October 23, 2021 Shinja Kokoro no Moto Benkyōkai about the Family
Summary of Shinji from Kyōshu Seishisha Tomomarukō Sensei

Shinji

When all people (humanity) learn the teachings with family members and find themselves in a family (environment) that abides by the principles, they know their place and position in their relationships. This is a family in harmony.
To the Shinja
You must not forget to learn the teachings and live by the principles.
Kigan repeatedly until your kokoro becomes one with your place in the family and it is reflected in your attitude and behavior.
Your thoughts (love) will gradually gravitate toward family members and conversations will deepen. Family members will not experience sickness, accident, and disaster.
Understand the principles of life and know how a harmonious family environment protects your life.
The true form of the human being is the soul.
The soul that is housed in the physical body brings out the strengths of the unmei, protects and guides your life to an era with no regrets.
However, there are many people (humanity) today (the reality) who live each day without knowing how to bring out their strengths (unmei).
Deepen your understanding of the teachings and Kibō no Michi (the light) will manifest; and the kokoro of family members will be inspired by the family in harmony (the truth).

The theme for this month’s Shinja Kokoro no Moto Benkyōkai is about family.
When speaking of family, we often think of the structural aspects or what we see and measure from the outside: such as, what kind of house do they live in, what kind of jobs do they have, how much do they earn, which school do the children go to, etc. However, Kami teaches us that the “happiness is rooted in a harmonious family.” Which means, that the most important factor is whether the family is living in harmony or not.

The Shinji today tells us the worth of a harmonious family. And it consists of a deep understanding at the beginning, followed by two realizations.

The first part is the deep understanding. The things shown in the deep understanding are what needs to be taken in to be practiced. In other words, the deeper understanding you have, it becomes a part of how you live your life.

When all people (humanity) learn the teachings with family members and find themselves in a family (environment) that abides by the principles, they know their place and position in their relationships. This is a family in harmony.

Kami explains that family is like a tree—where the father who supports the family is the root. The mother is the trunk who ties and connects the feelings between the father and children. The children are the branches where they receive the nutrients from the parents and grow. And the grandparents are the earth/soil that watches over the family with a warm heart. It is clear that each member of the family has a “role” to play, and to be involved with other family members knowing their place and position is an important factor to create a harmonious family.

This cannot be achieved without the effort to learn the teachings with family members. When each member of the family learns to make the Shinji a part of who they are, and find themselves in a family (environment) where they follow the right path, they will know their place and position to involve in the right way.  This is how a family in harmony will stand strong in balance like a healthy tree.
But in reality, there are so many families that do not exist in harmony. There are so many families where the root is frail, or has lost its responsibility to support the family. Or where the tree trunk is not strong enough to bring the family closer with better communication. In other words, each role is not played out right in many cases. What happens next is disharmony where the tree loses its balance, the branches will start to sway and be uncomfortable. This causes a lack of communication, and problems will start popping up here and there.

Kami tells us to have the right involvement by knowing the place and position. ‘Knowing’ is the awareness that each family member should have. And the emphasis is on knowing your ‘place.’ To know your place is to be aware of your parameter. And what this means is to be responsible as a father, as a mother, as a child, and as grandparents. Your position is more about your point of view. So therefore, a family in harmony will be made the more each member knows their place and position in their relationships.

Next is followed by two realizations. We’ve recaptured what a family in harmony truly is and have a stronger feeling for the need to give our best to achieve that. Now, we must check and see if we are practicing the right things and examine if there are other things we must realize to achieve a family in harmony.

To the Shinja
You must not forget to learn the teachings and live by the principles.
Kigan repeatedly until your kokoro becomes one with your place in the family and it is reflected in your attitude and behavior.
Your thoughts (love) will gradually gravitate toward family members and conversations will deepen. Family members will not experience sickness, accident, and disaster.
Understand the principles of life and know how a harmonious family environment protects your life.

Kami puts the emphasis on the effort that needs to be put into practice the teachings. As said in the Shinji, you must not forget to learn the teachings and do your best to have the right involvement with the family on your side.

Then, where exactly do we put the effort into? We have to start with the correct kigan. As understood, we each have an important role to play to create a “tree”—the root, the trunk, the branches, the soil, etc. And Kami tells us to kigan repeatedly to know what kind of kokoro you need to have to execute what’s needed in your role. The Shinji said to kigan until it is reflected in your attitude and behavior. We have to kigan repeatedly until the kokoro becomes one with our place in the family. Examples of kigan would be; if you are the father, it is to ask for the needed kokoro to support the family as the root.  If you are the mother, it is to ask for the kokoro to tie and connect each family member together as a trunk, etc.

What happens as a result of this effort? Kami said, your thoughts(love) will gradually gravitate toward family members and conversations will deepen. Which means that if you are the father of the family, the love and compassion to protect the family will deepen. And the conversation to support the family will increase. If you are the child, you will interact with the parents so they won’t be worried. Everyone in their respective roles will not just have candid conversations, but choose to interact to show more care and compassion towards their family.
As a result, Kami promises that family members will not experience sickness, accidents, and disasters. Sickness emerges as the changes within you. While accidents and disasters are changes that appear on the outside. They are both rooted from the same place. So therefore, the Shinji is telling us that problems that occur on the inside and outside will not happen. A life without sickness, accidents, or disasters will leave you with a peace of mind and sense of reassurance of the protection from Kami.
Something miraculous starts to happen that is beyond explanation. 

It is so important to realize and understand how a harmonious family environment protects your life. When a harmonious environment is achieved, the father, the mother, the children, and the grandparents will all be protected.
With the first realization, the second realization will lead us to help see better about the value of a harmonious family.

The true form of the human being is the soul.
The soul that is housed in the physical body brings out the strengths of the unmei, protects and guides your life to an era with no regrets.
However, there are many people (humanity) today (the reality) who live each day without knowing how to bring out their strengths (unmei).
Deepen your understanding of the teachings and Kibō no Michi (the light) will manifest; and the kokoro of family members will be inspired by the family in harmony (the truth).

Even if we belong to the same family, every member was born at a different time and have a different life span. But the one thing that is mutual is the fact that the true form of the human being is the soul. The soul that is housed in the physical body becomes the unmei and guides your life to an era with no regrets. And what brings out the strengths of the unmei is a family in harmony. And an era with no regrets points out the time in which individual lives on the face of this earth until their time ends.
However in reality, despite the fact that every one of us has a gift of unmei, there are many people (humanity) today (the reality) who live each day without knowing how to bring out their strengths (unmei). When people think of satisfaction in life, they look to educational backgrounds, experiences, skills, assets, and any other things with forms. That is why people would say; “My plans would be ruined for the future if I don’t get into this school.”  “I cannot be happy if I don’t marry a wealthy person.” Or “I will not have approval if I am not successful,” etc. But these thoughts would lead people into the wrong efforts in life.

It is important to grasp how to correct and modify your jittai to draw out your given unmei through the teachings. This is important because, as you deepen your understanding of the teachings, Kibō no Michi will manifest. And when Kibō no Michi (*) is manifested, your kokoro will better merge with your unmei.
And a family in harmony is necessary for this to happen. When your kokoro anchors in a harmonious family, the jittai received from your parents and ancestors will be raised, hence your unmei will be drawn out. The only place to hone your unmei is the family environment in harmony. And as said earlier, when your family environment is harmonious, the kokoro of each family will be anchored, which allows everyone to be healthy without any illness, accidents or misfortunes.

Feeling the mysterious power of Kami, every member of the family will be inspired by the family in harmony. To be inspired is to have that ‘aha moment’ and have a realization that settles your thoughts to a deep understanding in a very positive way. When you see the value and the worth of a family, even people who are not so faithful or feeling indifferent about practicing the teachings will change their mind to make the effort to live by the teachings and grasp the right path to live.

 

(*) Kibō no Michi; Salvation that Ōyamanezunomikoto has revealed to humanity that leads a person’s life to no regrets. This is possible because it helps correct the jittai (temperament, predispositions) handed down from parents and ancestors, and draw out the unemi that are gifted to each individual.