Great Construction

Book of Paradise, The Reality of the World of Miroku


     I publish here the following essays from Creation of Civilization as I believe them appropriate for the new year. 


Book of Paradise

     After having covered sections on science and religion, I now address my final topic which is paradise. What I will discuss are matters that no human being has yet been permitted to speak about with authority. Keep in mind that what I will describe is the basis for the plans of constructing a truly civilized world. Those who read of this for the first time, however, will probably think it only an ideal too far removed from present reality. Not so. That there is a high degree of feasibility for a truly civilized world to come about should become evident as my argument is followed.
     The fundamental condition for the Creator’s purpose of constructing paradise on earth is demonstration of the reality of Nature. This is because, as I have consistently written and taught, fundamental to the composition of all in the universe is the sun, moon, and earth. The essence of the universe is fire, water, and soil, so the trinity of these three energies generates and nurtures all life and without limit continues to develop the world. However, as I frequently teach, because the spiritual world has been in night until now, the sun was hidden. In other words, the world was ordered: moon, earth, sun. As this is not the true or proper order, the world has continued, mired in confusion, to lack harmony with the result of the present hellish situation we see today. This clash between good and evil, as I previously explained in this volume, was necessary and is nothing other than a profound aspect of God’s will. I also wrote that however slight, during the period of night the power of religion has been able to alleviate the effects of this clash. Shakyamuni’s teachings on the endurance of suffering, resignation, Christ’s atonement, and his love-thy-neighbor exhortation have no other meaning than having helped to alleviate the effects of evil.
     The world of night of which I have spoken and its transformation into the daylight age is a matter of properly ordering the three levels of the sun, moon, and earth, the way the cosmos should be. The fact that the world was not in proper order has the significance of which I previously spoke, but now the world will come to be in perfect form. The world will undergo a change of one hundred and eighty degrees, indeed extraordinary and unprecedented. Consequently, the appearance of our present civilization will change completely, and in general terms, the world will come to be, as I just mentioned, like the form of Nature, organized on three levels, each additionally divided, becoming six levels, and then further apportioned, becoming nine levels, in other words, three, six, nine, as shown by these numbers abbreviated in the Japanese language, Mi-ro-ku. Paradise on earth, another name for the world of Miroku is what this is, and I will here start to describe in specific terms step by step what kind of world it will be.

The Reality of the World of Miroku


     To begin, describing the world of Miroku from the international point of view, the boundaries of countries are as they are now, but in practical terms, lines of demarcation are as good as abolished. Neighboring countries are all equal in power, so that such as invasions have ceased, that is to say, the necessity for invasions has disappeared. To mention only briefly invasions until the present, there were those that were considered unavoidable and then there were those that were not. Unavoidable invasions were those, for example, that were made in search of extra lands for increasing populations. With no nation willing to accept excess portions of the population of other nations, any possible relief measure would unavoidably have been carried out. In these cases, war may have been the only recourse. These circumstances, however, do not occur in the world of Miroku. This is because in the world of Miroku, as there are many nations with excess space and less dense populations, countries with less area and surplus populations, such as Japan, can solve their problem easily. A World Assembly deliberates carefully and determines a course of action on all issues. Nations are not selfishly concerned only with their own interests as they have been until now, and all correct proposals and issues are resolved amicably. Even surplus populations of several tens of thousands of persons are annually assigned fairly among various nations. There is no reason for war at all. In the world of Miroku, such dealings are part of the work of the World Assembly, but each nation still has its own legislature. Unlike legislatures of today, however, the personal qualities of the representatives are of a high level. They have discarded self-interest and resolve all issues with a world-wide viewpoint that reflects a love for humanity. Therefore scenes such as in present-day legislatures with uproarious arguments back and forth do not occur. Because all matters are quickly resolved through calm and harmonious discussion, proceedings take less than one tenth of the time they take nowadays. Legislative business is capably disposed of, so only one session of three half-days every three months is necessary.
     There is a reason official business is expedited so easily. The number of laws has become much fewer. The good do not require measures such as laws, and since laws are only a necessity for dealing with evil persons, it is but natural that the number of laws decreases in a world without evil people. Considering the conditions and the kind of future legislative deliberations I have just described, how would a legislative session of the present seem? Frankly speaking, it would be fair to say that the legislatures nowadays would appear to future generations to have been rather like the gatherings of barbarians with only a thin veneer of culture.
     From another perspective, the World Assembly will be like the World Federation that recently has come to be discussed in the United States. The fact that this proposal has emerged suggests that the world of Miroku is approaching. The World Assembly can be thought of as a global extension of our own national legislatures. The head of this assembly are like the presidents of today. As such, there is a world president. The president’s term is three years, and candidates for position of president are of course selected from among the various representatives of each nation around the world whose number representing each nation is apportioned by the size of its population. This is the World Assembly.
     To refer to the second type of invasion, that is, naked aggression, in this age, each nation is not armed, so war is impossible. As I have just explained, all matters are handled reasonably and peacefully, and because populations can be allotted harmoniously, there is no necessity for me to write about conflict for the sake of conflict. 

Eikō, Issue 137, January 1, 1952
translated by cynndd


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“Tengoku-hen, Miroku no Yo no Jissō,” published originally on the front page of Eikō, Issue 137, January 1, 1952, as a newspaper article has, as far as is known, not appeared in translation. “Tengoku-hen, Miroku no Yo no Jissō,” was included in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyō-hen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), March 25, 1954, page 393, but the volume for which it was projected inclusion, Bunmei no Sōzō (Creation of Civilization), was never published while Meishu-sama was alive. A translation of the book’s manuscript, which apart from some typographical differences is the same as the newspaper article, was published, however, in 1978. Citation is given below for reference.


“The Book of Paradise, The Reality of the World of Miroku,” Creation of Civilization, 1978, page 190.