24th-Year Memorial Service for Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi
Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi Gives An Address
Try to Receive God's Idea from Nature
The 24th-Year Memorial Service for Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi was held on June 17 at the Taniguchi Family Monument at the Seicho-No-Ie Main Temple in Nagasaki Prefecture. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, addressed the 743 attendees.
Rev. Taniguchi began his address by expressing his gratitude that many people came to the Service and that the weather was sunny and nice in spite of the rainy season.
Rev. Taniguchi next said that Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi provided guidance at the Main Temple from 1975, when he moved there, to 1985, when he passed away. He pointed out that Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi’s thoughts and vision of those ten years are materialized at the Main Temple. Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi built a shrine and seven lighthouses in the land of only woods and intended to create a kind of ideal village.
Rev. Taniguchi next stated that although Japan’s economy is said to have progressed in the “bubble” years, there were many ill effects. He said that today when the economy is in decline, a happy coexistence between man and nature can be more strongly felt.
Rev. Taniguchi pointed out that it was one of the main purposes behind the construction of the Main Temple to beautiful nature. In view of the Zero Carbon Movement, the Main Temple is the forerunner. It was the first of the Seicho-No-Ie organizations to install a large-scale solar electric generator and also obtained the ISO14001 certification at the same time as the Headquarters.
Rev. Taniguchi touched upon the activities at the Main Temple of thinning out of the forest and harvesting of tangerines and mushrooms. He said that today people are searching for the way of life, where man receives blessings from nature and then repays to nature, and stressed that the experiences accumulated at the Main Temple will serve as an important asset for humanity in the 21st century.
In an attempt to know Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi’s thoughts after his move to the Main Temple, Rev. Taniguchi introduced “The Prayer to Receive Correct Inspirations” from the Holy Sutra, Recitation on the Truth, Part 2, published in 1984.
The characteristic of the Prayer is the use of an example of a leaf: there is a line in the middle and fine veins stretch out on both sides, which signifies the “being united as one through the teaching given by the President and the Vice President.” He taught that there is God’s infinite idea behind even one leaf and although we are given infinite idea by God through nature, we do not receive it because our attention is focused on other things.
Rev. Taniguchi continued by saying that this is a time of change for the world but change is how nature is at all times. God’s idea does not resist change but it maintains order while changing. This is a part of the message of the natural world.
At the conclusion of his address, Rev. Taniguchi stressed that it is important to receive and express the idea emanating in the natural world through the experiences at the Main Temple as well as by practicing the three important religious practices. He asked the attendees to become a driving force for the Movement in the future.
The Memorial Service began at 10:00 a.m., with the President of Seicho-No-Ie, serving as the Chief Priest. After the purification rite, the Invocation, and the reading of the supplication, sacred branches were offered by Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, and Mrs. Junko Taniguchi President of the White Dove Association. It was followed by the offering of a sacred branch by the Head Priest. Then, while the attendees read the Holy Sutra, Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines, sacred branches were offered by Rev. Kotaro Miura, Chief of the Missionary Council; and Rev. Kazuo Isobe, Chairman and CEO of Seicho-No-Ie. The attendees burned incense and expressed their gratitude to Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi. The removing of the offerings and the Affirmation of Perfect Peace and Harmony followed. The Memorial Service came to an end with the President’s address.