God and Man ～Guideposts for Spiritual Peace and Awakening
ー Written by Masahisa Goi
Chapter 6②： True Religions and Mistaken Religions
Religion is not philosophy.
Religion is the world of spiritual exercise that goes beyond philosophy.
Religion is not a religious group, nor is it a church or cathedral, nor is it an organization. Religion is the spiritual practice and the teaching that makes human beings realize that they are life that is naturally connected to God.
If the essence of religion truly spreads throughout the world, and if humanity lives in the true religious spirit and in true religious faith, it is clear that this world will become a heaven filled with love.
Love is God Itself, and love is what works most powerfully to join human beings with God, to harmonize human beings with each other, and to bring human beings into harmony with all living things.
If, after entering a religion, the spirit of love does not well out in a person, he or she is not a religious person in the true sense.
If, while praying to God, one does not enter the way to spiritual peace and awakening, one's view on God is mistaken and one's prayer is not a right one.
With respect to these points, one should distinguish between true religion and mistaken religion, and between true faith and mistaken faith.
Since ancient times, human beings have been seeking miracles and looking for new worlds.
This mentality of waiting and wishing for something beyond human power, for events that are beyond ordinary human knowledge, is one part of the manifestation of the original divine nature and infinite freedom.
In the depths of the mind of humanity, which always seeks a new world, there exists the realm of God.
This seeking mind became, on the one hand, the scientific mind which investigates, one by one, material substances that can be seen and touched, and it finally developed the modern theory that all matter is made up of waves, or vibrations.
On the other hand, the seeking mind produced the awakened people who transcended the world of the five senses, entered the world of vibration, and further surpassed this and entered the world of the Origin that radiates all vibrations.
These two methods have inevitably developed modern civilization and are aiming at the founding of an ideal world.
The awakened Sakyamuni, at the time when he surpassed his physical body and reached the original light, recognized his true existence as a body of light itself.
From that time on, he freely exerted divine power and performed many miracles.
Each of his disciples also demonstrated a particular kind of divine power, supported by power from their Guardian Divinities.
Many Buddhist theorists tend to place the greatness of Sakyamuni on his philosophical sermons and to interpret his miracles as mere tales to praise his greatness.
However, it is because of those true miracles that Buddhism spread as we see it now.
On this point, I clearly declare that the miracles of Christ are also true.
Religions without miracles do not spread far and do not hold strong appeal for human beings.
On the other hand, many religions that only advertise miracles are vicious.
A religion of sermons only can easily turn into the skeleton of a religion.
On the other hand, a religion of only miracles will make people all the more uneasy and disturbed.
Most of the established religions in recent times teach only formalities and lack appeal. Most of the newly formed religions preach of miraculous benefits in this world and do not release people from the source of their anxiety.
Even if one has received some benefits at a certain time or place, this alone does not prove that the religion being practiced is a right one.
However, it is also too one-sided to say that in religious faith, worldly benefits are irrelevant and the only thing that matters is our happiness after death and in the future.
There are also people who say that it is wrong to seek benefits in this life through a religion, and that the only purpose of a religion is to let people see that the true existence of a human being is God Itself, and to reach their awakening, becoming aware that matter is empty, and that everything exists in Kuu.(※17)
This is truly a correct teaching, but when the attachments to the physical way of life are extremely deep, as they are in this world, if one only takes the view that the physical body is a temporary phase and not the ultimate reality, totally disregarding any interest in the life of this physical world, it will be just too far removed from the general population and I believe that it will bring true deliverance to only a scanty few people.
I think that for as long as people have a physical body, it is unreasonable to teach them not to think at all about life in the physical world.
Therefore, it seems to me that rather than taking either of the preceding two approaches, it would be better to recognize the interests and benefits of life in the physical body and physical world, and also to recognize the existence of the subconscious body, and let people know about the subconscious world,(※18) and teach them how to live in the subconscious world after death, and then to let them realize the most important and essential point: that human beings are God Itself.
※17: The phrase in Japanese is shiki soku zekkuu, kuu soku zesshiki (色即是空、空即是色), aphrase frequently used in Buddhism.
※18: Refer to Figures 2 and 3 in Chapters 3 and 4.
To be continued in Chapter 6③
Dios y el Ser Humano (Spanish Edition)
Deus e o Homem (Portuguese Edition)
