Thank you very much. Some of my friends wondered why I didn't send any season's greetings. My father-in-law passed away last September and my wife and I decided to not send any holiday greeting cards in accordance with the Japanese custom. However, our daughters insisted that is a Japanese custom and we should follow the culture in the U. S. They decided to send their own greeting cards. To avoid confusion, I just put our family's photo and let you know that we are fine as usual. Thank you very much.
The following is my new year message:
Happy New Year! This year we will learn and practice the Truth together and let us make this year as joyful as possible.
The Seicho-No-Ie U.S. Missionary Headquarters was able to receive ISO14001 certification as of November 30, 2010. We are very proud of this. We are seriously concerned about our lives and our environment and we believe we must be grateful to the fact that we are not living of our own power but we are sustained by everyone and everything in the universe.
In Japanese Seicho-No-Ie Prosperity Club website there is an article by Mr. Ryoichi Yamamoto, an honorary professor of Tokyo University. By reading the article, we can understand that the destiny of the earth depends on the amount of carbon emission created by our human's activities; therefore, we recognize that reduction of carbon emission is directly related to world peace and the lives of all human beings.
For example, in a report issued by NASA and the University of Washington, the fact that the sheet ice in the Arctic Ocean will be completely dissolved by 2015 is introduced in the article, but this problem goes back to the problem of the human mind as a natural consequence. In other words, we dump waste. Often we throw away and buy new things even though they can still be used and as a result we increase waste and also increase carbon emissions. This is a problem created by the activities of human beings and the human mind controls these activities. Then, who is a human being who has a mind? Human beings appear to be alive by themselves but actually they are sustained by something. Then, who sustains them? It is important to realize the essence of human beings. It is explained in the December 1985 Truth of Life issue as follows:
"You will become exactly as you yourself believe you yourself to be......Faith moves mountains. The essence of faith is the 'word,' which also means spirit. The awareness of the essence of man is faith. When you truly believe that the essence of man is the child of God, the perfection of that child of God manifests itself. Before you can become aware of your true essence you must discard your awareness of the false self. And that is repentance." (p. 14)
In order for us to be aware of our own essence, which that of a child of God, first we must believe that we are children of God. By faith, mountains move; therefore it is natural that our illnesses are healed and our destinies are improved. Having faith means to realize our True Image. The essence of faith is the "word." So, we have to repeat good words until we can believe in ourselves. At the same time, it means that we discard our physical knowledge which can be recognized by the five senses. Then, we will be able to realize the wisdom of the True Image.
When we keep holding on to our understanding which is recognized by the physical five senses, it is difficult for us to believe in a truly wonderful world which is recognized by our physical eyes. When a bad person is standing in front of you, in order to see that person as good instead of bad, you have to stop seeing his bad life style as an evil person and you need to visualize the True Image of that person. It is hard to do this if you continue to keep the perception of your physical five senses.
On the contrary, if we think that our physical bodies are human beings, we are caught and deceived by our own belief. This is a human being's attachment. When we make a lot of money, we increase our attachment to money. There is an example that a person who was a millionaire won $315 million Powerball game and became very unfortunate. (Please refer to my last blog on December 14, 2010.) On the other hand, there is a story of a homeless man who found $3300 and honestly turned in the money and as a result he was praised and he was able to grab a chance to start a new life. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi introduced this story, which was originally from the New York Times, on his blog on December 14, 2010.
In the New Year, let us resolve never to speak ill of others and our companies/organizations, never to gossip, and resolve only to deepen our prayers, use only good words, and practice deeds of love. May the year 2011 be wonderful for you and your family. Thank you very much.
