Religious Leaders From Japan

"66. 金光大神が、"

"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。"

"56. お天道様のお照らしなさるのもおかげ、"

"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。"

"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。"

"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。"

"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。"

"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。"

"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."

"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.""

"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."

"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."

"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。"

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Disabled people have to be protected. A society which will not protect the weak has no respect for human dignity."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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。"

"How thankful, what a delicious meal. (おおきに ごちそうさん ōkini, gochisō-san)"

"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."

"The sign of God's blessings: the Divine Model."

"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."

"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."

"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."

""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."

"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?"

"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."

"This path cannot be followed by human thinking. It is the path that is being formed by the law of nature."

"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?"

"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."

"この所に、おばあさんは居らん。我は天の将軍なり。"

"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."

"However wretched you may be, never say you are wretched, for I shall never make beggars of you."

"Whatever I intend to do, I shall test it first on My own family."

"Now I shall begin to build a new world. Celebrate the occasion with Me!"

"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."

"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 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."

"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."

"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."

"Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone."

"How we live our everyday lives has to be the main concern of religion."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."