Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Regarding the Emperor's thought




August 9th was a day when Nagasaki was bombed and so many innocent people had been exposed to the radiation from the nuclear weapon. 

Hiroshima is so famous for the tragedy, yet Nagasaki also experienced the same disaster. I put my hands together for those many lives that were lost. 

Yesterday our Emperor had made a statement about his "Okimochi (thoughts)." It moved me. He carefully chose the words to express how seriously he takes about the matter of his people and his nation. One could feel that he soulfully dedicates his life for it. 

Looking at the history of the Japanese Imperial Family of over 2000 years, an emperor showing his face to the public did not happen until the Meiji Emperor's enthronement(1867~1912). 


As shown in the picture, there was always a Misu (bamboo blind)  in between the officers and the emperor and only his voice was heard. 

The statement the Emperor had announced is a historical event and a serious matter.
The content that left me the most impression is as follows;

* As an emperor’s duty, I have always thought of the importance to pray for the nation's peace and happiness. Therefore, during the 28 years since my enthronement, I have dedicated my body and soul to think and pray for the people of Japan.  

His Majesty has used the word "pray" considering the separation of government and religion and for the people having different religions. But the truth is that the Emperor would be praying in the Shinto ritual style to Amaterasu-Ohomikami for the peace of the people, nation and the world. 

The Grand Shrine of Ise (Ise Jingu) is where all the ancestors of the Imperial Family rests. The Emperor would be the top priest of all the high priest of this shrine. 

I could feel his seriousness for the sense of mission and the concern that if he has health problems he would not be able to pray for the people well enough.  What will happen when he becomes ill and stops praying? 

 As we have witnessed in the past, when the Emperor becomes ill in a severe condition, the society comes to a standstill and the people's lives are impacted in various ways. 

The Emperor stated his concern in a reserved expression. You may doubt about this idea, would it really create so much influence? But in his daily prayers where he is saying, 

* If calamity needs to occur for the people or the nation, I will take it over with my entire body.   

When his daily prayers to the great god had to be stopped, a crisis to the nation comes. We have witnessed many times in the past history of Japan. 
He also mentioned in his announcement that in the practice of the Japanese Imperial Family, after the death of the current emperor the ritual of passing the throne to the next emperor would include a heavy mourning duties that continues every day for two months followed by funeral events that continues for one year. Simultaneously, the new emperor must proceed with rituals and preparations to open a new era which also takes heavy strain for one year.  During this period, the emperor will not be able to do his daily prayers and rituals or any official duties as the symbol of Japan. Considering all of these facts and strain that he himself and the empress had to experience in the beginning of his enthronement, he wishes that these two big events to be done at a separate time so the next emperor and the family does not have to go through what he went through. 


This is what I felt personally through the words spoken from the Emperor. I felt this is why he is asking for the abdicate while he still has good health. To put his responsibility for the nation and the Japanese people first, he has made this big statement in order for the duty as the Emperor of Japan does not stop because of all the ceremonies that needs to take place during the passing of the throne.  

I have seen the public calendar of the Emperor's schedule. He only has one day off a week, and it was filled with visiting places all over Japan. There were comments on the internet, that this is a harsh occupation and really too much work. 

I would like to look back what had happened in the past history when the Emperor was not able to give the daily ritual of prayers.

The were many times when the crisis of the nation in the matter of life and death had took place in the past. But the first event that comes into my mind, is the Nara Period(AD710~794). Emperor Shomu's mother was suffering from a psychophysiologic disorder for more than thirty years. However, her mother's family, the Fujiwara Family recommended her to become a Buddhist and to try the buddhist rituals which worked and made a good turn. Emperor Shomu's wife was also from the Fujiwara Family and a strong believer of Buddhism. 

The first Fujiwara (according to some scholars there are few theories that he came from overseas, most likely Chinese or Korean and a person of high position). He was exceptionally bright and fluent in the language from the continent. Hence, he became an officer in the foreign affairs and the Fujiwara Family had worked for the government for over one thousand years remaining in a very important position. And they were a passionate Buddhist. 

Because of the influence from his own mother and his wife, even as a Japanese Emperor, Emperor Shomu became a devouty of Buddhism.  And he came to a decision to spend most of the national budget to build the famous large Buddha figure in Nara and made the people work on it. During this period, naturally his Shinto practice of prayers were not performed properly. And what happened to Japan and its people? If you read about the history of this time, you will find out. 


Our Prime Minister has commented after the Emperor's speech. To me, I saw tears in his eyes. He has experienced himself the arduous duties. Therefore when he thinks of the Emperor for his 28 years of heavy duties and responsibilities, he must have had some rumbling emotions running through. 


Somehow, this reminded of me of the great champions, Yokozuna sumo wrestlers giving a retiring speech, "it was at the limits of my physical ability." The Emperor is now over 80 years old. And he has run a longest marathon without taking any break. For him to make such announcement, I could only imagine how hard it was for him. I would like to quietly pray for him that everything would go smoothly to fulfill his wishes.  



The above thoughts are entirely my personal opinion. I will respect everyone to have their own thoughts about this matter.


Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

I am grateful to be led to live this life

生かして頂いて 有り難う御座います

written 2016.8.09 

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Mother Earth is returning what we did to her

According to the media in Brazil, the Zika fever has been going around and at the same time, the number of new borns with microcephaly has rose ten times in the past six months compared to the data of last five years. The number of new borns with microcephaly is now over 2400. 

Where ever there are mosquitoes it's possible for the Zika fever to spread. Even in Japan, when the warm season comes, we have to be careful not to get bitten by the mosquitoes. Especially women who are pregnant must take great precaution. 

I feel that the nature is turning against humans. They are attacking the vulnerable new borns who are essential for the human race to grow. The weakest point in the human race has been targeted. I sense a human crisis from this news.   

It's all happening because we are cutting down too many trees and destroying the forest of Africa and the Amazon. The insects has lost their home and had no choice but to move into the human society and evolve.

The most important Norito chant in Shinto, the Ooharae-no-kotoba talks about Amatsu-tsumi (the sin that occurs in the realm of the Heavens) and Kunitsu-tsumi (the sin that occurs in the realm of the Earth). And it describes the end of humanity. In the end, Susanoo and his daughters, together the four gods of grand purification Ooharae-no-Ookami will return and purify the Earth.  

The content of Kunitsu-tsumi (the sin that occurs in the realm of the Earth) predicts how human race will come to be. The details of the content is hard to write because of its explicit nature that might be offensive to the reader, so I will not write out here. But most of it are already seen in this modern society. One of the prediction written was about "disasters caused by insects."  Including the Zika fever, the danger of viruses and noxious insects, this is already happening as well. Please know that this was predicted from the ancient time. 

By the way, one of the reader of my blog has sent me this photo when he/she visited Ama-no-hitsuku Shrine in Narita, Chiba recently.





This photo shows 麻賀多大権現 (Makata Daigongen) who resides at the deep end of Ama-no-hitsuku Shrine. He is the god(kami) of Amatsu.

It has been over one year after I have visited this shrine. I was surprised to see how much they cleaned up the shrine. It looks developed and in much better condition. I assume many people have donated their gratitude to the shrine and thanks to the people who work here.  

It looks much more purified than one year ago, and I can see the light emanating from the sacred ground.  Daigongen is saying, "I will make it a crystal world from this place!" with his armed crossed standing as tall as the grand sugi cedar tree. He is now calmly observing the world.  

This means that the revolution switch is already turned on, and it's no use to move around with confusion. All we can do is to continue to simply send gratitude to our local god (uji-gami-sama) at a shrine.  This act done by many people might well help save the world. Actually, this is the only way to calm the anger of Mother Earth.
If you live outside of Japan where you have no local shrines, simply send gratitude to Mother Earth. Mother Earth is always listening. Please know that Mother Earth is listening to every human thoughts. The affect is so much more than you could ever imagine. 




Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu



I am grateful to be led to live this life


生かして頂いて 有り難う御座います


Original Japanese page

Friday, January 29, 2016

Don't be too concerned about WHAT you eat. THANKING to the food that you eat is far more important

A question from a reader:
 

I am now reading the book you introduced before called, "Ketone body will save humanity. Why controlling the sugar will make you healthy" by Tetsuo Muneta. (Japanese book)
From this book, I was surprised to know that 90% of the people who committed suicide by jumping off to a railway were taking prescription drugs for lowering their cholesterol. 
5 years ago, I read on your blog about a balanced diet. And you mentioned about sickness such as depression, that if we continued to take a very low cholesterol diet, it could actually become a cause for mental break down. 
Where you aware of this research about cholesterol when you wrote this?

My comment:


My thoughts about giving a different idea on cholesterol started when I observed people who are vegetarian. I am not a doctor and so regarding what kind of drugs and dosage one should take depends on every person and should consult with one's own doctor. But basically I think that what we eat every day matters and doing enough exercise is also most important. 
Regarding people who are vegetarian, over 30 years I have been watching many spiritual gurus who make money out of spiritual teachings and treatments. And out of all these gurus, I found some odd feelings with those who are vegetarian. 
They were:

* Short temper. Their attitude differed depending on who they are talking to. They treat their staff very badly.

* Rather queer character and pathologically over sensitive.
* Obsessed with the other gender. And have multiple sex partners.

* In spite of being a vegetarian they don't live long. 
These were the things I heard behind the scene about many spiritual gurus. We tend to think when one is a vegetarian, he or she would be a kind and gentle person. But that was not the case.  I see that people who eat with gratitude are more of a balanced good person.
To be honest I haven't read this book (laugh). "I was surprised to know that 90% of the people who committed suicide by jumping off to a railway were taking prescription  drugs for lowering their cholesterol. " This content were said to be written according to the reader. Even it was actually written, it is merely one statistics collected by one doctor. However I do see it as a very interesting information. 
Anyways, I recommended it on my blog as this book came to me as a revelation. The reader also mentioned about the author being an obstetrician and that he regards to the infants’ health condition as a key factor. In the revelation I received, Dr.Miki a former professor at Osaka University, was also mentioned. He specializes in hematology and focuses on the ability of new borns. It looks like the secret for health is to learn about babies. According to Dr.Miki
  •      Your stools should look like the one of an infant. Soft like Ketch-up. It proves that it has many good bacteria. 
  •      The amount of salt in your blood should be close to an infant.
  •      People become sick when the amount of salt (sea salt) is not right. 

Please note that this is Dr.Miki’s opinion that I heard. Please do your own research.


In recent years, medias are showing that when you have high cholesterol you might have a longer life span. I once saw on TV, an American woman who is 100 years old. She claimed that the secret to her health was to eat greasy bacon and eggs every morning. (laugh) However, I would say that very high cholesterol that is causing pain in your heart would be dangerous. It’s best to keep a good balance in your meals. As long as you have one plate of vegetables before you eat meat or greasy food, I think you will be fine. Don’t stress yourself by restraining too much on your diet.
According to my revelation:
  •      Eat with gratitude to the food that you are about to eat.
  •      Be committed that you will live together with those lives that are giving you the energy.
  •      Then you will be fine.


Be aware of those lives that you are consuming and live a good long life with that in mind.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu


I am grateful to be led to live this life



生かして頂いて 有り難う御座います

Original Japanese blog: 

Saturday, January 23, 2016

The Dhammapada 26-397 The movie must be seen until the "end". Then it will turn into a good memory


My interpretation:

There are all kinds of fetter in this world, but his mind is free from it.
There are many things to worry in this world, but he is not afraid of it.
He is detached from everything in this world and he is beyond all of that.

I, Buddha, call him the greatest human kind.
(The Buddhist Classic -The Dhammapada 26-397)

Comment:
When people have a desire to kill oneself, he/she is simply loosing him/herself to this world. It's like you watched the movie too much, and you drowned yourself in it, identified yourself to that person in that movie. 
Please know that this is a real fact. It is a serious brain science truth.
You are only loosing yourself to a phenomenon you are experiencing. Every image or phenomenon (movie) will eventually come to an end, just like a movie. The movie usually ends in around two hours, but a life goes on for about eighty years. 
Whether it's two hours or eighty years, it will eventually all pass away without any exception. 
If you had drowned yourself in the two hour movie and killed yourself, you will regret it for sure. The things that are occurring, existing around you.. those phenomenons may be a harsh and unpleasant thing. But know that it is only a phenomenon, a motion picture. In truth, it cannot give any effects on you. What is actually happening is that you are giving yourself an effect by how you react on those things.
When things are not going well, just observe it in a calm manner. Don't get emotional and jump out (kill yourself) of the movie theatre (this world). Right now it's that dramatic part of the whole script. The important thing is to be bland and indifferent. Just concentrate fully on the work that needs to be done. Always be in the ~ing. The worst thing you can do to yourself, is to stop that effort, and become attached to the dramatic part of the whole movie.
Reading this chapter of The Dhammapada, the greatest human kind or the greatest practitioner that Buddha calls has nothing to do with religion. In fact it is completely opposite to a religious act.  
In this world, where good and bad exist, where lust and desire exist.. only in this turbulence there is value to live in pureness. If there were no seductions of any sort, it's easy to live in pureness. And then there are no hardships to order to grow. 
If you have any problems in your life, that means there is a chance for you to grow. When you try to escape from your problem, then you will suffer. Try to have an attitude that you are going to really witness the phenomenon. It will eventually pass away, and it will only become a memory. 
Do not forget that we are just a traveller from another world passing through this world of reality in order to gain some experience. The bigger your problem, the bigger you harvest from this trip.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu


I am grateful to be led to live this life




生かして頂いて 有り難う御座います


Original Japanese blog 

Tao Te Ching for Everyday Life



TAO TE CHING FOR EVERYDAY LIFE  is now available in Kindle Edition on Amazon Japan, Canada, England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. We are still waiting for US and China for confirmation. 

Hope you get a chance to read it ! 

If you go to Amazon Japan page and click the book, you will be able to read the first 5 chapters. 

http://www.amazon.co.jp/TAO-CHING-EVERYDAY-LIFE-English-ebook/dp/B01AHLXKWQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453250528&sr=1-1&keywords=TAO+TE



Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu


I am grateful to be led to live this life




生かして頂いて 有り難う御座います