古先達の説々悉く皆謬解たるを知り弁へたりき。"
"神懸三拾六法と云ふは神達に上中下の品位あり。而して有形無形之差別あり。亦自感法他感法神感法あり。三法合せて二百九十八法なる。亦た妖魅界亦邪神界とも云ふありて、神界に准じて十は法ある故に正邪合せて三拾六法と成る。"
"一、天地の真象を観察して真神の体を思考す可し。"
"帰神の法を幽斎の法といふ。神界に感合するの道は至尊至貴、濫に語る可き者に非ず。吾朝古典往々其実績を載すと雖も、中世祭祀の道衰へ其術を失ふ既に久し。神法に依り其古に復す。是即ち玄理の窮極、皇祖の以て皇孫に伝へし治国の大本にして祭祀の蘊奥なり。"
"一、身体衣服を清潔にす可し。"
"幽斎は宇宙の主宰に感合し親しく八百万神に接す。其の修し得るに至ては至大無外、至小無内、無遠近、無大小、無広狭、無明暗、過去と現在と未来とを問はず一も通ぜざるは無し。是即ち惟神の妙法。"
"常に服膺すべき者あり。玆に其概を挙ぐ。"
"神ありて我あり 我欲忘れて報恩 理を立てて身が立つ 今を全う kami arite ware ari ga yoku wasurete hō on ri o tate te mi ga tatsu ima o matsuto u"
"生も死も、借りしものにはなかりけり ただあるものは、神のおもわく sei mo shi mo, karishi mono ni wa nakarikeri tada aru mono wa, shin no o mo waku"
"Spiritual Learning is [a method of learning in which one] personally witnesses and verifies the genuine existence of deities by training oneself single-mindedly in the principles of spirit possession, while taking the divine classics and national histories as one’s basis. By personally apprehending their [i.e., the deities’] loftiness and might, one understands why the world of our country’s divine classics is unparalleled. Hereby one understands for the first time the original principles of the establishment of the universe, the configuration of the planet earth, the boundary between the manifest and arcane realms, and the reason why the grandson of Heaven [i.e., Ninigi-no-mikoto, Amaterasu’s grandson] descended to earth. Thus one becomes awed by the mighty virtue of the Heavenly Deity who is the Imperial Ancestor, and can understand why our Imperial Household is honorable and mighty, and why shrines exist. However, this Spiritual Learning is mutually complementary with the study of the divine classics. Only by both studying the divine classics and personally experiencing the existence of deities can one understand their mighty virtue. One cannot truly comprehend the mysterious wonders of the divine classics merely by the philological analysis carried on by scholars from ancient times. Only by experiencing the genuine existence of the deities through the method of spirit possession can one understand the arcane, distant, subtle and marvelous original principle of our realm of the deities."
"You will be made to speak the depth of the teachings, which was not revealed before. The Spirit of Truth has entered you. You shall speak what you hear. The time of Heaven has come. Rise. Your name shall be Kotama. Raise your hand. The world shall enter severe times."
"Thereafter, with increasing frequency, I started to receive additional revelations from God. The content of these holy words was truly amazing and beyond my imagination. I was shocked and awakened by their importance to the extent that I often wept in shuddering awe and inspiration. This was because, in these revelations, God’s arrangements coming from His vast and profound plan, which covers hundreds of millions of years and had never been revealed to any saints or sages in the history of humankind, was explained much more clearly than when revealed in the past two to three thousand years. Furthermore, God revealed that He had blessed a lowly man like me with the important mission of establishing true prosperity for the future of humankind."
"Our first duty as children of God is to realise that our life, food, clothing, and the building we live in, from the nails to the beams, are all blessings granted to us by Su God, and to offer gratitude to Him for all these things."
"Expressing gratitude for all things should be the fundamental attitude of all children of God. For instance, God has given us our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and brain. Our eyes enable us to see, our ears enable us to hear, our mouths enable us to speak, and our bodies enable us to move about. We need to realise that our being able to do all these things shows that we have already received superabundant protection and help from God. Without the earth it would not be possible for humankind to exist. Without the trees, grasses, rivers, and mountains of our planet, human beings would not be able to live. Unless we learn to be grateful for all these things that bring delight to our senses of sight and touch, our future will be bleak."
"Although the words people in each country use to express their gratitude differ, gratitude itself is the same all over the world. The phrase “Thank you” is important in daily life and helps to add grace to human relationships. When we train ourselves to be grateful for everything, feelings of joy naturally well up from within, and these vibrations in turn generate deeper feelings of gratitude. The vibrations of gratitude we send out reach the spiritual realm and in turn influence the physical realm."
"Some people think that to be accepting of the will of God means to be rather passive. However, to readily accept the will of God really means to actively strive to accomplish God’s will. All life form—grasses, trees, human beings and so on—prosper by harmoniously following the will of God. This enables a tree to grow tall and strong and a human being to become virtuous and to achieve great things. We need to firmly understand this divine arrangement. It is essential that we do not limit our potential with shallow human logic and that we become a vessel into which the will of God and the Light of God can smoothly enter."
"All life forms flourish by following the arrangements of God. In spring, crops grow thanks to sunlight, water, and the blessings of the earth. In autumn, they bear fruit, which is then harvested. For example, persimmon trees bloom in the spring, grow luxuriant in the summer, and bear fruit in the autumn, thus fulfilling their mission. When winter comes, they patiently endure the cold in preparation for the coming spring. Accordingly, when everything in the universe follows in a truly accepting manner the providence of Heaven and Earth and the cycle of the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—eternal prosperity will come to all."
"Being cheerful and humble, regardless of what people say or think about us, will help to establish families, and indeed a society, of love and harmony."
"We have clouded over our pure, God-given souls with negative thoughts. We have generated negative vibrations such as grudges, envy and hatred, and have thus polluted the souls of others as well as our own. This is explained by the fact that vibrations generated by negative thoughts reverberate like echoes and return to us. In the teachings, this phenomenon is referred to as “the principle of echo”. In accordance with this principle, people today are causing harm to their souls with their own negative vibrations."
"Love that is truly altruistic seeks no reward and is based on true faith directed towards God. The true practice of altruistic love lies in not seeking anything in return. Yokoshi kamikumite have been given the art of True Light, through which we are able to give the Light of God. This is truly a wonderful gift from God. The foundation of altruistic love lies in giving Light."
"Parents and children are closely connected to one another by invisible spiritual cords. No matter where their children may be, parents always think and worry about their children’s welfare. Such is parental love. What does it mean to love and respect our parents? It means to have an innermost attitude of hoping and praying that our parents will continue to enjoy good health and a life without worry, even if they live to be ninety or one hundred years old. The Parent God is pleased when He sees children manifesting their love for their parents. Even if we live far away from our parents, if we truly love them, they will always be in our thoughts, and we will call them from time to time to express our gratitude and to give them encouragement. Thus, wherever we may be, we should do our best to fulfil our responsibilities to our parents."
"The origin of good manners can be traced to the laws that God established when He created Heaven and Earth. As such, they show that order is the foundation for all things in the universe. Manners help us to elevate our spirituality and to cultivate our innermost attitude. True manners and etiquette are born out of a love for and humility towards others. This means that we should show a gentle consideration for the feelings of others in all that we do. This gentle consideration can also be called benevolence. In short, good manners are a manifestation of love and kindness."
"The salvation work that started with just the two of us was not at all easy. The hardship that we experienced some days beggared description. It was as if we were walking down a path of thorns. Yet, in our hearts, we were filled with the warm Light of a loving God. Regardless of rain, cold wind, or storms, my father would go out on an old bicycle to help people in trouble. Day and night, he would go as far away as Tachikawa or Hachioji to give Light and teachings, always showing gentle affection for others."
"Kotama Okada taught us that to save others we need to learn to see things from the other person’s point of view. This spirit has enabled human beings to continue to exist, to form groups, cooperate with each other, and establish social order. If people placed more emphasis on the spirit of cooperation, the seeds of conflict that have been sown throughout the world would disappear. This indeed is what it means to practice humility, the complete opposite to ego and conceit."
"May the name of God be glorified. May all living things flourish, May my friends, relatives, and I flourish."
"Su God, thank You very much for granting me life today. I offer sincere gratitude for the blessings I have received through all the things that You have created in the universe. I now go to bed with peace of mind. Good night."
"That is why the importance of chinkon in Shinto has been emphasized repeatedly since ancient times. Chinkon is different from simple mental concentration or the quieting of the mind. Through the practice of chinkon one can actually break through the wall of other dimensions existing in their mind. When this happens, the other world will appear, and they will become aware of the worlds of spirit and Kami. Without this, people cannot approach Kami filled with reverence and awe, nor can they experience true faith with gratitude in their hearts and minds. However, the faith I am talking about here is not something that can simply be taught at college."
"Shinto sees everything in existence as generated by and transformed from the ultimate origin of life; this is expressed in the idea that all forms of life are a child-spirit of the original Kami."
"Each Kami has its own characteristics, but they are not fixed. Furthermore, the Kami can spread out simultaneously into various places and various existences. This concept can actually be applied to human beings also. In the section on “one spirit, four souls” (Chapter 6), we shall see that the human being is the assembled body of many souls. This assembled body of souls can sometimes be divided. That is why a well-trained spiritual person can send off his own separated soul to a distant location or a different time period to perform long distance healing, precognition, or clairvoyance."
"Shinto values nature and life. This is because Shinto originally arose from a sense of gratitude and awe toward great nature. Our ancestors loved nature, from animals and plants to mountains and rivers. This love of nature is intrinsic to the Japanese character, influencing our art forms as well as our spiritual practices, even in a modern, urbanized nation where millions of people have little apparent contact with nature. In this age when human beings are destroying mother earth in the pursuit of material progress, we should reclaim our love for nature and let it inform our daily lives and spiritual practices."
"Shinto is, ultimately, such a simple belief that anybody can accept and practice it. It neither requires special intellectual ability nor does it demand a life-denying asceticism. As long as people understand the attitudes associated with cleanness and brightness (happiness) and rightness and straightness (honesty), they can start from those points and advance further along the path to explore more profound themes. One of the strengths of Shinto is that it can allow people to find their own level of practice and experience, without being physically or intellectually overwhelmed, but gaining as much spiritual awareness as practitioners of more stringent or austere paths."
"For a jinja, one must choose a suitable place and then create an appropriate setting for a sacred space. Then it is necessary to ask Kami to descend upon it and make its presence felt. In other words, jinja need not be a place where Kami have dwelled eternally, or will always live."
"The spirit of Kami does not visit unclean places, and an unclean shrine becomes a mere building devoid of Kami energy, even though it may still have mitamashiro (御魂代) there. Mitamashiro is a material object temporarily representing spirit, such as a mirror, for the spirit of Kami to descend upon."
"In some shrine buildings, when kannushi of low spiritual levels are serving, one can sense the presence of shady, lower-level spirits. These correspond to the kannushi’s own level of spiritual development. It often happens that only malevolent spirits, not good spirits, gather at places where large sums of money are demanded from visitors. Often, this happens with newly established religious groups. When people go to such places, they experience headaches or nausea."
"Shinto, the very process of creating and giving birth to life and spirit is described as musubi and we place it in very high regard. In other words, the basic religious idea of Shinto is the continuous process of creation. When we apply this principle to an individual spirit-soul, we see that musubi is the process of work through which each person generates, grows, transforms, and develops naohinomitama (the innermost pure spirit), making his or her spirit grow and become strong. This means that the first task involves the creating of the body, which is attained through diligent care of bodily health. The second task is the creating of heart and mind, or psychological growth. Thirdly, there is the creating of the spirit, that is to say the purification of spirit-soul."
"Therefore in Shinto there is no doctrine of absolute and final salvation. Human beings continue to grow. Human beings keep growing throughout their lives, and after their lives on earth they go to the other world (see Chapter 7) and continue living for renovation and maintenance, or shuri kosei. Eventually, they may keep growing until they eventually become Kami."
"In the period immediately after death, the spirit-soul remains close to this world, observing how the family is doing, going out to visit friends at their home, or going to worship at a shrine or Buddhist temple. Many are not yet clearly aware of their own death status. Some still retain a part of nigimitama, so they have a semi-material body and can even make noises. Those who have psychic powers are able to see them. Usually they spend a certain period of time, the so-called “forty-nine days,” in such circumstances. In Buddhism they call this circumstance chuyu, meaning “existing in the middle.” A while afterwards they become aware of their death and fully move onto the other world, or yukai."
"Since ancient times, Shinto has taught that the goal of human life is to “become like a Kami” through the work of refining the personality and bringing out a clean and bright character. This work is understood to continue even after death. For beyond death, there is a high and pure world as well as a low and unclean one. Therefore, every spirit-soul (reikon) has to continue training for purification and further spiritual advancement even after physical death. This is the hidden knowledge gained by the experience of Shinto practitioners over its long history. In Yamakage Shinto we can find the following “Song of the Spiritual Journey”:"
"These mountains are called spiritual mountains in Japan, and they used to be sacred places to which it was thought the spirits of dead human beings went. These spiritual mountains also became the base for the school of mountain ascetics that has existed since the arrival of Buddhism in Japan. According to Japanese folklore, the spirits of the dead remain for a certain time at the mountain to watch over their descendants and to receive memorial services. After being completely purified, the spirit stays within the mountain, but moves to a higher dimension to become one of the ancestral spirits of that village."
"Therefore, it has been widely believed in Japan that ancestral spirits exist in the invisible world, overlapping with physical reality and having intimate connection with people living in this world. In this unseen world, the ancestral spirits continue to work on their own purification."
"Gradually, each human spirit-soul is purified so that it may become a highly advanced spirit, just as flowers bloom, bring forth fruit, and eventually mature. The soul who committed misdeeds undergoes a process of atonement. Having successfully worked through this, it is able to move on to further spiritual growth. Some very advanced psychics are conscious of this process taking place."
"During the period of transition from this world to yukai, the hidden world of subtle energy, the spirit-soul is at its most vulnerable. It can be likened to a delicate butterfly, at the moment of emergence from its chrysalis. Therefore, there are spirits entrusted with the task of protecting the spirit-soul from danger at this time. In most cases, the spirits of deceased ancestors or friends of the dead come to meet and greet the dead. These spirits in turn receive instruction from higher ranks of spirit so that they may give useful guidance to their dead relatives or friends."
"Through worldly preoccupations, we become separated from that true self, and yet we can be aware that it exists and that it needs to get out. In a sense we can say that this phenomenon represents the separation between purity and impurity. To make this separation occur, a centrifugal separation movement of purity is needed. As a result of this movement, the true self, shrouded by the cloud of illusion and impurity, is able to emerge. The true self is a state of transcendence and so it is able to remain pure, even in the midst of impurity. However, the ego-self living in the relative and conflicted world cannot hear the voice of this true self. In order to hear this voice, we need to conduct silent listening in meditation. In Yamakage Shinto, that is known as chinkon. When we carry out chinkon, the relationship between true self and ego-self does not have conflict, and they become one body like the front and back of one coin. This is known as the unification of Kami and the human being. This unification means that Kami and the human being spiritually become one."
"When you see this reality in deep introspection through chinkon practice, you will intuitively know the truth of the saying, “this body as it is, is Kami.” There is also the saying: “ancestors and ‘I’ are connected as one.” This means the ancestors and “I” are connected with each other as one body. “I” am one scene of an endless, continuous life history in the eternal universe. My ancestors who bore me are also the children of Kami ... Therefore, “‘I live” means ‘I’ am living in the flow of this eternity.”"
"There is also the saying: “everything is ‘I’.” This means that everything is the result of the transformation and creation of daigenrei (大元霊), the “creator Kami of the universe” and that the source of life is one. This also means everything that is manifest in that universe is interconnected, part of the web of life, from the most apparently complex organisms to the seemingly simplest. Any phenomenon manifested in “me” is meaningful and nurtures “me.” In the end it moves “me” toward Kami. In this sense, every manifestation in the cosmos is a manifestation of “me.” All this should not be understood only at the rational level. It must be experienced intuitively as we access our inner Kami."
"If you truly enter a deep state, then chinkon can also lead you into a realm exactly like the one known as “the realm of mindlessness and thoughtlessness.”"
"There are various ways one can develop mental concentration. When you successfully reach a concentrated mental state the realm “free from all ideas and thoughts” will be opened to you, even though it might be for only one or two seconds. This does not mean that you neither think nor feel in those moments. This realm is purely clean and bright, transparent everywhere, and filled with limitless wisdom. No matter how short the moment is, you can touch the eternally existing clean and bright world and feel that the entire universe exists within that brief period."
"Experiencing “light” is easy, even for beginners, during chinkon. One may experience the inside of the brain filled with dazzling light, or one may feel enveloped by a golden mist. But these are only preliminary states of consciousness. If you keep advancing from there by imagining a small sun or a round moon at the center of your forehead, eventually you will see a sun or moon of such brightness that you will be shocked. This does not appear as part of the realm of fantasy, but as the real experience it is. According to the hidden teaching handed down to the Yamakage family, people will see “mist, smoke, sun, wind, fire, fluorescence, crystal, and a moon.” Sometimes a coal black experience may occur instead of light."
"Thus true chinkon practice takes place in your heart and mind. You should neither become obsessed with external formality, nor boast of your spiritual and psychic power or experience. It is a mistake either to aim at gaining supernatural power or to compare your own abilities with those of others. You must not become trapped in arrogant pride, nor become a slave to the process of spiritual training, nor speak noisily about its benefits. Chinkon should lead us to a state of spiritual calm, where selfish ambitions and desires give way to the realization of the true self, the Kami within each one of us."
"Shinto is not a faith tradition that can be propagated or imposed. Each human community, every human culture, has its own version of Shinto, which is based on accumulated experience, historical memory, and, perhaps most crucially, the local environment. Shinto recognizes and celebrates human diversity, just as it recognizes and celebrates the diversity of nature. For beneath that diversity there is an underlying unity — the union of humanity, earth, and heaven."