REV. AND MRS. MASANOBU TANIGUCHI GUIDE THE SEICHO-NO-IE SPECIAL CONFERENCE FOR WORLD PEACE IN BRAZIL
THE PRESIDENT STRESSES THE NEED FOR RELIGIONS TO FIND COMMON GROUND AND WORK TOGETHER TO CONTROL GLOBAL WARMING
The 2009 Seicho-No-Ie Special Conference for World Peace guided by Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, and Mrs. Junko Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie White Dove Association, was held from August 1 to 2 at the Funchal Theater in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This was the first Special Conference held in Brazil in three years after the 2006 Special Conference.
The theme of this year’s Special Conference was “Nature and Man Living Together and Coexisting.” On August 1, Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi answered the questions collected in advance and on August 2, he gave the concluding lecture. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi lectured on August 1 and gave words of encouragement on August 2. In addition, five Ordained Ministers/Assistant Ministers gave presentations along the Conference theme.
Two thousand nine hundred and sixty-two people from 15 countries attended the Special Conference. The breakdown of the attendees by country was: 2,886 for Brazil, 30 for the U.S.A., 9 for Peru, 5 for Chile, 5 for Columbia, 5 for Spain, 4 for Argentina, 3 for Bolivia, 3 for Paraguay, 3 for England, 3 for Canada, 2 for Panama, 2 for Portugal, 1 for Scotland, and 1 for Germany.
On August 1, from the questions collected in advance Rev. Taniguchi answered four questions.
First, to the question whether or not the Seicho-No-Ie Movement can realistically expand further, Rev. Taniguchi answered, “Of course, it can.” He pointed out that if there is the thinking that the Movement’s growth is stalled, it is because various elements, such as the teachings, ceremonies and the technique of the Movement are not combined in the right way. Using the “sunny-side up theory of religion” as an example, he explained that the central truth of the religion is the yolk of the egg and measures to propagate to local people are the white of the egg. No matter how delicious the yolk is, unless the white portion is also delicious, the egg does not taste good. Rev. Taniguchi urged that they come up with an idea to combine the Movement’s elements of the white portion of the egg in the right way.
The other question that Rev. Taniguchi dealt with was the environmental protection movement might be difficult to promote in Brazil, since the country has rich energy resources. The President noted that the tropical rain forest absorbs more CO2 than the sugar cane field used to produce energy. He stressed that the Seicho-No-Ie Movement is not only for environmental protection but it is also a movement to care for the life of man as well as other living beings—a movement that respects bio-diversity, which God created.
In his concluding lecture on August 2, Rev. Taniguchi introduced a thesis of an American sociologist, which says that the anthropocentrism of Christianity is the root cause of the environmental problem. This view is based on Genesis of the Old Testament: God let man to have dominion on all living things. The President disagreed with this view, citing the case of Japan, where the environmental issue is also a serious problem even though the religions with predominant followings are Buddhism and Shintoism, religions which cherish man’s relationship with nature.
The President also said that the world view found in a religious scripture is not necessarily consistent. For example, Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis have slightly different stories about the creation of heaven and earth. Four “authors” are believed to have been involved in writing these stories, so that it would not be surprising that each author’s view was reflected in them.
Rev. Taniguchi pointed out that even with Buddhism, its teaching partially changed when it was transported to a different place. The belief of the Matrix of the Tathagata that the Buddha nature dwells in every human being did not become the central belief in India. He introduced a theory that Shotoku Taishi, made it the central belief of the Japanese Buddhism, which subsequently began to teach that life other than humans, including even lifeless things, has the Buddha nature.
The President next introduced the words that said to reveal Shakyamuni’s enlightenment: “Mountains, rivers, grass and trees have attained Buddhahood” and “Both sentients and insentients have attained Buddhahood.” He explained that the basic thinking behind Seicho-No-Ie International Headquarters’ Environment Policy has the same meaning. He stressed that our Movement is closely related to Christianity and Buddhism and is a movement to cherish nature as God’s creation.
Rev. Taniguchi then stressed that today, in the early 21st century, religion cannot be allowed to ignore the destruction of nature and rapid global warming. He emphasized the importance of the yolk portion of the egg cited in the “sunny-side up theory of religion.” The President taught that if religions can agree on the central teaching that is common to all religions, they can stop fighting and move forward toward a common purpose.
In concluding his lecture, Rev. Taniguchi wrapped up the content of the Special Conference. He clearly stated that the traditions of the major world religions embrace the idea to cherish nature, of which man is a part, as God’s creation or Buddha’s manifestation. He urged that we spread this philosophy to all humanity, seek agreement of many religions so that religions can work together to stem global warming.
After the Seicho-No-Ie Special Conference for World Peace ended, Rev. and Mrs. Taniguchi went to Belem and spoke at Public Lecture on August 4. They later returned to Sao Paulo and lectured at the Seicho-No-Ie National Convention on August 4. Rev. and Mrs. Taniguchi completed all programs of the Lecture Tour to Brazil and returned to Japan on August 14.