Great Construction

Beating the Dead

     This account is also of a time when my wife came down with stomach cramps. The pain in her stomach was so severe she thrashed around. When I went to treat her stomach, the pain lessened a bit did not go away. The area in pain was a circle of about one inch which after a while moved continually upward. Just when it seemed to reach the throat area, my wife shouted, “I can’t take it any more!” I thought that this must be a possessing spirit and asked, “Who are you?” The spirit seemed to want to speak but could not. I realized who it might be and asked, “Aren’t you the spirit of So-and-so who passed away three months ago from a brain disease?” The spirit said yes, and then as a result of using various means I found out what its purpose was. When the spirit had lived on earth, there had been several occasions when I had spoken to others about its shortcomings. The spirit wanted me to stop. I apologized to the spirit and promised that I would stop, so the spirit happily expressed its appreciation and went on its way. No sooner had the spirit gone than my wife returned to normal. An adage that has been around for a long time is “Don’t beat the dead” [English equivalent would be “don’t speak ill of the dead”], and I thought this experience was a good illustration of the old saying.

The Pathway to Light, Jikan Library, Volume 9, page 57, December 30, 1949
translated by cynndd

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“Shinin ni Muchiutsu” originally appeared as the fourteenth chapter of Hikari e no Michi, Jikan Sōsho, Daikyūhen (The Pathway to Light, Jikan Library, Volume 9), page 57, December 30, 1949, and, while Meishu-sama still alive, was reprinted in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyōhen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 478, March 25, 1954. As far as is known,“Shinin ni Muchiutsu” has not appeared in translation.