Great Construction

Good and Evil (Gospel of Heaven)


     I am going to explain about divine beings and devils, but doing so is extremely difficult. The difficulty arises because human beings are human beings and are neither divine beings nor are they devils. At the same time, human beings have freedom. What I mean by freedom is not liberalism. What I mean is the freedom for the human being to become either a divine being or a devil. I relate my views on divine beings and devils based on what I have learned from spiritual research.
     To begin, the intention, the will of God is absolute love and compassion. What I refer to here as God is the true God and not an evil god which may sound strange, but I state so because God is not malevolent but the very essence of right. What I mean here by an evil god was originally a true god who at one time fell into error. A god commits error because the true gods and the evil gods are constantly in conflict.
     Behind this conflict is the fact that the eight hundred myriads of gods as they are referred to in Japan, from the highest God to the lowest, belong to one of 180 levels. Thus gods of the second level and below are often defeated by evil gods. In other words, for a certain period, they become captive of an evil god. One poem by Moto-ori Norinaga goes “Even though there are / Eight hundred / Myriad gods, be careful! / Some are birds / Some are insects,” and this poem illustrates the point most aptly. In the world of night that has existed until today, the power of the evil gods has been strong and it was always easy to oppress the true gods. The confusion in the world stems from this imbalance. Since antiquity have been phrases like “good and evil are the same” or “good and evil are two sides to the same coin,” and these are truth. Good and evil are relative; good exists because evil exists and evil exists because good exists. Therefore, the good or evil of a situation should be determined according to time, place, and circumstances. For example, there are instances when what is good in the present age may become evil in the next age. An individual killing another person is homicide, but in cases such as war, the killing of a whole group of people is considered praiseworthy. Whether on an individual basis or on a national scale, evil flourishes temporarily but in the end is destroyed, while good suffers temporarily but when its time comes, will certainly flourish. And, when one understands the reality of life after death, it becomes possible to become an individual of eternal happiness. There is an easy method to know whether a human being becomes a divine being or a devil. That way is whether the invisible is believed or not. In other words, if the invisible is believed, improvement to divine level is possible, but the person who does not believe so has the danger of falling to the level of the demons.
     Human beings do not commit evil because of the concept that they know that they have seen the gods and buddhas and know that they exist. The perception that there is nothing invisible in this world is the concept that there is nothing wrong with doing any kind of evil as long as it is not seen or known about. When this thought is pursued to the end, even demons will fall. Thus, there is no way that there is a truly good person who is a materialist. Even if there happens to be a materialist who is a good person, that goodness does not come from a heartfelt feeling. That goodness exists because it is a calculation for preserving trust, from a fear that exposure would mean loss of trust. This kind of goodness amounts only to a type of utilitarian good. Dear readers! Are there not just too many of these good persons in disguise in contemporary society? In this sense, there would be no objection in determining that the individual who believes in what is not visible to the eyes is the person of true good.
     But there is a point here to which attention should be paid. That point is that there is a difference of results between faith in a true God and faith in an evil god. Many members of society practice a very vigorous faith in some god or buddha, but they do not seem to be concerned with the members of their family or others in general. There are people who have no love, those for whom a love for others is lacking, who are nihilistic, and for whom performing unjust acts is quite normal, and this is because the gods or buddhas of their faith are evil. In this regard is the anecdote concerning a traveler who was being questioned by the police for leaving a restaurant without paying for his food. In his possession was found a bundle of 100-yen banknotes. When questioned about it, he replied that the money was to be donated to ABC Temple and not one bill could be removed from the roll. This is most likely the pattern of the believer of an evil sect. This kind of believer fervently practices faith while following a wicked path and becomes unfortunate. Therefore, in faith with gods or buddhas of the highest level, health that increases, a family which becomes closer, the household that prospers, and gaining respect from others are the results of a true faith.
     And then, there are instances as in the following. There are those persons who sincerely serve their deity and earnestly practice their faith who throughout the years are continually plagued by illness, poverty, unfortunate circumstances, and so forth and who cannot escape their life of suffering and pain. Such situations are explained by moralizing and attributing pain and suffering to good. That is, the situation is due either to a test by God or as a part of proof of eliminated sins. Or, in cases of intractable diseases, when consulting a religious figure, the reply is something to the effect that all human beings must overcome life and death. But this is how I think about situations such as these. That is, the deities in both these instances are true deities, deities of good, but these believers suffer because the deity is not of the first rank and does not wield absolute power. So, the question arises as to why all the religions and all their deities do not wield absolute power and energy. There is a reason for this. During the age of night, all deities and buddhas were on the lineage of the deity of the moon, and the lineage of the moon is not of the highest level, so they could not wield and manifest absolute power.

Gospel of Heaven, page 317, February 5, 1947
translated by cynndd

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“Zen to Aku,” the thirteenth chapter of the Appendix to Tengoku no Fukuin (Gospel of Heaven), published on February 5, 1947, was reprinted in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyōhen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 149, March 25, 1954. No translations are known to exist.