May 15, 2021 Shinja Kokoro no Michi Benkyōkai
Summary of Shinji from Kyōshu Seishisha Tomomarukō Sensei

The theme for Benkyōkai in May —Kōei Shinja Sampaiji — isBuild a family where the kokoro of family members come together based on the principles.” The Shinji shows the theme for this year on page 2 of Yūwa #332 and 333. As Kami revealed, the current society is in confusion symbolized by COVID-19 pandemic with human beings unable to perceive their mainstay in life, confusion and doubt arise when their thoughts rely on knowledge and effort. Therefore, Kami taught us shinja should strive to make the teachings the mainstay of their kokoro (life) as they live. By given such instruction from Kami, everyone has learned the teachings every month from January, and strove to practice.

Now is Kōei Shinja Sampaiji and entered the latter half of the year. What we need to remember to bear fruits is having realized the truth about what a family is, family members must strive to live by the teachings. The truth about what a family is the Principles of Tachiki (*). When we are involved in our family with a full understanding of it, the kokoro (jittai) of each family member gradually deepens in understanding, the emotions to reach out to one another, to enhance one another, to support one another grow, and the power of each unmei is drawn out. Then, the movement of kokoro for a moment is led and protected from the accident or disaster. Everyone needs to reflect on themselves from May—if you are realizing the truth about what family is, and if you are striving to live by the teachings with your family members.

 

Shinji
The power that supports society is the unmei.
As the unmei is the power that Kami has placed in all things, harmony and balance are created in a society where this power comes together and is enhanced.
However, human beings, having forgotten and disregarded the kokoro to live in the spiritual world, live in a materialistic world.
To the Shinja
The power (unmei) that supports society is honed and drawn out in a family that lives in harmony—be aware of this truth.
The more the teachings are learned as a family, the kokoro (unmei) of a person (human beings) anchors and the kokoro (jittai) to go off the path is corrected.
The jittai that is fostered in a family will separate life into light and darkness in the future.
Today there are many people in the world who walk the path of wrongdoing.
That is why they are unable to make the best of their unmei’s strengths and are lost.
The era is being corrected in the hands of Kami with the power (unmei) of the times to maintain a constant state of harmony and balance.
Society will greatly change in order to return the present era, where the path has been neglected, to the correct path.
An era will begin where people who learn the principles from the teachings and deepen their understanding will guide the world.
The teachings will fully enrich the human kokoro (life) and people who seek peace will come together.

 

This Shinji on May 15th is on page 6 of Yūwa #333. It consists of two realizations, and an understanding. First paragraph is a realization.

The power that supports society is the unmei.
However, human beings, having forgotten and disregarded the kokoro to live in the spiritual world, live in a materialistic world.
As the unmei is the power that Kami has placed in all things, harmony and balance are created in a society where this power comes together and is enhanced.

All of creation such as people, things, lands, and eras have the power of unmei. The power that supports society is not only politics, economy, education, and medical treatment, but the unmei that all things have. The unmei is the power that Kami has placed in all things, it is indispensable for us to see to it that this power comes together and is enhanced. Then, harmony and balance are created. That is to say, because each existence comes together, harmony is created, and peace is maintained. This is true with the family, workplace, and international relationships as well.

However, without being aware of the spiritual world, current people tend to be absorbed in a materialistic world. A materialistic world means that kokoro is obsessed with things. There are so many people who think in term of what is profit and what is loss. It is important to cherish kokoro as “I am grateful to his consideration for me.” or “It is filled with a heartiness.” The unmei will not be drawn out if they are obsessed with things, not being aware of the spiritual world.

For example, in regards the COVID vaccinations. Although the government is doing its best for the people, some only criticize saying that the process is too slow, or the countermeasures are not enough. That is because they only see form and practice. Most news reports only forms and does not refer to the thoughts that are behind the phenomenon. Therefore, if you are only aware of the content of news, you will be swallowed by its information. What is important is to cherish kokoro

The next paragraph is a second realization.

To the Shinja
The power (unmei) that supports society is honed and drawn out in a family that lives in harmony—be aware of this truth.
The more the teachings are learned as a family, the kokoro (unmei) of a person (human beings) anchors and the kokoro (jittai) to go off the path is corrected.
The jittai that is fostered in a family will separate life into light and darkness in the future.

The unmei of each person given by Kami is honed and drawn out in a family that lives in harmony. Therefore, strive to support society with your own strength without being confused, irritated, and perplexed by changes of society.

To support society means not only to support large society but also a close family at the basis of it. That is because the family is the smallest social unit. When our emotions anchor at home where our kokoro feels at ease, we could make the best of our strength in many situations and be of use to many people including the family.

To be a family where each soul feels at ease, it is important that the teachings are learned as a family. If the teachings become a part of all family members, they will encourage and support one another. As the kokoro (jittai) to go off the path is corrected, they will be unconsumed by egoism or greed, free from troubles.

The more the jittai that is fostered in a family, is elevated, that is to say, the more each family member's way of living, sense of values, and view of life is elevated, it will separate life into light and darkness in the future. When COVID-19 pandemic is ended, we will talk brightly that “Now we could live in happiness thanks to that experience.”

The latter half is an understanding — what we need to strive for.

Today there are many people in the world who walk the path of wrongdoing.
That is why they are unable to make the best of their unmei’s strengths and are lost.
The era is being corrected in the hands of Kami with the power (unmei) of the times to maintain a constant state of harmony and balance.
Society will greatly change in order to return the present era, where the path has been neglected, to the correct path.
An era will begin where people who learn the principles from the teachings and deepen their understanding will guide the world.
The teachings will fully enrich the human kokoro (life) and people who seek peace will come together.

In the world today, people who walk the path of wrongdoing are overflowing. It is the kokoro (jittai) to go off the path on the previous paragraph. Although it is a true nature of human beings to cherish oneself, some people have a too strong self-centeredness, get emotional if they are not satisfied with, and take an overbearing attitude. They tend to seek the profit of their own country, their own company, and of themselves without considering the happiness of everyone. It is a sense of value that is partial to forms and appearances.

Then, they are unable to make the best of their unmei’s strengths—strength of a country, a company, and a person—and are lost. The reason for being lost is a materialistic way of thinking such as lose or gain, win or lose.

When we look back the history until today, we could find the era is being corrected in the hands of Kami with the power (unmei) of the times to maintain a constant state of harmony and balance. Now is the time when human beings are at the mercy of COVID-19 pandemic, and people who know the history mention that the world was thrown into confusion caused by Spanish flu just one hundred years ago. This phenomenon overlapped with World War I which was a flow for society to be corrected toward harmony.

Human beings have resorted to a materialism and lacked in consideration for our environments. As a result, global warming is proceeding. However, the present age that climate change is severe is also being corrected in various ways toward harmony. The way of thinking is now being corrected in every field including politics or the economy. It is that society will greatly change in order to return the present era, where the path has been neglected, to the correct path.

Under such great changes, however, many people shift the responsibility, and think it is justice to blame people or plans. Some people only seek a profit—how they could receive compensation or make a profit. Now is the time that society will greatly change, therefore, we need to correct the way of living.

Kami foretells that an era will begin where people who learn the principles from the teachings and deepen their understanding will guide the world. When the teachings become a part of us, the kokoro will be fully enriched, and society will be affectionate and comfortable. At first, your close family will be such comfortable environment. To seek such peace, people will come together at our church where our members live abiding by the teachings. If we could build a family where the kokoro of family members come together based on the principles, our strength given by Kami will be use of, and we could live a life filled with meaning and purpose.

(*) the Principles of Tachiki: The teaching to build and maintain family with harmony. When we compare a family to a tree, each family member has their own roles. A father is the root and support the kokoro of everyone. A mother is the trunk and connects the kokoro of each family member. A child is the branch who accepts their parents' love with an open mind and speaks honestly of their thoughts to them. And, grandparents are the soil and oversee the family. Each family member could hone their own unmei and raise their jittai by understanding their own roles and getting involved with one another in a correct way. When their unmei become one, the foundation of the family becomes strengthened and they could leave behind the good way of living to the descendants.