Great Construction

Road to Paradise

     A fundamental condition must be taken into consideration in order to change this world into paradisial one, that is, to eliminate Aku (injustice, vice) which lurks in the heart of man. However, people in general apparently do not like Aku and are afraid of being deemed vicious. Furthermore, the essential point of ethics and education in general has been to admonish people against Aku. One of the main purposes of religion in general is to recommend Zen (justice, virtue) and denounce Aku. Among a family, each member naturally wishes one another to perform Zen. Laws exist to punish vicious people.
     Despite the above facts, Aku still exists. However, people of Aku may be divided into four groups. (1) A person who commits Aku intentionally. (2) Those who perform Aku unconsciously. (3) Those who perform Aku under stress. (4) Those who perform Aku while believing it to be Zen.
     The first will need no explanation. The second may be said to be the most prevalent in the world. To the third group may belong barbarous people, imbecile, weak-minded people, etc. Those who belong to the fourth group may be said to have the worst influence upon the world in general, since they perform that which they believe to be Zen openly and most enthusiastically, whereas it is actually Aku.
     Now let me write on the relation between Aku and the progress of civilization. In olden times when people were still barbaric and uncivilized, the stronger preyed upon the weaker, deprived them of freedom, plundered them, or murdered them, so people provided every possible means to protect themselves against such dangers. Collective as well as individual efforts and devices of self-protection contributed to improve human knowledge and wisdom, without doubt. On agreement between groups to secure safety might have been an original form of the international treaty today. From social regulations to punish those who dared to disturb the peace of a community might have originated modern criminal laws.
     However, these devices and efforts made by mankind have not been sufficient to eliminate Aku from human society. Thus the strife between Zen and Aku has continued up to date. Innumerable numbers of virtuous people must have been killed in the strife. Great religionists have appeared from time to time to save the people. They have tried to afford spiritual relief to the distressed and to make vicious people repent of their sins through preaching. Such has contributed to improve the condition of the world to some extent, but it has been unable to change the general trend of the world.
     On the other hand, mankind has developed material civilization to eliminate unhappiness which has resulted from Aku. The unexpected progress of material civilization, however, was unable to eliminate Aku, contrarily it has even contributed to promote evils by making the scale of war much larger.
     At the bottom of this phenomena, however, there is perceived the deep dispensations of God. The ideal of both spiritual and material civilizations is a realization of an ideal world where eternal peace and happiness dominate. As a result of the fact that the above ideal can not be realized, intelligent men are haunted by doubts and have come to a deadlock. Some of them are seeking for a solution in religion or philosophy, but most of them seem to believe that only the progress of science may bring about a final solution.
     Should Aku be the fundamental cause of human unhappiness, there must arise a question as to why God has created Aku in this world. This must be one of the problems which has worried mankind most.
     I believe that Aku has been necessary up to date in order to advance material science, progress of which has been speeded up through the struggle between Zen and Aku. This must be an unexpected answer, but it is true. For example, war, a most miserable disaster which kills innumerable people has driven man to devise every possible means to avoid war, as a result of which the progress of civilization has been given impetus to a great extent.
     Should a war continue over too long a period, complete destruction of a country or civilization might result. So God stops a war at a proper stage in order to avoid complete destruction. Thus, war and peace have continued alternatively. This is the actual stage of human history. In the community, criminals and procuration authorities are always matching wits with each other, or individuals are at variance with one another. These are basically the results of the strife between Zen and Aku, and an impetus for the progress of civilization.
     Should the conflict between Zen and Aku have been necessary for the development of civilization, Aku will be said to have been necessary up to date. However, it should be known that the necessity of Aku is limited.
     It is necessary to know the purpose of God to understand the above. The end of the world as prophecied by founders of various religions including Jesus Christ actually must have meant the end of the world of Aku. That which is to come after the end of the world of Aku is the ideal world which is free from disease, poverty and strife and where truth, virtue and beauty are dominate.
     In order that such a wonderful world may be realized, a corresponding preparation is necessary. The material and spiritual condition must be ready to form such a world. The material side has been developed in advance to spiritual side through God’s dispensation because the spiritual side can be developed very rapidly, whereas it requires time for the material side to be developed. Atheism was born in order that the human mind may be chiefly concentrated upon the development of material culture. So atheism may be said to be a fundamental condition of Aku. Thus good people have been afflicted by Aku and the conflict between Zen and Aku has continued over a long period, as a result of which man has been struggling in seeking for happiness.
     Therefore, the miserable condition of mankind can not be helped considering that the existence of Aku has accelerated the progress of civilization to a great extent.

Teachings of Meishu and Kyoshu, page 21, no date (1959?)