Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi's Message at the Seicho-No-Ie Fall Festival
The "Four Immeasurable Minds" is the Way to the Coexistence of Man and Nature
The 32nd Ryugu Sumiyoshi Hongu Fall Festival and the 29th Ryugu Sumiyoshi Reigu Fall Festival were held on November 21 at the Seicho-No-Ie Main Temple in Nagasaki Prefecture. They were followed the next day by the ceremony to commemorate the birth of Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi. Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi, President of Seicho-No-Ie, served as the Chief Priest at these ceremonies. Mrs. Junko Taniguchi, President of the Seicho-No-Ie White Dove Association, was also present.
At the November 22 ceremony held in the worship hall of the Main Temple, Rev. Taniguchi addressed about 1,300 people in the capacity of the Superintendent. He spoke for 20 minutes.
Rev. Taniguchi began by stating that the date of the Seicho-No-Ie Presidency succession has been changed to March 1. He then said that he hopes that the ceremony to commemorate the birth of Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi will be the opportunity to study the teachings of the Holy Master and give energy to the direction of our future Movement.
Rev. Taniguchi next spoke of beautiful autumn foliage which he saw both in Tokyo and at the Main Temple and said that he made picture envelopes by drawing pictures of thin maple branches at the Official Residence at the Main Temple. He said that the fact that eco-tourism has become popular around the world shows that human beings love nature. Therefore, if the reason for destroying it is understood, humanity and nature can live together.
The President next explained the kind of love that originates in attachment, quoting from Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi’s book, Shimpan Seikatsu to Ningen no Saiken (Re-building of Livelihood and Humanity—New Edition). He pointed out that since the Industrial Revolution, humankind has treated nature with the love of attachment. He cautioned that to love only the things that give pleasure to the human five physical senses would lead to a situation where the more human beings love nature, the more nature is destroyed.
Rev. Taniguchi next introduced the explanation from the same book about the “Four Immeasurable Minds”— They are the immearurable, precious minds of the Budda - loving kindness, compassion, joy, and non-attachment(equanimity) .“loving kindness” and “compassion” mean to remove others’ pain and give them happiness. If human beings regret that the diversity of living beings in nature is being lost, which is driving some species to extinction, and wish to see a wide variety of living species prosper, humanity can better coexist with nature.
The President emphasized that within the Four Immeasurable Minds, the emotions of “like” or “dislike” are absent. Christianity uses the phrase, “God’s infinite love.” He taught that it will become more important to practice that kind of love toward nature from now on.
Rev. Taniguchi continued by saying that the most difficult of the Four Immeasurable Minds is the non-attachment(equanimity). Since we, believers of religious faith, have the mission to materialize, on earth, God’s infinite love and the form of the Buddha, or the ideal state of things, the “Movement that grows with nature” in the true sense should be to live in such a way to abandon attachment and practice the non-attachment(equanimity) based on this faith.
The President next touched upon the thinking that consumption helps turn around the depressed economy and cautioned that consumption often leads to the love that causes the destruction of nature.
In concluding his message, Rev. Taniguchi called upon the attendees to spread to many people the teaching that a religiously meaningful way of life, or the Four Immeasurable Minds, leads to the preservation of and careful treatment of the environment. He asked them to move forward toward the realization of the world where nature and humankind live together and co-prosper.
The ceremony began at 10:00 a.m. After the singing of the national anthem, there was a message by Rev. Kazuo Isobe, Chairman and CEO of Seicho-No-Ie. Then on behalf of the followers, Mrs. Fumie Fukae, head of the Ibaraki Missionary Area White Dove Association, and Rev. Masanori Morita, Bishop of Seicho-No-Ie Republic of China, gave messages. After Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi’s message there was a presentation of Headquarters awards. The ceremony ended at noon.