I delivered this
lecture last Sunday, July 12, 2020.
Thank you very much. Seicho-No-Ie
believes that all religions emanate from the Great Universal Life that permeates
the universe. In Christianity this Great Universal Life is called God. In
Buddhism it is called the Tathagata of Light. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi said that
the Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World is the manifestation of the
great compassion of the Tathagata of Light unhindered in all directions. In
other words, the Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World is the
manifestation of the Great Universal Life.
The Prayer to Praise the Bodhisattva
Who Reflects the Sounds of the World states:
This world manifests the power of the superb wisdom of
the Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World. The term, “the
Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World” is not a mere proper noun
for one individual bodhisattva. It is great compassion, the power of superb
wisdom, and the law of the mind that
are omnipresent in the universe. Reflecting the sounds of the world means that great compassion as well as the principle of freely empathizing function
that manifests in forms in accordance with the wishes of all living things to
save them. This is what is meant when we say that the Bodhisattva changes into
33 different forms to save us. That the Bodhisattva manifests as the law of the mind, according to the minds
of living things, is in itself great compassion. (Song In Praise of the Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World)
The Bodhisattva Who Reflects the
Sounds of the World appears before us in different forms and appearances in accordance
with our minds. Sometimes it appears as a father, mother, or friend. At other
times it may appear as an enemy or foe. Sometimes it appears as nature. Rev.
Taniguchi states as follows:
The Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World
appears in different forms and gives us lectures of salvation. The shapes of
the mountains, the coming and going of the clouds, the sounds of the wind, the
flow of the rivers—they are all the lessons of compassion of the Bodhisattva
Who Reflects the Sounds of the World. Those who have ears in their mind should
listen; those who have eyes in their mind should see. (Ibid.)
We must learn from everything, not
only from human beings but also from all incidents, circumstances, and nature.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “It
has already been illustrated that every
natural process is a version of a moral sentence. The moral law lies at the center
of nature and radiates
to the circumference. It is the pith and marrow of every substance, every relation,
and every process. All things
with which we deal preach to us. What is a farm but
a mute gospel? The chaff and the wheat, weeds, and plants, blight, rain,
insects, sun—it is a sacred emblem from the first furrow of spring to the last
stack which the snow of winter overtakes in the fields. But the sailor, the
shepherd, the miner, the merchant, in their several resorts, have each an
experience precisely parallel and leading to the same conclusion because all
organizations are radically alike.” (Selected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson Vol. I)
We
are all a part of nature and are all alike because we all came from one Great
Universal Life. Why is nature important in Seicho-No-Ie? Seicho-No-Ie follows the
Seven Promulgation of Light. The first three promulgations are as follows:
1. We
resolve to transcend all religious and sectarian differences, worship Life, and live in
accordance with the laws
of Life.
2. We
believe that the laws governing the manifestation of Life constitute the path to infinite spiritual
growth and that the Life
within the individual is immortal.
3. We
study the creative laws of
Life and publicize our findings so that mankind may tread the true path
to infinite growth.
The highlighted words are “life” and
“life” not only includes human beings but ALL living beings. All livings beings
cannot live without nature. We cannot live without nature. Nature is a part of
our lives. Human beings are part of nature. We must coexist. Seicho-No-Ie has
been educating its members and the public to change our attitude towards nature
and change our treatment of nature. In Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi’s New Year’s
message, which is also in the July newsletter, entitled, “Why do we need to
change our lifestyles?” he wrote:
Now, throughout the world, with
traditional crops facing difficulty in growing due to the effects of climate
change, fishing zones becoming less available, and droughts or heavy floods,
wildfires and mudslides taking place more often, food shortages and water
shortages are looming. In such circumstances, the world population has risen to
7.6 billion and will soon reach 9 billion. The gap between the economically
“rich” and “poor” countries continues to widen. The widening gap between the
rich and poor has various negative effects on society. One of them is that the
majority who are put on the “poor side” would get increasingly indifferent to
the wellbeing of society. There would be an increased tendency to curse
society, disrupt order, and head towards destructive activities. This happens
not only within one country but also between countries. We are witnessing this
in the form of terrorism and the expansion of international conflicts.
The exploitation of nature not only
damages the environment but also to creates a gap between the poor and the rich
and consequently disrupts the order of society and destroys nature. Please read
this message in the July newsletter again. In the same newsletter, Mrs. Keiko
Miura shared her eco-friendly lifestyle in the middle of the biggest city in
the world, New York City. Her example shows us what is possible and shows what
we can do to work in harmony with and help preserve nature.
Learning from nature is important to
changing the course of human life to create a better world. The world is
seemingly moving in the wrong direction as human beings are destroying nature
and climate change gets worse.
The United Nations issued a stern
warning in their July 6, 2020 report, “Preventing the Next Pandemic.” In this
report, Ingar Andersen, Executive Director of UN Environment Programme, clearly
writes that science shows that in the coming years, infectious diseases will
shift from animals to human beings if wildlife exploitation and ecosystem
destruction continue. This report talks about zoonosis which is an illness
spread to human beings through animals.
It is said that 60 percent of known
infectious diseases in humans and 75 percent of all emerging infectious
diseases are zoonotic. Ebola, SARS, the Zika virus, and bird flu all infected
people by the way of animals. The report pointed out that the increase in
zoonosis is caused by the demand for increased meat consumption, unsustainable
agriculture, wildlife exploitation, and incessant increase in natural resource
utilization. Currently, we have been fighting COVID-19 which is also zoonotic.
COVID-19 has caused profound damages to human health, societies, and the economy throughout
the world.
As of July 10, 2020, COVID-19 has
brought the death toll to over 565 thousand worldwide. In addition, two million
people, mainly lower to middle income, die each year due to zoonotic diseases.
To prevent a future pandemic, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “To
prevent future outbreaks, countries need to conserve wild habitats, promote
sustainable agriculture, strengthen food safety standards, monitor and regulate
food markets, invest in technology to identify risks, and curb the illegal
trade in wildlife.” (UN website)
It is difficult to do something that
we are no accustomed to, but we should all try to do our part to help protect
nature. Seicho-No-Ie currently promotes PBS activities such as the Organic
Vegetable Gardening Club, Bicycle Club, and Craft Club to do our part to help
preserve nature and learn how to incorporate an eco-friendly lifestyle into our
busy everyday life.
Because of the pandemic and
restriction of leaving home, like Keiko, my wife planted a mini vegetable
garden. Every day after Shinsokan Meditation we walk around our neighborhood
for an hour and return home at around 7 am. My wife then waters her mini
garden. She is excited when she finds sprouts and buds on her vegetables and
herb plants. She either brings shiso leaves, oregano, palely, or lemon thyme to
our meals. Last Thursday, she started using oregano, sage, lemon thyme, and
lemon balm to make natural yeast. I love basil paste, but since we don’t have
basil in our garden, I used oregano to make a paste. It was not bad.
My wife and I enjoy vegetables and
herbs from our garden. We also enjoy our morning walks because it gives us a
chance to spend quality time together and with nature. These are small steps
towards decreasing meat consumption and working towards a sustainable
lifestyle.
As Seicho-No-Ie membership increases,
the sustainable, nature-friendly lifestyle will increase. I admire Canada's
endeavor to help decrease climate change. Canadian Prime minister Justin
Trudeau announced on June 22, 2020, that their government would invest almost
$100 million on Canada’s plant-based food industry. This is an example that
countries can do to help the world.
Seicho-No-Ie has invested money to build
mega-solar panels in 3 different locations in Japan and also invested in
geothermal power generation in Beppu Oita, Kyushu. These actions directly help
manifest future world peace and contribute indirectly to decreasing the inequality
of the distribution of wealth through decreased use of fossil fuels.
When we are able to hold our Nature
Blessing Festa in the future, we will have a mini-event to promote PBS at this
center. Thank you very much.
