Great Construction
What a New Religion Is
It is quite gratifying to note that recently the phrase “New Religion” has come to attract attention from all areas of society and that topic has come to treated rather soberly in the press and in journals. To look at the way the subject is handled, however, it appears that simply because the religion has just appeared, it is haphazardly labeled as a “New Religion,” and its contents are indifferently treated. It is extremely regrettable that those concerned with New Religions are treated the same way. What I would like to say regarding this treatment is that if a religion is only a facade and its contents does not amount to anything religious, then that religion is nothing. That is to say, if the teachings and documents of a certain founder after a long period have become formalized, and theories that everyone is well acquainted with are adjusted by an individual’s subjectivity and made to wear new colors, if this is all that is done, then the result should not be called a New Religion. In addition, if buildings and other forms are being used as is from olden times and the motto of the organization is to return to the teachings of the founder, it is still distant from its times, and it cannot help but be thought intriguing that there is no one who finds this situation peculiar.
Peculiar because in this age individuals who have received the best quality of education and have developed the highest levels of intelligence have no reason to accept moldy teachings, the younger levels of society, particularly so. In that sense most of the believers of existing religions today are only being dragged along by tradition and concepts. Believers of New Religions, however, are different. There is no doubt that they join because they seek something new, but it appears that the number of true, steadfast believers is relatively low. In which case, guiding contemporary people to believe to the bottom of their hearts by having sound theoretical principles is probably insufficient unless there accompanies the religion irrefutable tangible benefits. Therefore, it is only natural that religious believers who are pursuing mere popular trends are temporary and the faith is not long-lasting. The other thing I want to say is that it is not true that contemporary people do not have a propensity for faith. From the modern perspective, there are few religions that are believable, and if there were believable religions, that contemporary people would believe is a certainty from my experience. Rather, it could be said that great is the number of people who are searching for a religion in which they can believe.
Because such religions cannot be found, unavoidably many do not have faith, and in those circumstances the first possible influence that comes to mind are the advances of material science. It is inevitable that people have naturally come to depend on that which fulfills human needs. In such a situation, those without faith cannot be blamed. But at this stage, there is an issue. The problem is that material science which is so trusted cannot solve human problems, and since it is often the case that religions cannot solve these problems either, people fall into a dilemma, and because there are no prospects in sight, some members of the intelligentsia descend into skepticism, a few lose hope, among whom, becoming desperate, end their lives, and others pursue a life satisfying their own amusements and pleasures. This is our world today. What I would like to add here is that there has appeared not one who is determined to be above a level greater than that of the personages of the historical religions that exist to date. Such a way of thinking precipitates despair. Those who despair half resign themselves, and the other half detach themselves from reality and conduct such activities as researching antiquated theories. The world of contemporary thought is in complete chaos and has no place to turn.
However, piercing this ignorant darkness suddenly appeared World Messianity. World Messianity has boldly brought down a large iron hammer on all fields of existing religions, steadily manifesting the capable execution of the exposure one by one of fallacies and the teaching of how a true civilization should be, so speaking in balanced terms, World Messianity is probably a marvel of the twentieth century. Thus, the fundamentals of this wonder are, as I always teach, that until today it was the world of night and the only light available amounted to the meager moonlight. To this condition has appeared the light of the sun. All unnecessary, impure harmful materials which were not visible until today will rise clearly to the surface. What has been called the light from the east since ancient times is World Messianity. As time advances, the sun will gradually rise to the center of the heavens, shining upon the entire earth. The present is the dawning period of that age.
All the theories that I propound in accordance with this principle astonish because they are all matters that have not been known. So unknown, in fact, that there are even people who misunderstand them. It is not unreasonable that there are those who are dismayed, flustered that suddenly has appeared to their unaccustomed eyes a culture of daylight when the world of night has continued for so long. It is here that there is another issue. Which is, that because it has turned into the world of daylight, from the culture of night God will keep that which is useful, and it is inevitable that that which is not useful will be eliminated. Moreover, since the light of the sun is sixty times stronger than the light of the moon, diseases that have been deemed intractable will be effortlessly resolved. This is clear by the facts that appear daily from the Johrei of World Messianity. To make this easier to understand, the light of the moon will be lost with the appearance of the brilliantly shining sun, and civilization will undergo a great transition, so the role given to World Messianity to perform this great project is straightforward.
Eikō, Issue 203, page A1, April 8, 1953
translated by cynndd
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“Shinshūkyō to wa Nani ka,” originally published on the front page of Eikō, Issue 203, April 8, 1953, was reprinted, while Meishu-sama still alive, in Goshinsho: Shūkyō Hen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 324, March 25, 1954. As far as is known, “Shinshūkyō to wa Nani ka” has not appeared in translation.