Great Construction
Heavenly Religions and Hellish Religions
At mention of the word “religion,” all are aware that those who have faith in a religion believe that spiritually and physically they will receive great blessings, achieve true peace of mind, be able to create a happy household, and along with these benefits, that society and the nation will improve, so they earnestly and wholeheartedly worship with the goal of realizing the ideal of making this world into a heavenly paradise, but there is an important distinction here about which I will write. This distinction is the one between heavenly religions and hellish religions.
In plain terms, religions to date, to the degree that it is fair to say all, have been hellish religions, and it is also fair to say that there has been no true heavenly religion. Needless to say, World Messianity is the first heavenly religion to appear. The differences between World Messianity and the religions the world has so far experienced are in every way, appreciable.
Believers of World Messianity understand well the following points: that World Messianity can easily heal conditions that so-called leading-edge medical treatments cannot cure is well illustrated in the pages of each issue of this newspaper; that this astonishing healing power can be manifested by anyone who has attended a training course of several days; that patients who have been forsaken by medical doctors are healed, and that each can heal their own illnesses, all points that probably most find difficult to accept. But these points are hard and fast, so those who doubt should experience them for themselves. Those who have done so and joined World Messianity find themselves and their families growing healthier day by day, becoming in the end families without disease. They become vibrant and vigorous, so cheerfulness increases in their households, all matters come to proceed smoothly, and they grow to be truly joyful members of society. These people had naturally been under the care of doctors and had used pharmaceuticals for many years, but after that connection had been severed, the enormous amount of benefit they have received, whether financially or mentally, was unimaginable. These benefits are the very salvation of heaven, and for the people of the hellish society today gasping in desperation, these benefits are utterly unbelievable but are nothing else than the realization of the ideal dream of humanity.
Due to the benefits described above, World Messianity differs completely from most of the faiths today. In fact, in spite of an earnest faith in one of the religions to date, most ordinary believers have contracted diseases and unavoidably have had to come under the care of the medical profession. Not only are diseases not easily healed, often there are unfortunate results, some sufferers resigning themselves that this was their fate in life. In these situations, the reality is that lives are spent trembling in fear as all are exhorted to be careful about catching colds, becoming infected by tuberculosis or other communicable diseases, getting chilled, overindulging in food or drink, and so forth. What must be termed the most tragic of all are sufferers who can be seen to spend many long years moaning in a hospital but are still satisfied that they have been saved by God. From our perspective, these are simply cases of self-deception. Such individuals are to be pitied because in these situations they resign themselves to fate, struggle to suppress their suffering, and hold the idea that they are satisfied that their condition is a blessing of their faith, a sentiment quite incomprehensible to ordinary common sense. Even though the individuals themselves may feel saved spiritually, the family around will be miserable. These individuals cannot be completely unaware of the situation, but because of their physical suffering, they probably do not have the wherewithal to consider such matters. Put in simple terms, even if saved spiritually, one is not saved physically. Only one half of the person is saved but the remaining half is not saved.
True salvation means that both the spiritual and the physical have been saved, but there is probably no religion in the world able to produce this achievement. Thus, individuals resign themselves to being only half saved and become believers in an existing religion, and heaven grows further away, so ultimately it is a hellish salvation. One example of this is to observe that nowadays most major religions operate hospitals. It is distressing that society approves of these activities and extols them as admirable. Such a fact is nothing more than the religion confessing that it has no power to heal diseases. The way it should be is that religion is above material science, but in these cases, religions are below science. Simply speaking, the organizations have forfeited their lives as religions. On the other hand, there are the achievements of World Messianity’s characteristic feature of healing, and indeed, patients that material science could do nothing about are readily healed. World Messianity is the very religion of life.
In addition, World Messianity greatly encourages the arts. There are some existing religions that also do so, but there are probably no others that place such a strong emphasis on art as World Messianity. That is because, as I continually teach, heaven is a world of art. As the arts refer to the beauty in the phrase, “truth, virtue, beauty,” they are exceedingly important. Needless to say, the inspiration human beings receive from the arts cannot be underestimated. Through art, in spite of oneself, unawares, not only is the mind and heart entertained, character is raised, and the connection to peace and friendship, cultivated. A look at nature illustrates this. To begin is the beauty of the landscape. The beauty of scenery experienced during the four seasons purifies the grime of daily life, restores vitality, nurtures bright sentiments and makes plentiful, knowledge to a degree unknown in history. Then again, there abounds on the earth that which can lead to pleasing sentiments in whatever town or village, from that such as the greenery of the forests, colorful flowers, the various sorts of songs from the many kinds of birds, the butterflies that dance in the spring fields, and the sounds of autumn insects. The twinkling stars in heaven have always invited the hearts of onlookers to the realms of mystery. These all are nothing more than a sign of the profundity of divine intention. In other respects is the great variety of the fruits of the mountains and seas that delight the human sense of taste. What particularly deserves mention is the beauty created by human beings, from the grace of dancers, the beauty of the singing voice, the symmetrical beauty of those involved in sports, and the beauty of the female nude to the innate abilities bestowed upon human beings for painting, sculpture, the various crafts, architecture, and the art of landscaped gardens. There are no limits to this beauty. Indeed this world overflows with the beauty of nature and the beauty produced by human beings. When we look at and ponder these aspects, we surely must see God’s will which is needless to say that in the future will be created a paradise, heaven for which all is preparation.
In this sense, as models, I am constructing physical prototypes of paradise on earth whose concepts synthesize and harmonize natural beauty and the beauty created by human beings, epoch-making pieces of art not attempted by anyone ever before. These grounds will greatly encourage many to come to understand God’s will, deepen their joy at life, and improve their dispositions, so this fact alone should show that World Messianity is indeed a heavenly, paradisial religion.
Existing religions, however, have since antiquity been indifferent to the concept of beauty. Rather, beauty was disavowed which was mistakenly understood as the way religion should be. The more fervent the religious believer, the more they were content with coarse food and clothing, poor housing, and a low standard of living. It would be fair to say that such a life is not full of truth, virtue, beauty but rather it is full of truth, virtue, ugliness. Upon entering, the atmosphere of the homes of such believers is depressing, which most would feel is hell. We want to call such places “faith hells.” Because these believers perceive us with this attitude, there is no way they are going to understand our position. As long as they look upon us through the eyes of hell, they will interpret World Messianity’s way of conducting itself as mistaken, but their interpretation is a terrifying superstition. Thus, we want to demolish this superstition, awaken all, and lead the world to recognize that a paradisial religion is the true religion.
When viewed in this way, most troublesome to deal with are the attitudes of contemporary people. In addition to the superstition of science can be added the religious superstition, and because these superstitions make this world a hell, people must be brought to understand these blind spots. For this is required a super religion which transcends religion, that is, the appearance of a paradisial religion. I declare that that paradisial religion is World Messianity. I declare so because until now has been the world of night and that finally has started the transition to the daylight world. All can understand that World Messianity has been born with the great mission of creating heaven now.Eikō, Issue 127, page A1, October 25, 1951
translated by cynndd
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“Tengokuteki Shūkyō to Jigokuteki Shūkyō” first appeared on the front page of Eikō, Issue 127, October 25, 1951, and while Meishu-sama still alive, was reprinted in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyō Hen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 222, March 25, 1954. As far as is known, “Tengokuteki Shūkyō to Jigokuteki Shūkyō” has not appeared in translation. In 1953 Meishu-sama wrote an entirely different essay with the same title, “Tengokuteki Shūkyō to Jigokuteki Shūkyō,” so these two essays should not be confused.