The 55th International Spiritual Training Seminar Held in Connecticut, USA
The 55th International Spiritual Training Seminar was held from June 8 to 10 at the Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center in Richfield, Connecticut, a neighboring city of New York. The number of participants was 43. Seventeen of them were first-timers.
The lecturers were Rev. Yoshiko Teshigawara (Ordained Minister, Chairperson of International Spiritual Training Center), Rev. Mario Kawakami (Ordained Minister, Vice Bishop of Seicho-No-Ie United States Missionary Headquarters), Rev. Bruce Mallery (Ordained Minister, Chief of New York Missionary Area), and Rev. Hideki Takao (Assistant Minister, International Spiritual Training Center). The Seminar program included 13 lectures, including “On the Four Immeasurable Minds,” a workshop to practice the Sundial Way of Life, recitation of “The True Image is Perfect and Harmonious,” Mind Purification Ceremony, Ancestor Memorial Service, and Shinsokan for Mutual Prayer.
In his lecture, “The Movement that Grows with Nature/the ‘Office in the Forest,’” Rev. Takao gave a detailed explanation, using slides, on the significance of the International Headquarters’ move to the “Office in the Forest” as well as man’s coexistence with nature.
In the workshop to practice the Sundial Way of Life, the participants made picture envelopes and sent them to the four Missionary Areas in Japan which were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake: Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki Missionary Areas, together with cards bearing well-wishing messages for recovery. Also, there was a musical workshop, where the participants separated into three groups by musical score and sang such phrases as “I am happy” in unison. They deepened their sense of oneness with one another and learned the wonderfulness of harmony.
The participants’ comments included, “I sensed spiritual upliftment and felt that I was reborn”; and “I would like to dedicate my life to spreading the teaching.”
Remarks by Rev. Yoshiko Teshigawara, Chairperson of International Spiritual Training Center
“For the first time in about three years we held the International Spiritual Training Seminar hosted by the New York Missionary Area at a site near New York amid a beautiful natural surrounding. The first-timers quickly felt comfortable and deepened their understanding of Seicho-No-Ie’s ‘Movement that Grows with Nature.’ The Chairman, leaders and followers of the New York Missionary Area worked hard to promote the Seminar. At the Seminar’s closing, people said that they hoped that this kind of spiritual training seminar is held in New York every year. The Seminar gave me hope about the future progress of the Movement. I was very pleased.”