REV. AND MRS. MASANOBU TANIGUCHI’S LECTURE TOUR TO BRAZIL
THE PRESIDENT TEACHES THE SUNDIAL WAY OF LIFE
ATTENDED BY ABOUT 1,000 PEOPLE AT PUBLIC LECTURE IN BELEM
As a part of Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi’s Lecture Tour to Brazil, a Seicho-No-Ie Public Lecture was held on August 4 at the Convention Center in Belem in the State of Para on the Amazon in the North. The theme of the Public Lecture was “I Record None But the Hours of Sunshine.” Rev. and Mrs. Taniguchi both gave lectures. The number of attendees was 1,048 people. They were from the Belem Missionary Branch and other groups.
The President lectured from 8:40 p.m. for 50 minutes with Portuguese interpretation. Rev. Taniguchi first talked about the history and meaning of the sundial way of life. The sundial way of life was originally taught in the first issue of Seicho-No-Ie magazine by Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi, founder of Seicho-No-Ie, who explained that it is a way of life that sees the bright side of life.
Rev. Taniguchi touched upon the question raised at the Special Conference for World Peace two years ago—since there are also bad things in the world, isn’t the right way to live to solve problems to recognize them as well? He said that since there is only goodness in the world that God created, if we affirm it in the mind strongly, bad things will disappear.
Rev. Taniguchi next asked the attendees what happiness was. He stressed that the notion that the increase in income makes one happy has been scientifically denied. He cited the result of a research conducted by the University of Chicago. Although Americans’ income has more than doubled, the ratio of people who feel happy is unchanged—or even decreased in some parts of the country.
The President next referred to a European research institute’s report from the International Herald Tribune, which said that over the past 30 years, two thirds of Danes have continually responded, “Very satisfied with their lives.” The report attributed its reason to the fact that Danes’ trait is not to expect too much of things. The article offered the definition, “Happiness = reality – expectation.”
Pointing out that not having expectations for one’s life means resignation and absence of interest, the President showed his formula for happiness, “Happiness = True Image.” He proposed that we recognize the blessings accorded to us by God and firmly accept them. He said that that was the sundial way of life.
Rev. Taniguchi mentioned that in Belem he ate many kinds of fruits with a variety of tastes. He pointed out that the attendees who live among blessings of nature from Amazon should be able to understand the meaning of gratitude for God’s blessings and called upon them to show gratitude to God in the form of love for nature and materialize a happy life in the true sense.
Prior to the President’s lecture, Mrs. Junko Taniguchi spoke from 8:00 p.m. for 30 minutes through an interpreter.
Mrs. Taniguchi spoke of her first visit to Brazil in 1974, when she felt most happy to hear that Seicho-No-Ie had a wide and strong following there.
Mrs. Taniguchi next taught that man is a child of God and that God is only goodness, which is at the root of all existences, and explained that problems and sufferings of the actual world are not the creation of God, but of the human mind. Therefore, one’s fate can be changed with the mind. She urged that in order to change the mind, which has formed a certain way of looking at things through habit, we should start by being grateful for ordinary things around us.
COMMENTS BY ATTENDEES
Naoaki Ueoka, Chief of Brotherhood Association, Para Missionary Branch
“It was wonderful. It has been more than six years since I began to study Seicho-No-Ie. I am more determined than before to live my life by the teachings.”
Maria do Sicirri Santos de Paiva, Chief of Belem Missionary Branch, Managing Director of Amazonia Spiritual Training Center
“Hearing the lectures on the truth directly from Rev. and Mrs. Masanobu Taniguchi, I was impressed with their wonderfulness. Although we have only a limited number of Seicho-No-Ie centers in Para, I would like to propagate even harder and gather 500 people every month at a spiritual training seminar held at the Para Spiritual Training Center.”