Happy
New Year! I am so happy to see you all. Today, I’d like to talk about how to realize
our New Year’s dreams. We can accomplish great things, but that can only be
done by completing it in small stages step by step. We cannot build a great
temple like the Main Temple in Nagasaki, Japan with only one person’s strength
but can build it with the cooperation of many people. We cannot build a great
temple instantaneously but can build it step by step. In the same manner, we
cannot make a difference instantaneously but can do it by living each day
fully. We need big dreams to fulfill our lives. We must not hesitate to have
big dreams, but in order to realize them we have to do what we should do now.
We should make a difference in our lives and lives of others and change our
environment and the way we live for the better.
Then, how can
we make a difference and realize our dreams? We are all children of God, so we
can do anything whatever we want. All we have to do is to draw out our infinite
potential within us. We don’t have to be enlightened in order to draw out our
infinite potential. It is the same that we do not have to be enlightened to
experience a great testimony. All we have to do is to apply what we learn and
practice it in our daily lives step by step. We cannot accomplish anything
without completing each step, just like reaching the top of the tower by going
up the stairs one by one. When you finish your current step, you can take the
next step up. In other words, reaching enlightenment and fulfilling your life
are not your destinations but the journey or the process in realizing your
child of God nature.
Seicho-No-Ie
Founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi explained why someone cannot successfully make
his/her dream come true. Rev. Taniguchi said, “The reason things do not go
smoothly in life is because we entertain limitations in our minds. As long as
we have limitations in our minds—it is like riding a bicycle while applying the
brakes to it at the same time—we shall never be able to secure success even
when success lies right before us.” He then taught us how we should pray:
“We are not
beings that have become separated from God. We are one with God. God is our supporter,
and together with Him we fulfill the mission that He has granted to us. We are
exactly as God is. We possess exactly as God possesses. We are beings with
infinite ability, and perfect success is ours here and now.” (This Is How I
pray, p.40-41)
To
deeply believe that a human being and God are one is the best way to realize
our dreams because with God we can do anything. Unfortunately, however, many
people believe that there are circumstances which exist outside of themselves
that hinder the materialization of their dreams. In other words, they don’t
feel that God resides within themselves. Please let me remind you of the words
that Rev. Taniguchi stated, “The reason things do not go smoothly in life is
because we entertain limitations in our mind.” No one can hinder our success
other than our own minds. Therefore, we must first identify our perceived
problems and limitations, and then eliminate them from our minds. Then we will
be ready to draw upon our infinite power within to fulfill our dreams.
For
the last 12 years in California, every January I offered my prayer to our
members for their New Year’s dreams to come true by the end of the year. They
wrote their wishes and dreams, and their wishes were consecrated in God. The
SNI New York Missionary Area does the same thing. This morning some of you have
received your prayer envelope which had been written your wishes and dreams.
During the past years I observed whether or not their dreams had come true.
Some members realized their dreams while others did not. I wondered why some
members achieved their dreams while others didn’t. After much soul searching
and consideration of our SNI teachings, I believe that there are 5 reasons why
it can seem so difficult to achieve the goal of realizing our dreams.
1) We sometimes
fail to realize our infinite power within and God is within us.
2) We do not
always know how to properly draw our infinite power out.
3) We will not
be able to realize our dreams if our dreams do not improve our souls, or
spiritual development.
4) Our dreams
are not precisely defined, and/or we do not think that we have to change
ourselves to make the dreams come true.
5) We often hold
a deep fear of failure which inhibits our desire to take risks that could bring
success.
The
first and most important reason why people do not realize their dreams is that
they do not truly believe that they possess infinite potentials within
themselves and that they are children of God. Every human being has already
received his or her own unique talents. Therefore, all he or she has to do is
draw out his or her unique talents out. Because of this reason, many people
cannot express their indwelling talents. The best way to solve this problem is
to use Shinsokan Meditation to Visualize God who is within us because Shinsokan
tunes her mind to oneness of God and her.
Even
if we are aware of our infinite potential or talents, people don’t necessarily
know how to draw them out. SNI teaches us to draw out our inner talents and
strengths with the power of imagination and the power of the word. Every
invention and discovery started from people’s minds. People’s beliefs and
never-ending endeavors supported by their beliefs have accomplished many
successes in the human civilization. In order to accomplish small or great
goals, we need positive power that is fueled by our imaginations and our words.
Therefore, SNI propagates the use of the positive power of words. Later of my
lecture I will introduce a message from “For Young People.” It motivated me to free my imagination so
that I could dream a great dream.
Some
people still do not realize their dreams even though they recognize their
talents, know how to draw them out and work hard to express them. In this case,
they may not have realized their dreams if their goals do not promote their
spiritual development. When I speak of spiritual development, I mean our
expression of God-like qualities such as generosity, compassion and
perseverance. If your dream conflicts with such qualities, your dream won’t be
realized. For example, if your dream is to own the biggest SUV ever made, the
result will be increased environmental pollution. A generous dream would be one
that fulfills your desires and does not harm others. Some people do not care
whether they hurt others or the environment and will sacrifice others and
nature in order to realize their dreams. However, you have already learned how
important it is to accomplish something with harmony.
Finally,
people’s dreams won’t be realized if they cannot express precisely what their
dreams are. For example, if you want to have a new job or house, you have to
write and visualize the exact thing that you want. If you just wish you want to
have a new job, you have to know what kind of job you want, how much salary you
need, when you want to start working, where you want to work, and so on.
Lastly,
we must eliminate our fear of failure. A famous psychologist said many people
are as fearful of success as they are of death. Perhaps this fear of failure
stems from the fact that we must evaluate and make changes in ourselves and in
our lives that seem difficult at first. However, we will be able to eliminate
this fear by practicing SNI teachings because what we do is focus ourselves on
our True Image. I would like to introduce my own experience with you. I was
born in 1959 in Japan, to parents who were already SNI members. My father was a
SNI minister who dedicated his life to spreading the teachings and helping
others. Because I saw how happy he was to learn and practice SNI teachings I
decided to dedicate myself to SNI.
For
a long time I had a dream to work for SNI International Headquarters and devote
myself to spreading the SNI teachings. During my school days, I eagerly participated
in SNI activities. After graduating from high school, I entered a school
specializing in foreign languages where I studied in English.
After
graduation I wanted to work in the SNI Int’l Hqs. My father disapproved of this
idea. He said, “Desire alone is not enough. One must have the ability to
perform the necessary work.”
At
that time I knew I was lacking in ability, but I felt in the future, after
polishing my character and improving my English, I would be able to enter Int’l
Hqs and contribute to the overseas movement.
However,
I could not get a job at SNI at that time. I was offered a full time position
at the Hilton Hotel where I had worked part time while a student. I accepted
their offer. After working there for six months or so, I began to dislike the
monotonous work and considered quitting. However, I recalled the following passage
from “For Young People.” It motivated me to free my imagination so that I could
dream a great dream.
“You must
have a dream: whatever is of value in this world started out in the minds of
people who bravely dared to dream. Take
away dreams from man’s history and there would be no culture as resplendent as
the culture we now enjoy. Indeed, a
person who dreams is a person who stands at an outpost of human culture. People who succeeded in cutting down the
thorns that stood before them, in leveling what was steep, in changing
difficulties into happiness were invariably people who had dreams…..
“Dream your
dream now. No matter how poor you are
now, you are already wealthy in the world of dreams. Regardless of how unfortunate you are now,
you are already fortunate in the world of dreams. If you know right now that all things are
created by the mind, it will be the same as if you had already left the
impoverished, unhappy circumstances of the present and had been reborn in a
new, wealthy, and happy world.” (from For
Young People)
Reading
these words always motivated me and encouraged me. I decided to do my best
every moment at my job even if I disliked it, because I was free to quit
whenever I wanted. So I did my best every moment. Three months later I was able
to move to a new Hilton Hotel in Shinjuku, Tokyo. My work became more
challenging, and I was very busy, but I continued to devote myself to the SNI
youth activities more often. During that time the teachings empowered me to do
my best at work and to devote myself to enlightenment activities. In addition,
working with the hotel guests enabled me to consider matters from the other
person’s perspective.
In
1990, I resigned from the Hilton Hotel where I had worked for more than 9 years
and had been the assistant manager of the hotel. I had been offered a position
at the SNI Chiba Missionary Center. Rev. Yamato invited me to work there, so I
agreed and I quit the Hilton Hotel. However, they didn’t employ me as a regular
staff member, and in this reason my income was reduced by one-fourth. I worked
part time for 6 months. During that time I had no insurance or social security.
If I had not known the teachings and had seen this situation as a phenomenon, I
would have been dissatisfied and complained.
However,
I didn’t want to worry about such matters because it was my decision to work
for SNI. The reason why I quit the hotel business and went to work for SNI was
because I love SNI and wanted to devote myself to the SNI Humanity
Enlightenment Movement. Thus, I began practicing Shinsokan and reading the 4 Holy
Sutras everyday for 100 consecutive days from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. during the fall
and winter months.
It
was very cold at 3 o’clock in the morning in Japan but I didn’t want to miss a
single day because I believed if I completed 100 days of practice, the SNI
teachings would manifest in my life spiritually, physically, and mentally.
The
day before the 100th day, Rev. Yamato went on a business trip in
Tokushima where I was born. That was middle February. His business was extended
and needed an important document. I flew to Tokushima to bring it to him. I
stayed at my mother’s house. The next morning I woke up at 3 a.m. and practiced
Shinsokan and read the Holy Sutra. That day Rev. Yamato wanted to go to my
father’s grave yard, so we went there and read the Holy Sutra together. In this
way I completed my 100th day of practice. After 100 days, I became
self confident.
After
that, I expressed my desire to go to the United States to study English. I
didn’t know when I could go and how long I could stay, because I didn’t have a
visa or even a passport. I let go of my desire by giving it to God.
February
and March passed by, and the SNI Chiba members started to worry about my trip. Everyone
asked me the same question: “When are you going to the United States? Where
will you stay?” I left everything up to God, so I answered, “I don’t know. I
haven’t yet received any answer from God. I’m just leaving it up to Him.”
In
the middle of April I started to worry about my trip because everybody else
worried about it. But my experience of “100 days of practice Shinsokan” helped
me to find peace. I had already sent my application to UCLA 2 months earlier
and had also asked my friend buy the cheapest round trip ticket to LA. All I
had to do was to trust God who was preparing everything for me.
On
April 29 my friend suddenly informed me that my flight to LA was the 14th
of May. I had not heard from UCLA and didn’t have a visa yet. But the next
morning I received a fax from UCLA that permitted me to enter their English
curriculum. So, I took it to the American Embassy and got the student visa on
the same day. Meanwhile, I was advised that someone had offered me a place to
stay in LA. This person was Rev. Yamato’s friend’s wife’s father’s elder
sister. She was a total stranger for me but kindly offered me a room and didn’t
accept my offer of payment of rent.
Within
two weeks I got everything I needed, except money. I had gotten a lump-sum discharge
allowance when I resigned from the hotel, but I had spent it for my apartment
rent and SNI activities for 6 months. I called my mother and discussed financial
situation. The very next day she sent me 10,000 dollars. I was very grateful
but the amount was not enough.
A
few days before I left Japan, my friends held a farewell party. At the party
the greatest gift came to me, and that was 6,000 dollars because my friends
knew that I needed money. I really appreciated them. In this way I could study
at UCLA for 3 months.
Before
I went to the United States, I had planned the youth group summer spiritual
training seminar with a totally new format and youth members needed me to be
there. It cost about 2,000 dollars to go back to Japan and I did not know what
I should do.
However,
I realized that I couldn’t have my desires through my efforts alone. My
friends, my mother, youth group members helped to make my dream come true. So, I
decided to go back to Japan for only 5 nights in that summer.
When
I went back to Japan in August and helped the seminar, I was able to find the
place after I returned to Japan. One of my friends took care of the lease
agreement and also negotiated the rent. Within
5 days stay in Japan, I found a beautiful 4-bedroom apartment on the 7th
floor with 500 dollars rent.
In
addition, SNI Chiba helped my rent so that I only had to pay $200. After 18
months I left this apartment because I had agreed for the owner that whenever
his sake I would leave that apartment. So I left there with gratitude, but I
had to find a new place within a month.
Again,
I let go of my problem by giving it to God. This time I knew what kind of place
where I wanted to live. So, I requested two things to God: First, I wanted to
live not an apartment but a house with a small yard because I did not have time
to maintain a big yard. Second, I needed almost the similar amount of rent
because I sent $500 every month to my mother who had a very few source of
income.
Within
a month I was given a house with 3 bedrooms including one Japanese-style room,
a comfortable living room and a nice small yard with garage. The rent was $500
but I shared the house with my friend, so I paid only $300 and could continue
to send money to my mother. Now this roommate became my brother-in-law.
The
rent was my desired amount; however, this owner placed a condition on the lease
that I had to leave the house exactly in one year. Since I didn’t have time to
find another place, I said okay. The day I had to vacate the house was in March
1994. I believed everything would go well after 1 year.
In
December 1993, it was announced that I would be assigned to New York from March
1994 exactly the same month that I had to leave. God planed everything for me;
therefore, He gave me the rented house with such a specific condition. If I
didn’t have faith in God, I might have complained to Him about why I was given
such a condition. But again I accepted everything as it was.
I
do not want to say that I was grateful because everything I needed was
provided. True faith does not change according to material possession. Even if
you earned less than half of what you previously earned, or even if you were
given all the material wealth you need, do not increase or decrease your faith.
God has already within us and provided everything that we need. All we need is
to know the 5 important things to make our dreams come true. Please write your
new year dreams and send to us. We are happy to pray that your dreams come true
this year.
