MESSAGE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPIRITUAL TRAINING CENTER
The awareness that Man is a Child of God and has Infinite Ability deepened
Zhu Zhao, resident of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Last September, I took part in the International Spiritual Training Seminar 2008 in Ontario with my wife for the first time. This was an amazing opportunity for us to understand more about Seicho-No-Ie. We learned about our infinite potential as Children of God.
My wife and I have known Seicho-No-Ie since the summer of 2006. At that time my wife was working for a consultant firm and I was still attending the ESL (English as a Second Language) program at George Brown College. We had already spent two years in Toronto after moving there from Shanghai, China and wished to have more friends and feel more a part of the community. We were not really used to the life in Canada, and in fact, we were going through a culture shock.
One day we were passing by the Seicho-No-Ie Toronto Center and decided to enter and see the garage sale, which was being held there. Hiroko Piggott, who was also there, gave us a very kind welcome and provided us with some information about the Seicho-No-Ie teaching. We soon became members of the Holy Mission Fellowship.
We started to attend the Seicho-No-Ie services on Sundays and participated in the meetings that Rev. Kobayashi holds at his house every month, where we read articles from the Truth of Life magazine and study the teachings.
Since becoming a member of Seicho-No-Ie, I realized that gratitude is the key to happiness and therefore I am very grateful to people and all living things around us. Sometimes when we get up in the morning, we say, “I am happy. I am a child of God,” and then laugh at each other. It definitely makes a very big difference, when starting the day. We especially like to attend the Ancestor Memorial Service, because we feel this is the opportunity to become one with them and express our respects to the loved ones that are in the spiritual world.
I was especially touched by the lecture by Rev. Yoshiko Teshigawara (Ordained Minister, Superintendent of International Spiritual Training Center), in which she talked about her childhood and how Seicho-No-Ie made a difference in her family’s life after the Second World War. She shared an episode about how her mother taught her to believe in God, pray and thank Him for everything they had because she thought everybody was a child of God and God decided everything for them. This was a very powerful statement and I suppose they overcame this period because they had God.
After returning to Toronto, we have come to feel closer to God. We often pray and have faith that the future will be better for us, because God is guiding our lives. We are really thankful for Seicho-No-Ie, that always teaches us about our indwelling infinite potential, because we are children of God. Thank you very much!