Great Construction

Truth, Virtue, Beauty

     As we unflaggingly advocate, our ideal, paradise on earth, is a world of complete truth, virtue, and beauty, but I would like to delve a little deeper into this topic. Taking each of these aspects of an earthly paradise in order, I will begin with truth.
     Truth is of course the embodiment of the principle of all that is just and sure. Truth is reality itself and refers to the actual way things are without contamination, obscurity, or any bit of adulteration. In the culture that has existed until the present, however, that which is not truth has been mistaken for truth, has been treated as truth, so it is the reality that falsehoods that are not truth have been quite prevalent. In spite of these circumstances, that this situation has not been perceived is due to the low level of academic learning. The reason for thinking as such can be seen by looking at the actual state of society today where most people work like beasts in order merely to survive and exist, absent any sort of hope. Despite the fact that most individuals thrash around in the midst of anxiety over disease, difficult living circumstances, and the threat of war, people everywhere say that we live in an advanced, civilized world. Observing conditions impartially, however, almost all human beings seem to be part of an illustrated handscroll painting of hell, hostile to and fighting with each other, anguishing in whirlpools of anxiety and unease, fearing collision. Such circumstances are the result of the false civilization I described above. It is pitiful because even intellectuals and thinking people do not perceive the falseness of contemporary civilization, continue to believe in it, and sing its praises.
     One good example of my description of our false civilization is applicable to the issue of disease. Because of the very fact that medical science does not accord with truth, any place one may look swarms with sick individuals. Tuberculosis, dysentery, Japanese encephalitis, stroke, infantile paralysis, and countless others, so many are the varieties of disease. Further, as an excuse for this situation, it is held that there were many diseases in ancient times as well but because medical science was not advanced, identifying diseases was impossible and that now it has come to the point that these diseases can be discovered. Be that as it may, what is sufficient for us is only to see the decrease of sick people and an increase in the number of healthy individuals. That is all we want.
     Just look at the situation! How contemporary people fear sickness and disease is all too obvious from the way authorities and professionals caution about hygiene and earnestly pursue prevention. Absurd are preventive injections and vaccinations. These do not cure sickness or diseases but only temporarily suppress conditions. This is the extent to which medical science does not understand the distinction between temporary suppression and complete healing, and these circumstances are unavoidable since even if medical science did understand this distinction, the current situation is that medical science does not know how to treat illness. Furthermore, because it is not at all understood that sickness is God’s providence for increasing health, efforts are devoted only to suppressing and such measures are believed to be progress.
     Moreover, this suppression process becomes the origin of disease and other conditions, so as it is plain to see that sickness increases the more “progress” medical science makes. Just look at how the number of sick individuals continues to grow and overall physical vitality decreases. For this reason, overwork and sleep deficiency are held in dread, people are without energy, undue strain cannot be attempted, and even the slightest amount of physical over-exertion results in utter exhaustion. The absurdity here is the encouragement of physical exercise in order to promote health. It is indeed a fact that sportsmen suffer premature deaths and that recently in the United States, the Caucasian sportsman cannot compete at all with the Negro athlete. Why this occurs does seem inexplicable. The records show that as the standards of health taught by World Messianity are adhered to and that as individuals continue to receive Johrei, demon sickness dissipates and these people come to possess true health.
     Next in order is virtue, the second aspect of paradise on earth. Virtue is of course the opposite of evil, and in answer to the question of what is evil, evil is caused by the atheism that is generated from materialistic thought. Virtue is generated by the opposite of evil, by theism. This is truth. But, as the denial of theism, which is truth, is the official position of science, as science advances, evil gradually increases. So, even if the progress of science is taken to be the progress of culture, it is progress only of the surface. All the same, the achievements of science are to be recognized, but still, the evil produced by science cannot be overlooked. Human beings who do not perceive this discrepancy extol only the positive aspects they see; to the negative, they make use of specious reasoning to imprison the leadership class in fallacy and insist that nothing can be resolved without science. Spiritual happiness grows more distant.
     Beauty is the next aspect of an earthly paradise, and beauty also entails issues. As culture advances, the element of beauty greatly increases, and some individuals may be quite comfortable, but the populace in general is not able to enjoy and make use of the benefits of beauty. Just look at how only one part of the privileged classes is blessed by being able to wear fine clothes, eat delicious foods, and live in magnificent mansions while the common people are lucky if they can eat at all. Their lives are not beautiful. All they have is enough subsistence to fill their stomachs, living spaces that allow only for sleeping, barely enough roads to get back and forth, and public transportation that permits boarding a vehicle only after pushing and shoving (this condition may be limited only to Japan).
     These are the circumstances in which, despite the blessing from God of the beauty of nature—varieties of trees and flowers, not to mention the beauty of the arts produced by human beings, ours is a society where these aspects of beauty cannot be universally enjoyed. It may be proclaimed that culture is highly developed, but if all humanity cannot bathe in these benefits, the society of today is only a paradise for the rich and a hell for the poor. These very results are because there is one great defect somewhere in civilization. The truly civilized world is one in which this defect has been corrected and all are able to possess fairly and enjoy. The construction of such a world is the mission of World Messianity.
     I am quite sure that the above has probably provided a good understanding of the true significance of the topic of truth, virtue, beauty, but what is necessary is energy and strength to bring about such a world. Mere pictures of rice cakes and empty talk have no meaning. But, rejoice! The ideal of a world of truth, virtue, and beauty is being realized and now appearing on this earth.

Chijôtengoku, Issue 52, page 5, September 25, 1953
 translation by cynndd

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“Shin Zen Bi,” which originally appeared in Chijôtengoku, Issue 52, page 5, September 25, 1953, has previously appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.

“Truth, Virtue and Beauty,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 438.