Great Construction
Evil and the Three Spirits
In the previous chapter I discussed the necessity for evil in the development of our world, but even if evil is not necessary now, that does not mean that its elimination will be an easy task. God’s economy does indeed have subtle and profound aspects. This point will be discussed subsequently, but to understand this explanation, first the composition of the universe requires understanding. It is common knowledge that three bodies, the sun, the moon, and the earth float in the center of the universe. Each of these three bodies has its own essence, or spirit. The sun is composed of the spirit of fire; the moon, of hydrogen, or “the spirit of water”; and the planet earth, of “the spirit of earth,” or nitrogen. Each element, or spirit, has its own characteristic, and each manifests itself in its own manner. Of these three elements, two of them, fire and water, combine to form air which surrounds the earth and regulates all birth and growth.
On the planet earth as it is so constituted, everything is either negative (yin) or positive (yang). Yang is the spirit of fire and yin is the spirit of water. Fire burns vertically and water flows horizontally. The combination of vertical and horizontal becomes twill-like states and moves. This amalgamation of particles is unimaginably infinitesimal and extends to a certain level above the earth. We know this as the layer of air, as the atmosphere. The essences of yin and yang manifest and appear physically as fire and water, heat and cold, day and night, light and dark, spirit and body, male and female. In terms of good and evil, yang is spirit and good, and yin is body and evil. Good and evil are meant to contrast and are the fundamental aspect of nature.
This principle of duality can also be seen in human beings, who are composed of a visible physical body and an invisible spirit. Body and spirit share an intimate, inseparable relationship. What supports human life is the life energy that is born from the fusion of body and spirit. There is a law that applies here. This law holds that spirit is primary and body is subordinate, and there are many examples that demonstrate this relationship. The center of the human spirit is the human mind or heart where motivation is housed and that commands the activity of body. It is clear that spirit is the essence and is that which regulates the human body. The reason for the existence of an evil aspect to the human spirit is of paramount importance, and I will write about this issue in detail, but the only terms I have available for use are religious, so please read the following on this basis. I ask this because the issue of good and evil is one of heart, of mind.
To turn to this chapter’s topic of evil and the human being, since each human being is composed of spirit and body, it is quite clear upon consideration that any science which has come to be based solely on the material, physical side, no matter how far it may be thought to have progressed, is after all is said and done still one-sided and handicapped; in these circumstances true science has no chance of formulation. The existence of human beings is based on a relationship between spirit and body, and a true science must be based on this awareness.
The source of the good-evil duality is in mind, in heart, that is, spirit, and in all instances, spirit precedes the physical. I will continue my explanation based on this truth, and with careful examination, the fundamentals should be comprehensible. The human being starts at conception. In physical terms, a male sperm travels to a female egg and penetrates it. In terms of spirit, a part of God’s spirit becomes one soul and houses itself in the developing human body. The term of pregnancy ends, the infant is born, and in addition to the soul, two other spirits approach and attach themselves to form an association of three spirits. One of these spirits is the secondary spirit and this is an animal spirit. The secondary spirit usually attaches itself to the human child around the age of two or three. The other spirit is called the guardian spirit, and although it does not attach itself directly to the human being, it has the role of staying close to and protecting the human being at all times. These two spirits will stay with the human being for its life in the physical world, so it may be appropriate to call the human being a cooperative unity of three entities.
In the series of events that constitute the formation of a human being, the first spirit to dwell in the physical body is the primary spirit, the soul. It is divinity itself. The idea existing since antiquity that the nature of the human being is basically good stems from this fact. The next spirit, the secondary spirit is exactly the opposite to the primary spirit and is evil itself. Anyone who truly looks within knows well that the evil, secondary spirit, is always in conflict with the good, primary spirit. The third spirit, the guardian spirit, is chosen from among those in the family who have already died. This spirit is always with and acts to guard the human being. The guardian spirit protects against causes that lead to misfortune, whether it be natural disaster, dangerous situations, sickness, wrongdoing, negligence, or degradation. This protection manifests in ways such as little voices, dreams, interruptions, mix-ups, and tardiness. One example is the individual who was too late to board a train which afterwards had an accident and thus was able to avoid injury or death. Or, the obstacle which occurs when one is about to encounter evil that makes that encounter impossible.
In various ways, the primary spirit and the secondary spirit are always in conflict. If the primary spirit prevails, the individual performs good and if the secondary spirit prevails, the individual performs evil. Human beings thus have a nature that is intermediate, between God and beast. As we can well see from the workings of society, the human being can improve and approach the level of God, or fall to the level of animals. In the case of the Japanese, of which I have the most experience, in males, the secondary spirit is often the dead spirit of a goblin, snake, fox, horse, dog, or some of kind of fowl, but there are also other varieties. In females, the dead spirits of foxes, snakes, cats, and various kinds of fowl are primarily secondary spirits, with other kinds as well. In addition to the secondary spirit, other spirits may temporarily possess the human being from time to time. Modern people may find this preposterous to believe, but it is truth without one iota of error, and to the extent that it is unbelievable, society is bewitched by the superstition that the material world is all there is. Understanding will come as this superstition is cast aside. In many cases, the nature of the possessing secondary spirit makes its presence visible through the actions of its subject, so when the possessed person is carefully observed, the kind of spirit that is possessing can be ascertained.
Most of the spirits who temporarily possess human beings are animal spirits, and occasionally the dead spirit of a human being will possess someone living, but only rarely will the spirit of a living individual possess another living person. The reason a spirit is able to temporarily possess another human being is because the spirit of the possessed is clouded, which makes it easier for an evil spirit to attach itself. Through possession, the secondary spirit is also able to increase its own power, leading the possessed person to commit more evil acts. The great majority of people today have spirit that is heavily clouded, a condition that enables evil spirits to actively work and possess others easily, so crime in society increases. In contrast to people with heavily clouded spirit, the spirit of those believers in some form of higher being have less cloud on their spirits. These persons enjoy doing good because their souls are purified. Herein lies the value of faith, because spirit of those who maintain faith have the power to suppress evil spirits. There are those who do not have faith in a higher being and yet appear to be good, but these can be considered persons in danger, because an evil spirit may possess them at any time. In order to make a society better, there is no other way than to increase the number of those who possess pure spirit. The soul was created to be an emitter of light, and the greatest fear of the animal spirit is this light. Most people today, however, have a clouded soul which is quite inviting for animal spirits. Under these conditions animals spirits make human beings dance to their will, so the natural condition of society is pandemonium. Moreover, those members of society in positions to lead are blind to this situation and try to control evil with laws and penalties. The makeshift remedies which merely plaster over the real situation miss the mark and do not succeed. I am sure that Japan’s Diet is not the only national legislature whose main agenda consists of adding and revising laws and penalties, endlessly creating bandages that constantly have to be reapplied.
Thus, the basic nature of evil is obvious, and it bears no repeating that there is no way to fundamentally resolve the problem of evil but through faith. There are various levels of faith, however, higher, intermediate, or lower, depending on the level of divinity of the focus of worship. These beings are apportioned respectively on the one hundred and eighty-one levels of the spiritual world, divided between the forces of good and those of evil, so distinguishing the differences can be quite difficult. In society, we often see people who quite fervently express their faith but do not receive the blessings they crave, are not cured of illness, and are not satisfied with their lives. That is because the power of the being they worship is weak and cannot control activities of evil forces. Most troubling, members of the general public see this and think all faiths are a form of low-grade superstition. Even if they see a good religion such as World Messianity, they lump it together with other religions of lesser power. Also dangerous is that since long ago, all divine beings have been seen to be on the same level and people of the world have not realized that there are differences in rank among them. Until the present, a religion representing the divine from the very highest has not appeared, but now, thankfully, divinity of the highest level has manifested on earth.
Thus, even though divine forces of good have been worshiped to the present, their power was weak because they were of a lower rank, so in the battle between good and evil, evil has prevailed, even if temporarily. People see the victories of evil, become entranced, and try to imitate the evil forces. In particular, there are many instances from history of those who were particularly possessed with ambition and power, people known to posterity as great personages. These individuals might have been successful at first, but there are no exceptions to the fact that they all failed in the end. In spiritual terms, some great evil force possessed the person who with this support was able in the beginning to ascend to great heights, but at some point, the possessing spirit leaves. From my personal knowledge, recent historical figures such as Kaiser Wilhelm II, Mussolini, and Hitler were good examples of this phenomenon. After their failure, they seemed as different persons, slow and idiotic, as if the energy had been drained from them. Such is the case whenever a great evil spirit leaves a body. Quite shockingly, about two thousand years ago, the entity in charge of the evil forces in the spiritual world formulated a meticulous, long-range plan to seize control of the world, and those machinations have continued until today, with the forces of good continuing to fight this plan. Divine beings on earth who are representatives in the fight against evil are Jesus Christ, Shakyamuni, Mohammed, and, in Japan, various beings in the lineage of the divine being Kunitokotachi-no-mikoto.
Our Creator has set good against evil in a conflict to advance material culture. At present, evil forces have won ninety-nine percent of the battle and have almost achieved victory. As the gravity of this situation is fully comprehended, as many as possible must be awakened to the truth. There will be some who will awaken suddenly and be able to understand the situation we face today.
Creation of Civilization, unpublished, 1952
translated by cynndd* * *
“Aku to Shugorei,” now known as the third chapter of “Joron” (“Introduction”), the first of the three parts that presently remain of the manuscript for the volume Bunmei no Sōzō (Creation of Civilization), a book that Meishu-sama never published but which now is dated 1952 even though Meishu-sama had started writing it earlier, has appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.
“The Evil and The Guardian Spirit,” Creation of Civilization, 1978, page 11.