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Seicho-No-Ie News

NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS BY REV. KAZUO ISOBE, CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF SEICHO-NO-IE


Seek the Truth and Propagate in aA Bright Frame of Mind

Happy New Year! At the start of the New Year, 2008, let me read a section of the “Word for January 1” from the Seimei no Jisso (Truth of Life), Vol. 37

“What gives life to us is a bright thought— a thought clean and fresh as the rising sun. The clean and fresh spirit akin to the rising sun is the Japanese spirit.

“A new mind is born in the new year. Everything begins on New Year’s Day. It is the best day to renew our lifestyle. Wise people may be able to make their new resolution at any other time and forge ahead toward a new life. But for us, New Year’s Day is an excellent day to put into practice the new resolution. Let’s first begin it on New Year’s Day—to maintain a bright frame of mind.”

As we look back on last year, many things happened. The Japan Kanji (Chinese Character) Proficiency Test Association solicited from across Japan for the Kanji which best summed up the state of society during the year. As a result, the character that ranked first was the one which means “deception.” Many deceptive business practices were uncovered—for example, in the food industry, fraudulent labeling of the source for the foodstuff, the ingredients and the period the food stays good. There was also deception in the recording of the pension system and political campaign funds. In China, even a fraudulent playground was open, which copied a well-known animation character.

It was reported that out of 90,816 entries from across Japan, the character for “deception” was included in about 18 percent, or 16,550 entries. The characters ranking in the second place and lower were also predominantly those which reflected the mood of distrust, such as “lie” and “doubt.”

Hearing this news coverage, I was reminded of the following quiz between Zen Monk, Tao-Lin and Hakuieki (Hakurakuten), which Rev. Seicho Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, talks about in Subarashii Mirai o Kizuko (Let’s Build a Wonderful Future) and other publications.

When asked by Hakuieki about the essential teaching of the Buddhist law, Tao-Lin answered, “Don’t do evil and do good.” Responding to that, Hakuieki said, “Even a 3-year-old child can say that.” Then, Tao-Lin answered, “Of course, a 3-year old child may be able to say it, but even an old man of 80 years of age cannot practice it.”

Those who were involved in various food-related fraudulent activities must have fully known whether it was a right or wrong thing to do. I believe that they knew it but could not help but do so. I also believe that if one has uneasiness in his conscience, he cannot maintain a bright frame of mind, as taught in the Truth of Life.

In connection with having a bright frame of mind, I would like to read the latter part of the New Year’s Message, “People of Faith who take Action” by Rev. Masanbu Taniguchi, Vice President of Seicho-No-Ie, which was carried in the January 1 Seishimei Newspaper.

“By recapturing our mind that is grateful for all that we have already been given, which includes the blessings we have received from Nature, and deepening our awareness of the teaching that “man is a child of God,” we will be able to live an abundant, happy life remaining unrelated o the waste of resources. Looking at the positive side of things in life doesn’t mean to live passively and simply “shutting our eyes to the dark side” of things, but refers to a proactive and creative way of manifesting the True Image in the phenomenal world. That is why we could say that to practice the sundial principle is to free ourselves from greed centeredness and, at the same time, the spiritual foundation to control global warming.

“Going forward, the Seicho-No-Ie movement will return to this starting point, discover and express the bright and positive things in all areas of our life, and by expressing and sharing them with our families and those around us, confirm and draw out the God-nature of each person. Thus, we will turn our emphasis on frontline activities that further increase the truth, goodness and beauty in our actual lives. To be able to do this, we will need the creativity and originality of all of us, our members, and the understanding and cooperation of our families.

“Seicho-No-Ie has continued to engage in environmental protection activities as deeds of giving that are grounded in faith. As for our actual measures we are using green energy at Seicho-No-Ie Public Lectures and other events, decreasing our consumption of meat, using ecologically friendly containers, acquiring the international standard for environmental management (ISO 14001) at all facilities in Japan and we are now developing similar activities overseas. In addition, as a new measure for the Zero Carbon Movement we have decided to purchase Certified Emission Reductions for greenhouse gases.

“While promoting the dissemination of the truth and the practice of loving deeds like two wheels of a car, let us advance as people of faith who take action.”

I ask everyone to work hard throughout this year to seek the truth and, at the same time, propagate the teachings in a bright frame of mind, without telling lies or engaging in deception, so that truth, goodness, and beauty will expand in our actual day-to-day lives.