Great Construction

The Relationship Between Dragon Spirits and Disease

      The following is an account of a disease caused by a spiritual condition. From the point of view of someone with no knowledge of spiritual matters, it must seem to be absolutely mystifying, so I will provide an outline here.
     Among the ancestors of this household is one who died and went to the spiritual world, and due to some kind of an attachment, turned into a dragon spirit. After a long period the spirit despaired of being saved but somehow learned of the appearance of our church in the spiritual world, was very happy, and desperately wanted to be saved. To accomplish his purpose, he used the body of a child in his family line and tried to show his dilemma in a dream to the mother. The spirit also tried to make the family aware of the death of the sister-in-law’s child as well. The reason the water flooded over when the family had gone to the riverbank to make offerings where the death occurred was that the spirit was hungry because it had not had any food for a such a long while so it desperately tried to take it. The reason the child’s body on the mother’s back turned languid was because the dragon spirit possessed it in order to receive Johrei itself. This account teaches us that not only physical disease but many other varieties of calamities have a close relationship to the spiritual world.

Spirit That Died by Drowning Saved by the Light

Shige Fujiwara, 23
Hyogo Prefecture
Hôsei Church

     I would like to relate the wondrous account of the healing of an unusual spiritual condition. The two children (two- and four-years old) of Fujiko Kawasaki of Masudo-cho, Shimane Prefecture, both had a series of sicknesses and disease since they were born. They had both been under the care of doctors for a long time and much money had been spent, but neither had shown discernible improvement. Moreover, even the mother who had had to take her children to the doctor’s office so often also began to feel ill when she had to go there and always felt relieved when leaving the clinic. She spent each day in fatigue and tears. Mrs. Kawasaki learned about the path from a neighbor and promptly joined the church in August. The children became better when they received Johrei, but after a while their condition again worsened. As we continued to channel Johrei to the two children, we thought there might be a spiritual cause to their condition but were unable to pin down anything definite. It was at this time on February 2, 1951, in the morning that Fujiko’s four-year-old child started to cry when they were about to leave for Nakasu in the same town. It was at this moment that we realized that this was the place where Fujiko’s husband’s sister-in-law’s child had drowned. We had a feeling and immediately went to the wife’s family home. When we arrived at the house, we found only Fujiko’s mother at home. The mother looked at Fujiko’s face and, although a non-member, immediately said, “I’m glad you’ve come! Last night I had a strange dream. It was a dream in which you had a small straw sandal like the kind children wear and you took it to the riverbank where my grandchild drowned. You offered the sandal as a votive and were praying for the child.” Thinking it all very strange, Fujiko prepared more offerings and went with her mother to the riverbank. Offerings were placed on the riverbank, and all prayed the Amatsu-Norito and the Zengen Sanji. While praying, the surface of the water that had been so peaceful suddenly formed a large water spout only in the place in front where the group was praying and this spout caused large waves that flooded the banks and took all the offerings into the river, including the kettle we had brought with which to drink tea afterwards. Completely surprised, we thought we had to at least save the kettle, reached out, and took it back. Then we chanted the Zengen Sanji again and the bodies of the children who had been peacefully riding on the backs of two of the adults suddenly went limp. The children looked as if they were dead, and shocked, we hurriedly took the children home. First of all, we channeled Johrei to the children in front of the family altar and prayed. The children were moaning in agony, but they became quiet and suddenly opened their eyes. After Johrei sessions of about twenty to thirty minutes, the children became more comfortable and as it became nighttime, they gradually became more energetic. The younger two-year-old also improved. And, in a few days the two children were again playing vigorously each day with the other children of the neighborhood. After a long struggle with misguided medical science and continually praying for help to various gods and buddhas, the family was finally saved by this path and the cause of the adorable children’s condition had unexpectedly been the interference of a spirit also was learned. We all experienced the powerful virtue of the Amatsu Norito and Zengen Sanji prayers and are now living each day with gratitude.

Eikô, Issue 96, March 21, 1951
translated by cynndd