Depression

Over ten years, a medical center run by the government has been researching about depression. They made an analysis from more than 200 patients:

1.     People who believe that there is no fate and life can be changed with effort have smaller chance of suffering from depression.

2.     People who believe that life is determined and controlled by fate have higher chance of suffering from depression.

3.      People such as vegetarians whose diet are controlled by low fat and extremely low cholesterol tend to have higher risk. And it is seen more in women. Excessive consumption of meat also leads to high risk of depression, which comes to a conclusion that a balanced diet is important.

This analysis was the same as what I have been writing through my psychic reading, which I find interesting. This proves that those who believe in paying for psychic readings or any other kind of spiritual workshops have the tendency to suffer from depression. Also, those who are serious yoga and/or meditation practitioners or who are a member of a religious group are “dependent” people who are like robots. No.2 applies to them. 

Many of these people believe in fate and believe that they did something wrong in their past lives and because of that this life is going in a certain way and cannot be changed. They stop making efforts and think they are surrendering to the fate.  That is not true. After you die, you will find out that you wish you made an effort and regret not trying hard enough.

A man’s walking is a succession of falls. It is important for one to have the courage and sturdiness to stand up and learn from the fall.

Your Innate God (soul) has two sides. One is the Ara-mitama(荒御魂) and the other is the Nigi-mitama(和御魂). The Ara-mitama is the vibrant part that feels the joy of life. It is the strong side of you who tries to protect from harm. Nigi-mitama is the feminine side that is gentle and peaceful. Those who become depressed are the ones with Ara-mitama’s light hiding away. 

There are spiritual teachers who teach that life can be changed by one’s own effort. But some of them say that, “you where destined to meet me” at the same time. My Ara-mitama is in rage when I hear something like this.

We are all creatures connected to the ultimate source. The ultimate Kami is watching you and telling you to live your short life in the way you design and create. Life is not fixed. You have the choice and freedom to make it better. Don't be afraid to fall over and over again. Stay strong and keep trying. Don’t give up!

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

The Weight of Kami

There is an episode about the Kami (deity) enshrined in a famous shrine. One day, the shrine had to be rebuilt and the body of the Kami had to be relocated during the construction. A ritual had to take place before the moving of the enshrined Kami. The Mikoshi (mobile small shrine) was placed by four selected priests at the center of the site of celebration. According to the priests, the Mikoshi was fairly light when they were carrying it to the site.

The celebration ritual starts and the Miko dances to the Gagaku music to purify the site and to enable the Kami to enter the Mikoshi. The Norito chant was spoken to celebrate the moment. Once the ritual had completed, the four male priests dressed in white attire started to carry the Mikoshi to relocate the enshrined Kami. Just as they had lifted the Mikoshi, they all seem to have sunk low to their knees. By the time they got to the stairs, one of the priests seemed to be out of breath. He almost lost his balance and a higher priest quickly came to rescue him and took over his place. They later said that the weight of the Mikoshi had gotten so heavy, it felt like as if they were carrying an iron block. They realized that Kami actually had moved into the Mikoshi and was stricken with awe to acknowledge his existence.

Last year, I had an experience similar to this. I was told by a Kami to bring all of the Fuda I had at home to Naigū. And so I did. I brought it to the office of Naigū as I was told and a young man came out to receive the Fuda. All of the Fuda were made out of paper so it should be fairly light. But as he was receiving the Fuda in his hands, his hands fell slightly low. The Fuda at my house had been a place for many Kami to reside for a whole year. They must have been accumulating a lot of energy on the Fuda. The energy of the divine actually carries “a sense” of weight. It is a very fine magnetic energy and I don't think there is a physical weight to it.

If you had put the Fuda that had been a place for the Kami to reside on a scale, you won’t see any difference, but “sensing” it on your hand, you will feel the weight. However, human’s souls are rougher in the magnetic energy frequency. So they do have a weight. In Western science, they made an experiment to weigh the human body right before and after his death.  The statistics tells that the human soul actually weighs few ten grams.

In my senses, I don’t think it’s that heavy. But when I touch the smoke like energy after the soul has left the body I sense some kind of texture, which means there is a slight amount of weight.

So the Tanzaku on your altar must be fairly thick for many of your ancestor might be visiting. It cannot be a thin paper. The regular thickness of a Tanzaku should do just fine. There are meanings to the tools used in the Kuyō.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live