AUGUST
1ST
A Day To Appreciate The PL Founders
And Receive Special Blessings
On August 1st, PL members from around the world will celebrate the PL
Founders' Day.
The Founders' Day Ceremony will be held at local churches, while hundreds
of thousands of PL members will gather at PL Holy Land in Japan, where
the world's largest fireworks display will be set off to meet the First
Founder's wish of celebrating his death.
Most religions have only one founder and the disciples follow and propagate
their teachings. In PL however, each spiritual leader (Oshieoya-sama) is considered a "founder"
and provides us with teachings appropriate for our lives in that era.
The Rev. Tokuharu Miki, who established the Hito-no-michi Church in 1924, is considered
the First Founder. Then in 1937, the Hito-no-michi Church organisation was
destroyed by the Japanese military government.
The First Founder had prayed to God to shorten his life by 30 years so
that the teachings and the blessings of Mioshie would continue in order to realize
true world peace. When he passed away 65 years ago during the suppression
of the Hito-no-michi Church, he said, “Do not mourn over my death, rather
celebrate it with festive fireworks.” Here the meaning of “celebrate” is
to do so with the realisation that his death will promote world peace.
After World War II, the late Rev. Tokuchika Miki, the Second Founder,
re-established the religion as the Church of Perfect Liberty in 1946.
He modernized the teachings to be appropriate with that era and spread the
understanding of our famous motto, “Life is Art,” all over the world.
He taught the importance of peace and harmony for the human race and appealed
to other religious leaders, including the Pope, to co-operate so that we can
realise true world peace. He also received and developed the miraculous
power of the Rite of Oyashikiri. The
present spiritual leader, the Rev. Takahito Miki, succeeds his work.
The virtue we have inherited from the PL Founders’ selfless dedication
can be accessed through the church Omitama
(prayer symbol) and through your own Family Omitama when you pray.
In this way the spirits of the PL Founders work for you when you pray at your
Omitama, and they are the source of the power of Oyashikiri. They also work
on your behalf when you pray for your Mioshies so that you can understand
and practice them.
For these reasons, the PL Founders' Day Ceremony is a very special PL
spiritual occasion during which PL members demonstrate their appreciation
and pray to the spirits of the Founders for their continued protection. PL
members also offer their heartfelt special donations for Founders' Day so
they can receive many special blessings. Let’s all dedicate our heartfelt
Founders' Day donations at our church altar by August 1st, praying for world
peace. Please also include your special wishes at this time and your minister
will offer prayers for them to be realised.
TO PREVENT SICKNESS
CORRECT YOUR LIFESTYLE By Dr. Yoshitaka Katsura (PL minister and pathologist)
Some chronic illnesses we call “lifestyle diseases” that are caused and
aggravated by our lifestyle habits of eating, smoking and drinking. This
name comes from some well-known diseases such as high-blood pressure and cancer
that are found in many elderly people. They think such diseases are related
to living many years with a lifestyle of eating, drinking and smoking. The
recommendation for high blood pressure is to reduce the salt intake and for
lung cancer to stop smoking. But what are the results of just following these
sorts of recommendations? Can we really prevent some of the lifestyle diseases
such as high blood pressure or lung cancer?
The reasons are not only related to lifestyles
Some people get lung cancer even though they didn’t smoke and some don’t
get lung cancer and have long lives even though they have smoked for many
years. So I don’t think you can prevent lung cancer by just quitting smoking.
These diseases are not only caused by lifestyles, I think there are some
other factors that have to be added to this. What are these factors?
These factors are our mental lifestyles. That is to say, it’s our unnatural
emotions. Unfortunately these emotional problems are not yet mentioned
in modern medicine. My teacher, the late Shigeru Matsuoka who used to be
the director of the PL Hospital, a pathologist and a PL minister, taught
me that the cause of sicknesses is greatly influenced by the changing of
the blood vessels. He pointed out that from many case studies of stomach
ulcers and incurable ulcerations of the colon that these are caused by the
changing of the blood vessels. The result he announced is that the walls
of the blood vessels become hypertrophic or have excessive growth after
many years of contracting.
I also studied the actual situation of sickness through a microscope
and found out what Dr. Matsuoka had pointed out that there is a relationship
between blood vessels and the sicknesses of lung cancer, chronic inflammation
of the gallbladder and chronic articular rheumatism, and some others.
Our unnatural emotions are called negative mental habits
This changing of blood vessels is as I explained previously, the result
of an accumulation of contractions of the blood vessels. The contraction
of blood vessels is controlled by our autonomous nervous system, and our autonomous
nervous system is influenced by our emotions. Therefore, the contraction
and atrophying of blood vessels is caused by unnatural emotions.
If we eliminate our unnatural emotions and prevent blood vessel changes
then we can also prevent lifestyle diseases. Also, even if we should get
a lifestyle disease, if we correct our emotions then we can stop the progress
of the blood vessel changes and the disease.
Particular emotions relate to particular organs. I think if we have a
contraction of blood vessels over many years, then we will have an atrophying
of the blood vessels so that the inside of the blood vessels becomes
narrowed, disturbing the flow of blood and this causes the disease.
For example, a person died of lung cancer and the arteries of his lungs
had blood vessels that were changed as I explained, but the blood vessels
in his liver and digestive system that weren’t affected by cancer didn’t
have any abnormalities at all. That is to say, there must be a particular
unnatural emotion that influences only the lungs.
Normally we have heard that we have to be careful what we eat and how
we eat to prevent a stomach ulcer or cancer. But I don’t think this alone
is enough. We have to think about not having unnatural emotions when we eat.
I’m sure there is a difference in our blood vessels between eating when
we are angry and when we eat with appreciation. If we repeat our unnatural
emotions when we eat day after day, then our blood vessels change and this
may cause a stomach ulcer or cancer.
Mental habits are important
As I have explained, to control lifestyle diseases it’s not enough to
just improve the factors outside of our body; for instance, when considering
our eating habits, we also have to recognize the relationship of our mental
habits such as our emotions when we eat.
We weren’t taught in this way by medical science about the importance
of our unnatural emotions as being fundamental. However, in PL we can find
out the correct way for our emotions and by receiving a Mioshie we can
learn about our wrong mental habits that cause each of our sicknesses We
PL believers are truly fortunate.
If we eliminate our wrong mental habits that are taught by our Mioshies,
then we should be able to stop the contractions of our blood vessels. That
is to say, we can stop the progress of the atrophying of our blood vessels
and stop the disease. I think the true prevention of lifestyle diseases
is to put our sincere effort into changing and improving our mental habits.
However, we can’t ignore the knowledge of medical advice in preventing
lifestyle diseases and we should willingly receive health check-ups. But
as well, we have to learn the other factor of placing importance on our
state of mind in daily life. I think you can only do this by relying on
the PL teachings.
(Translated from the June 2003, issue of the PL magazine, p.22) [Return To Index]
We
Watched Our Son's Desperate Fight With His Illness
By Noriko Takeda (43 years of age) from the Tarumizu
Church
I didn’t believe the diagnosis of “cancer”
It was a year and half ago that our son, Takaya (14), a first year junior
high school student at the time had about a 3 cm lump on the left side
of his neck. He said it wasn’t painful or itchy. However, he started to
have a slight fever and we went to see a doctor nearby.
The doctor recommended that he be immediately examined at a large neighbourhood
hospital. We went to the hospital and a biopsy was taken from my son’s
lump, then we had to wait for about a month for a diagnosis having a heavy
feeling about it.
We were told that it was a “malignant lymphoma” and we couldn’t believe
it feeling, “I can’t believe that this is really happening, it’s like watching
a drama.”
I felt I was kicked out of my normal life that I thought was natural,
to a completely different world. Takaya was with us when the doctor told
us his diagnosis. He said to Takaya, “The reason for telling you about this
diagnosis is that I want you to understand it well, and I want to you to
know the treatment and to fight against your illness.” He then asserted that
our son would surely be cured if he received treatment.
We went to our PL church right after this and received a consultation
and Oyashikiri Prayer. Our minister told us, “Please trust your doctor then
you can get the proper treatment.” At that moment our son joined PL.
Moving forward step by step with a difficult situation
Fortunately my son’s tumour was completely removed. It hadn’t spread
to the spine but he had to receive five chemotherapy treatments. He was
very healthy and had been a member of the school kendo club before his illness.
However, with this treatment he had to stay in a private room in the hospital
having tests and IV treatments. My husband and I took turns visiting him
each day.
It must have been very painful with a feeling of irritation having to
stay in a hospital at his age but he did a desperate effort to get better
daily by saying, “I want to hold a bamboo sword again and practice kendo.”
We rubbed his back when he was nauseated after the chemo and gave him
food that we had brought from home with his doctor’s permission.
The hardest thing was when I had to leave the hospital after listening
to him say, “Are you going home now, can’t you stay a little longer?” I
felt as if someone was cutting pieces out of me when I had to leave him
alone in the hospital like that. At home, my two younger children and my
88 year-old grandfather was waiting for me. I said, “I have ten more minutes,”
even though I had so many things to do at home and felt that I should be
going home. He looked at the clock and seemed comforted.
And then I rushed to the train but mentally it was hard to tear myself
away from him. On the way home I muttered to myself or maybe I was talking
to my son, “Let’s do the best, let’s do the best”.
Every time I visited our church, the minister always kindly asked about
our son. His cheerful encouragement by saying with a smile, “He will be okay,”
helped me a lot more than anything else. My son even had a temperature of
over 42 C degrees for one week and lost a lot of weight, and all his hair
fell out so that he became completely bald.
Even though we had received such a serious Mishirase we were able to go forward step
by step because of the PL teachings. We could believe that he would be cured
and come home to us.
Supported by kindness and prayers
Takaya received much warm encouragement from many people to overcome
his difficult treatment and was discharged to come safely home. If we didn’t
have Takaya’s Mishirase, we wouldn’t have had the strong tie to help each
other at home.
I don’t think we ever have known about the thoughtfulness by many people
including our minister, the members, the doctors and nurses, his school
teachers and friends. From fighting against Takaya’s illness, we also learned
that human beings can do this much of a desperate effort, and also that
other people can be so kind to others.
He is now back at school after resting for awhile at home and he said,
“Mom, the school is a really nice place. They are all so kind.” He received
so many encouraging letters that said, “Please recover quickly and come
back to us,” and now he is finally back there. He kept his bamboo sword
by his bedside at the hospital for mental support and he can now hold it.
Also he wrote an essay for the 21st essay contest, about: “The Memory of
a Medical Treatment” describing one’s medical experience. His essay was
chosen from among 2500 applicants and he was awarded a prize from the Minister
of Health, Welfare and Labour.
He has to be continually tested for a malignant tumour and we still have
a slight fear of a recurrence but we are going to move on supported by
Oyashikiri Prayer and having an amulet.
(Translated from the July 2003, issue of the PL magazine, pp.32-33) [Return To Index]
RELIGION
IS ALSO ART
HOW TO BE A WELL-LIKED WOMAN
What are the happiest circumstances during one's life? It may be having
money or a good position or many other things, but I believe the happiest
situation is to be well-liked by others. I have always wanted a life in which
I can give friendly feelings to many people, and also in which I am well-liked.
Even if someone has plenty of money or the best situation or is occupying
the highest position, if one is not liked by anyone, then I believe it would
be a most lonely and wasted life.
The opposite of this is someone who is very poor with a low position
but is well liked by many people. For this person it would be a most enjoyable
life.
Especially for a woman, I think it would be a most joyful and thankful
life if she is well-liked by many, loved, respected and yearned for.
Also I think all women must wish to be like that.
However, in reality the kinds of women who are loved, yearned for, respected
and admired are few in number. I have always questioned why this is the
situation. Many men are well-liked by their friends, senior people and juniors
or the opposite sex, but somehow it seems that unlike men, there are not
many women that are liked by many others.
When thinking about this situation, generally women have likes and dislikes
of people and are easily swayed by emotions — they have too many mental
waves. When their minds are like good weather they give a good impression,
but when their minds are like bad weather they give people a bad impression.
This situation is the same for men but women tend to have severe fluctuations
between sunny and stormy weather. In other words, their cheerful states
are fewer. That is to say women bring out too many emotions.
In clarifying this, many women have the kinds of warped thinking that
include complaining, talking ill of others, being jealous or envious, etc.
Of course some men have these characteristics, but not the same number as
it is with women. Basically, men are simpler.
Similarly, to hate others, to create rumours about others or to complain,
these types of mental habits and actions make people ugly and give others
a bad impression of them. The opposite of this is that if you want to be
a fine person, the most important thing is not to have a state of mind of
blaming others.
If you don't blame others your personality will be innocent and you will
be willingly accepting of others without ego. As a result, you will naturally
become gentle-minded and give others a good impression. Having an ego almost
always results from blaming others, so if you don't have a mind of blaming
others, you can talk to anyone or associate with anyone and consequently,
others feel very close to you and more people will come to you. Therefore,
those who have a character of not blaming others are fortunate.
The opposite of this are those who don't give others a good impression,
they blame others for whatever reason and if they meet someone for the first
time, they stare at them trying somehow to find a flaw and refuse to associate
with them. If they discover the other person’s characteristics, then perhaps
they might associate with them.
If a person doesn't blame others, then the person can become close to
anyone quickly, even someone they don't know well. So if they meet anyone,
even if they don't know the person, like meeting someone on the street they
may say, “Oh, it's a fine day isn't it?” or “Good morning.” These people can
become very close to others quickly. They can be kind and talk to anyone.
If you can be this way you can be very happy. If I were a woman, I would
like to be a person like that. I think that to achieve this, all a woman
has to think about is giving a good impression to others, being a likeable
person and being loved by others. If the same sex can like her, then of course
the opposite sex will like her as well. Since this is a very important factor
of influence in a marriage, it is especially important for a single woman.
If you want to become a person who is well liked by others, you can't
get angry, have temper tantrums or complain. So if you have the desire to
be a likeable person, you will readily follow all your Mioshies whatever they
may be. If I can explain this in the extreme case, these people won't have
to read line by line, but can nevertheless keep up with their Mioshies very
well. These people will feel complete happiness and live with a contented
mind.
By the way, to be well liked by others, then at work it’s important to
take the initiative before them. If you notice and start working before
others, you won't have time to complain or gossip, even if it is another
person's work. Do it with the feeling of, "Please rest, and let me do it."
Even if others treat you badly, if you apologize, "I’m sorry, I should have
noticed it," then others think "My, what a nice person." If you can
be like that, then your mind can function better, you will give a somewhat
better impression to others and you will naturally look prettier.
If we have a mind to blame others such as, "I'm working, but he's not
working," then even if we don't dislike working we can nevertheless begin
to feel a dislike for others or even a hatred, thinking, "How come I'm working
so hard, but he's so lazy?" The ego emerges because we blame others. However,
if we have a state of mind of loving, understanding and forgiving others,
and also have the feeling that, "I'm still not perfect," then we will not
even have the slightest intention of blaming others.
Until now I have been teaching and guiding many kinds of women. However,
I noticed one woman was extremely good in human relationships. She always
got up early, worked very hard and was the last one to bed. On top of that
she was constantly apologizing. Even though she was not wrong she was apologizing,
“I'm sorry, I wasn't good enough to notice it.” Therefore, even a colleague
with a strong ego was absolutely helpless in front of her. She’s now married
and even her mother in law admires her. In most situations, 99% of the
cases, the mother in law hates or at least doesn’t praise the daughter
in law. Of course this woman was not a perfect person, but from my experience,
deep down in her thinking she believes she is imperfect. She really believes
this very deeply. For this reason, she can't blame others but instead blames
herself. One of her friends asked her, “How come you work so hard?”
Her answer was, “I'm not perfect so I have to work at it.” Her treasure
is that she believes she is imperfect.
Judging from this you might guess that most people think of themselves
as perfect, but they don't. However, although they don't think about themselves
as perfect, from another person's point of view they don't notice their
imperfections. Therefore the result is that they blame others.
People who always have complaints about others feel very insecure if
they can't for some reason find others to complain about. Of these people,
some always seem to be seeking faults in others from morning until evening.
There are so many of these people. Please try to think about this. It seems
as if when two people get together they first start out by developing thoughts
of blaming each other. If they go to a movie or a picnic or have fun together,
as expected they don't blame each other, but as soon as they start working
together, they develop the state of mind of blaming each other.
Even though some people are very impressive and hard workers but unfortunately
they are not good in the area of complaints. If a person works hard but
has thoughts of complaints about others, then that hard working effort does
not become Misasage.
All you have to do is to offer yourself to work without blaming others.
If while you are doing Misasage you
are blaming others, that is really regrettable, because if you are doing Misasage
without blaming others of course you will get blessings from God and from
other people. Also you can do your best Makoto using your whole body
and spirit together in things like personal appearance, daily routine, behaviour,
language expression, etc. In other words, this means making “art” of yourself
or “art” of your own character.
When I speak about this point, I must say that many women lack in being
able to make art. Recently, they have been making art very well with the
make up they have on their face, but I hope they can also learn to have art
of their mind. In order to give others a good impression, of course, you have
to make art of your personal appearance but more than that, the most important
thing is that you must make art of your mind and also of your character.
Whether a woman is born with a beautiful face or not is not a big problem,
as long as if she has a pure and kind heart then she can give others a
good impression. It is not necessary to have a nice egg shaped face with
the eyes and nose of a doll. No matter how beautiful a woman is some of
them give poor, unpleasant impressions to others. We have a saying that a
beautiful woman dies young. Most of the so called typical beautiful women
with egg shaped faces and the eyes and noses of a doll, have a short life.
It’s not only that they die young but they also have a bad fate, leading
a very miserable life. A beautiful woman does not necessarily have a happy
life. Therefore, I want women to have pure and kind hearts, and be well
liked by others. This is more important than the shape of the face. If a
woman has these things as her goal, this would be the happiest way to live,
especially for a single woman.
(Translated from the book Burn With Enthusiasm: Let’s live with a clear
vision, a collection of talks given by Tokuchika Miki, published by Geijutsu-seikatsu-sha,
in the summer of 1981) [Return To Index]
THE PL 21 GUIDELINES
FOR LIVING A HAPPY LIFE
PL Guideline Number 16
“I shall not be arrogant or conceited”
To rely on God
No human being has ever made a conscious decision to be born on Earth.
Therefore, we did not come here on our own. It was in God’s hands — God
made the decision. We often seem to forget this. Many times we have thoughts
about how great we are. We often think we are better than Tom or Mary or
John because they are doing so poorly and have lots of Mishirase; whereas,
we are doing so well because we are smart and work hard. We tend to forget
that we are all here only by the grace of God.
God does not allow us to have an arrogant or conceited mind without our
paying the price for it. We suffer because of our arrogance or conceit. If
the level of arrogance or conceit is extreme, God can take our lives.
Many people in our materialistic society easily become conceited because
they are able to surround themselves with more and more commercial products,
particularly luxury items. Then they develop a conceited state of mind
by comparing themselves to the Smiths who do not have these things. The
same is often true with those who are uniquely talented. When we
are blessed with material goods and unique talents we can easily forget
God and begin to see ourselves as superior to others. This is particularly
true of people who do not have faith in God. They start to believe they
alone created their own successful situations.
However, it is God that allows us to express our talents and to obtain
materialistic things. Our lives are in God’s hands and we can quickly lose
all our cherished possessions very quickly through death or a catastrophe.
It is really a very delicate situation in which we live. We see everyday
in the newspapers or on TV how quickly people lose everything they own
by floods, tornadoes, fires, etc.
Certainly we can have God’s blessings even if we don’t have faith, but
only so long as we live within God’s laws. It also depends on the virtue
we create in our own lives and the virtue that has been accumulated by
our predecessors. So it is not unusual for people of little faith to get
blessings. But how many more could they have received if they had faith
in God and showed their appreciation to God for what they have?
Therefore human beings are all receiving God’s blessings whether they
believe in God or not. By receiving God’s blessings they have wonderful coincidences
or something turns out to be very convenient for them.
However, if people have a strong ego it’s as if the cogs in their wheel
of life are out of alignment. What is the result of having a strong ego?
This can easily be understood by testing it. For example, if you put too much
strength into your shoulder when you swing your golf club your swing will
not be sharp and you won’t hit the ball very well. Also if you try to thread
a needle by thinking you are going to do it at once no matter what, then
it becomes more difficult than usual.
We can’t do things well by either too much force or by being too relaxed.
In this case if you use too much force or are too relaxed both of them
are your ego. There is a proper way between using “too much force” and
being “too relaxed.”
Then how do we understand the proper way? The quickest way is to follow
PL Precept 11, “Live always by God,” having the feeling of, “God please help
me.” In this way people will have a calm, pure state of mind to be moderate
and their physical condition will be very good. God gives human beings the
blessing of being in this condition when they rely on God.
When we follow this Precept, we recognize that God has given us everything
we have. It is difficult to have an arrogant or conceited mind when we
recognize this fact.
Wanting to be praised
However, most people tend to think they have a special power. They like
to recognise their own abilities and also want to be recognised by others.
Also most people show these feelings to others. If they are with other people
then they have the state of mind of wanting to show off feeling, “I have
this much ability.” So they like to say or show off what they can do. This
is the state of mind of being conceited.
A conceited state of mind includes wanting to save face, be a good person,
show off one’s ability and be recognised by others.
Most people feel proud and somewhat conceited if others praise them.
That’s because their feeling of wanting to be recognized by others has
been satisfied. However, if they have this kind of feeling because other
people praise them, then they stop there and can’t progress any further.
However people can grow and develop quickly when praised by others, if
they think, “Why do people praise or admire me? My work is not good enough.
I shouldn’t just be satisfied with what others are telling me.” These are
the kinds of people who always have a good fortune.
People have no more worth than what they are
No matter how much people try to proudly show off their worth, after
all it’s not any more that what they are. If people try to excessively
insist on their worth wanting other people to recognise them, then others
will have an unpleasant feeling. This is proved when someone tries to show
off, because instead of gaining value he or she will lose the value they
presently have. It may be a good feeling for them to show off what they
are or that they are important people however, they will never gain in value
by doing this.
On the other hand, if someone is always humble and doesn’t give others
any feeling of conceit, then the people around that person will have a
warm loving feeling and want to associate with him or her. The less they
show off that they are important even though they have done good work,
then their value in other people’s eyes will increase.
Iron is iron and gold is gold
Iron is always iron and can never be gold. Then someone may think the
value of iron is less than that of gold but this is not so. Iron can do excellent
work which gold can’t do. If you just look around you, you will easily find
things made of iron that gold can’t replace.
Therefore iron doesn’t have any reason to imitate gold. Iron can surely
be useful as iron if it can demonstrate its own ability. Contrary to this,
if iron imitates gold, then it loses its own natural ability and it would
really be an unfortunate use for iron.
We can say the same with human beings. Because human beings are given
unique individualities from God they just have to demonstrate these individualities.
There is no reason to envy other people’s characteristics. Instead they
should think about how to demonstrate their own unique abilities.
How do we demonstrate a hundred percent of our abilities?
Then what should we do to demonstrate a hundred percent of our abilities?
The only way to do this is that we have to be humble. For us to be humble,
the most important thing is to “rely on God for everything.” In the other
words, we should keep in mind it’s clearly by God that we are living here.
For example, if a person can speak well in front of others it’s because
he is given the ability to speak well from God. No matter how nicely he
can talk, if he is unable to speak during his speech then he is finished.
Nobody can guarantee to anyone that this will not happen to him or her.
There are many people who are unfortunate and can’t speak freely for
various reasons such as having had a stroke, having language difficulties,
or they have a disease. These kinds of people can’t express by mouth no
matter how much they may want to do so. Therefore people can speak because
some greater power is allowing them to speak.
In the other words, we are not living by our own power but it must be
through the blessings of some greater power than our own. If we want to receive
help through this greater power then we must understand we can’t be conceited.
In spite of this, some people are conceited because they have forgotten
they are living today by the blessings of some greater power.
If you are conceited you can’t demonstrate your ability
When people are conceited even without noticing it they can easily boast
and say enthusiastically without thinking carefully, “Sure I can do it.
It’s very easy.” If they are overly confident of their own abilities like
this, then they are unable to demonstrate their natural abilities. In the
other words, they can’t get blessings for their abilities and their work.
If someone did excellent work and is very proud of what they did then normally
the next time they will fail.
Although people have many experiences where they fail if they have feelings
of conceit they still want to show off again. This is because they have
forgotten about God.
You can’t receive wisdom if you are conceited
Human wisdom, thought and noticing things do not come by consciously
trying to do them, rather it happens suddenly. Even a brilliant inventor
succeeds in achieving his goal by receiving an idea in a flash.
Let’s think about receiving an idea in a flash or suddenly noticing something
or having a sudden thought. The people who often have the experience of
noticing something, or who suddenly have a thought about something are very
fortunate. Therefore, human beings should learn how to notice many things.
However, they don’t notice things if they are quite stubborn.
The reason stubborn people don’t notice things is because they insist
on their opinions to save face, so consequently they are unable to notice
other things. People who are stubborn or conceited don’t receive any wisdom
from God. When they believe what they do and say are excellent thinking and
that they are greater than others such as having better ideas, then they
can’t receive God’s blessings but have surprising slip-ups.
Humble yourself
There is a haiku (a type of Japanese poem) that says, “The more the head
is bent the more rice is borne on the stalk.” This applies to human beings
who live by thinking, “As you see I can only do so much,” then they give
others a good impression.
If people think, “I have ability and I’m a great person,” then they end
up being kept at arm’s length by those around them. Even though they are
flatteringly told, “I really respect you,” they are not really respected.
People who are conceited can’t have true human relationships, but only superficial
ones.
From the PL teachings it’s extremely important to humble yourself. The
meaning of humbling yourself is to not have thoughts about showing yourself
off but to live being aware of your inadequacies. It’s also having the
state of mind of trying to understand other’s feelings and trying to do
Misasage for other people’s convenience.
The joy as a human being is to make pure effort to improve ourselves.
That’s the correct way to live as a human being. By doing this we will accord
with God’s way where “all things progress and develop.”
Conceited people don’t improve
If people easily get angry when someone advises them about something,
they have the mental habit of being conceited and are not humble.
The right way to live as human beings is to have an amenable mind and
if someone advises us about something take it as, “Oh, you are right. I was
wrong.” If people get angry when someone advises them about something, then
it’s because they are conceited. They are not really great but they think
they are great.
Also, if people say, “I didn’t do that well,” when others praise them
but they very proud and happy inside, then they are also conceited. Another
example is when people get angry unless others praise them. This is proof
that they are not thinking that they still have to learn. These kinds of
people don’t make any headway and are rather absurd human beings.
Contrary to this, there are those who receive advice from others by humbly
thinking, “That’s right, I have to be careful in that area.” These are
truly admirable people even if they are not really great yet, because they
have the potential to be great.
Human beings should live always by receiving blessings from God. To do
this it’s important for us to humble ourselves and make effort to always
progress. If people have the desire to improve, then they cannot become
conceited.
It is important to always make an earnest effort to improve ourselves,
never thinking we have reached perfection. This way we can progress and
develop as God intended. Each of us has been given our own individuality
from God, and we are meant to fulfil our own potential as human beings.
We don’t have to be envious of someone else’s ability.
The best way to cultivate ourselves
Even though people have a very good education they can learn much more
according to the effort they make. They can also improve their ability.
Having the state of mind to improve is the thing that makes people happy.
Within the category of those who are conceited some people are proud
of their good looks. However, their parents gave birth to them with good
looks and they weren’t born to be nice looking through their own ability.
These kinds of people are also absurd.
Human beings should not forget to always cultivate themselves. A man
has to do his effort to be an excellent man and a woman has to do her effort
to be a better woman. To do this, it’s best to live humbly by relying on
God. If people are living this way, they will always receive wisdom and blessings
from God. Since you are following this teaching you should do your best
to be like this.
(Translated from the book The PL 21 Guidelines For Living A Happy Life
written by Bunkyoka, [the Department of PL Literature] 1997, published
by Geijutsu-seikatsu-sha)
(Editor’s Note: We are using the term “Guidelines” rather than “Principles”
in the translation of this book because we feel it more closely interprets
the understanding in English. – Bill Trotter) [Return To Index] GLOSSARY
OF PL TERMS:
Founder: An appellation used in PL for the head of the Church
for each era. Founder's Day: The Founders’Day (or Kyoso-sai) celebrated August
1st each year. At PL Holy Land in Japan, it includes the Peace Tower service
for world peace and in the evening it concludes with a magnificent fireworks
display. Hito-no-michi: "The Way of Humans" the organisation which
preceded PL and was destroyed by the Japanese military government prior
to World War II. Mioshie: God’s divine instruction given for a Mishirase
to help us learn and improve through the pain, suffering and misfortune
that we have experienced. By practising the Mioshie, we may also be able
to reduce or eliminate our suffering and improve our situation. Misasage: Voluntarily making effort for the sake of
others; also the action of voluntarily helping others or the Church. Mishirase: God’s divine warning which is revealed through
an illness, a misfortune, an accident, pain or other type of suffering. Omitama: A church Omitama is the PL church prayer symbol,
set up on the altar in the church where members can pray. The family Omitama
is a PL family prayer symbol, set up on the altar in the home where members
can pray. Oshieoya-sama: The spiritual head of the Church of Perfect Liberty;
also called Oshieoya. (“Sama” gives it a more formal term than “Oshieoya,”
somewhat like Dr., Rev., etc.). Oyashikiri: The special PL word that was revealed to the Second
Founder on May 29, 1958. Oyashikiri Prayer: The special powerful prayer that PL members
perform which reaches directly and immediately to God. Also, the Rite
of Oyashikiri. PL: The acronym for Perfect Liberty Kyodan or the Church
of Perfect Liberty. PL 21 Precepts: PL’s unique God-given Precepts that are the basis
of its teachings, and were received in 1947 by the Second Kyoso for this
era. PL 21 Principles (Guidelines): PL’s unique guidelines for living
a happy life based on the 21 Precepts. Shikiri: A unique PL word that means: a sincere promise
and commitment to God through prayer that a PL member is going to do their
utmost effort to obtain a wish, while asking for God's helping hand. In
this sense, it is to be so committed there is no consideration of turning
back even one step, only of proceeding with the commitment; It is also used
in the sense of Oshieoya-sama’s Shikiri or sphere of spiritual protection
under which all PL members exist. In this sense, it refers to Oshieoya-sama’s
special “Shikirized” commitment (oath) with God for the protection of all
PL members; Oshieoya’s Shikiri is absolute. This means it is a reality
that exists in this world. It’s the spiritual power that Oshieoya-sama
receives from God through the virtue of Tokumitsu Kanada (the Spiritual
Father), the previous Oshieoya-samas and through his own oath with God.
All PL members live within the sphere of Oshieoya’s Shikiri. It’s the reason
that PL members who do their full sincere effort in practicing the PL faith
are well-blessed in having their wishes come true and can lead more enjoyable
lives. Shikiri prayer: (Often just called Shikiri.) A form
of prayer when one has a mind of oneness with a decision and the practice
(being Shikirized). [Return To Index] The PL Newsletter:
Prepared by:
Bill Trotter
Assisting Editor for this Issue: Jack Nakamoto Translations:
My wife Yoko normally does the translations and I edit them unless otherwise
stated. Although we try to do our best to translate as accurately as possible,
we know there may be occasional errors in understanding and interpretation.
We try to limit these, but they do occur and we take full responsibility
and apologise in advance to both the authors and the reader.
– Bill Trotter