Great Construction

Record of Oral Teachings, Issue 31
March 15, 1954

February 5, 1954

     I have written an essay called “Further Requests for Consideration to Journalists.” I had written on this topic before, but this one is more thorough. I will have it read.
(Reading of essay, “Further Requests for Consideration to Journalists,” Eikô, Issue 249, February 24, 1954.)
     As I state in the essay, the level of our work is so much higher than the level of contemporary culture that journalists just cannot understand. If our work were of a level only a little above that of contemporary civilization, those in journalism would probably comprehend it, but because it is so much above, they are simply dazed. Such a situation is inevitable until a certain point in time, but the time is gradually approaching, and people, whether they want to or not, have to understand our work and its significance. There are those, however, who are putting considerable efforts into studying our work. So, the time when Japanese journalists come to understand our work is not that distant. As I said yesterday, God will begin this year to initiate surface activities, so the increase in the number of people who come to understand World Messianity will become noticeable. It will be extraordinary when people begin to understand World Messianity. Churches will be humming with activity we will be so busy. It will happen in one or two more years. The spiritual world is gradually beginning to advance in this way. What will stimulate activity the most are nature farming and the completion of the paradises on earth. It will be in only one or two years, so just a little more effort is necessary. As I always say and as has just been read, our undertaking is the first of its kind since the beginning of the world, so it is immense. What Shakya and Christ accomplished over two thousand years is now being attempted in one fell swoop, so no doubt it is amazing. Some may think it too soon for such a project, but on the other hand it is only human to want to save people as quickly as possible, and to be sure, if salvation is not hastened, there might not be enough time.
     Recently, correspondence from Mr. Arashi which we have been calling “Letters from an Artist in America,” has arrived. He described walking quite a bit in New York in a place comparable to a building many scores of stories tall. Mr. Arashi says he kept walking quite steadily while the Americans around him all had to take a rest. And, it seems that all over there were places to rest. This would not be remarkable if we were talking about elderly persons, but Mr. Arashi said it was young people who were resting, trying to catch their breadth. The weakening of Americans is indeed amazing. This physical decline has come about because of medical science. Nowadays, most Americans appear to be healthy, but there is hardly anyone who has not had a surgical operation. Whether it is having the appendix or a kidney removed, there seems to be no one who is not internally deformed. So, although people seem to be strong on the outside, weakening is pronounced. Several people have now become members in New York. Overall, it is a very interesting letter and will appear in the next issue of the Eikô. Medical science is said to be so advanced and American medicine is held to be quite marvelous. If you look at the advertisements in the newspapers these days, the word “America” is splashed all over. What gets most attention these days is something called “American cold medicine.” The advertising costs must be tremendous, but for those of us who know what the real situation is, it is rather terrifying. This is why saving America is so important. America will grow rapidly which we will begin to see this in about one or two years, I believe.
     I have not written about current affairs for a while, so here is my recent contribution.
(Reading of essay, “Some Thoughts on the Current State of Affairs,” Eikô, Issue 248, February 17, 1954.)
     What I have to say seems most obvious, but it pertains not just to politicians. Call it the way Japanese are nowadays. People just do not look at matters in a daijô, broad-minded, manner. They are entrapped in only small matters. American journalists are paying attention to World Messianity these days, and I hear a variety of critiques. Their views are rather on the mark. Japanese journalists are no match for them, and the Americans are anxiously looking forward to the completion of the paradise on earth and the realization of other activities. They say that when it is finished, they want to let everyone know about it on a world-wide scale. Japanese newspaper journalists, however, only think about flaws, if there is anything in our church to attack. They look at some of the other new religions, and they think that World Messianity is no different, so they make no attempt to see what is really going on. What they are doing is not “looking,” just “imagining.” To the rather lukewarm, indifferent attitude of Japanese newspapermen, American journalists are indignant. I do believe that it will probably be Americans who understand World Messianity’s undertaking sooner. The work as a whole will grow quickly so that is all right. In the prophetic writings of the Oomoto religion is the verse, “The area under the lighthouse is completely dark. Those who understand will come from afar.” I think this verse describes what will happen.
     Yesterday was the first day of spring, and the day before, the close of winter. The close of winter has a special relationship with the Oomoto religion. The deity who started Oomoto in the beginning was Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto. Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto is also known as the Golden Deity of the Devil’s Gate because he had been pushed away to the Devil’s Gate, a euphemism for the northeast direction. Let me speak a little about this deity. This deity originally controlled the world. This deity is bossy, that is, he is rather exact, strict, and the other deities could not put up with him, so they pushed him away to the northeast direction. He has been in seclusion for three thousand years, and during this period, he has been King of Judgment in the spiritual world. There is a verse in Oomoto’s prophetic writings that says that now, “The Golden Deity of the Northeast will appear as judge in this world and will rebuild the world.” This is what is happening. These prophetic writings begin with the verse, “In the three thousand worlds, the flower of the plum opened at once and it became the world of the Golden Deity of the Northeast,” followed by the verse, “When the time comes that flowers bloom from parched beans, God will also be happy.” On the day of the close of winter, the Japanese traditionally throw parched beans and shout “Out with the devils,” which derives from when the head of the evil forces, the deity Amewakahiko-no-mikoto said to Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto, “Come out again when flowers bloom from parched beans. I confine you so that you do not come out until then.” This is the meaning of throwing the parched beans. There is no reason not to believe this. But the prophetic writings go on to say, “The time will come when flowers bloom from parched beans,” so flowers have bloomed in parched beans. This began in 1892. The day before yesterday, on the day of the close of winter I experienced an amazing mystery, a miracle. What happened shows that very soon, Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto will appear on the surface. The phrase, “It became the world of the Golden Deity of the Northeast” in the verse, “In the three thousand worlds, the flower of the plum opened at once and became the world of the Golden God of the Northeast” means that he will take control of the world. Until now he directed the spiritual world, but from now on his activity will appear in the physical world. The day before yesterday was a prototype of this. God does and shows all in prototype. The prototype that appeared yesterday is something that I have been working on for three years. It has gone on and on and the day before yesterday it definitely appeared. I am very happy and it is something which should be greatly celebrated. What has resulted? Since this involves the King of Judgment, he is the deity of judgment. That is, distinguishing between good and evil, the activity of letting good flourish and evil, perish. This activity will manifest clearly from now on. The situation will greatly change from this point. The world, but especially in Japan since when speaking of the spiritual world Japan is the beginning, the spiritual world will become brighter. Becoming “brighter” means, of course, that the spirit of fire increases. From about this year, the incidences of diseases will slowly begin to increase. In addition, various bad things, matters that have been kept secret, will come to the surface. We have witnessed various corruption scandals in different fields lately, and the incidence of those that become public will also increase. Until now these have been very rare. What we see now is only the beginning. In these circumstances, when we get to a certain point, the increase of disease will come all at once. When this happens, we will be, as I always say, very busy, so we must prepare now. Members who may dawdle or do something that is not in accord with what God says will be dealt with severely. This has already begun to occur. You all must understand this thoroughly. A verse in Oomoto’s prophetic writings says, “When God becomes strict, the people will become quiet and calm,” which is very interesting. People whose egos want to show off or who do not listen to what God says will get their just reward, and these instances will increase to terrible levels.
     So, in that sense, things will differ from the way they were until today. Especially so, because at the end of next year the Paradise on Earth in Atami will be completed, and its completion will clearly reflect physically. Since it is not finished yet, these signs do not show yet but they are starting to. The Paradise on Earth in Atami is a prototype. God works all though showing prototypes, so all of you should carefully watch the prototype. Prototypes grow. For that reason, the Oomoto religion has tremendous significance. The meaning of Oomoto is as a preparation for my work. There is a term from the Buddhist tradition, “the Three Meetings of Maitreya.” It is used in phrases such as “the Dawn of the Three Meetings of Maitreya” and “the Bell for the Three Meetings of the Maitreya Rings.” Maitreya is composed of three persons. There is the Sun Maitreya, the Moon Maitreya, and the Earth Maitreya, that is, sun, moon, and earth. The center of Maitreya is the body and soul of Izunome. The foundress of Oomoto called herself “The body and soul of Izu,” which is vertical and symbolizes the father. Next, the cofounder, Onisaburo Deguchi, was the body and soul of the mother. So, they referred to themselves as a hermaphrodite male and a hermaphrodite female, respectively. A woman and yet male and a man and yet female, differentiating the spiritual from the physical. So, between the founder, the father, and the co-founder, Onisaburo, the mother, was born I. So, I am Izunome, joining vertical and horizontal, with me in the very middle. Nao is vertical so she represents the spiritual, and Onisaburo is horizontal so he represents the physical. Power is born from the joining of the spiritual and the physical. Power is a union of spirit and body and manifests when the spiritual and the physical are united. Until now great people like Shakya and Jesus did not unite these two aspects, so they were one-sided. Shakya was spiritual, vertical, and Jesus, physical, horizontal, so they did not have great power. The most important function of power is the healing of disease. What comes from the hand, invisible, what could be called a form of ki, or the spirit of fire, this power is the power that comes from the uniting of the spirit and the body. As this point gradually comes to be understood, people will see things clearly. Even leaders of considerable spiritual level could not heal disease until now because they did not manifest this power. They could not manifest this power because spirit and body were not joined. Nor was it the time for such power to manifest. I will gradually try to make this point clearer in the future. God had not wanted this point clarified until now, but the situation has changed now with the close of winter. Therefore, I will speak on this point as well in more definite terms from now on. As such, various other matters will come to be more fully understood as well.

Pages 13-19.
translated by cynndd