When I move to New York, a police officer helped me: Day 30

When I moved to New York in January 2013, my two daughters joined me in February. My wife and my oldest daughter stayed in California until June. When we arrived at home at night from JFK, one of my daughters immediately needed something from a drugstore. I didn't have a car yet and didn't know where the drugstore was. My internet still didn't work at that time. So I went out to find a store by walking at around 8 pm. It was a frozen temperature, so it was very cold. And it was very dark on the street because the place where I live is in a village. I walked around but couldn't' find it and no one was on the street. Then, I found a police car parked in the small shopping market. I knocked on the window and asked the police officer where the drugstore was. He was watching me very suspicious, but I explained I had just moved from California. He was silently listening to me. When I finished talking he explained where the store was. I couldn't understand the place soon because I was a stranger here. I asked him three times and thanked him and then left. After a few minutes, he chased me by the police car and drove me to the nearest CVS. It took about 6 or 7 minutes. I was very grateful to him and thanked him sincerely. When I finished shopping and went out of the store, the police officer was waiting for me and drove me back to the house. He said it was cold and I might lose the way back home. I never forget his kindness. I don't know he could take me to the store if he was not a police officer. If he was not a police officer, first of all, he would not be in the dark parking lot. I think he did this kindness not because of his job but because of his decent personality and, at the same time, I think he helped me because he was the police officer and he wanted to help a person who was in trouble. What I want to say is there is no bad police officer. Not only police officers but bad persons do not exist. Those whom we can see bad are people who insist on their own policy, principles, and/or beliefs. These people do not have flexibility. We have to educate ourselves and need to learn how to let our attachment and ego go. To practice love is the most important thing we need to accomplish. I am grateful to that particular police officer who didn't know me at all. Because of him, my family was able to stay overnight safely. What police officers need is proper education and strong faith to do the right thing.

Fate Is Unfoldment of the Mind: Day 29

This is the lecture I spoke on May 10, 2020:

            Last week I talked about the importance of true gratitude. I will continue to talk about how our world is created in accordance with our minds and talk about the reasons that I fell ill. Founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote:

There is no soul on this earth who does not seek happiness, riches, and good health, but why can’t they acquire them? It is because they are facing the wrong direction. Should you think that man’s happiness consists of a certain thing, a certain status or a certain place, you are searching for happiness where it does not really exist.

Since man’s fate is as his own mind developed, it is, above all, essential that we keep our minds in harmony and peace. If we continuously affirm and visualize the perfection of the God-created world in our minds, what we do, even though in a natural and spontaneous manner, will begin to develop to realize the perfection of God’s world, and consequently bring to us happiness, prosperity and good health. (365 Golden Keys to the Summit of Fulfillment, p. 51)

            When you come to Seicho-No-Ie, you learn that your mind creates your destiny. When I was ill, it meant that my mind created the illness. My mind attracted illness in order to improve myself. You may question that my life should be the opposite of that. I got ill because of my accumulated delusory thoughts. The law of the mind created my illness. 

            Last autumn, I celebrated my 60th birthday. In Japan, this is called Kanreki. Long ago in Japan people believed that Kanreki signaled the end of the life span and was the time for rebirth. Jesus Christ said, "Truly, I tell you, unless you are born anew, you cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3: 3). Because I wanted to experience a spiritual rebirth, I created a “Practice for Spiritual Rebirth.” The practice included gratitude, repentance, purification of the mind, prayer, rituals, and writing in the Sundial Diary. I chose 20 prayers from the Recitation of the Truth, its sequel, and the Daily Prayer. I practiced, read, and prayed for over two hours a day for many, many days. I started to wonder how I would know if I had been spiritually reborn. My subconscious mind believed I had left everything up to God, but my conscious mind was obsessed with seeing the results of my practices and prayers--I wanted proof of my spiritual awakening.

            We know that true reality does not come from phenomena, but because of my illness I had forgotten that. I forgot to feel gratitude from the bottom of my heart. During my illness my wife did everything for me. She prepared special meals all the time, she read the Holy Sutras and Songs of Praise. She had to towel dry me after I bathed because I was too weak to do it myself. She helped me get dressed. Still, my focus was not gratitude but to see proof of my spiritual awakening.

            While recuperating after two weeks of illness, I got up and sat in a chair to read the Holy Sutras and Seicho-No-Ie books. In one of Rev. Taniguchi’s books, I encountered a story about a wife who was not able to forgive her husband. When she realized that her husband was a genuine and respectful person, through her spiritual awareness and gratitude, almost all of her illnesses were cured except her limp. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi explained that when this wife was able to thank her husband from the bottom of her heart “her limp was already healed. But her conscious mind didn’t realize it and was attached to the delusion that ‘my leg hasn’t yet healed’.” (Shinko “Kanrono Hou” Kaishaku [New Edition Expounding the Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrine] p. 243). 

            When I read this, it was a revelation that my conscious mind was attached to the physical manifestation of my spiritual rebirth. I was obsessed with the proof of spiritual rebirth for my 60th birthday wish. My practices, reading, and prayers changed my subconscious mind but my conscious mind was still attached to the physical proof. When I realized this, that delusion was destroyed. I truly regretted my behavior to everyone, especially towards my wife. During all the difficulties that she had to go through with me, I was only thinking about my spiritual rebirth. I became emotional and that night before going to bed, I thanked my wife and one by one thanked everything around me. 

            Since I was 5 years old, we moved from place to place nearly twenty times. I did not live in any home for more than 10 years. My wife has lived with me longer than my parents and siblings. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I was grateful again and thankful for everything that existed in my memory--even for the houses where I had lived. I remembered some unpleasant memories being bullied when I was young. But I looked for the positive things that came from these negative experiences and actually became grateful to all those who bullied me. I was filled with gratitude and didn’t know how I could express this gratitude. I got out of bed to write down my thoughts.

            When I was writing at the desk, I realized that I was the one who has lived with me for the longest time. I was sincerely grateful to myself for letting me live as Mario Kawakami for 60 years. I am grateful I am surrounded by great family members and friends. I was born as Mario Kawakami and I can enjoy everything around me. As I thought about these things, my heart and gratitude naturally went to my parents and my ancestors. I do not know how many years I will live, but I promised myself to live a life to be proud of and decided to fulfill my mission as Mario Kawakami.

            To be spiritually reborn does not appear in the outer world, but appears as a new way of thinking. I must be sincerely grateful to everyone and everything around me in a new way. Nothing is ordinary and everything is a manifestation of joy from God. 

            From the beginning I was the spiritual existence, but I was unaware of it. The delusion to worry only about the manifestation of my spiritual awakening in my phenomenal life had to be destroyed because of the law of the mind. I recovered my health and will live my life with true gratitude to fulfill my mission. I will never forget this experience. Thank you for all things in the world, and my renewed determination to continue contributing to the movement to realize the great harmony of God, nature, and human beings. Thank you very much.

Be courteous and at the same time protect yourself : Day 28

This is the teachings of Cameron's mother. In the beginning, I was laughing but at the end I was sad.

– Don’t put your hands in your pockets.

– Don’t put your hoodie on.

– Don’t be outside without a shirt on.

– Check-in with your people, even if you’re down the street.

– Don’t be out too late.

– Don’t touch anything you’re not buying.

– Never leave the store without a receipt or a bag, even if it’s just a pack of gum.

– Never make it look like there’s an altercation between you and someone else.

– Never leave the house without your ID.

– Don’t drive with a wifebeater on.

– Don’t drive with a do-rag on.

– Don’t go out in public with a wife-beater or a do-rag.

– Don’t ride with the music too loud.

– Don’t stare at a Caucasian woman.

– If a cop stops you randomly and starts questioning you, don’t talk back, just compromise.

– If you ever get pulled over, put your hands on the dashboard and ask if you can get your license and registration out. (by Brittany Wong, HuffPost)

In Edo era (1603-1868) over 250 local lords had to go to Edo where Tokugawa federal lord family lived every 2 years. While a local lord and his servants and samurais went to Edo, people who encountered this procession must sit on the street and put their heads on the street to make the deepest bow. Otherwise, these people were killed due to disrespect.

When I was young, my mom taught me that I have to take my hands out of my pockets when I am talking with people who are older than me. I have to take my hat off inside the house, and I have to make a bow when I meet an acquaintance. It is courtesy I should know in order to live in harmony with others in society. But Cameron’s mother’s teaching is an essential skill in order to protect oneself from discrimination and brutality. What Cameron's mom taught is different skills but a similar concept for learning these skills in order to live safely in Japan 400 years ago. At that time there were 4 categories of occupation classification among people. It was discrimination and as I said samurai could and would kill lower rank of people such as farmers or merchants who did not make the deepest bow before the local lord procession. And this is happening in a different manner in the U.S. as institutional racism. That is why I was so sad when I watched this video.

https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyle/2020/06/05/black-teen-shares-the-rules-his-mom-makes-him-follow-when-leaving-the-house/24513168/

Every Person Is the King of Their Own Life: Day 27

This is the lecture I spoke on May 3, 2020, at the zoom online Sunday Service.

            Thank you very much. I am happy that I am finally able to resume my work and come to you through the internet. During my illness, I lost a lot of weight and strength, but have been slowly gaining back the weight and increasing my strength. I am grateful to God for His guidance. Today, I will talk about infinite existence. Founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote:

The Absolute, the Super-Human, the Omnipresent, the Infinite that dwells within; the Infinite that is in the Finite; the Absolute appearing to be the Relative; the Super-Human Being that is behind all that seems material; the Eternal as it is at present; the Infinite while Finite at the same time; the Omnipresent while Individual at the same time—that is I, that is you, as well as all other persons. The realization of this truth should be cause enough to lead people to natural and spontaneous mutual worship. (365 Golden Keys to the Summit of Fulfillment, p. 115)

            Human beings are physically a finite existence, but our true existence which is a child of God is an infinite existence. When we understand our true existence, we understand that we are an absolute existence and at the same time a relative existence; and that we are an eternal existence and at the same time a transient existence. If we only believe we are our physical bodies and only of material existence, we do not understand our infinite existence. Rev. Taniguchi continued his message as follows:

Insofar as one regards himself as merely a physical, bodily existence, there is no way for him to escape the boundaries of limitations and restrictions. That way he cannot receive total freedom. Thus, in order to transcend and go beyond physical restrictions and seize liberty, one must know the truth, as Jesus aptly said, “The truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Although Jesus fell silent and did not answer when asked (by Pilate), “What is the truth?”, when he was asked again, “Are you the King of the Jews?” (Luke 23:3), Jesus answered, “It is as you say.” What Jesus meant by “King” is the “Absolute” that is sacred and untouchable. Legally speaking, not all persons are kings, but from a religious point of view, each and every person is a king possessed with absolute freedom. Verily, this is the truth. The knowledge of this truth will give every man true freedom. (Ibid., pp. 115-116)

            Rev. Taniguchi taught that as long as you see yourself as a physical body and only a material existence you will be limited by physical boundaries. He also explained from a philosophical standpoint that every person is the king of their own lives possessed with absolute freedom to live life however they desire. We are free to become sick and free to not become sick.

            As you may know, I suffered from a high fever for two weeks. Many people prayed for my health. One of our Regional Lecturers was asked why I became sick because Seicho-No-Ie teaches that we are all children of God. Today and next week I will answer this question. 

On Friday, March 20, my whole body was in pain and I could not get up for two days. I had a fever, severe headache, and nausea. So on Monday, March 23, I had a video appointment with my doctor and she gave me a ten-day prescription of Tylenol (acetaminophen) to help alleviate the fever and body aches, but it did not help and the next day I vomited. 

            The next day the doctor gave me a stronger medication of Tylenol and Oxycodone-Acetaminophen. This medication caused me to have hallucinations and I was unable to distinguish between dreams and reality. I would have a dream but believe the dream was real. I dreamt I could stab myself with a knife or jump off a building to escape from the pain. Then I believed the dream would disappear by snapping my finger. On the second night after I started taking this medicine, I woke up in a lucid moment and realized that I had been having hallucinations and I got so scared that I asked my wife to flush all the medicine into the toilet.

            The next morning I talked with my doctor, and finally, I agreed to take 4000 mg of Tylenol a day along with a drug that suppresses stomach acid. So I had to take twenty 200mg tablets of Tylenol each day. During the next 6 days, I lost over 25 lbs. 

            Around the 6th day of my illness, I was able to sit on the floor bending my knees. At that time, I felt infinite gratitude from the bottom of my heart that I was able to sit on the floor. I was so overwhelmed I could not stop the tears. Seicho-No-Ie teaches us that we should be grateful for ordinary things. I have practiced gratitude many times repeating empty words saying, “Thanks for the air,” “Thanks for drinking water,” etc. There was no emotion. I have never felt the gratitude that just bending my knees and sitting on the floor gave me. Even though my gratitude and my tears were sincere, my physical pain still was severe. I was physically suffering lying in bed. 

            My wife’s journal entry of Sunday, March 29, said that at 6:30 am I went to her and was suffering so badly that I cried to her saying: “Help me.”

(Mario) “It’s so painful ...”

(Fujiko) “You’ll be okay, you just took the medicine!”

“Panting breathing.”

            I was so weak that I did not have the strength to speak loudly enough to be heard. My doctor called me often to check up on me. When she called, I was unable to speak on the phone with her so my wife had to speak with the doctor when she called to check up on me.

            Thanks to God’s blessing, my ancestors’ guidance, profound prayers of friends and members, and the love and devotion of my wife and children, my fever stabilized on the 12th day. On Friday, April 3rd, I finally had no fever.

            I am eternally grateful to my doctor’s wisdom and guidance. She did all she could to avoid having me come to the hospital. Recently she told me that she did not think I would have made it if I was hospitalized during my illness because at that time the epicenter of the New Rochelle cluster of Covid-19 was one street away from my home.

            Through all of this, I learned it is not enough to practice gratitude just by crying tears from the bottom of my soul. I learned the truly important lesson of living life every day with true gratitude. I am grateful and fortunate to have the love and prayers from so many people.

            I believe that this experience was what I truly needed at this time. It gave me the ability to experience the true gratitude that I may not have been able to find if I had gotten ill ten years earlier or ten years later. The law of the mind is always applied correctly without exception. 

            Next week I will continue to talk about how our world is created in accordance with our mind and talk about the reasons that I fell ill. 

            Because of Covid-19 many people have departed to the spiritual world. Also, over 30 million people have filed for unemployment. People are suffering not only in the United States, but all over the world. I offer my sincere prayer asking for God’s guidance, protection, and blessings for those who made their transition to the spiritual world.

Thou shalt not kill: Day 26

I do not want to make a political statement, but this video explains the important systematic discrimination and brutality by the police authority. This is a part of this country's negative history. Some people love President Trump and others don't, but that is not my point to quote this video. I want to show you the negative history and we need to clearly aware of it. Protesters on the street now demand to change this abusing violence. We must bring peace to this blessing country. Living in the U.S. I have received so many blessings and my children who are Americans are also blessed by this country and receive kindness and love from many people. The majority of people in America are good, kind, and friendly people. They are generous and show love and charity to other people and countries. We must change the negative history for future generations. The first thing we must do is to stop killing and abusing people and lives other than people. The sixth commandment of the Ten Commandments clearly says, "Thou shalt not kill." We must protect the lives of people and nature. The first step to do this we should learn about negative history not only human beings but other life forms as well for the change. Next, we must practice God's love toward our friends. Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:31). Regardless of racial differences, regardless of nationality, regardless of physical differences, beyond race, beyond physical differences, beyond nationality, beyond ideology, we must love our neighbors as ourselves, we must love nature as a part of us and unite as one with people and nature under the love of God. If you do not want to use the word "God," you can say under the universal principle that is also love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDpO2vUrFc

Let Us Pray to God: Day 25

            We in the United States of America are now facing an unprecedented crisis in the healthcare system. We are in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Over 40 million people are unemployed. States, cities, and local communities are still struggling to overcome institutionalized racism. Communities of color are more likely to experience police brutality and to die from coronavirus Institutional discrimination and injustice are very much a part of modern America. Consequently, some of the frustrated people have decided to take action by retaliation with violence and looting. These actions have hurt and destroyed peaceful protestors’ goodwill and warm hearts. America needs freedom and equality in every individual person. We all seek for peace and harmony. This is a transitional period to destroy the delusion of humanity and reveal the dawn of a new and improved society. We need more prayer and actions to prevail over the negative past and bring forth a new world. Now is the most important time to practice God’s Love and the Four Immeasurable Minds of the Buddha.

            Every morning let us visualize the True-Image World by practicing the Prayer for World Peace and the following “Words to Pray for Peace” during Shinsokan Meditation. If you already practice Shinsokan every day, please add this prayer. If you do not practice daily, it is the time to practice it and focus your thoughts on these words of prayer that I shared yesterday.

Special Sunday Zoom Service Was Held: Day 24

            It is now June and soon the year will be half over. This year Covid-19 has become a worldwide problem. Since mid-March the United States has been advised to shelter in place because of Covid-19 and many businesses have been shut down. People cannot go to work, and unemployment has surged. New York State became the epicenter of Covid-19 infections with the highest number of deaths in the United States. Everyone has become frustrated and worried about their health and lives. Bad things seem to be happening one after another. 

           On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a policeman, murdered George Floyd, an African-American man, in Minneapolis. This incident triggered many people’s already fragile emotions. Many people gathered peacefully to protest for equality and justice in many cities across the United States. Unfortunately the news has been mostly about the violent protesters who have been demonstrating for a week. The scenes of destruction of businesses and cities and clashes between police and the violent protesters has crushed people’s hearts.

            Human beings are children of God. Every person’s life matters. Lives must not be wasted. In the world of God there are no misfortunes, disasters, murders, or robberies. But in the phenomenal world we see many unfortunate events. Why? It is because human beings do not properly see God's perfect world, the True-Image World. We see the world through frosted and tinted glass. 

            Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, wrote in the Prayer to Purify Your Thoughts and Meet With God: “The phenomena before me are no more than simply parts of God’s creation that gave the impression of being imperfect when seen through frosted glass for a brief moment. They are crude, are lacking, vague, monotonous in design, and collapse as time goes by. The images on the frosted glass are not reality. ‘Beyond them’ lies the indestructible reality which holds infinite beauty. That is God’s creation.” (Daily Prayers, pp. 31-32)

            Although problems, such as plague, poverty, hunger, inequality, discrimination, and bullying, etc., do not originally exist in the world of God, many people grab on to and attach to them in their minds and believe they truly exist. This upsets their emotions and creates rage and hate as if these phenomena exist. We all need to practice faith and realize that all human beings should not fight and destroy each other because of the differences in their skin color and/or ideology. Every person is born in this world to express their innate nature and every person is filled with God's love, wisdom, vitality, abundance, joy and harmony. It is time to practice the belief that we are born to express joy and great harmony.

            We can do our part by striving to discard materialism and anthropocentrism. Let us pray for harmony between nature and humanity and avoid excessive convenience. Many people live in big cities because jobs are more readily available in big cities. They live in small apartments and work very long hours. They do not cook, but buy processed foods or take-out or eat at restaurants for convenience. They hire people to do the things they do not want to do. The conveniences of this lifestyle actually can cause unhappiness. They produce a lot of garbage, create high energy consumption, waste, and pollution. They experience the disparity between the rich and poor and are exposed to many diseases. Climate change and global warming is the negative heritage we are leaving for future generations. 

            Let us do our part to help change that. Let us practice the prayers we are taught at Seicho-No-Ie to visualize the True Image and promote the movement and the realization of the great harmony between God, nature and human beings.

            At the end of this message, I will present you the “Words to Pray for Peace” from founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi. Please practice Shinsokan Meditation, read the Daily Prayers, and deeds of love. Please read these prayerful words along with the “Prayer for World Peace.”

I am one with God. Not I alone, but all humanity is one with God. Therefore, in God’s world all humanity is already at peace with one another, devoid of conflict and fighting. To humanity God is the one Father who sheds protection over all peoples of the world alike and keeps them in peace. As God is such, it would be illogical to think that one nation cannot gain happiness unless she invades the territory of another. The realization of this truth is the basic cornerstone to bring about peace to the world. I therefore broadcast this truth to the entire world. The whole of mankind is now catching this broadcast vibration and being enlightened about the truth. God’s love descends and sheds light upon the minds of all, and the peace of God’s world prevails on earth. Now God’s will is realized on earth as it is in Heaven. From this moment on, mankind knows no fighting or sorrow, but they look up to God in sublime exaltation. (365 Golden Keys to the Summit of Fulfillment, pp. 192-193)