Explanation of the Shinsokan to Visualize the Four Immeasurable Minds

Thank you very much. Today I will explain Shinsokan to Visualize the Four Immeasurable Minds. The original version of this meditation was created by Founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi, who wrote this Shinsokan to embrace humankind with God’s love and the Buddha’s Four Immeasurable Minds. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi revised this meditation to expand this love not only to humankind but also to all sentient and non-sentient beings, i.e., all minerals, water, wind, sunlight, and Mother Nature. The prayer is as follows:

My mind is one with God’s infinite love and the Four Immeasurable Minds of the Buddha, and it spreads throughout the skies, permeates the universe, and reaches out to all living beings, seeking to remove their suffering, lessen their pain, bring ease and comfort to their life, and give them joy. (Repeat)

All living beings have been relieved of their suffering, their pain has been lessened, ease and comfort have been brought to their life, and they have been blessed with joy. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. (Repeat)

My mind is one with God's infinite love and the Four Immeasurable Minds of the Buddha, and it further spreads throughout the skies, permeates the universe, and reaches out to all lives and minerals on earth, seeking to remove their suffering, bring them ease and comfort, protect their diversity, and give them joy. (Repeat)

Already, all lives on earth have been relieved of their suffering, ease and comfort have been brought to their life, their diversity has been protected, and they have been blessed with joy. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. (Repeat)

Founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi introduced this original Shinsokan to Visualize the Four Immeasurable Minds in Seiko Roku (Record of Holy Light). Most Japanese Seicho-No-Ie members have this book and practice the contents of it every day. Founder Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi explained this Shinsokan in this book as follows:

All living beings have been relieved of their suffering, their pain has been lessened, ease and comfort have been brought to their life, and they have been blessed with joy. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Then visualize intently that all of mankind have been completely relieved from pain and suffering, and get the feeling that you are now leaving everything to God and become grateful. This is not a Shinsokan to seek blessings for your own self but a prayerful meditation to remove the pain and suffering of all of mankind. Therefore, it is not egotistical at all, as a result of which the benefits to you will be greater than in a self-centered meditation. (Seiko Roku, p. 119)

As Rev. Taniguchi wrote, this Shinsokan is not egotistical at all. We pray for all humankind. Remember that this Shinsokan was written 70 or 80 years ago. Considering the current world environment, it is not enough to think only about humankind. We must think about all living beings and the earth itself. As of August 22, 2019, there were 1,954 active wildfires (show the map) in the United States. And, there is a bigger problem because the Amazon rainforest has had continuous wildfires for many months. Since January 2019 there have been 72,843 wildfires in Brazil. The Amazon rainforest produces about 20% of the world’s oxygen, so the current Amazon rainforest wildfires may dramatically accelerate global warming and climate change. 

Why do these negative incidents happen so often? It is because human beings think only about human beings. We must expand God’s love and the Four Immeasurable Minds of the Buddha to all creatures and nature. But, the reality is that still many human beings only think about themselves. For example, according to CNN news, it reported that “Environmental organizations and researchers say the wildfires blazing in the Brazilian rainforest were set by cattle ranchers and loggers who want to clear and utilize the land, emboldened by the country’s pro-business president.” “And 99 percent of the fires result from human actions ‘either on purpose or by accident,’ Alberto Setzer, a senior scientist at INPE, said.” (August 22, 2019)

We need to change our thinking from focusing only on human beings to focusing on all creatures in nature. This is why Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi slightly revised the prayer.

What is the Four Immeasurable Minds? In Buddhist scripture, it is stated, “The Mind of the Buddha is, indeed, the four immeasurable minds of the Buddha,” and these four minds are benevolence, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Benevolence is the mind that feels sympathy and that wants to release people from their sufferings. Compassion is the mind that empathizes with someone’s sorrow and wants to change this sadness to joy. Joy is the state of mind where we can see someone else’s joy and rejoice as if it were our own joy.

It is important that we feel others’ joy as if it were our own joy. Rev. Seicho Taniguchi once talked about this in his grand seminar. He said, “When you find that your neighbor has bought a new car, be delighted and grateful as if you have bought a new car. If you can do this, a new car already belongs to you.” When I listened to this lecture, I wondered how the neighbor’s new car belongs to me. Of course, he did not mean that the neighbor’s car actually belongs to me. But, if I can be delighted with my neighbor’s happiness as if it were mine, then I already have joy in my mind. Since our minds create everything in our lives, a joyous mind will create joy in our lives. Being grateful and being delighted that you already have everything are basic but important ways to realize happiness.

All of you are Seicho-No-Ie leaders in the United States and Canada, so you clearly understand the teaching that the mind creates all. This universe is filled with energy or God’s life that gives life to all things. Although this energy cannot be seen with our naked eyes, we have this energy to use in our daily lives. Human beings have a mind which is a precious gift from God. When we have a thought in our mind, we have shaped this thought into a pattern, model, or mold similar to a mold to make chocolate. Once melted chocolate is filled into these molded shapes, eventually it becomes solid. The universe is filled with creative energy. When we shape thoughts in our mind those thoughts materialize. This creative energy changes and materializes into this world in accordance with our thoughts in the mind. 

The important thing here is the kind of thoughts you have in your mind. If you become attached to something, this means your thoughts are attached to something and you lose your freedom of thoughts.

In Buddhism, realizing the three virtues of benevolence, compassion and joy are important, but if we don’t discard the mind of attachments, we cannot live the life of a child of God. Discard attachments including these three virtues. You are leaders, so it is natural for you to have strong desires to want to save other people. We need to discard this attachment to save others, or our thoughts lose flexibility. If we are able to release our attachments, we will feel our true nature that is one with God’s love. This is true love. In the Bible it is called Charity. If we are bound by our own thoughts of charity, unlimited loving vitality and joy to help others won’t bubble up from within. Christianity and Buddhism teach you the same Truth, which is to love others and work for others, but this is accomplished only without attachment or with unconditional love. We must never forget that we must discard all attachment in order to accomplish our love for others.

Our Seicho-No-Ie President, Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi said that some of us practice God’s love and the Four Immeasurable Minds towards human beings and some animals like our pets. However, those people need to show the same love to monkeys, deer, rats, skunks, etc. In other words, it is not enough to show our love only to those we choose or like. That is not unconditional love but mere attachment. Human beings find it difficult to practice the last immeasurable mind, “equanimity,” because they create attachments to acquire certain things from nature such as rare resources, diamonds, uranium, and other rare minerals. Human beings destroy nature to acquire coal, oil and natural gas even though these underground resources contribute to global warming. People kill elephants, foxes, and mink to acquire tusks or to make a fur coat. People want to collect these expensive and beautiful things. In other words, they have not attained the last immeasurable mind “equanimity.”

It may take a long time for all human beings to attain God’s love and the Four Immeasurable Minds; however, we must not forget that we should practice “equanimity” during our lifetime because sooner or later all of us will die ultimately discarding our physical bodies. Practice “equanimity” so that we can attain God’s love and the Four Immeasurable Minds. When you experience “equanimity” your spiritual merits are beyond your imagination.

As Founder Rev. Taniguchi said, “This is not a Shinsokan to seek blessings for yourself but a prayerful meditation to remove the pain and suffering of all of mankind.” And this new version of Shinsokan is not only for humankind but also for all sentient and non-sentient beings. “Therefore, it is not egotistical at all, as a result of which the benefits to you will be greater than in a self-centered meditation.” To help all living beings and everything in nature, your mind needs to be able to be one with them. As our concerns regarding the environment and Mother Nature are growing, it is pertinent that we practice this Shinsokan Meditation daily. With this understanding, let us practice this Shinsokan Meditation. Thank you very much.

Let Us Practice Mental and Emotional First Aid

Thank you very much. Today, we will discuss how to practice Emotional First Aid. A couple of days ago, my daughter sent me a TED Talk and said, “This video is the reason why I’m so passionate about mental health and psychology. Please watch it and let me know what you guys think!” The title of the video is “How to practice emotional first aid” published by Guy Winch. He compared our emotional and mental health with our physical health. He explained it in the beginning:

What do we know about maintaining our psychological health? Well, nothing. What do we teach our children about emotional hygiene? Nothing. How is it that we spend more time taking care of our teeth than we do our minds?

Why is it that our physical health is so much more important to us than our psychological health? We sustain psychological injuries even more often than we do physical ones, injuries like failure or rejection or loneliness. And they can also get worse if we ignore them, and they can impact our lives in dramatic ways.

Dr. Winch explained how important it is to protect ourselves from loneliness, heartbreak, emotional pain, rejection, and emotional bleeding by practicing emotional first aid. He said we often convinced ourselves that we cannot do this or that, but it is bad for our mental health not to practice emotional hygiene. One failure prevents us to move one and stuck in the same place because we are so afraid of doing things correctly. Many people somethings think that they have to do correctly, or they should not do. They are so fearful to fail.

For example, if someone who has many resources and experiences than you failed the same goal you may have, you might convince yourself you would not be successful. In Seicho-No-Ie we must have a strong conviction to achieve our goals because our mind has the motive power to work hard our endeavors, to push ourselves forward without giving up, and believe in ourselves.

Dr. Winch introduced “rumination” which one of the unhealthiest and most common habits. This means you repeat negative experience in your mind over and over again. He explained in this way:

To ruminate means to chew over.  It’s when your boss yells at you or your professor makes you feel stupid in class, or you have a big fight with a friend and you just can’t stop replaying the scene in your head for days, something for weeks on end. Now, ruminating about upsetting events in this way can easily become a habit, and it’s a very costly one because by spending so much time focused on upsetting and negative thoughts, you are actually putting yourself at significant risk for developing clinical depression, alcoholism, eating disorders, and even cardiovascular disease. The problem is the urge to ruminate can feel really strong and really important, so it’s a difficult habit to stop.

We all experience these. However, by doing this we use our mind power in a negative way and intensify our mind power to create our environment negatively. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi explained this in a different way:

Count the things that you can do rather than what you cannot do.

“I am good for nothing!” By believing this we are only aggravating our sense of inferiority. Even if we fail just once, if we think about our failure for a hundred times, we are impressing it on our mind to that extent. Moreover, those thoughts become the cause of an inferiority complex. Therefore if we wish to do away with our inferiority complex, it is best to stop counting our failures and take notice of our successes. (Open the Door of Your Life, Vol. 3, p. 169)

We have to create a positive habit by ruminating positive experiences. This is exactly Dr. Winch suggested. He had his twin brother who had suffered from aggressive cancer, he fell into this situation. Fortunately, he is a psychologist and knew what to do. He said, “Studies tell us that even a two-minute distraction is sufficient to break the urge to ruminate in that moment. And so each time I had a worrying, upsetting, negative thought, I forced myself to concentrate on something else until the urge passed. And within one week, my whole outlook changed and became more positive and more hopeful.”

In Seicho-No-Ie we offer various techniques to break the urge to ruminate in the moment. We have Shinsokan meditation, chanting practices, transcription of the sutras, laughing practice, Mind Purification service, practice the power of words, etc. In particular, when we use the power of words, we use the same technique of rumination to create a positive habit. In the prayer by Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi in the April 2019 Truth of Life magazine it is explained as follows:

The power of the Word in a single “act” may be just small, but by repeating it in the same direction, the “deed” becomes “karma” and exerts a great deal of power. By repeatedly expressing good acts, good words, and good thoughts, “good deeds” become “positive karma” and form my destiny. On the contrary, negative acts, negative words, and negative thoughts, if repeated, strengthen the power of negative karma, and form a negative destiny. It is the wrong use of the power of the Words. (Truth of Life April 2019, p. 6)

As current academic studies show that the Seicho-No-Ie teachings and practices are efficient and help many people. I will offer practices and ceremonies to apply people in New York as much as possible. So, please support our movement and at the same time help yourself.

At this Sunday Service we will practice a simple way to change our negative thoughts and attitude toward a positive manner. For example, when someone causes you to suffer unjustly, mistreats you, deliberately reduces your income, or misunderstand your true intentions, you must not hate him. It is easy to hate the person who did something bad to you, but if you do so, you will ruminate negative experience to form a negative habit. So, what should we do? We use the opposite words, thoughts and expressions. When you have a very hot bath and cannot bathe yourself because it is too hot, what will you do? Yes, put cold water in it. In the same manner we use opposite words, thoughts and expressions to the negative thoughts. These negative situations are only temporary existences. The Holy Sutra Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines teaches:

A temporary form is eternally false and can never be Reality./ Do not fear what is unreal,

Do not treat as Reality what is unreal./ Confront what is unreal with Reality.

Dismiss what is not true with the true./ Oppose falsehood with the True Image.

Face darkness with light.

In other words, whatever the negative situation you have to use the opposite, which are positive words, thoughts and actions. When you are in sadness, anger, loneliness, disapproval, complaining, or depressed, what kind of thoughts and action do you need to do?                                                 

Negative Condition	Opposite thoughts	Practice
Sadness/chagrin	Joy	Laughing practice/read a joke book or watch funny video
Anger	Forgiveness	Mind Purification
Complaint/dissatisfaction	Gratitude	Gratitude chanting
Feel condemned/disapproved	Blessing	Pray for others/Practice deeds of love
Feel depressed	Open the mind and accept all and yourself	Being one with nature/ Ancestral Memorial
Surrounded by negativity	Positive words	Read TOL and positive words
Impasse situation	Consign all to God	Shinsokan Meditation

Some people may think how they can consign everything to God in a very negative situation. However, there is no impasse in the world of God, so if you believe in God and follow His will, everything will turn out better. In this month Truth of Life magazine Rev. Seicho Taniguchi wrote, “Become happy does not necessarily mean that things turn out the way we want.” In the beginning it may not appear as what you thought it would be, but you need to believe in God and do your best. In this article a member’s daughter went to her mother’s to help for a month, so she closed her store for a month. When she went back home, she found out that her merchandise, personal belongings were all stolen. Her neighbors thought that she moved. Her mother told her that she should consign everything to God. I will read the conclusion of the article and end my lecture today:

Then later, their area was affected by a flood, but about 8 p.m. one night of the following week, the belongings that the burglars had stolen were found. After one stash was found, they started to find one after another. In the end, everything that was stolen was found. Due to this, it was as if the belongings had been evacuated before the flood and therefore not affected, and they were returned after the flood was over. So, everything turned out for the best. This may be something that doesn’t happen that often, and it may even seem to be impossible when you think about it with a human mind, but these things happen a lot when you’re guided by “God’s infinite wisdom.” (Truth of Life, April 2019, p. 14)

Rev. Taniguchi said that these things seem very rare but happen “a lot.” In my life, yes, it happened. I do not share it today, but when you truly believe in God, these things will happen. Thank you very much.

Shinsokan Meditation Is Essential for Our Life

The Seicho-No-Ie New York Japanese Special Seminar started yesterday (March 11, 2017). The theme is “All About Meditation.” There are different choices of meditation such as Zen meditation, Yoga meditation, prayer, etc. In Seicho-No-Ie we practice Shinsokan Prayerful Meditation. Similarities and differences between Shinsokan and other meditations are explained in the Truth of Life Volume 8, Shinsokan Is Wonderful, and other books and manuals. First, I will quote from the Truth of Life Volume 8. It explains why Shinsokan is important. This is a long quote but I will read it slowly, so please listen to it carefully.

          True growth takes place only when man unites with the infinite and boundless great wisdom of God and brings this wisdom out into the open where it can take concrete form. To put a plug in the pipeline of infinite supply that lies within and to seek only externally for one’s prosperity is just as foolish as to attempt to get beautiful blossoms and leaves without watering and nourishing the plants. In the case of plants without adequate roots, the more their branches and leaves flourish, the faster they die. When we transplant and cause root damage, we have to prune the branches back so as to give the roots a chance to recover. The outer part consisting of branches and leaves must be pruned for a time in order to strengthen the root system. In the same way, when we discard for a time all outside human intellect, our “root system” will flourish. And when there is renewed strength in our root system, this time, good wisdom begins to sprout in the outside world as well because of the revived power of the roots. When this happens, the wisdom that appears is true wisdom, and since it is rooted in good soil and fed by the real underground water source, it cannot die.

          Even though we may take the wrong path in our lives and fall ill or meet with financial disaster, such mistakes would not be because of any shortage in the underground water supply called God’s wisdom. It would be because we did not allow the roots, which are necessary for absorbing the underground water of God’s wisdom, to spread. God is not at fault. We are at fault. Since the fault lies with us and we had made the mistake, the way to correct the situation is not to blame God or cry before him. All we have to do is to nourish the roots so that we can absorb God’s underground water. (Truth of Life Volume 8 , pages 55-56)

The followings are gest of three important parts:

-           To unite with the infinite and boundless wisdom of God from within is the true growth of human beings. [(1) Unite with God.]

-           When we fail at something, by discarding all outside human intellect our “root system” will flourish because we have already connected to the resources of God. [(2) Discard human intellect and nurture our roots.]

-           Failure is not God’s fault, but we did not spread our roots to absorb God’s wisdom, love and life. [(3) Absorb the resources of God.]

These three are very important. To accomplish them we have to practice Shinsokan meditation because Shinsokan is the way to unite with God, discard our physical attachment because Shinsokan is to practice to leave the phenomenal world and receive God’s infinite life power.

When we practice Shinsokan, we will be able to find a way to alter our perception. This is important because by visualizing the True Image we are able to change our world.

This is an example that I will share today. Last Tuesday I had a very uncomfortable encounter on the train on the way back home. I took the 9:09 pm train from Grand Central Station. I sat on a seat for two people. I put my bag on one side and started learning Portuguese with a lower sound voice. I thought I would move my bag as soon as someone asks me for the seat. Once the train left, I just relaxed and concentrated on my study.

Then, a businessman in his 40’s wearing a suit put his bag abruptly on the train rack above my head. His face was slightly red and he also grabbed a beer can. He thudded into the seat right next to me and pushed me to the edge. It was uncomfortable because I understood he did it on purpose.

Then, he suddenly started singing out loud an ABC song. I politely asked him, “Is my study voice too loud for you?” He said, “Yes,OBVIOUSLY.”

He almost started fighting with me, so I said, “You don’t have to be cynical.” Then, this made him upset and he vented his spleen at me, “Your attitude is passive aggressive. Do you know it? You cross your legs and put your bag on the seat. Sitting down first doesn’t give you any rights to the seat. You are an idiot assxxxx.”

I was not able to believe what he said. He obviously had something wrong at his job place or somewhere. I told him that he should watch his mouth. But I did not want to continue this, so I zipped my mouth and kept silent. I was thinking why he picked me. There were a couple of two people seats. In front of me an older white man was sitting by himself alone. Behind me a middle aged African-American woman was sitting. He picked me because he might think that I was the weakest link. Many thoughts were flying in my head.

However, as a practitioner of Seicho-No-Ie, I pretended nothing happened and continued learning Portuguese silently, but in my mind I started the forgiveness prayer. “I have forgiven you. I have forgiven you. I have forgiven you. You are a wonderful child of God.” I repeatedly prayed this way for 5 or 6 minutes.

What happened next was that I became so upset. I realized that my prayer was wrong because I prayed to forgive him. The more I repeated it, the more I impressed the negative feeling in my mind that “I am not wrong, and I am a good person so I forgive him.” In other words, although my prayer said I forgave him but the true meaning was that I was not wrong but he was the one who was wrong. I only focused on him whom I perceived him as wrong. Therefore, I was emotionally upset.

Thank God that I was able to notice it and changed the words of prayer to “I am grateful to you. You are a wonderful child of God. You are the Bodhisattva. Thank you very much. I love you.” I repeated these phrases as long as I could. When my station approached, I put my study materials in my bag. Then, he moved to a different seat. I approached toward the door and he was there. I again became cynical and wanted to say to him, “I forgive you.” To avoid this, I reversed myself by moving to the car behind and got out of the train.

Everything comes from our mind. However, we sometimes pray wrong way although we think we prayed correctly. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote:

We must be extremely careful about the words we use in our prayer and about how we pray. Prayers using negative words bring negative results; therefore, such words must be avoided at all cost. However, there are times when we may believe that ours is a positive prayer but, in actuality, we are offering a negative prayer. Therefore, as stated above we must be very careful and evaluate every word in our prayer. Jesus Christ never told us that we are to use negative words in our prayer. As indicated in the Holy Bible, He never used such expressions as, “Please remove this suffering” or “Please heal this disease.” He taught us to pray with words expressing happiness and joy without using any words pertaining to poverty, suffering and the like.

(This Is How I Pray, #95 p. 124)

Rev. Taniguchi said that The Lord’s Prayer especially is a good example of how to use creative words in our prayers. By using The Lord’s Prayer, we can (1) Unite with God, (2) Discard human intellect and nurture our roots, and (3) Absorb the resources of God.

In the The Lord’s Prayer there is not a single word which is negative. Let us pray together The Lord’s Prayer and conclude my lecture.

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth,

As it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil…

Thank you very much.

Our Minds Create Our Bright Future

Thank you very much for attending today’s service. Some people asked about the result of the Presidential Election last Tuesday and sought for my opinion. So, I would like to briefly speak about it.

Some people wonder what will happen when Mr. Donald Trump becomes the President of the United States of America next year. Meanwhile, a couple of people said why did God allow him to be elected. You have to know that God never chose Trump as the new President-elect but the citizens of America did. In other words, the phenomenal world is actually a manifestation of our minds. In Seicho-No-Ie we have learned that our environment is created by our minds and we should be grateful to the current environment because it is a work of the Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World. We have to learn from a phenomenon which is unfolded before us.

Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi, founder of Seicho-No-Ie, said, “The Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World appears in different forms and gives us lectures of salvation.” (Song In Praise Of The Bodhisattva Who Reflects the Sounds of the World, p. 2) Therefore, our environment is the best teacher to give us lessons to improve ourselves. We need to learn from our environment. This election is no exception.

Many people have resentment and are in disbelief of this result based on some of Trump’s disgusting remarks. These people thought he should not be the President-elect, but he was elected. Why? As you often heard that the candidates of this election were very unpopular and voters often thought their main criterion was who is worse. Trump’s comments were in disbelief because these words were uttered by the future President. Any remark given during the Presidential election is very important and influential to not only American citizens but also people in the world, but what he said was beyond our common sense.

Trump’s comments are as if a doctor who gives a serious diagnosis jokingly to his patient. For example, if a doctor told his patient that she had cancer and would not be able to live more than 6 months. Doctors never say this kind of joke to their patients. The future President of the United States of America is the same. As a candidate for the Presidency he should not have said certain things like this doctor’s joking comment. The worse was that these remarks were not jokes but part of his belief. However, the result of the election was that Donald Trump was elected as the future President.

Why was he elected? The next morning of the Presidential Election Day, Matthew Dowd, a political consultant, was talking about an interesting thing on the TV show Good Morning America. He spoke about the popular vote of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in California. He said, “112 of 115 polls in the last four days had Hillary Clinton winning in this election… First, there’s about 6 million or 7 million votes out in California. Hillary Clinton is going to get a net of 2 million or 3 million more votes in California and going to win the popular vote by a fairly large margin, a million to a million-five. Right now Donald Trump has less votes than John McCain did when he lost to Barack Obama in 2008 and Mitt Romney did when he lost to Barack Obama in 2012 and one of the things I looked at for all of the work that everybody did there was about 3 million to 4 million democrats that did not show up and vote yesterday in the course of this election. This election will have the lowest turnout percentage-wise in 20 years.”

The fact is that people did not like Trump’s comment, but obviously many democrats in California did not vote. They did not support Hillary Clinton to win. This phenomenon showed not only in California but all of the United States. Many people did not vote and as a result Donald Trump was elected. This result is not his fault at all. Of course it is not God’s fault either. Last Wednesday over 10,000 people gathered in Manhattan to oppose Donald Trump or the result of this election. My daughters who live in Santa Barbara, California also said that about 1,000 young people gathered in the city of Santa Barbara and marched to oppose the future President Donald Trump. I think they should have marched as many times as they could before the election. 

Everything in this phenomenal world is created by our minds. We have to deeply realize this truth, decide our plans and carry them out immediately and courageously in accordance with the plans. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi wrote as follows:

             Turn your decision into action now. Thoughts are only dreams until they are put into practice… Go! When you proceed boldly, the road opens up. When a person proceeds with firm resolve, a countless number of people will pay homage and ask if they might not help. Difficulties fade before those who would insist on advancing courageously, without losing heart when others would lose heart, without despairing when others would despair. (Truth of Life Volume 7, p. 159)

The first step is to make a decision. To make a decision means to give up something. Rev. Taniguchi wrote as follows:

             When a decision is needed, there is a choice that has to be made between one objective and another that also has its merits. When there is only one aspiration that draws a person’s attention, there is no need for anything like a decision. He will easily decide to go in the direction of that aspiration.

             Therefore, a decision means that something has to be given up. To give up something means that a clean break is needed with whatever it is that has been rejected. A person must be good at making a clean break with what he has rejected. (Truth of Life Volume 7, p. 163)

I think Mr. Trump is a person who is good at making a decision and proceeding with it immediately. Because he is a man of action, I think he was elected this time. However, you should know that whatever we decide and proceed immediately is not enough. We need to choose a right decision. Basically, Trump’s decision is to make America to go back to the old time and revive the economic power again by using the underground resources because he seemingly does not believe climate change and global warming. The “great America” should not go back to that old economic power. The “great America” should be the eco-friendly power which creates a bright future for future generations. In that sense the Seicho-No-Ie movement is very critical to change our future.

To conclude my lecture, I would like you to be strong to perform what you believe in. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi also emphasizes this. I share Rev. Taniguchi’s encouragement and conclude my lecture.

             To have a loving consideration for those about us is a necessary virtue that we must cultivate by all means. But, to be considerate toward others and to worry about others are two different things. To have a deep consideration for others is a virtue that comes from a deep and healthy love; to worry about others is an attitude stemming from personal weakness. Since the former comes from a strong personality, he who has consideration for others does not hesitate and worry about what others thing…

             Once you have decided that a task is good and it should be done, tell yourself that this is a final pronouncement of the God who dwells within you, and carry it out. (Truth of Life Volume 7, pages 160-161)

I hope all of you practice Shinsokan Meditation daily, receive inspirations from the higher spiritual world, make a right decision, and carry it out promptly. You are a child of God. You can do it. Thank you very much.

How to Improve Your Relationships

In many consultations I’ve conducted, I have noticed that the problems people have brought to me and sought guidance for are usually related to their relationship and financial problems. Today I will talk about a relationship problem. Relationship problems are varied and happen between a couple, among family members, among people in the work place, and/or neighbors.

While listening to people’s stories, I find they often have a communication problem. If they can solve the communication problem, they will be able to solve half of their problems. However, many people do not know how to properly communicate with other people.

First I listen and then give the following suggestions to have good communication:

1)     Believe in yourself and that you are a wonderful person because you are a child of God. Also believe in the person with whom you need to speak and also believe he or she is also a child of God and a good person.

2)   Get more information about the person with whom you have a problem. You have to know the person well to better communicate with him or her.

3)   Use a better choice of words. Speak clearly and articulately.

4)   Ask yourself about your problems with “why” and find the real root cause of the problem.

The first suggestion is the basic Seicho-No-Ie (SNI) teaching and I have explained this on many occasions. I will not explain it thoroughly this time, but still I need to emphasize that you have to know that you are a child of God just as you are and this fact never changes. You have to recognize this not only intellectually but also in your heart. It means your actions need to follow your belief.

When you realize that you are a child of God, your acts should always be as acts of a child of God. When you reflect on your actions and do not think that they are not truly the actions of a child of God, it means you have not truly and totally convinced yourself that you are a child of God. You need to practice more deeds of love because they are basic practices.

If you want to play tennis well, you cannot ignore the basic practices such as practicing with a racket, running to increase your strength, muscle-building training, and so on. Without these basic practices you cannot improve your skills to play tennis well.

In the same manner you cannot solve your problems without basic practices to realize that you are a child of God. In this case you need to practice Shinsokan Meditation, reading the Holy Sutras/Songs of Praise and SNI books, and practice deeds of love.

The second suggestion is to know other people more. In the Bible it is said, “How much better to get wisdom than gold!” (Proverbs 16:16) Wisdom and knowledge are the important powers to solve your problems. I sometimes watch the TV program “Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.” Cesar who is a dog trainer receives many requests to solve dog owner’s serious problems. Amazingly, he solves various kinds of problems so effortlessly. One of the reasons why he can so easily solve the problem is, I think, that his knowledge and observation of dogs are incredibly great and accurate. He also loves dogs and has patience with dogs.

I can see that dog owners who have problems with their dogs often try to understand their dogs through a human perspective. We see our lives through the human’s perceptions. However, when we think of other living beings, we have to think of them through their perceptions. When Japanese think of themselves, it is okay to think as Japanese. However, when they try to communicate with people in another country, they have to think of people’s perception in a different country. We have to remind ourselves of this fact. It is an ordinary and common idea but we often forget it. The nature of birds is to fly, fish swim and dogs walk. For example in the case of a dog, the average time to walk a dog is at least 45 minutes a day and if you don’t do this, a dog will become frustrated according to Cesar. If all the dog owners know this fact and do walk the dog more than 45 minutes every day, their problems with a dog might decrease dramatically.

In case you have a problem with your partner, you should know your partner better and act accordingly, then your problem will be solved much easier. If you have a partner, think about how much you know him or her. You should create questions, review them, and find out how much you know about your partner.

Next, ask the same questions to your partner and compare the answers to find out your compatibility with your partner. You can create your own questions and do it with your family members (parent, child and/or sibling), a neighbor, superior, co-worker, subordinate, etc.

For example, use the following questions (or you can make your own list of questions) and find out how much you know about your spouse or partner.

-         What is your partner’s favorite color?

-         What is your partner’s favorite flower?

-         What are your partner’s parents’ and grandparents’ names?

-         What is your partner’s favorite movie?

-         Who is your partner’s favorite movie star?

-         Whom does your partner respect most? Give two names.

-         What is your partner’s shoe size?

-         Who is your partner’s mentor?

-         Name the favorite restaurant of your partner? Where is it?

-         What is your partner’s profession?

-         Describe briefly what he/she does when he/she is at work?

-         How many hours does he/she work in a day?

-         If your partner is a full-time househusband or housewife, how many hours does he/she work a day?

-         What does he/she eat for lunch mostly?

-         How many times do you send a gift to your spouse during a year?

-         What is the best time to talk with your partner during the day?

-         What kind of topics is your partner most uninterested in? And why?

-         What is your partner’s favorite book?

-         What does he/she currently read?

-         How many times a day do you call (not text) your partner? If you think you call him/her less than once a day, how many times do you call him/her during a week?

-         How many times does your partner call you during a day? If you think he/she calls you less than once a day, how many times does he/she call you during a week?

There are many questions you can create and ask, but the important thing is to compare your answers and your partner’s answers to determine how much your answers and your partner’s answers match because if these answers are often in discrepancy, it is proof that you do not know your partner well.

I will share my personal experience. I believed that for some years my wife loved bouquets of roses, but one day she asked me why I bought a bouquet of roses every month for her. I told her because the rose was her favorite flower. Then, she said “no” and I found out that her favorite flower was tulips.

This is another example. For more than 6 or 7 years I bought a purse, clothes, or accessories for my wife on occasions such as our anniversary, my wife’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, or Christmas. One winter, I bought a nice, rather expensive winter coat for her right after we moved back to Japan from Hawaii. She had one but needed another one. A couple of weeks later I found out that she gave it to her sister without wearing it even once. I was upset with her, but instead I should have been angry at myself because I did not know what she wanted. It sometimes happens that what you think is not what your partner thinks. The more you know your partner, the better communication you can have. This can apply not only to your partner but also to anyone with whom you have a relationship problem.

The third thing is also important in order to have better communication with others. The words you choose and how you reply makes your partner angry or happy, concerned or at ease. We often use our cellphone. Sometimes we need to answer during a meeting or an important conversation. If my family member calls while I am in a meeting, I sometimes answer it. But it is important that you should know how to reply to him/her. In this situation you may say, “I am in an important meeting right now and cannot talk with you now.” If you say this, usually your tone of voice is rigid and serious because you cannot talk or should not talk but are actually talking.

I understand and it is okay to say this. But your wife, son or daughter may feel disappointed. He or she maybe wanted to let you know his or her great news. To avoid this you should say in the beginning, “Hi I’m glad you called, but I am in an important meeting right now. So, let us talk later. Thank you for calling.” The meaning of the conversation is the same, but to convey your feeling to the person on the other side of the line is quite different and acceptable because of this language.

Some people have their own style of speaking. When I worked part-time job for a fisherman, his way of talking was like very different than mine. When it was time for breakfast, he yelled at me saying, “BREAKFAST! EeeeAT!” In the beginning I didn’t know what his problem was, but later his wife said, “Don’t worry, he always speaks like that.” He worked on the ocean, so he had to scream. Thinking about his background it is understandable. However, majority of us are not fishermen. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi suggested that we use only good, polite words in our conversation:

        It is hopeless for us to shout at our sons and daughters, claiming that we wish to help them or that we do so with a loving concern. Even if a loving concern should exist, it is a concern that wears the mask of a demon. Even love has no power other than to inspire fear so long as it wears a demon’s mask. Take off your demon’s mask. And bring out your real face of love. The person you are trying to help will become most friendly, sense your love, and willingly change for the better. (Truth of Life Vol. 7, pages 263-264)

Some people say that constructive criticism is necessary. To ignore an evil action or attitude which is not fitting for a child of God is not good; however, it doesn’t mean that you can describe how bad the other person’s action is. When answering a phone, you will be able to have good conversation if you say, “I’m glad you called” or “I’m happy to hear your voice” before engaging in a real conversation. It is important to choose the right, proper words for the conversation. Rev. Taniguchi wrote:

        To think that you can bring about improvements in others if you keep complaining, keep yelling to express your anger, and keep pointing out their shortcomings is a superstition similar to that of expecting harmony to be produced from disharmony... it is hardly possible for disharmony to give birth to harmony. If you should wish to make those whom you meet virtuous, you have to first of all make your own mind harmonious. (Truth of Life Vol. 7, page 264)

In other words, Rev. Taniguchi said that if your mind is not in harmony, your words will only criticize others and cannot make others or a situation improve but will make it worse. So, if you think your criticism is constructive and will make the situation or other’s better, you have to first practice Shinsokan meditation and say “thank you very much, John” or “I love you, John” over a hundred times and say what you think. Then, the situation may improve. However, to just describe what others did does not help at all. You also have to first say 2 or 3 good things about that person and then say one criticism.

Rev. Taniguchi clearly said that it is unreal to expect harmony be produced from disharmony. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi also wrote the same thing in the Song In Praise Of Nature:

Awaken from the delusion that peace is born from conflict.

Be rid of the delusion that good is born of evil. (p. 22)

We cannot produce harmony with criticism. After you practice Shinsokan meditation and recite that the person is a child of God and call his or her name and say “I love you” many times, you may face the person and praise him or her 2 or 3 times and give your suggestion to improve that person or situation. I wish all of the Seicho-No-Ie New York members to do this in their daily practice.

However, if it is a constructive criticism instead of a suggestion, you only make the situation or that person worse because you recognize his/her fault. Criticism is a criticism no matter how much it is constructive or destructive. Your motive may be good and intended to make the person better, but the more you say, the worse the situation becomes.

In particular, it becomes worse when you give even suggestions (not criticism) right after you recognize his or her fault because you have recognized his or her fault in your mind. In this case it is better to not say anything. If you really want to speak to this person, first do the prior suggestions which I gave and then speak to him or her a week later. It is because if you can wait a week, your emotions affected by the situation will tone down due to the passing of 7 days.

One more thing you should consider is to speak articulately. Rev. Taniguchi suggested:

The first thing needed in daily conversation is clarity. There are people who pronounce their words so indistinctly that you can hardly make out half of what they have mumbled, and people like this fail to convey even half of their ability. (For Young People, p. 15)

The fourth important thing is to ask yourself about your problems, ask “why” and find the real root cause of the problem. I learned this while I was working as the internal auditor to receive the certificate of ISO14001 which is an environmental managing system to improve the environmental condition of the workplace.

When we identify a way to improve the environment of SNI United States Missionary Headquarters, we do the Plan-Check-Do-Review-Improve cycle. When we plan to improve something, we think of a solution, check it, apply it, and review it. Then, we will find out if the solution to improve the situation. If I say the reason why it did not work is because "no one knew a particular regulation," then, I have to ask myself "why no one knew the regulation." It may be because it is new for us and no one is familiar with this. Then, what shall we do to solve it? I should study about the law, but I am not an expert on the law and also legal terms are different than regular English. Then, we need a specialist, but we cannot hire a new person for this. Why can’t we hire a new person and if we cannot do this, what is our alternative? We ask many times until we find the real root cause. If we find the real root cause, we will often be able to find the solution because there is no problem without a solution. However, we have to know that the solution does not come with the problem at the same time. If it comes at the same time, the problem is no longer a problem. We have to make an effort to find the root cause because in doing this we can find the essence of the problem.

I did not go into much detail about the last suggestion, but you can find the root cause when you ask yourself why many times. The relationship problem will be solved if you apply these 4 suggestions. Thank you very much.