This April sermon was inspired by talk by Reverend Kim Smith of Trinity United Methodist Church in Berkeley. I owe the ideas about the heart surgery and about putting a living faith into practice to her, and want very much to give her full credit for these ideas. Kim has always been a strong model to me in terms of preaching, inspiration and in ministry to others.
***********************
APRIL 2009 APPRECIATION SERVICE
Reverend Dr. Darcy S. F. Ing
Good morning!
Happy Easter! Easter is the most important day in the Christian calendar. The message of Easter is that even death couldn’t cancel out God’s love for all of us. God loves each of us unconditionally, no matter who we are or what our circumstances. God’s love is with us always. God is in our lives and in our hearts every moment of every day.
Of course, the kind of heart I’m talking about is not the kind of heart that medical doctors talk about. I listened to a Methodist minister describe heart surgery a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t realize that during the surgery they hook you up to a heart-lung machine to keep your blood flowing. This is because your heart is stopped during the operation. The machine keeps blood flowing to your brain and organs to keep you alive.
The machine withdraws blue blood from the top chambers of your heart into a reservoir. The blood is blue because it has no oxygen in it. The blue blood is then pumped into an artificial lung that exposes the blood to oxygen. Remember that Meishu-sama says that blood is spiritual energy, and that what science calls oxygen represents the spirit of fire. When the blood is exposed to oxygen, it then becomes red, and is now capable of supporting life. The machine then delivers the red blood back to your body and circulates it, keeping you alive the same way your heart and lungs do.
The Methodist minister said that sometimes faith is like that, especially faith trapped by limited understanding. It’s faith being kept alive by machinery, by rote memorization and familiar rituals that don’t represent who we are today. This is faith on automatic pilot, faith that is kept alive as opposed to faith that is truly living and breathing. Is our own faith a remembrance of God, or a true celebration of God?
Other times faith is kept alive on the machinery of ego, fear or anger, or can even be used to oppress others in the name of religion. This is also a faith that is not truly alive with God’s love and compassion. The word “inspire” means to move or to guide, but it also means “to breathe.” A faith that is inspired is in-Spirit; an inspired faith breathes the spirit of God’s love.
A living faith is faith that’s put into practice. A living faith is faith in action. Meishu-sama said, “When I think about people who are confused and suffering, I am filled with a desire to help as many as possible. This undeniable feeling wells up within me regardless of any personal danger, domestic complication or other problem that may arise. It comes from the depth of my soul like a heartfelt prayer.” Whenever Meishu-sama saw someone suffering, he could feel blood burning with compassion and the desire to help. When we see someone suffering, do we feel this way? Do we feel that same burning compassion and desire to help that Meishu-sama did?
Meishu-sama says that our mission as Johrei members is to help others who are suffering, to help with heart-felt love and compassion. Most of us know about eating right and getting proper exercise to keep our hearts healthy. John Andrew Holmes said, “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up." We are here to help other people, and in doing so, we help ourselves. Meishu-sama says that the way to make ourselves happy is to make other people happy.
Reverend Higuchi writes that when Johrei is channeled from the heart, it reaches the heart of the other person. Love multiplies and the souls of both people expand and grow. Some of you have heard of Reverend Nakahara. She’s a minister in Japan
whose disciples create many Johrei miracles.
When she and her disciples channel to others, they don’t just visualize the Light surrounding the receiver.
They visualize the person being surrounded by Meishu-sama’s love.
It’s that love that heals the sick person and creates miracles.
Meishu-sama’s heart burns with love and compassion for each human being that is going through this difficult time. Our hearts must also burn with equal love and compassion. Loving words and deeds can create miracles in the hearts of others. In this way, we can brighten wherever we are with the Light and Love of God. There is little time in our busy lives for heart to heart contact, but it’s needed so much.
In difficult times it’s not easy to care about others who aren’t in our immediate circle. We want to say, “I know it’s my mission to help others, but I have too many worries of my own. They get in the way.” Meishu-sama reminds us not to worry, he tells us to offer those problems up to God. Mary C. Crowley
wrote, “Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He's going to be up all night anyway.”
Regardless of our worries, the ultimate results are not in your hands or in mine. As Thomas Merton wrote, the real hope is not in something we think we can do but in God who is making something good out of it in some way we cannot see. Remember that God’s viewpoint is broader and wider than ours could ever be, and that the ultimate results are not in our control, but are always in God’s control. God’s love make us whole and makes us holy. When we make the effort to help others any way, even though we have our own problems, we create a little more healing in the world.
With that healing comes a little more gratitude, and a little more Light and beauty is created in the world. Each person we help spreads God’s Light a little further. Little by little, we begin to create a better world. Whole new worlds are built one healing at a time, one person at a time. Each of us plays a part in the creation of Paradise on Earth.
In this world full of turbulence, suffering, fear, and anger, God is with us on every level of human experience. God is the great Light in our lives, a Light that breaks through the darkness and teaches us to become the kind of person we are meant to be. Just as God’s Light goes everywhere, so are we to go everywhere as channels of God’s Light and Love. God’s Light reveals and energizes us, so we can send that Light and Love to all we meet.
As the sun gives heat and light to plants, God’s all-encompassing love creates warmth, life, and new hope. God’s love strengthens us and leads all humanity into a ever-growing new life, into an ever growing new world. Together with God, we can and we will create a Paradise
on Earth.
Thank you.
******************
April 2009 reading
From Heart to Heart
Soon after I moved into my present apartment and decorated it with furniture and drapes, some of my friends brought me some indoor plants. I decided to put some of the plants in front of the fireplace. They looked beautiful there. Some I placed in the dining room near the window. I love plants and I watered them all properly and took good care of them. As the days went by, I realized the plants near the window were thriving, but those in front of the fireplace were showing signs of weakening. One plant even died. Then I realized there was not enough light in front of the fireplace for plants. The curtains had seldom been opened. I then moved the plants closer to the window and made a point of drawing the curtains every morning. Gradually the plants started to regain their vigor. Truly, where there is no light, there can be no life, nor creation, nor growth. Light is the source of life and has the highest vibration.
Love is equally important for growth. We can see light, but we cannot see love, nor measure it, nor weigh it; however, everyone feels it because of its very high vibration.
Dr. Franklin Loehr has written The Power of Prayer on Plants, which is a record of his experiments on how love and prayer affect plants. In his experiments the “prayed-for” plants grew much faster and were healthier than those given just the usual care. Conversely, the plants that were cursed dwindled and died. Selfless prayer for the welfare of humanity, animals, or plants is a manifestation of love, which makes things grow and thrive.
Meishu-sama told us about the response of trees and plants to loving care. He said, “I love to take care of trees and plants. It is my hobby. I take care of them, prune and shape them and transplant them. At times I have felt I trimmed too much from trees, and their shapes looked a little strange. But then I apologized and left them alone for a while. After some time, I found the trees lookin just right. They had shaped themselves.”
Meishu-sama also told us trees have a front and a back. When he transplanted trees, he would place a tree so its front faced outward; however, because of the shape of individual trees, this was not always possible and at these times he had to plant a tree with its back to the front. However, as time passed, he would notice that the tree was changing its shape, making the part that was now facing outward look like the front. Nature is mysterious. Because spirit is within everything, everything responds to love.
Love affects places too. We can feel the lack of love in a place. We have all been in homes in which we feel cold and chilly. The vibration of a home reflects the thoughts and actions of the people living there. In human rrelationships, love is the greatest power for good there is. Without love, children cannot grow spiritually, mentally, or physicallly. When authorities investigate the families of delinquent or problem children, almost always they find a lack of true love in the family relationship.
Love dispels darkness. Love can dissolve any problems just as sunshine dissolves ice. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” [Matthew 19:19] and “Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them” [Matthew 7:12] are two of the greatest commandments.
We believe Johrei is one of the greatest manifestations of the love of God working through humanity. God opened this wonderful way for us to channel divine Light with love. When the Light is channeled from the heart of one, it will reach the heart of the other. Love multiplies as it goes forth, and the souls of both the sender and the receiver expand and grow. Each day let us pray, “Use me as thy instrument. May I radiate thy love in whatever I think, whatever I say, and whatever I do.” Words and deeds which come from the heart through the help of the divine Light of God will surely reach the heart of the recipient. In this way we can brighten the corner where we are. The happiness we receive from God through giving ourselves lovingly in service is the only truly enduring happiness.
Let me tell you an interesting true story of how one man’s kind act brightened the lives of fourteen people in about two months’ time. One day last November, Mr Y. in Fresno, one of our devoted members, went to the service station he uses regularly, but did not see the man who usually serves him. He asked why the man was not there and was told that the man was sick at home. Mr Y. thought to himself, I must go and tell him about Johrei. Mr Y. asked for the man’s address and paid him a visit. The man was in bed with severe pain in the small of his back. Mr. Y. told him about Johrei and offered it to him, and the man accepted it. He had a remarkable result and was very much surprised and happy. Then he told a friend about it. He and his friend and both their wives were very much interested and started receiving Johrei. In due time, they all took the introductory course in Fresno. They were so enthusiastic after taking the course that they told their parents who live in Gilroy.
One of their mothers had been sick in bed for a long time. She too suffered from severe pain in the small of her back. The doctor could not find the cause, and the woman had received many kinds of treatments to no avail. She could not stand or walk. She could do no more than crawl, and that with severe pain. She sufferd so much she had even thought many times of committing suicide. The woman was given the name of Mr. K., a devoted member who lives in Fremont, and contacted him. He gave her Johrei, and, during one session, her pain was more severe than ever, but with understanding, she accepted it as purification. She then developed very severe diarrhea, but when that ended, seventy percent of her pain was gone. The following morning, when her son went into her bedroom, he was surprised to find her bed empty. He looked for her and, to his great surprise, found her walking outside with her cane.
You can imagine how delighted these people were and how the news spread among the family members and friends. This experience started Johrei in Gilroy, Mr. K. and his family became busy giving Johrei even though they lived thirty miles from the area. In a short time, so many people wanted to take the introductory course that Mr. K. came to Los Angeles and asked how soon a course could be given in Gilroy. In January Rev. Tatematsu went there and, in the morning, gave a course in Japanese to older Japanese people and, in the evening, gave a course in English to a Nisei (second generation Japanese born in America of their immigrant parents) group. Ten people received their sacred focal points. When the mother who was bedridden walked up and received her sacred focal point in tears, everyone cried with joy.
This story is an example of what our motto means, “From heart to heart, convey the way of Light.” In Fresno there are now fourteen grateful people, including the service station man and his wife, channeling Johrei to friends and relatives. I hear that the wife of the service station man is now busy giving Johrei to at least ten Occidentals. In this mechanical, materialistic world of today, there is so little time for contact from heart to heart, and it is needed so much.
We as members of this fellowship, have dedicated ourselves to be of service in spreading the way of Light. Let me say again what a privilege and honor it is to be channels for Meishu-sama’s movement and help bring about the new age of true civilization.
From: The Light of Johrei - A collection of Talks by Rev. Kiyoko Higuchi
***
LOVE
The spirit of love,
Of true love and devotion,
Is the one power
Which can build a brand-new world
Full of peace and harmony.
Though this world is full
Of worries and of hardships,
We can live in it
With perfect peace of mind
If we can lean on love’s staff
Whatever problems and
Troubles may arise in life,
Those who choose pure love
As their guiding principle
Will never be afraid.
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MAY 2009 APPRECIATION SERVICE
Reverend Dr. Darcy S. F. Ing
Good morning!
Happy Mother’s Day everyone! We are now in the month of May, nearly halfway through 2009. May is associated with Lei Day, flowers, and Maypoles. May is also associated with honoring mothers who gave us life, and with Memorial Day, honoring those who gave their lives in wartime. This month our Center will pray at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for victims of war, and at the Golden Gate Bridge
for those who took their lives there.
This month is a time to reflect on and honor our connections with others.
Many of us look forward to honoring Reverend Higuchi next month. Reverend Higuchi brought Johrei to America. We all have a spiritual cord with Reverend Higuchi, who represents our beginning. Reverend Higuchi was our spiritual mother, personally chosen by Meishu-sama to spread Johrei in the West. Our fates changed when she arrived on her mission, a mission that continues today in America.
Each Johrei member also had a beginning the day we received the sacred focal point. That day we became part of God’s Great Plan to create a better world. We received our mission from God and were welcomed into a spiritual community. Each day, little by little, as spiritual clouds are purified through Johrei, prayer and service, we become better and better instruments of God. Little by little, we continue the transformation through ongoing spiritual growth. Little by little, day by day, a new world is created.
Sometimes it seems to me that we’re like caterpillars in a chrysalis, gradually changing into something different, something new and beautiful. A caterpillar can’t cling to old ways of being and old ways of thinking. It can’t stay a caterpillar forever, even if it wants to. The caterpillar has to change completely, bridging the gap between its old self and the future. Only by fully transforming can the new butterfly be revealed.
Has anyone ever seen a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis? When I was a little girl, my mother, who was a teacher, used to help us catch caterpillars and keep them in jars, feeding them milkweed and watching them get bigger. After the caterpillar made a chrysalis, we waited until the butterfly came out, and then we took the jar outside, and freed the butterfly.
When the butterfly first emerges from the chrysalis, it’s small and wet, and its wings are very tiny. During that time, the butterfly is very vulnerable. The butterfly’s abdomen is full of fluid which is pumped into the veins of the tiny wings. The butterfly must hang vertically and allow its wings to expand fully before it is able to fly. If the wings do not expand fully, they will dry crumpled and will remain that way. The butterfly is helpless, unable to feed and exposed to predators, and will not last long.
As new members receiving our focal points, our own faith, like the butterfly’s wings, is very small. In order to fully realize our mission, we have to allow those wings of faith to expand fully. Faith need to expand so our lives can be lived the way God intended. Reverend Higuchi’s words remind us that though many people may join Johrei Fellowship, they aren’t ready right away to spread their wings. Sometimes they have to go through long and painful purification first, physically, mentally or emotionally.
We know all suffering is purification, but most of us are used to having things right now. Today, we have fast food, fast computers, and fast lives. We don’t want to wait until the time is right, until our faith is ready. As we go through suffering when God cleans our dirty containers to fill them with blessings, we get impatient. And when we’re impatient, doubt creeps into our minds.
We wonder, “Does Johrei really work?” “How long do I have to suffer?” “When is this going to end, when will things get better?” We don’t want to wait until wings dry, until our faith expands and is ready. We want things to happen right now, before we are ready. Sometimes we even envy other people purify more quickly. We wonder why this happens to only us.
It’s during times of doubt that our faith is most tested. Doubts, fear, anger, impatience, all are tools of dark forces. We must remember that God won’t give us purifications we cannot endure. There is always a purpose for the purification that we may not see right away. By seeking guidance in Meishu-sama’s teachings, and living them one day at a time, faith not only survives, it grows. The future may not be clear right now, but God’s truth and God’s Light is eternal.
Focus on God and trust God to guide you through. Remember that others are suffering too, and that our mission is to help them. This time prepares us for this mission, so we must be patient. Those with great missions often go through great purification to prepare them for service. We must be patient during this time. God gives us this time so that we, like the butterfly, can allow our faith, our wings, to dry and expand.
Through having spiritual clouds dispelled, we continue the process of change and growth that began when we joined. Like the butterfly, we need this time of change, to leave behind old selves and old ways. It’s not an easy change, or a fast one, but it is a necessary one. Without purification, we would be unprepared to deal with huge problems facing the world today. Like the butterfly, our wings of faith would be too small. We would be unable to face the harsh challenges in the world today. With faith, with God and with Meishu-sama, we can help humanity and transform the planet.
Little by little, day by day, our clouds are dispelled. Little by little, spiritual growth happens. Little by little, one act at a time, a new world is created. As God’s Light transforms us, so God’s Light transforms the world. The old will be left behind and the new will come forth. Creating that new world starts here in this room and continues when we leave the Center.
The new world begins as we leave the service and return not to ordinary lives but to new awareness of the Divine in the world and in each person here. Each of us is divine at our core, full of God’s love and goodness. When the entire world becomes purified, what a beautiful place it will be. The age of Light is coming, and Paradise
will become a reality. Today, may God’s Divine Light bless you and be with you in all that you are, and in all that you do. Thank you.
*****************May 2009 reading
Patience
A talk from Light of Johrei by Rev. Kiyoko Higuchi
Members of Meishu-sama’s movement know that all suffering is purification, or the elimination of toxins or clouds which have been accumulated. Until we are sufficiently purified to a high degree by the divine Light of God, we cannot enjoy an ideal state of existence. With this understanding, we can not only endure, but also will be grateful for the purifying process, looking forward to the better health that will result from it.
Many people have joined our fellowship having experienced beneficial physical results from Johrei or having received help with some other difficult problems. These people have become conscious of the actual working of the invisible Light. Naturally they are very grateful and enthusiastic, especially those who have had miraculous results. Others took our introductorry course because their friends or relatives were helped. Still others were interested in the philosophy, its concept of the new age and the new way of life.
Some go through long and difficult stages of purification physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially. It is then that doubt or skepticism may creep into their minds. According to our teaching, any form of suffering is the result of clouds being dispelled, clouds which we have formed during our lives perhaps without realizing it.
However, in our age, a time in which everything is prefaced by the word “instant,” –instant coffee, instant tea, and so on most people demand instantaneous relief and do not try to understand the true cause of their difficulty. They often become impatient and think, “How long must I suffer? Does the divine Light really exist? Does Johrei work in my case? When does heaven on earth come? I cannot stand this any more.”
It is at such times that people need most to be in the Light. The Johrei center is our focus of Light and close personal contact with it will make our spiritual cords stronger, enabling us to receive more Light. (If we cannot physically make it to the center, we can make contact through thought.) Prayer at the altar together with the minister and/or other members has often brought marvelous results.
Johrei works in all aspects of life. God knows each one’s situation. Members have told me, I stopped coming to the center because I lost my job, or I stopped coming to the center because I am in financial distress. These are the very times when people need to be in the more intense Light to overcome their financial purification. The fellowship is not operating for the sake of money. If people have no money to give, we are more than glad to help anyway.
Sometimes people who have had quick and miraculous results from Hohrei quit coming to the center. At first they are naturally overjoyed and tell many of their friends about Johrei and even bring some of them to the center, but after a time they stop coming because they no longer feel the need for it. By not continuing to come they have lost the opportunity to receive the true spiritual benefit which could have been theirs had they kept their contact with the high vibration of the divine Light of God.
Many people who experienced long and difficult stages of purification would sometimes envy those who had quick results and wonder why Johrei did not work in the same way for them. However, as they kept coming to the center for Johrei and prayer, their spiritual understanding advanced, and they acquired a firm faith which never wavers regardless of circumstances. Whether or not Johrei works quickly depends on each indivdual’s spiritual, mental, and physical condition. Johrei works according to the immutable law of God.
When I joined this fellowship, I had many problems – sleeplessness, sinus trouble, migraine headaches, ulcer of the stomach, tension around the shoulders, and more. After a few sessions of Johrei, I found myself sleeping much better. Then I developed a severe purification in the form of splitting headaches. I was so happy once when, after two Johreis, an almost unbearable headache disappeared, although it came back repeatedly for several months. Milder headaches followed off and on for several years until at last I was relieved of the migraines. My stomach troube disappeared also, and after a while I felt much better, even though I continued to experience painful purifications occasionallyu with loss of appetite and vomiting. Years later I had a most sever purification --- vomiting blood---which continued off and on for months, but after that my health improved noticeably.
Severe as my purifications were, compared to the many difficulties I suffered prior to joining the fellowship, the purifications were easier to bear; moreover, when after each purifiction I saw noticeable improvement in my well-being, I felt gratitude, and my faith became stronger.
I greatly value these experiences, for they have brought me an understanding I could not have gained any other way. I also feel that without Johrei, my life on earth would have been over before now. In the midst of long purification, if we have faith and keep our inner vision clear, God often encourages us in mysterious ways and guides us.
We can have emotional purifications as well as physical ones. For example, in Japan and elsewhere some people have become disappointed and stopped coming to the Johrei center because they have been criticized or ridiculed, and others have stopped coming because they are influenced by members or other people who are criticizing the organization. On the other had, many people attain higher spiritual underestanding and work prayerfully, humbly, and constructively while completely overlooking criticism.
In encouragement of members who have had difficulties and suffered, Meishu-sama said:
“In some cases, upon joining our group, suffering becomes more severe. Sometimes the more sincere the person, the more he or she suffers. Unless the person’s faith is strong enough, it will cause him or her to vacillate. But this is a most important time. While God’s blessings will reward a person abundantly for his or her sincerity, the person’s spiritual cloids must first be dispelled to a degree in the same way that an unclean container must first be cleansed before it can b3e used for wholesome food. If the person endures his or her suffering patiently, the person will find himself or herself unexpectedly rewarded when the purification is complete.”
Since ancient days, people who rendered great sevice to humanity experienced unusual hardships. It is true that the greater a person’s mission, the greater their purification must be. To those who were misunderstood or critcized unfairly, Meishu-sama wouldsay that we shoud not worry about what others think of us. As long as we are obedient to God’s universal laws, we should be happy. God knows our hearts. If we have true faith in God, we need not even try to correct people’s misunderstandings about us. These are soul tests. Time will solve the problem.
A rather influential person came often to se Meishu-sama. The man became more and more ambitious in seeking power and money. When Meishu-sama would not yield to his desires, he started to speak ill of Meishu-sama and the fellowship. He even employed other people in an attempt to influence Meishu-sama. Some of the ministers, seeing this, were disturbed and advised that steps be taken to stop the man’s coming, but Meishu-sama only smiled and said, “As long as he comes, there must be some pupose for it in God’s plan or he would not be here. We will see the meaning of it later.” Meishu-sama continued to see the man, lovingly talked with him, and blessed him. We learned later that the acquisition of the property in Atami, which is now a part of the sacred grounds of our fellowship, was made possible through this man.
To those who were overly concerned about the faults and wrongdoing of others, Meishu-sama said, “They will take care of themselves. Trust God. Let us think of the sufferings of humanity and use our energies for its alleviation instead.” When we have reached this level of consciousness, we can truly expeience real serenity of mind and funnction as potent builders of a more enlightened civilization.
Meishu-sama said:
“God sees the innermost soul, but humans too often do not. Since our first duty is to obey universal law, not human law, we need not be overly concerned about criticism. Our main concern must be to act in good faith and in accordance with cosmic law, helping as many people in need as possible be channeling Johrei and awakening them to their spiritual natures. Let us free ourselves from the desire for recognition. The truly sincere worker, because of his innate humility, is seldom recognized by the world at large. So long as we permit critcism or desire for recognition to influence our thoughts and deeds, our spiritual understanding and our faith is shallow.”
In theSermon on the mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” [Matthew 5:10, 11, 12].
|
RIGHTEOUSNESS (Prayers and Poems pg. 87) |
Since olden times
In this world,
Those who have acted rightly
Have been obstructed
By dark forces.
As long as we live,
Let us always do our best
To combat the schemes,
Of the dark forces,
Which try to destroy the world
We are not afraid
Of censures made
Or malice spoken against us,
For we are armed with God’s Power,
Which defends us against evil.
*********************
PARADISE
ON EARTH SERVICE 2009
Reverend Dr. Darcy S. F. Ing
Good morning!
Happy Paradise on Earth Day! Today we recognize an event that happened on June 15, 1931, 78 years ago today. On that date Meishu-sama climbed Mount Nokogiri
and received a revelation from God about the end of the Age of Night and the coming of the Daylight Age. God told Meishu-sama that a period of spiritual darkness was ending and that a new dawn, a new future was coming. That new future was for all humanity and all living things, and it was coming soon.
Meishu-sama’s mountain top experience that changed his life and ours forever.
Meishu-sama was told that an earthly Paradisewas being created for humanity, during a great period of destruction and construction that the world had never seen. Meishu-sama began to write his teachings for us to help us through the difficult period. He tells us how to discern our mission, how to recognize purification, and how to stay firm in purpose as we build the new world.
But Meishu-sama also teaches us that Paradise must begin within our hearts, that we must begin living as if Paradise is already here in order for it to become a reality. We have the capacity to create a Paradise-like atmosphere in our hearts and to spread that Paradise to all living things.
It's easy to get distracted from this purpose.
We can resolve to keep
Paradise
in our hearts in the morning, but have difficulty living it all day. Sometimes the distraction is small. You can wake up full of inspiration, but then your pen runs out of ink, the dog wants to go for a walk, or there is no milk in the refrigerator. Theologian Howard Thurman once said, "Little by little there crept into my life the dust and grit of the journey. Details, lower-level demands, all kinds of cross-currents---nothing momentous, nothing overwhelming, nothing flagrant---just wear and tear." Thurman prayed to God to "Keep fresh before me the moments of my highest resolve."
Other times the distractions are bigger. They happen because dark forces are trying hard to make us stray from our purpose. They urge us towards the darker sides of our nature, because they don’t’ want the Light to spread. A little voice tells us this person is annoying and we don’t want to help them, we are too busy to go to the Center, too tired to channel Johrei, or that we can read the Teachings tomorrow instead of right now. Dark forces know that the Light is getting stronger, and they are getting desperate, as their time is getting shorter.
I recently talked to Cherie Pollock, and she told me about being in
Japan
and feeling too tired to get up and visit one of the ministers we had especially traveled to see. She thought, “I’m too tired, I’ll just rest today and do it some other time.” When she realized what it was, she got right up out of bed to visit the minister anyway. It’s important to recognize those impulses for what they are, and to resist them.
These impulses are from dark forces that want things to stay the way they are, because it benefits them---not us, and certainly not anyone else. Remember that God is always with us, and that we always have a choice to stay with God’s Light and God’s purpose. Trust that God is with you and that God wants the highest good for you. As someone once said, “All that I have seen teaches me to trust God for all I have not seen.”
And sometimes, we are distracted because there are disasters and calamities happening. There will be hard times for everyone during this period, and that includes Johrei members. The economy is a mess nationally and in
California
, and many people are unemployed. We hear about natural and human-made disasters; planes crashing, technology failing, earthquakes, floods, or tornadoes. Meishu-sama also lived through calamities, including the devastation of World War II, the loss of his business, the loss of his wife and child in childbirth, and many severe illnesses.
Like Meishu-sama, we will be challenged through natural and human-made disasters. Like Meishu-sama, we may have physical problems, financial and emotional setbacks, or other severe losses. Remember that throughout, Meishu-sama kept his faith in God and his mission before him. He kept fresh before him the moment of his own highest resolve, no matter what.
Meishu-sama tells us that purification is a blessing, an opportunity for spiritual growth. We face purification with prayer and with Meishu-sama's teachings. Both help us understand God's Divine Will, and remind us that God’s will may be different from our will. The goal that we think is right, the outcome we think is right, may not be the right one in the eyes of God. God's plan for each of us is more mysterious and more wonderful than anything we can imagine, and He always has our highest good in mind.
Meishu-sama knew that a Paradise-like heart is both created and manifested in how we relate to each other. Living
Paradise
in your heart is an intentional way of living in right relationship – despite distractions, despite dark forces, and despite disasters. We create
Paradise
with each act of service, each act of peace, each act of beauty, and each time we inspire others to find something greater than themselves.
Paradise
becomes real when positive actions begin to replace old negative patterns. As
Paradise
starts with each of us, it spreads to everyone in our lives. It is in this way that
Paradise
is built, through mindful positive interactions with others.
Paradise
beomes a reality for each of us one act at a time, one person at a time, one day at a time. If you want to see an earthly paradise, look around and see it, by finding the best parts of ourselves and others.
Paradise began to arrive with on the wonderful dawn in 1931, and
Paradise
comes ever closer as we become living examples of our faith. As we grow in faith, dedication and compassion, a truth deeper than words becomes real, one day at a time.
Paradise
is real, and it comes closer every day. Happy
Paradise
on Earth Day!
Thank you.
********June 2009 reading
Paradise On Earth
An excerpt from Light From The East Vol. I
At three in the morning June 15, 1931, the whole party rose before having had a decent chance to sleep; each member with lantern in hand, the group set on the dark path, still wet with the night dew, for the peak of mountain.
Along the winding trail
On the pitch-black mountain path,
We all made our way
With the light of our lanterns
To guide us on our ascent
For about an hour they climbed the climbed the stone steps that had taken the abbot four years to build. By the time they reached the top the first light of June morning was beginning to show above the sea far off on the horizon. Fortunately, the weather held and through the morning haze the sea around the Boso Peninsula, the surrounding mountains, and the ten provinces of eastern Japan gradually became visible, making a magnificent sight.
Worshiping the sun,
Which brightens the firmament
And rises out of the clouds,
All of us with solemn voices
Chanted the Prayer of Heaven
Facing the rising sun and the dawn, Okada and his companions lifted up their voices in prayer. The indescribable grandeur and mystery of the occasion moved them all as they chanted. A mystery of the occasion moved them all as they chanted. A mysterious inspiration came to Okada at that moment. Speaking to no one in particular, he murmured, “A miraculous event has taken place.” There appeared to be something hidden deep within him.
The revelation’s significance Okada later called the revelation he had received at the dawn service atop Mount Nokogiri a divine sign of the turning point from night to day in the spiritual world. On the basis of the mysterious events that took place afterward, he believed that the spiritual world, in a quiet yet majestic way, had begun to move from an era of night to one of day. In other words, it was revealed to him that a great dawn had arrived in the world of the spirit. A mysterious happening indeed. No one had ever before proclaimed such an event. Nevertheless, having attained the highest state of enlightenment, he was aware of the revelation’s significance. In part, it can be understood in terms of the concepts of the turning from an age of night to the age of daylight and of the law of the spiritual preceding the physical.
The first of these concepts refers to the principle that darkness and light alternate in two phases. Just as there are summer and winter each year, so too, in terms of decades or of centuries, cycles or alternations of light and dark exist, being analogous to periods of peace and war in the course of history. In terms of thousand- and ten-thousand-year periods a similar rhythm occurs. At that time the long age of darkness was ending, and dawn, or a prelude to an age of light—in other words, a transitional period—was beginning.
June 15, 1931, marked this event, which started first in the spiritual world. Then gradually this change was reflected in the physical world. The spiritual world and the physical world are like the front and back of the same body. All phenomena have their beginnings in the spiritual world before moving to the physical world. This is in accord with the law of the spiritual preceding the physical. Now that day had come to the world of the spirit, or the realm of cause, its counterpart, the physical world, was also reaching a great turning point never before seen. Out of a world of hellish darkness a heavenly world of light was emerging.
As the transition to the age of daylight proceeded, the civilization of night that had existed until then would collapse. To replace it a new civilization of daylight would be created. Recognizing the significance of this destruction and construction, Okada felt he had been entrusted with the great mission of telling people everywhere about it and of saving them from confusion and suffering. He was eager to proceed with the building of a new civilization. Soon he realized he ought to start a religion. He was waiting for the right time.
