What's SNI Teachings
Seicho-No-Ie’s teachings
The main points of Seicho-No-Ie’s teachings can be represented with these three principles: “Only the God-Created Perfect World Exists,” “All Phenomena are Manifestations of the Mind,” and “All Religions Emanate from One Universal God.”
Only the God-Created Perfect World Exists (The True Image)
The True Image is the world created by the one and only absolute God and is the world that truly exists. The world of the True Image is filled with God’s virtues. It’s a place where human beings are children of God and God, nature, and human beings are in Grand Harmony. In other words, what truly exists is only God and the perfect and harmonious world created by God. This is the definition of the True Image or the “Only the God-Created Perfect World Exists.” On the other hand, Seicho-No-Ie calls the world perceived with the human senses the “phenomenal world.” Through the human five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch the brain is able to filter just a portion of the vast amount of information that comprises the whole. The phenomenal world is what the brain temporarily creates based on this incomplete information. Therefore, it seems that war, terrorism, diseases and other imperfections exist around the world. However, Seicho-No-Ie explains that they are all in the “phenomenal world” and that none of those exist in the world of the “True Image.”
All Phenomena are Manifestations of the Mind
This principle, or the law of the mind, teaches that the phenomenal world is a world that’s created based on the human mind. The “mind” is the “word,” which, according to this principle, can be used to create the phenomenal world in whatever way you like by making use of the three tools to express the “word”: the “body,” which expresses the word through physical actions; the “mouth,” which expresses the word with spoken words; and the “thought” within your mind. This principle is precise and impartial. So, by making use of negative words, you’ll end up creating a negative phenomenal world. Accordingly, if you want to create a positive world, you can do so by making use of positive words from the world of the True Image, by making use of words that express God’s virtues of wisdom, love, and life.
All Religions Emanate from One Universal God
This principle does not mean that all religions shall be merged into a single one (i.e. Seicho-No-Ie). The principle should be read backwards, as it explains that one single Truth unfolds to become all religions. It explains that the differences that exist between religions are of the same nature as the differences that exist between, for instance, attire or culture, which vary according to the country, region, or ethnicity. Using a fried egg as a metaphor to better understand this principle, we can think of the yolk in the center as the universal and fundamental Truth which all the religions are sharing. On the other hand, the egg white surrounding it changes according to differences of culture, ethnicity, and era. When the religions in the world mutually recognize that the central part (the yolk) is shared among all and understand the diversity that surrounds it (the egg white), the conflicts between religions will end. “All Religions Emanate from One Universal God” is the phrase that concisely expresses this thought.