Be Reconciled with the Whole Universe: Day 16

            Yesterday Governor Andrew Cuomo used an analogy of the coronavirus as a war to explain what difficulty New York is facing right now. This morning an economic analyst Steve Rattner compared the current stock market with the bankruptcy crisis of Lehman Brothers in 2008. He further compared it with Black Friday in 1929.

            Yesterday the stock market fell down the same level as to when Donald Trump was inaugurated. Steve Rattner pointed out that this fall was the steepest and fastest decline in stock market history. It was down 32 percent from the peak and took less than a month to get there. He said, “To put that into historical perspective for you, in the great recession, it took a year for the stock market to fall as much as it has fallen in one month. Without getting too political about it, I think there is a piece of this that certainly relates to leadership… Market, okay, we can deal with this. Then, he (President Trump) says stuff that freaks people out or they don’t understand, doesn’t sound like he is taking it seriously, and it goes the other way.” (Morning Joe's 3/19, MSNBC) In other words, this problem of falling market is the problem of the leadership of how the White House or President handles it.

            Recessions in the past have been caused when there is a disconnection between the markets and reality. It was said that Joseph Kennedy suddenly realized that it was time to get out of the market when he was receiving stock-trading tips from a shoe-shine boy. When people become overconfident or too relaxed with the strength of the market it can be a dangerous sign that the value we attribute to companies does not represent the true value which they bring to the world. We are now living in a time when some people believe we are experiencing a recession that is worse than the Great Depression while our country’s leadership is telling us that everything is fine. Clearly, there is some disconnection between reality and what we are being told, and as a result, our society is descending into chaos.

            Many people offer completely opposite perspectives of this situation, but no one can tell us what the correct way forward is at this moment. Only God can. Therefore, it is extremely important that we practice Shinsokan and tune our mind into God’s vibration and hear His guidance and carry it out.

            I will repeat the same thing that I wrote yesterday again. All life comes from God and there is no evil life or harmful life. These lives have their own purpose to fulfill in order to support nature and earth. We need to stop driving out certain species and exhausting limited resources for our own personal gain. We must be reconciled with the whole universe and be grateful to everyone and everything.

All life Comes from the Universal Life: Day 15

            On March 16, President Donald Trump recommended social gatherings be limited to 10 people or less. Restaurants and pubs have closed their doors and some are open only for pick-up. Office workers are asked to work from home if they can. Today, Governor Cuomo announced that no business can have more than 50% of their workforce report for work outside of the home. Because of this, I will work at home starting tomorrow. There were very few people on the street in Manhattan and Grand Central Terminal today. It will be like a ghost town tomorrow.

            Many people may think that coronavirus is the worst enemy of humanity. Some people even likened the current situation as another world war, but viruses or microorganisms also have the life that comes from God. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote, “As we now visualize the True Image of existence, we see that the life of all living things, even to the smallest microorganism, is an outpouring of God’s life. As long as they have life, all forms of life are expressions of God. Thus no virus, bacteria, fungus, or protozoa can ever invade man and cause him to fall ill. The belief that man comes under attack by microorganisms and falls ill is nothing but a dream, nothing but an illusion.” (Truth of Life magazine, June 2000)

            In nature, diversity is essential, and many different components work together in the web of life so that everything operates like clockwork. If you remove the given pieces, it no longer functions, and the whole structure collapses. Human beings, however, have been killing many species for their own comfort and convenience. The majority of us do not realize it and some are still killing these species. We must stop it. This is not a virus attack but we have been cutting our own life’s web by our own greed. If we learn from nature and practice a way of life to live together with nature, we will be able to change our world.

Do Not Practice Empty Power of Word: Day 14

            Some people encourage to practice positive thinking and other people denied saying it does not work. Even some of them believe the power of words and the power of the mind but sometimes doubt positive thinking because they only practice empty words.

            Our minds have the power to create our destinies. When you can change your mind, you can change your life. How can we change our minds? We must use the power of positive words. The positive word with emotion has power but without emotion does not work. A person who was told that she needs to be grateful to her husband and practice to say that he is a good person repeatedly, then her husband would become a good person. She said repeatedly that her husband was a good person and also chanted “thank you very much” many times. Every day she checked if her husband was changed or not, and he became worse. She claimed that positive words' chanting did not work. Her practice, of course, did not work because she totally believed that her husband was a bad person and tried to change him by using positive words. In other words, what she truly believed appeared.

            In order to receive good fortune, our minds need to be prepared because the phenomenal world is unfolded in accordance with our thoughts. You may say that a person is fortunate, but his good fortune actually comes from his prepared. Therefore, he was ready to receive good fortune. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote: “Napoleon boasted, ‘Do you think I am lucky? I create my own luck.’ This may be true for a person whose mind is well prepared, but if said by a person who is not mentally prepared, it is a foolish and irresponsible utterance.”

            Our mind creates our destiny. Rev. Taniguchi said that it is a foolish and irresponsible utterance if we use positive words without our mind’s preparation. He continued, “Laws permeate the universe, and to grasp the opportunity is to utilize the laws. Law exists in the universe even if the mind is not prepared. When man is mentally prepared, however, he will be able not only to fly into the sky but to explore the entire universe. The study of science is, in essence, for the preparation of the mind.” (Truth of Life December 2002)

            To use the positive words we must totally believe in them. If you use positive words to change about your husband or child, you must completely believe that he is a good, excellent person mentally and emotionally. Do not repeat empty positive words without emotion. Practice positive words with your strong emotion and belief that he is a very good person. When you truly feel that way, he will appear before you as a good husband or child.

Acrylic Paints and A Palate Knife : Day 13

            Watching the news about coronavirus every day, it’s depressing and disappointed with the guidance of the White House because it is so poor. The Bishop of the SNI US Missionary Headquarters called the special emergency meeting of the SNI ministers in the U.S. on March 3 to discuss how to deal with the coronavirus, there were only 2 persons confirmed positive for the virus in New York. Since then, almost every day the number of people who tested and confirmed positive has increased.
            I immediately emailed to our Japanese leaders because we had planned the Japanese Seminar on March 8. We discussed the seminar on whether or not we should postpone it. We concluded that we had the seminar but stopped promoting it to the public. We did whatever we could such as sanitizing doorknobs and tables as well as chairs, giving up providing refreshments to the participants, opening the windows while putting the heater on during the seminar, etc. We also broadcasted our seminar to those who wanted to participant online. We encouraged members to join the seminar online. We did everything that we could but watching the federal government actions, I was flabbergasted and disappointed. That disappointment still continues until today, I won’t discuss it today. I will write about a different thing.

            My brother texted me that my mom’s dementia became worse and it was difficult for his family to take care of her. My sister-in-law became so tired of taking care of our mother and became depressed. So my brother asked the siblings to help him and his wife. I want to do everything I can but am not sure what I can do because I do not live in Japan. It is difficult for me to take even a week's vacation right now due to the lack of full-time employees in the SNI NY Center. Great ideas will come to me at the most appropriate time in order to help my mom and my brother’s family.

            Now, what I do for my mom is to paint on an envelope every week and write to her with this envelope. Today I used a palette knife to paint. To paint with a palette knife on the envelope is not easy because it is too small to paint on the envelope with a palette knife. But I did because I wanted to send something different to my mom. Last month I called her on her birthday, she said she forgot many people even her own children and asked them who they were. She also said that she enjoyed my weekly letter but she did not read it but just enjoyed painting. That’s the reason that I want to do something different.

            I started using acrylic paint a couple of months ago because I had plenty of leftover craft smart paints that were used to use at Sunday school. I bought many Craft Smart Paints for the Sunday school students to paint together with them, but our Sunday school ended 4 years ago. I didn’t want to waste them, so I started using them. This acrylic paint is liquid, so it is good for painting with brushes, but if you use expensive acrylic paints, it has texture and more fun. Today, I add baking soda to these acrylic paints and painted with a palette knife. This was the first trial. I need to practice a lot to make an impressive paint envelope, but I enjoyed it. I hope my mom also likes it.

Spend Time in Nature: Day 12

            The Seicho-No-Ie New York Center was officially closed today. There was no Sunday Service, but I conducted it on the internet using Zoom Communication Conference. This was the first time to hold the service online. My computer’s microphone was broken a long time ago and a technician in Larchmont couldn’t fix it. I connected through my iPhone but couldn’t use the PowerPoint presentation. I think it went well.

            The coronavirus brought difficulties to many people in many ways. But my daughter does not have to go to school and will study online next Wednesday, so she is happy. Maybe I have to see it as an opportunity for a family bond. One of my New Year’s Dreams is to have fun with my family. So many years I dedicated my time mainly to my work and my wife and children didn’t have enough time to spend with me. Now, two of my children have left home and the last one will soon go to college this September. I need to find out how we can enjoy it as a family for the next 5 months.

            I want to spend the time with my family in nature such as hiking in the forest, enjoying on the beach, or walking along the river. My wife also wants to spend time in nature, so I bought a book, Explorer’s Guides 50 Hikes in the Lower Hudson Valley. There are many different kinds of hiking courses between Westchester and Kingston counties such as 2 or 3 days hiking or 2 hours hiking course. This year I hope I can go hiking at least 5 times with my wife and children. Last year, we went to 3 different places: Bash Bish Fall on the border between NY and MA, Fire Island Lighthouse Beach in Long Island, Hampton Beach in NH. I hope we enjoy nature as a family.

Drive Out Fear and Express Love: Day 11

            Fear is the worst enemy of human beings. Why do we fear?—because we do not know the true nature of fear. If you don’t know something, you cannot figure out what it is. That creates fear. Many people do the same things such as order the same menu, go to the same restaurant, use the same company or buy the same brand because they do not want to take a risk to try unknown things.

            Why do we not want to try unknown things?—because we do not want to fail and become unhappy. We must know that this world is created by God, so wherever you are, you are always in the best place and whatever you do, you are always guided by God. Stop worrying about unknown things. Believe the perfect creation of God. Do not imagine misfortune. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote: “Fear is the very emotion that is the cause for all misfortune. Since this world is a world created by God who is goodness, great sympathy and love, intellect and wonderful wisdom, and 0mniscient and omnipotent, there is no way that misfortune, which seems to go against love, could exist here. Nevertheless, we imagine that misfortune is real. We ought to know that God is absolute love and filled with nothing but love.” (Open the Doors of Your Life 2, p.94)

            The best way to drive out your fear, bring your love out more. Give kindness to others. Express gratitude to your family members. Praise your friends more. Thank what you receive from nature. These are all expressions of love. You can do it because you are a child of God. You are a child of the Love of God.

Maintain Your Peace: Day 10 (3/13/2020)

            Today I went to the post office. Because of the coronavirus it was not crowded and was unusually quiet. While I was waiting in line looking at some forever stamps in the display, a lady cut in front of me and went to the front of the line. There, she saw a young man who was wearing a huge white mask on his face. She loudly asked him if he was sick. He said, “No,” but she did not hear him so she said louder, “If you are sick, stay at home!!” He replied again that he was not sick.

            The lady became aggressive and literally screamed at him, “A mask doesn’t help prevent you from contracting the coronavirus! I know! I work in the medical field! Take off your mask! You are creating chaos! Go home!” This lady who claimed to work in the medical field was herself creating chaos at the post office. To protect yourself from chaos you need to keep calm within your mind. I immediately left the post office to protect myself from this chaos.

            Governor Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday, March 7 due to the pandemic spread of coronavirus in New York City and Westchester County. The Governor confirmed that 216 people tested positive for the virus on Thursday and then today confirmed 325 total individuals who tested positive for the virus.

            Some people can take days off from work or work from home. Others cannot. Currently, the Seicho-No-Ie New York Center is under heavy construction. The construction workers go to different job sites depending on the need. They have to work for their families. Because we would like to finish construction as soon as possible, we have kept the center open.

            However, we are unable to provide adequate building cleaning due to our current building renovation, so the Seicho-No-Ie New York Board of Trustees decided to cancel today’s evening meetings and the next Sunday Service. If you have any ailments or are even slightly under the weather, please stay home. This is important.

            My daughter’s school decided to cancel all classes through March 30, 2020. According to the authority the coronavirus situation will become worse in the coming weeks, but we must know that our True Image will never change. The first and foremost thing that we must remember is that we are all children of God, perfect and harmonious. Therefore, we must not panic. When we keep peace in our minds, great ideas will come to us showing us how to deal with the current situation.

            When we visualize our True Image, we will never suffer from anything. Even if we encounter a difficult situation, we will receive the solution to be able to deal with it and as a result we will be in a better situation in the future. Therefore, it is truly important to visualize our True Image.

            When we practice Shinsokan meditation and enter into the True-Image World, the kingdom of God, and are able to visualize and spiritually feel the life of God who gives us the power of life, everything will change. Rev. Taniguchi wrote: “…The fountain of life emits a rainbow of five or seven hues as it is poured over me. It becomes an endless wave of light as it flows over my entire body, thoroughly purifying and washing away all uncleanliness and imperfections from my entire body. Every last cell in my whole body is thoroughly filled with infinite ageless life, revived, regenerated, and each and every cell emits a brilliant glow of ageless life that surpasses the brilliance of the purest diamond. The light is so sublime that no harmful microbe, nor germ, nor virus can come near it. Should these things approach close enough to the light, they simply vanish like darkness before the light.” (Truth of Life magazine, July 1991, Prayer to Enter into the Ageless World of Heaven)

            This Sunday I will practice Shinsokan meditation at 11 am, so please practice Shinsokan at home followed by the Holy Sutra reading. Thank you very much.

Visualize the True Image and Be Flexible: Day 9

            Governor Andrew M. Cuomo declared a state of emergency last Saturday due to the pandemic spread of coronavirus in New York City and Westchester County. The Governor confirmed 43 additional cases bringing the State of New York total to 216. The number of positive cases for the virus in Westchester and New York City is 121 and 52.

            Because we are unable to provide adequate building cleaning due to our current building renovation, the Seicho-No-Ie New York Board of Trustees decided to cancel the Sunday Service, Friday Truth of Life Study Class, and Ancestral Memorial Service at least through this weekend.

            If you have any ailments or even slightly under the weather, please stay home. I will deliver my short message and practice Shinsokan meditation at 11 am this Sunday through Zoom Video Communication, so you will be able to view it. If you are on the mailing list, you will receive detail information.

            The coronavirus situation might become worse phenomenally, but our True Image will never change. The first and foremost important thing that we must realize is that we are all children of God, perfect and harmonious. Therefore, we will never become panic. When we keep peace in our minds, the best idea will come to deal with the situation. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote: “Since the perfection of God’s life is being constantly manifested within me, I am always strong and healthy. God’s wisdom is constantly guiding me in my activities, therefore I shall never err in my actions. I shall always advance on the right path and never become lost on a crooked road.” (Truth of Life magazine, March 2002, Prayer to Remove Fear and Attachment)

            When we visualize the True Image, we will never be suffered from anyone and anything. Rev. Taniguchi also wrote: “As we now visualize the True Image of existence, we see that the life of all living things, even to the smallest microorganism, is an outpouring of God’s life. As long as they have life, all forms of life are expressions of God. Thus no virus, bacteria, fungus, or protozoa can ever invade man and cause him to fall ill. The belief that man comes under attack by microorganisms and falls ill is nothing but a dream, nothing but an illusion.” (Truth of Life magazine, June 2000, Prayer to Become Aware of My Indestructible True Body)

            Fear brings another fear and panic, so we must visualize the True Image. When we visualize the True Image through Shinsokan meditation, we will receive appropriate ideas on how to deal with our situation. When we follow our inner guidance, we will be always safe. Some people asked me why we do not have our meeting if we practice Shinsokan to visualize the True Image. These people think that we can have a gathering if we do not have fear in our minds. However, it depends on a person how deeply convinces oneself as a child of God. When we realize the True Image, there are many ways to have our lives. If you only think one way is the best way, you already lost your battle because you do not have flexibility. In this world, there are many choices and ways to deal with difficulties. We need to stick to what we are doing, but sometimes we must become flexible and avoid uncertainty.

            It was said that the Zen monk Kaisen wrote his last poem in his life at Erin-Ji temple: “If you eliminate thoughts, even a fire is cool.” He was surrounded by the army of Nobunaga Oda (1534-1582) at that time. Nobunaga’s army set a fire and he was burned. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi introduced this poem and wrote: “We are not saying that it is correct faith to advocate ‘ego’ to not get burned while sitting in fire, but we are saying that we must follow the guidance of God’s wisdom and naturally be led not to sit in fire.

            If someone thoughtfully considers your situation and gives a piece of advice, you should be flexible and if your gut feeling says that you should listen to this advice, you do not have to insist of your own idea. The teachings of Seicho-No-Ie says that we must be reconciled with the whole universe. If we are reconciled with everyone and everything in the universe, nothing will harm us. However, if you lose flexibility and insist that you can go into the crowds by saying nothing would harm you. This story of the Zen monk Kaisen gives you an inspiration. This story is introduced in the December 2019 Truth of Life magazine on pages between 21 and 22. Please read it again.

            Let us read the Holy Sutra together every day to pray that the coronavirus will subside in New York and in the world.

Live As Normal As Possible: Day 8 (3/11/2020)

The city of New Rochelle appears most frequently on the news in New York. My home is located right next to the city of New Rochelle probably within a few houses away. The news calls this city, "cluster." It is as if an epicenter of an earthquake. The state government, the Governor, and the Mayor are doing whatever they can do or should do to prevent expanding coronavirus. It's a good idea to be as cautious as possible and we should avoid fear and panic. As long as I know many people are dealing with it using their wisdom and lead quite normal lives.

            Yesterday when I came home by train, many people got off at New Rochelle Station. People have to work, and their lives continue in any situation. If we are panicked or scared and emotionally upset, our situations will become worse. We need to know updated information through the news, but the news should be carefully broadcasted. It should not sway people's emotional fear. At the same time, we who watch news also be careful to not be fearful but just accept the necessary information and live our regular lives as normal as possible. Let us continue reading the Holy Sutras and Songs of Praise daily.

A Day Is A Thousand Years: Day 7 (3/10/2020)

            I take the first train to go to my office in Manhattan every morning. The train is not crowded but not empty. I sit on the seat and usually read a book for 35 minutes. I recently started reading Ralph Waldo Emerson. He said, “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown.”

            Nowadays people are so hectic and they may not believe in God if they don’t see the result soon. On the contrary, we forget the truth that God has already give us what we need like the light of the stars on the night sky to lead people to their homes. We see the light every night which shows us the way we should go, but we do not think the light is our answer. If we see the only once in our lives or twice, we may see its brightness and appreciate it. We must see recognize the light. We must be patient, not hectic. When we live in the countryside, we have to learn patience.

            We are lucky because God is patient. Peter said, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friend: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter, 3:8-9).

            When we see things and think about them from God’s perspective, we can become patient, forgive other people, and give abundantly. When we see and think about these things from the viewpoint of nature, we can become patient, forgive other people, and give abundantly. If we still don’t understand, we must deeply pray to God. We should find nature and live in the bosom of Mother Nature.

A Month of Letter Day 6 (3/9/2020)

            I practiced painting and writing by hand every day in February. It is called A Month of Letter. I received from people whom I sent and they are all moving stories. I will introduce two of them.

            The first person had a problem practicing Shinsokan Meditation for 30 years and couldn’t continue more than a week. In the end, he quit practicing last year. However, he really wanted to resume Shinsokan this year and started. He practices breathing techniques for 10 minutes before Shintokan and now is able to practice without any difficulties. He now loves to practice it every day and after the Shinsokan, he continues visualizing the True Image for 5 minutes.

            Another person who recently replied to me by email that she really enjoys her life now. In her life, she had undergone several life-threatening surgeries, but now she is fine and already had her 80 years old birthday last year. Now, her grandson goes to high school. On her birthday her husband gave her a new red Porsche. So she enjoys driving almost every day. When she goes out by this new car, elderly people, especially women, often began chatting with her and she had joyful conversations. That makes her happy and loves driving more. I think some people have a prejudice that young people might look good with a brand new red Porsche but not an over 80 years old lady. Imagine if a lady who seems like over 80 years old driving a brand new red Porsche, some people may think a bit negative thing. However, this lady is a very positive thinking person and says, “I'm 80 and driving a new car, a red Porsche. I think that by driving a new red Porsche may encourage senior people who might give up many things and give a new hope that they can do many things regardless of their ages.” I think this positive way of thinking is beautiful. I am glad that I continue A Month of Letter this year again. Because of this practice, I could hear many wonderful stories. So I wanted to share these stores with you.

            I am grateful to some people who upload their YouTube tutorial painting. I often learn from them.

PRAYER FOR THE QUAKE VICTIMS - Day 5 (3/8/2020)

            Today, we had the Japanese Seminar and in the beginning, all the participants pray for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and I dedicated the prayer in Japanese. I just briefly introduce my prayer as follows:

            Oh God, the lord of Seicho-No-Ie who governs the True-Image World and the entire universe, we, the participants to the Japanese Seminar, gather here and sincerely pray for God's guidance and protection to be given to those who were affected in the Great East Japan Earthquake and made a transition to the spiritual world.

            Let those victims live a peaceful life and their sufferings be removed. Let the provisions for daily life be abundantly supplied for those who survived, and let the recovery work from the disasters proceed in harmony with nature.

            We, the believers of "human beings are children of God and their lives are eternal," believe that those who were victims of the earthquake live embraced in God's loving hand.

            Today on March 8, 2020, 9 years after the earthquake. We sincerely thank God for your blessing, protection, and love to the people affected by the earthquake, while many problems still remain unsolved.

            We offer our sincere prayers that the recovery work proceed speedily and the life of those affected people go back to normal life and they lead their life filled with joy, love, and gratitude as soon as possible. We thank God for realizing our earnest wish from the bottom of our hearts. [Rev. Mario Kawakami, Chief of the Seicho-No-Ie New York Missionary Area (3/8/2020)]

Words of Inspiration Day 4 (3/7/2020)

Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote the “Keys to Open God’s Treasure Trove” as follows:

We can say we understand the concept that “cooperating with the indwelling Got will bring prosperity” but how do we cooperate with God? The best way is to pray and practice Shinsokan meditation—they are the most powerful keys to open God’s infinite treasure trove. Prayer is a personal communion with God, whereas Shinsokan is an affirmation that the prayer has already been answered. A prayer offered apprehensively or tentatively will not be effective. Only by practicing Shinsokan with the affirmation that we have already received what we desire will its effectiveness be clearly manifested. When we pray hoping for $10 million but instead think only $100,000, we will receive only 100,000. (Truth of Life, August 2006)

Rev. Taniguchi said, “A prayer offered apprehensively or tentatively will not be effective.” Shinsikan is to visualize the perfect creation of God’s world and ourselves. If we want to become happy, we must create a happy feeling inside of us. If we want to become healthy, we must first harbor only healthy thoughts in us. If we want to be wealthy, we must create wealthy thoughts and act like a wealthy person. However, many people think the opposite. They think we can become wealthy if we have this and that. There is a story of a man who only thought of poverty and wanted to become rich in the True of Life Volume 2.

            For so many years before he became one of the richest men in American financial circles, this man was unable to rise above his poverty. One day he realized that his poverty was a disease of his mind. He always thought, “As I am poor, I must be very thrifty.” So all of his actions were restricted by the phrase “as I am poor.” He realized if poverty were a disease, then it could be healed. He was able to change his attitude by changing his way of thinking.

            To change our lives, we restrict ourselves with the phrase “as I am a child of God” so that we can think and act only as children of God. To do this, we must create this as a habit routine. We can do this with Shinsokan meditation. Therefore, it is extremely important to practice visualization.

            Dr. Dispenza explains the importance of visualization in a different way: “If we are thinking that once we have the wealth to buy more things, then we will be overjoyed, we’ve got it backward. We have to become happy before our abundance shows up.” When we create happiness and wealth in our mind, happiness and wealth appear in our physical world.

            We need to understand that in this world everything starts with our mind. We can create thoughts of “model,” “pattern,” or “mold” in our mind. Then, these invisible thoughts “model,” “pattern,” or “mold” in our mind will be manifested in this world. But, many people do not use their invisible thoughts to create their lives and try to fix their problems first by dealing with them. What they are doing is as if they put a carriage before the horse. When they change their thoughts, their problems will be solved and they become happy, healthy, and wealthy.

Words of Inspiration Day 3 (3/6/2020)

            A man featured on Facebook's HONY yesterday lamented the rising prices of apartment rent in New York City. Currently, he works at the post office. Many people assume that working under the U.S. government is stable work, but he cannot find a suitable apartment for his family under his salary. He wants more time to spend with his son, but he can't afford the apartment for the whole family and lives separately. On the other hand, he can't afford low-income apartments because his salary is slightly higher to apply the low-income apartments. This story certainly shows today’s apartment situation in New York.

            The satisfaction of the human lifestyle is varied depending on each individual. If stable jobs can be found only in the city, people need to live in the city. Consequently, the housing situation becomes worse. In rural areas, there are many empty houses that are abandoned. We may live there even if our incomes are low or we cannot have a convenient lifestyle. Some people say they can't live in such places because they don't have work and very inconvenient, but they think that way because they do not want to change their own standard lifestyle that they currently have.

            Over 30 years ago my mother lost her husband who was 57 years old at that time. When my father passed away, my mother received a very small amount of the widow's pension every three months. It was too small to live on; therefore, she asked her children to send some money for help. She rented a small house in a rural area near her hometown. I started sending $500 for more than 5 years. My 6 siblings did the same. The amount was up to them, but I know two of them sent the same amount that I did. After 6 or 7 years of sending money, my mom suddenly told us that we didn't have to send money anymore. She said she decided to build a new house in the current old house where she was not able to live because no one had lived there for 20 years. I asked her how she could pay. She said she had already paid. That was a real surprise for us and we, her 7 children, were so delighted. But, how could she save such large money? She had a small vegetable yard and grew some vegetables and rice for herself. She was always grateful for everything that she had and took great care of them.

            My mom said that she saved all the money that we had sent her, and she also saved her widow's pension as much as possible. She also got free vegetables where she lived. Plenty of badly shaped eggplants, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc. were dumped on the roadside. The farmers couldn’t sell these vegetables even at a very cheap price. In addition, if they wanted to sell, they had to pay the transportation fee to the town, therefore they left these vegetables on the roadside. They were all free, so my mom picked them up almost every day and ate them for many years so that she was able to save money.

            With these savings, she negotiated with a carpenter that she knew, and built a wooden house. I don't know if I can do the same thing that my mom did 30 years ago if I am in a similar situation. A couple of years later when she built a new house, my mom started living with her eldest son, his wife and their children. My mom took the rent from her son and saved money. With this money, she built an additional room for her grandchildren. Then, she renewed the kitchen and bathroom for her daughter-in-law and put the solar panels as well and earned a small amount of money every month.

            I understand that human beings can do anything if they truly wish for. I observed my mom for many years, so I truly understand the power that we human beings have. But, a question is: Can I grow my own food to live and pick any food on the street like a really poor person?

            My mom could do that because she was in a desperate situation, in other words, there was no other choice. I've never in that situation. In addition, I still attach quite many things in my current life.

            Returning to the first story of the post office person, I understand the struggle of his housing situation. Many people also understand his struggle and posted various comments and opinions, but one message that impressed me a lot was as follows:

“You're obviously doing all you can to keep it together! But while reading this I notice your little boy coming in to kiss his daddy. You're his world (along with his momma). You're doing the best you can with what you have and your child is not lacking in love! Wishing y'all the best!”

I believe this post office person has raised his son very well. I hope the current housing situation in New York will improve soon and become affordable. Meanwhile, we have to change our way of thinking about our lifestyle. Thank you very much.

Words of Inspiration Day 2 (3/5/2020)

 Dr. Joe Dispenza observes three different stages of human being’s existence. The first stage is to think. The second stage is to do and the third state is to be. He also explains these stages are being operated by three different functions of brains: neocortex (thinking brain), limbic brain (emotional brain), and cerebellum (habitual thoughts brain). He wrote as follows: “Let’s use a true-to-life example to take a practical look at how these three brains take us from thinking to doing to being. First, we’ll see how through conscious mental rehearsal, the thinking brain (neocortex) uses knowledge to activate new circuits in new ways to make a new mind. Then, our thought creates an experience, and via the emotional (limbic) brain, that produces a new emotion. Our thinking and feeling brains condition the body to a new mind. Finally, we reach the point where mind and body are working as one, the cerebellum enables us to memorize a new neurochemical self, and our new state of being is now an innate program in our subconscious.” (Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, pp. 130-131)

            Once the cerebellum downloaded the program, i.e., does something habitually, the habit becomes yourself. To change our habits we do not have to go through having experiences, increasing the similar emotions and reacting over and over again. Dr. Dispenza says that we can change our habits without experiences.

            Have you ever heard of the term visualization often practiced by athletes? This is the theory that what you imagine becomes reality. There was an experiment done with people who practiced the piano. Some actually played the piano to practice and some only practiced in their minds. Those who actually played the piano increased muscle strength by 30%. Those who rehearsed in their mind to practice increased muscle strength by 22%. By mentally practicing, your mind or your thinking brain can actually increase muscle strength. This is the process of visualization. (Summary of p. 83)

            Shinsokan Meditation in Seicho-No-Ie practice this visualization. We visualize our True Image which is perfect and harmonious while contemplating quietly. This meditation is explained in detail in the Truth of Life Volume 8 and Shinsokan Is Wonderful. Since last November, the Seicho-No-Ie New York Center started broadcasting Shinsokan Meditation in English at 7 am for our members who wanted to practice meditation using Zoom Video Communication app.

Words of Inspiration Day 1

          A new plan for my 30 years from now on: I have lived for 60 years and probably have another 30 years which are almost one-third of my entire life. I accomplished many things in the last 60 years but they were only for myself. I will dedicate my 30 years to only for other people and nature.

          I don’t know clearly what I can do or what should do, but I will use the first 1000 days (10 percent of the 30 years) to establish my basic movement to dedicate to other people and nature. I want to inspire and motivate other people for their happiness and to change their lives. I also inspire people to restore peace and harmony between human beings and nature.

          To change people’s lives I must share the truth that comes from my own understandings and experiences. I have learned the truth from Seicho-No-Ie, so during the first 1000 days, I will do the following things to establish a basic movement for another 30 years in order to help people and nature:

1. Write something motivating to other people every day.

2. My message will become an inspiration for other people if I continue this for 1000 days.

3. I need to take care of my physical health. To do this I will not eat after 7 pm and also exercise at least 10 or 15 minutes in the evening.

4. To take care of my mental health, I practice love myself and learn how to express it.

5. To take care of my spiritual health, I will love other people and nature and express love in a concrete manner.

6. I record these things every day.

Words of Inspiration Day 1: Ralph Waldo Trine said, “The whole of human life is cause and effect, there is no such thing in it as chance, nor is there even in all the wide universe. Are we not satisfied with whatever comes into our lives? The thing to do then is not to spend time in railing against the imaginary something we create and call fate, but to look to the within, and change the causes at work there, in order that things of a different nature may come, for there will come exactly what we cause to come. This is true not only of the physical body but of all phases and conditions of life.” (In Tune with the Infinite, ©2007 Wilder Publications, pp. 35-36)

          There are many examples to explain this truth. A simple example that I experienced happened last month. On the first Monday of February 2020, I went to New Jersey to distribute 160 Truth of Life magazines. First I dropped my daughter off at her school and then drove to a storage facility in Wayne, NJ to deliver the magazines.

            When I arrived at the storage facility, I thought that I had driven all the way to NJ without the car keys because my daughter had them when she got into the car before me that morning and I did not remember her giving the key back to me. It is a new hybrid car with an electric sensor key. I became upset and angry with her, but there was nothing I could do and I had already driven over an hour to get to NJ. So without turning off the car, I delivered all of the magazines. It was a cold day and even though I had to use the bathroom I had to wait until I got home so I drove very fast.

          I kept dwelling on all the negative things that happened on the way back to home: why didn’t my daughter give me back the key or why didn’t I ask for the key; and dwelling on the negative things that could happen: what if I am caught by the police; what if he asks me to turn off the engine, etc. As all of these scenarios came to my mind, I denied them and screamed “thank you very much” all the way home. When I got home and had time to use the bathroom and calm down, I decided to check the car. I found the key beneath the driver’s seat. My daughter had given the key back to me and I had put it in my pocket, but I didn’t remember doing so because I was so distracted while in the high school drop-off lane.

          If I had known the truth, I would not have had to suffer for three hours worrying about having to use the bathroom or having the police stop me or having to turn off the engine without the key. All of this drama was created by my mind. If I knew the truth I would not have had to suffer.
          Our lives are the same. We do not have to suffer from anything if we realize the Truth. If we know the Truth we can use our mind properly so that we can change our lives in any way we like. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32).