Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 9

Stories have been told about a sacred stone statue that proves the existence of a vanished civilization from more than twenty thousand years ago. The statue is said to be hidden in the deep woods of the territory of God of Tamaki Jinjya that is the sacred place for both Shinto and Shugen-do. This story was not known by the priests of Tamaki Jinjya.

I personally heard this story from a leader of a religious group. This man established a religious organization that became independent from Shugen-do (see last article for meaning). When I was at a meeting with a group discussing about Mt.Tamaki, the leader disclosed the story about a sacred statue. The secret of the secrets was revealed only because the people gathered at this meeting were limited to qualified members. The strictly confidential information was that a stone statue of Buddha was concealed in the deepest forest of Mt.Tamaki. It was told that only the best monks in Shugen-do were permitted to worship the figure.

Early in the Meiji Era, an anti-Buddhist movement took place. The movement led the removal or destruction of Buddhist icons from the sacred territory of Shinto. Most of the stone statues of Buddha in Mt. Tamaki were destroyed by the movement. However, some of the very special ones were sheltered to be escaped from the movement.

Even when the selected monks were allowed to worship the statue, they were strictly told by their master not to look at the figure. If one had looked into the figure, he would eventually lose his eyesight. The threat may have been thought only to hide the uncommon stone statue from the public. However, with the religions related to Mt.Ohmine, the actual forfeiture of eyesight truly occurs when a wishful prayer is made. Gan-kake usually means, “putting out a wishful prayer”, but Gan-kake can also be read as loosing an eye (eyes).

In spite of this saying, the religious leader (the man I heard the story from), when he went to worship this Buddha for his second time, he glanced up the image! He said that the statue had a foreign feature. The closest image he could express was the Moai statue found on the solitary island in the Pacific Ocean.

When I heard this story, it reminded of an incident.

Koujin-Take (荒神岳) was the mountain which I used to climb alone in the old days. The Koujin-Take is next to Kōya-San (高野山). God Shiva, which is a derivative of Susanoo, is said to descend to Koujin-Take while dancing in a blue form. And the Koujin-Take is the mountain where a spiritual existence threatened Kūkai (a notable monk, founder of the Shingon) every night. When Kūkai was preparing for founding of Koya-San, the existence appeared accompanied by a thunder storm and extorted Kūkai by saying, “Worship me. Otherwise my retainers of more than one hundred thousand shall destroy you.” Kūkai was obliged to show a willingness to compromise and erected a shrine to worship the intimidator.

On one clear day, when I had worshipped Mt.Ohmine from the Koujin-Take, I witnessed an image of a shining gold Moai statue with psychic vision. I didn’t know the meaning of the image at that time. But it was revealed that this image is the true form of Kongou-Zaoh-Gongen (the most supreme God for Shugen-do). Here today, the story of the stone statue completely coincided with my former experience.

This hidden story was revealed to me only because we are already in the Heisei Era. Was it all right to make this public? If it was the Showa Era, I may have been punished and destroyed.

To be continued・・・

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 8

Tamaki-Jinjya shrine is the inner shrine of the so-called Kumano-San-Zan and at the same time the inner sanctuary for the Shugendo (syncretic religious order which combined elements of ancient pre- Buddhist worship of mountains with the doctrine and ritual of Esoteric Buddhism). In the times when the capital of Japan was located in Nara and Kyoto, the vast areas from Nara, Yoshino to Kumano was the source of it’s power, the interference coming from the World of Spirits.

Years later, Kūkai (notable Japanese monk, 774~835) introduced the Esoteric Buddhism into this area, which made the area the spiritual center for incantations and prayers as well as curses. In some periods, this area had considerable influences on succession of the Emperor of Japan, politics and assassinations behind the scenes. From the early times, there are some particular spots in this area that have the spiritual power to accelerate the strength of the human will. The territory of God in Tamaki-Jinjya is one of the important spots.

It is not clearly known when Tamaki-Jinjya was built, but the historic studies indicate that the shrine may have erected at least before Christ.

From the prehistoric times, the area where Tamaki-Jinjya is located has highly been esteemed for thousands of years as the important spot for nature worship. In fact, only in the territory of God of Tamaki-Jinjya, there are several great trees that have survived for more than three thousand years, which are largest in the Kinki district.

My last visit to Tamaki-Jinjya dates back as far as 25 years. The change of scenery around the old shrine astonished me. The entrance path to the shrine was renovated and the leaves of the trees alongside the path were trimmed. In the past, the trees stood naturally and the piles of fallen leaves on the path made it look like an animal trail. After a radio tower was built at the top of the territory of God, the Tamaki area changed.

An electro-magnetic wave broadcasted from the radio tower seemed to drive the spiritual existence away. Long ago, when I used to visit here, a group of Tengu (long-nosed forest goblins) used to follow me jumping around. The number of the Tengu was largest among all shrines I had ever visited. I sensed that the Tengu punishes mercilessly if somebody disrespects the sacred ground.

In former days, I think the priests of the shrine were guided not to clean the entrance path even if they wanted. The nature spirits do not like the trees to be cut down. The decrease of the nature spirits was thought to contribute to the freedom where people are able to clean up the shrine and its territory. However, I wish there were the surroundings still left, similar to the famous animated movie“Mononoke-Hime”(directed by H.Miyazaki). If the future progress in the communication technology could eliminate the radio tower, the spiritual existence of Tamaki district may come back.

This time, I sensed a few Kenzoku (a spirit entity that serves under a god) gathering at the place for prayer. I assume this situation will continue all the way to the far future.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 7

I visited Nachi-no-Ohtaki (The Great Waterfall of Nachi) after a long interval. My last visit here was when I was 20. I thought the place may have become very touristy by now and I wasn’t expecting too much. On the contrary, the closer I got to the place, the more I began to feel the pure energy of the God.

The so-called Kumano-San-Zan (熊野三山- the three mountains of Kumano) consists of three shrines which are Kumano-Nachi-Jinjya, Kumano-Hongu-Taisha and Kumano-Hayatama-Jinjya. Energetically, Kumano-Nachi-Taisha shrine was better than the other two. Hiroh-Jinjya located in front of The Great Waterfall of Nachi was very impressive.

When I got to the first big torii (the vermilion archway) of The Great Waterfall of Nachi, I felt the divine energy and the ozone waves coming from the waterfall.

After I paid the entrance fee of 300 yen and stood in front of the great waterfall right by Hiroh-Jinjya, I felt as if I was receiving the purification. When I prayed before the great waterfall, my psychic sense revealed me the spiritual existence. The spirit was unexpectedly related to Buddhism.

That spirit form was Amida-Nyorai (阿弥陀如来,Amitabha = Mahaavairocana= Avalokitesvara=Kuan Yin) with a shining golden halo around his back. A yellow frame was detected on the picture taken in front of the great waterfall. The frame was exactly at the same place where the sacred halo was seen. When I looked at the actual scenery, I found the grasses on the rocks also turning yellow from autumnal foliage at the same location. The mystery of the nature deeply impressed me.

I didn’t expect the appearance of a divine spirit related to Buddhism at this waterfall. Around this area, for many years, a lot of Buddhist monks lead an ascetic life in the mountains (Shugen-dō monks). And probably, the accumulation of the Buddhist Shugen-dō monks’ worships has led the energy appear in this form.

If people had seriously worshipped the Dorae-mon (a famous character in one of the Japanese animated cartoons) for thousands of years, the spiritual form resembling the Dorae-mon may have appeared. The transcription of the form may take place in the nature as well. This is one example of the Law of Magnetism in this World of Reality.

I believe worshipping man-made idols is not right, and like Shinto, simply worshipping the great nature as it is, is the right way.

On the left of the main shrine of Kumano-Nachi-Taisha is a small shrine where a three-legged crow is worshipped. I actually sensed a big crow spirit enshrined. I felt that the spirit kept his wings spread widely and was as large as the black roof of the shrine. This crow had a same kind of energy I feel from the big fat crow that sometimes comes to my home yard.

After our visit to the shrine, we wanted to stay at a hot-spring inn near Mt.Tamaki and so I set the car navigation system. The navigation system indicated the course by returning to the seaside and then going to the destination. However, the map showed us that there is a very narrow state road going from the deep mountains to Tamaki district. Because I wanted to see the deep mountains of Kumano, I overwhelmed my family’s opposition and took the narrow state road instead of taking the course suggested by the navigator.

The state road was once again terrible. The rough road was at the brink of a precipice and no larger than the width of one car. I greatly regretted having risked the Innate God of my family and myself. I promised myself never to take this kind of road in the deep forest again. On the other hand, I was so moved by the harsh life in the deep mountains and at the same time felt grateful to our life in the urban area.

We visited a famous old shrine near the hot-spring inn, but found the place very disappointing. So many signboards stood everywhere in the territory of God (神域) announcing the forbidden activities . The place was filled with signs telling us things that are not permitted at this sacred ground. It shows the level of spirituality of the administrators of this shrine. The disgraceful and ignoble superintendent seems to disregard the shrine’s duties to the public. They do not trust in the visitors.
This impression and the sense I got stayed the same when I stood in front of the main shrine.

I sensed that receiving a large donation from a new religious organization caused the disappointing atmosphere of this old shrine. This organization has been collecting a lot of money from innocent people. Their energy is evil. Unfortunately a righteous god does not descend to such shrine.

That night, we were resting at the hot-spring inn to prepare for the visit to Mt.Tamaki the following day. We were watching the local TV news and a warning was announced that an earthquake swarm was taking place directly under this small hot-spring town. The ground dragon (地龍) of the area always welcomes me in such manner before my important visit to the specified place. To be continued…

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 6

After leaving Takahara-no-miya shrine, I drove on Route 42 for quite a while. There were no traffic lights and the road was on a high hill looking down towards the Pacific Ocean. It was a pleasant drive. As we got close to Kumano City, the road becomes closer to the seashore. A huge ferry had a falling-load accident and was stranded off the coast of Kumano. The towing ships looks so small, and the ferry doesn’t seem like it was going to move at all. It looked like a lying whale. The accident happened before my visit to Kumano. Kuma(熊), bears, meant God as an archaic word. And the accident happened here at the offshore of Kumano. However, fortunately, no one was hurt from this accident and to me this whole incident was felt as a message.

After leaving the scene, we arrived to Kumano Hayatama Taishya. The whole surrounding area had become very commercial. When I read the history and origin of this shrine, it said that the god worshipped at this shrine, his body resides at Kamikura Jinjya as a Iwakura (a divine energy descending giant rock) named “Gotobiki-iwa”. I sent my gratitude in front of the vermilion main shrine of Hayatama Taishya and moved on to visit the rock.

Gotobiki-iwa resided at the top of a hill after climbing over five hundred old wobbly stone steps. This place appears in the Kojiki, Records of Ancient Matters, as Emperor Jimmu visited this Iwakura rock and overlooked the city of Shingu. Naturally I sensed a very ancient energy at this place. It was much older than the time of Jimmu (around 660 BC). I saw a vision of Jōmon people (14,000~400 BCE ) holding a ritual at this place.

The ritual looked like they were worshiping the two giant rocks as a couple of giant toads’ copulation. In spite of my family’s worry, I had to climb up to the top of the rocks to see what was in between. As I expected, a bunch of small round stones laid there. It was done in an artificial manner. In the ancient times, people did not live long and the idea of procreation was an important factor to receive blessing from the gods.

Going down these steep steps were even harder. It felt like the sharpest steps were as steep as 70 degrees. There are no handrails of any sort. If you have a bad back or weak legs, I don’t recommend you to go there. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
It came to a big surprise to see young teenage students running up and down these steps for their training.

They looked like a Ko-tengu (small mountain long-nosed goblins). Next visit will be to The Great Water Fall of Nachi.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 5

Takahara-no-miya(瀧原宮) is located a little far out from Ise Jingu towards Kumano. This shrine is located close to the source of Miya River, a spiritually important river that runs through Ise City. Deep in the forest, at the source of Miya River, a highland spreads out, one of the highest amount rainfall in the world.

Naigū has the Isuzu River and Gegū has the Miya River as an important spiritual stream. At the top of Miya River is the Takahara-no-miya shrine. Goddess Seoritsu-hime(瀬織津姫) who is the derivative of Susanoo decends only to a clean river and take away the spiritual filth from the area.

Takahara-no-miya shrine is protecting the source of the stream that purifies Gegū. In my youth, I used to visit this shrine many times. It is a spiritually beautiful place surrounded by chains of mountains. I can see several small rainbow color light pillars coming out from the earth. It is a true sacred ground. And with my psychic eyes, I can also see the maidens of the Imperial Court with many guards walking along this forest from Nara to Ise. Every time I come here, I see the same vision. This tells me that this shrine is not so old. I knew that there must be another location around the Miya River that has an ancient trace. So I did some research and found out about Takihara-jinjya(多岐原神社). The shrine is located few kilometers away from Takahara-no-miya. It is a small shrine near Miya River. When you walk down from this small shrine to the river, you will find a riverbed with big stones spreading out. You can also see a pretty waterfall on the other side. When I looked back to the narrow path, my psychic vision showed me a giant pregnant amphibian walking up this path and gave birth in the forest. This was a sando(産道), a transbirth canal in the ancient times. I had seen this vision somewhere else before. It was at Izawa-jinjya(射波神社). The two shrines’ sando has a same smell. Now I reaffirm that a genuine ancient trace of a shrine would always have a passage from the ocean to a river, the sando. My adventurous spirit about the process of human evolution occupied my mind as I make my way to Kumano. To be continued…




Photo: View of the ocean and sunset in front of the sando of Izawa-jinjya.


Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 4

I drove on Route 12 that starts from the end of the parking lot of Naigū. You pass the Isuzu River and it goes all the way to a town called Nansei-cho right by the Pacific Ocean. I believe this road was made during the Meiji-era to deliver seafood from the bay to Ise city, and also as a passage to Ise Jingu.

I wanted to see the forest of Ise and the source of Isuzu River. The road was extremely narrow, one side looking up a rocky cliff and the other side looking down toward the Isuzu River. There are people living in the forest, so you might have a car coming from the other way. Then you had to back up few meters to find a spot to have them pass through. I must say, I cannot recommend this road at all.

The forest owned by Ise Jingu is massive. Starting from one side of Isuzu River, it goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Looking from Route12, the left side was an off-limits zone so we had to go from the right side of the river. On this road was a community hall. It was a very impressive looking log house. The name was “Kōraibiro (高麗広)”. It is a Chinese name, and I sense that it was the name of this area long time ago. I sense that about 2000 years ago, the Chinese people came here to live for a while. For what? The Emperor who originally decided to build Ise Jingu had put many ideas from Taoism. The current main shrines are placed in the doctrine of yin and yan and the Five Agents of Elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). One of the Ise shrine’s symbol is the star. So at this time, I sense the Emperor invited many families from China in several occasions to learn about Tao, and the name stayed as to how the people called this place.

The trees in forest of Ise were totally used up during the late Edo to Meiji-era. At that time, Ise Jingu was extremely popular and almost 30% of the Japanese population had been visiting the shrine. So they kept cutting down the trees from the forest to cook food and boil teas for the people. It stripped the entire forest. So all the trees now growing are less than 200 hundred years old. When the forest was stripped, the fishes in the ocean also disappeared. The ocean and the forests are connected. When the leaves fall, it produces bacteria and nutrition that is delivered by the river down to the ocean. Nothing goes to waste! So when there weas no forest, the fishes had to go else where.

The source of the Isuzu River was only about two meters wide and the giant rocks were everywhere. The layers of the underground rocks of this mountain are accumulating the divine magnetic energy that is the source of the sacred ground of Ise Jingu.

The sunray coming through the young forest felt fresh and comfortable.

Next, we will go to Takahara-no-miya.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 2&3

After arriving to Ise, I went straight to Gegū. It was a nice sunny day. The sando path way was well swept which made me feel even better. I went to the honden main shrine and requested a mikakiuchi-sannpai (御垣内参拝). This type of visit allows you to go inside the fence with a priest leading you to the front of the honden. I like this walk. As I walk on the pebbles, every step I feel cleansed. The donation for this visit can be from 1000 yen and up. I think it’s reasonably priced and worth the experience. Spiritually, this is priceless. The pebbles on this sacred ground is an iwakura*(磐座) and it is like an electric field of god’s energy. To apply for this type of visit, you can go to the shrine office. You should wear formal. Men should wear a suit with tie. Women should wear a simple modest outfit either all black or all white.

As always, our family applied for the seishiki-sannpai (正式参拝) , the formal visit, at both Gegū and Naigū. At both shrines, a young priest attended the ritual, but both of them were very impressive with their performances. I can see how hard they have trained. If you are working in the guest service field, I highly recommend you to see how they attend and move. It is not easy to train the young people these days to this high level. It was interesting to see the difference in feature of the priest of Gegū and Naigū. It must be the god’s will, to whom is chosen to be at the particular shrine. The priests at Gegū looks gallant and clean-cut, where as the priests at Naigū looks more friendly and warm. Their features reflect the god worshipped at each shrine.

At Gegū, I applied for the shinon-kansha (gratitude sending to the god) as a representative of Ise-Hakusun-Do. As we went inside the ceremonial hall, the first thing I recognized was the sakaki branches offered on the big altar. It was about two meters high beautifully growing to all directions. I heard there is a sakaki forest within the sacred ground of Ise specially grown for the rituals held at the shrines. This time, I was happy to see the sakaki leaves looking much healthier than last time.
The priest who chanted the Ooharae-no-kotoba showed dignity in his attitude. The priest of last time had a softer image and his voice was soft as well. The chant was chanted as if he was speaking gently. This was very unusual.

During the ritual, the movement of this priest gave me a vision of a rooster. It was the white rooster with a long tail, which resides at this sacred ground of Ise. When we were here last time, I didn’t see it on the other priest. He looked human until the end of the ritual. However, the priest of this time was different. I recognized that he had become one with the god. As I continue to use my psychic vision to look at the musicians in the back, four of them were regular human figure and the two in the back lane were sparrows.

The other figure of the priest being the white long tailed rooster signifies that he has attended the path in a serious and sincere manner for many years. He has become a true high priest.

A thought came into my mind, if I was able to view the Emperor in this way, I am sure that he will be more than a white long tailed rooster, but a phoenix.

In Shinto, birds have always been the messenger of the gods from the ancient times. The mythology tells about a three legged crow and at The Grand Shrine of Ise, the white long tailed rooster greets the sun. Even the costume of the priests l think originates from the rooster. (see photo of rooster at Naigū).　

Next place to visit will be the forest of Ise.
To be continued..

(the other photo is at the new Uji Bridge at Naigū. I felt strong energy in my gut.)

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu
Thank you for letting us live

*Iwakura – to see a giant rock as a form of god

Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa - Preface

Something came into my mind around October 26th. It was the time of one ending of the first Bardo/spiritual purification period (see previous articles for Bardo) of this year for the earth.

It was a sense of dark clouds coming from foreign countries to our Japanese society. The dark clouds will affect those who still cling to old values such as status and opulent outlook. If you already see good and healthy values in your heart, you don't have to worry. Yet, the first phase that brought big financial downfall and contagious diseases are definitely creating an emotional turbulence in many of us. I was concerned about the vulnerable children who are most effected by their parents.

The shift is starting from the material civilization to the spiritual civilization. And we cannot avoid the friction caused in the early stage. When you look at the creatures casting off its skin, it doesn’t look like a pleasant experience. It must be uneasy. This is a similar situation. You need to let go of the old values in order to outgrow.

I strongly want to make this shift a smooth and easy one for everybody. Starting from Japan and to the world, as easy as the Othello pieces flipping one after another. As I thought of this, along with my innate god, I decided to go around to important key sacred places to offer my gratitude towards the ancient spirits who reside on the land of Japan.

In order to calm the dark clouds from a foreign land, I thought it is important to go to Tamaoki-jinjya(玉置神社). This shrine was well known to clear off evil spirits from the ancient days. Tamaoki is located in the deep forest between the three mountains of Kumano. Like the saying, an eye for an eye, to clear off evil spirits we need a spirit that can be powerful like a kishin(鬼神) demonic god to work on it. I had to go there to find out for myself if the shrine still had that kind of power.

Another thing is that the location of the three key places, Tenkawa-jinjya(天河神社), Tamaoki-jinjya and the Nachi Waterfall（那智の滝） in Nara positions in a straight line on a map. Visiting these three places has been an important path for the shugendo(修験道), the mountaineering asceticism.

In the past, I had received a revelation about this line. When you extend this line straight into the Pacific Ocean, it is pointing to the location where there was once a giant continent. This floating giant island was made by extinct giant seaweeds that were about 1meter wide. The birds’ droppings piled over the seaweeds for ages and created this island. The land was very rich and human civilization progressed immensely at this period.

Eons ago, these three places were connected to this floating island on the Pacific Ocean by a spiritual pipeline. I wanted to go and check the condition of the spiritual energy of these places.

I reverently gazed at Haku-san shinning by the rising of the sun. And imagined carrying the god of Haku-san on my back, I left to first greet the Sun Goddess in Ise.

The story begins of my five day journey.
(this photo is the sun that welcomed me in the beginning of my trip at Gekū.)

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Infertility 2

Hints to fertility are:

1. Act on #1 and #2 on the previous article.
2. Stop using shampoo, soap, hair dye and cosmetics with chemicals. Use the ones with natural ingredients.

３. Stop consuming food with antiseptic substance (preservatives). Instead take more fermented food. I believe the ultimate food is the fermented food. Like natto (fermented soybean) or pickles, I sense that during the process of fermentation the agrochemicals and other bad substance are disintegrated.

4. This suggestion is all up to you whether you want to try it or not, but you can try using a plain yogurt (healthy bacteria). I sense that having enough healthy bacteria inside your vagina has a lot to do with getting pregnant. You can try putting a small amount of plain yogurt around the inside area of your vagina. Do it before you go to bed. There are number of specialists who suggest this method.

Yogurt is also good for atopic skin decease. Try a yogurt pack on your body before you go to sleep. But if you find it uncomfortable please wash it off right away.


Infertility treatment is very expensive. Some people cannot afford it. But I believe that god has left us ways to improve one’s condition without spending any money.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Infertility

Woman having problems with pregnancy is increasing. This is a big problem for the future of humanity.

In the past, I have mentioned about the causes:

1. Your ancestral spirit line is blocked. By doing the three incense kuyō your line will clear out, and have a place for a new spirit to decend.

2. The location where the couple lives might be the problem. The uji-kami, the local god may not be the right god for the unification of the souls. Some people become pregnant after they have moved to a different place. In the third world countries where people take care of the spirits of their land, they are often very fertile.


This time, I want to explain about some physical matters. It’s about the bacteria. I sense that pregnancy has to do with having a good balance of good bacteria inside the vagina.

When I see a woman on TV, sometimes I can smell a scent of cheese from her face. That woman usually looks very healthy and cheerful. I believe that such woman who has that kind of scent has a very healthy body and she is fertile. Single or married has nothing to do with it. It comes from a very healthy female body. This might be the scent of what is called “pheromone.”

On the other hand, there are those who look healthy and beautiful but doesn’t smell like cheese. Many of these ladies smoke.

Many people don’t realize, we all have a distinctive odor. The odor comes from the process of bacteria fermentation that live inside and outside our body. The living bacteria are probiotic or the opposite. When we get sick, it means that our probiotic bacteria is out of balance.

Smoking cigarettes will cause to decrease the probiotic bacteria on the lower stomach area which makes a woman sterilize. When there are less good bacteria, the internal vaginal area becomes dry and the dryness causes a bad smell that is cause by increase of bad bacteria.

From a medical point of view, the sickness causes the unbalance of bacteria. But from a spiritual point of view, it’s the other way around. I personally feel that the figure, health, life spam, and luck are all based on the information from the DNA and the bacteria plays sort of like an “execution team”. The bacteria hold the destiny of the humans.

You might say, it’s just a bacteria. How can it be so influential to cause a sickness to change the physical condition of a man? For example, an endemic disease brings a terrible deformation to a body caused by parasites. Some people become infected by the disease, when some people do not. The science tells that it has to do with the resistibility and luck. But I would say that the condition of the permanent bacteria of the person has an effect on the parasites.

When science faces a wall that they cannot overcome, they would say it’s just a coincidence. The coincidence is not a coincidence and can be explained.

The balance of the permanent bacteria is not only affected by substance but can be changed drastically by one’s own emotions and thoughts. This is the key to solve the mystery of “coincidence.” When you worry too much, distressed, angry or sad… these emotions will turn the good ones into bad bacteria. On the other hand, when you are enjoying life and happy, this condition will create good bacteria to grow. It’s not a coincidence. This is how things happen.

Women who have been infertile for a long time may say, “I’m sick of being told to be positive.” But knowing the fact that your thoughts and emotions can influence to grow good bacteria might be new information to you. I see these bacteria radiating a light. I sense that these bacteria are the source of an aura. There is a phrase that would make your bacteria (your aura) to shine.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu
Thank you for letting me(us) live
(to be continued)

Starting from Kata

Even when you are trying to send only gratitude in front of god or ancestral spirits, deep down you know you have a wish and you feel bad about it. I am sure there are many people who feel the same. Many people are wondering, how can I get over this feeling of wanting to be saved by an outside source?

In the past articles, I have explained how your wishful thinking is going to give you negative effects. So now, those who have wishful thoughts feel guilty having it.

Could we really control ourselves from these thoughts? Could we really do it in a pure mind from the bottom of our heart? The answer is no, we can’t. It’s because we live in this World of Reality.

In this world, our action is valued than our thoughts. So even if you had a wishful thought in your mind, as long as you don’t say it out loud in front of god or ancestral spirits, it’s all right.

The problems about some people who are into spirituality is that they put so much importance in the unseen world and forget to be responsible in the daily matters. What should really be considered seriously is what you speak and what you do daily.

Spending a lot of time trying to go to other dimensions or future is a waste. You should forget about knowing the unseen and simply focus on your action in this visible world.

In Japan, we have a tradition of michi (道), a path of learning one thing. In a michi , there is a kata(型), a form. For example, in the path of tea, there are forms of sequence to learn. You wouldn’t truly understand the kokoro, the heart of tea right from the start and that’s all right. Even a master who has practiced tea for fifty years would still use the same kata. One’s heart might change and grow, but the kata remains always the same. The kata is “to live” and it is always there for you until you need another kata and that would be in another plane.

Humans need to work on a kata repeatedly until they understand the kokoro of it. This applies also in the gratitude sending to ancestral spirits. One day you will feel that it has become a true prayer from the bottom of your heart. Trust that day will definitely come.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

The Pillar of the God

Isuzu River is the bounds (kekkai) between the sacred ground of Naigū of Ise Jingu and the outer world.

Isuzu (五十鈴) means fifty bells. I think it’s a very Shinto-ish name. Bells signifies the harai, purification. The Shinto maiden dances with bells in her hands. The metallic sound of the bells clears off the evil spirits or negative energies. Not just one bell, but to have many bells to create multiple sounds is the key to harai.

In ancient Shinto, the kazutama(the spirit of numbers) of 3 and 5 is called “annanai”. Annanai means “to help one another”.

The number 50 is bigger than 35 and I sense that it means “perfection.” The Isuzu River is a river that purifies perfectly.

On November 3rd, a ceremony was held for the newly built Uji Bridge that runs on top of Isuzu River. The day before the ceremony, one of our reader took a photo of the new Uji Bridge (shown ). On this photo, you can see a Divine Pillar descending from the heavens. The love from the nation and the efforts of the priests of Ise Jingu are felt by the gods. The gods are making a move.
This photo shows that the divine energy is filling this bridge.

The next kekkai after the Isuzu River is the Miya River. Around a thousand years ago, the priests were strictly told not to pass this river. A visit to the outer world passing Miya River was considered unnecessary for the priests of Ise Jingu. As long as they serve the god of Ise, they were to dedicate their lives to stay inside the sacred ground of Ise Jingu all year around.

I certainly hope the priests of today remain in the same spirit.
The God of Ise is roaring like a thunder. It is time for the priests of Ise to brace oneself so he doesn’t get blown away.

The line between Ise and Hakusan, the center of Japan, is starting to glow.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Don’t add any negative energy onto yourself

From a reader:
Daughter: “Mom, I want to go to Tenmann-gu(Osaka) before my college entering exam.”
Mother: “Sure. But don’t use the word please let me pass, ok?”
Daughter: “I know mom. I’m going to write, I will pass!! on the Emma.”

Comment:
This is a proper attitude to pay a visit to a shrine.
The true function of a shrine is to reflect your own thoughts like a mirror. In the mythology, when Amaterasu-Ohomikami’s grandchild Ninigi was going to the World of Reality, Amaterasu gave her a mirror. She said, “Think of this mirror as me, the sun goddess. And keep this on your altar. This will guide your path with light.”

This means: To look at yourself in the mirror once in a while, to check on your actions. Are you truthful to yourself? Have you done anything wrong? If you keep doing this, your path will be guided with your own light and things will go well.

The shrine where god reside = mirror = reflecting back to you. This is what actually happens at a shrine. So if you had said “Please let me pass the exam!, what comes back to you? You are asking a wish to yourself.

When you are asked so many wishes from others, wouldn’t you feel stressed? It’s the same thing when you are asking yourself so many wishes. It’s only adding a minus energy to yourself. You are strangling your own spirit.

So when you say “I will pass the exam”, you are proclaiming. And proclamation will return you a very good plus energy. It’s active rather than passive. You are energizing your own spirit by saying so. If you are able to exhibit your real ability, you should be able to pass. The only reason you don't pass is when you couldn’t exhibit your real ability. When you are asking/begging to pass, the added minus energy might make that happen. Don’t depend on others for your fate.

This applies to other matters like work or health. If you paid to get a healing session, you are only adding minus energy onto yourself. You might be relieved and feel safe that someone got rid of your karma or evil spirits, but in truth, it’s the other way around. You are not set free but only strangling yourself.

At a shrine, it is best to offer your gratitude and nothing else. When you do this, the gratitude energy will come back to you, and you will start to feel grateful for everything.

There is no need to ask for personal desires. Good luck will come to you even you don’t ask for it, if you are acting on goodness. This is one of the secret of this world we live in.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Just the way it is

Ise is the land of the rising sun where the sun appears from the ocean.

In Kumano, the sun is hidden in the morning looking from Ise. And the ancient Shintoist acknowledged the area as Yomi-no-kuni (the land of the dead).

Thus the god worshipped in Ise has been the sun goddess Amaterasu-Ohomikami. And the god worshipped in Kumano was the god of the land of the dead, Susanoo, in the ancient time. The original shrines worshipped one or the other. But nowadays, other gods are added from humanly thoughts and the distinction of shrines has become dim.

The essence of Japanese Shinto is the teachings of nature. The name of the gods expresses the different functions of nature.

Amaterasu = sunlight = activate lives.
Susanoo = moonlight = give rest to lives.

This morning, I received a message from a god that Susanoo = sunaosa (meaning honesty). Susanoo is also a god of harai purification. So this message means that one’s honesty will purify one’s impurity and problems.

In the mythology, Susanoo was unruly to his father, a rebel. But old tales are often told the other way around.

In this world, we have day and night, light and dark. Some spiritual gurus would say they are no light and dark, it's just in your imagination. But that is not true.

I would say, just look at your life the way it is with honesty. We humans have gone through many problems through out our lives from ancient times. That has been the same. We need those problems in order to grow. It’s meant to be the way it is.

How do we get through our problems? Look at it with your honest feelings. Don’t get sucked into the problem. Observe. If you look at your problems from the point of life and death, it’s really no big deal. Time will be the solution. Accept the way it is with honesty.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Come to a Realization

The news was talking about a man who was released from prison after 20 years. He was accused of murderer but was discovered as false charge. There was a TV show about his life after the release.

He was going into a Ramen shop. I was touched by the way he was eating the noodles. You can see that he was really enjoying the moment. He was not acting. It was coming from inside and I could tell even from the TV screen. Inside the prison, they probably wont’ be serving such good hot ramen. Being away for 20 years from tasty food can really make a man look so happy with one bowl of ramen. It was beautiful to look at.

In Shinto, a “naorai” (直会) is held after a *shinji, Shinto ritual. At a naorai, the participants gather to enjoy the offerings (food and sake) after the ritual. Many people think it’s just a party to celebrate the ending of the ritual. But it is actually a part of the ritual. It is an important ending for god and human to merge as they share the offerings.

So if you only attended the ritual and skip the naorai, it means that you didn’t complete the whole. The offerings will be filled with divine energy from the god during the ritual. Thus by eating the offerings after the ritual, you become one with god.

I am suggesting that the woman in the house should be taking care of the home altar. She should be the priestess of the house. The reason for this comes from the same concept as the naorai.

When the woman of the house who takes care of the altar cooks meals for the family, the same thing as the naorai is happening. If you live alone and take care of the altar by yourself and cook for yourself, that would be the same as well.

Naorai is nao=直 and rai=会. 直 means directly. 会 means to meet. So the meaning of naorai is to meet directly with the god.
　
The meals should be taken as a *shinji. One should eat slowly to appreciate it. Laughter is another good thing to have during a meal.

Even in the mythology, it talks about the importance of laughter. When the sun goddess Amaterasu-ohomikami hide herself in the cave after knowing there are so many crimes in the world, the laughter of the party outside made her come out.

Going back to the story about the man who was false charged, he went to the park after eating ramen. The children came around him probably because of the camera shooting. Surrounded by children, he looked very happy with an innocent smile. In the interview, he told about being lonely living alone that he didn’t have anyone to talk to. In prison, at least he had others to talk to. In any case life is hard. But if you could come to a realization for what you have, rather than what you don’t have, you will be able find peace.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live



*Shinji <神事>: Shinto ritual, divine service

The Filth Becomes Manure

Most of the famous Zen monks have left many scrolls and paintings. However, many of them leaves desire for fame or ambition in the content. Even the famous Hakuin (白隠) left some of these traces in his writings. One of the very few pure hearted one was Ryōkan who has become popular in the recent years.

Many people are fond of someone like, Ryōkan, a hermit. But much is misunderstood. If Ryōkan would have become successful, he probably had killed himself. He was someone who had suffered from the success of his ancestors. The success had actually left filth in his ancestral spiritual pipeline. He was born to a rich commercial family. At the same time, the family had a long history as a Shinto priest of Ishi Shrine in Niigata.

It is interesting that most of the Zen monks who became famous had a Shinto family background. As long as you live in Japan, the Ubusuna-kami (the birth place god) will come to interfere when it comes to the advancement of a soul.

When a family has a long history in doing one business, business related problems are always there, and people suffer from jealousy and grudges. Employees might have died from accidents. Those things will create filth in the spiritual pipeline of the family. I sense that Ryōkan suffered from unreasonable anxiety and apathy from a very young age. In spite of being the eldest son in the family, he rejected to inherit the business and left his family at the age of 18 to become a monk. He had difficulty with his father who had so much hope for him. His mother, on the other hand, was a wonderful person who Ryōkan adored. He saw her as the prefect example of motherhood. His father later killed himself after the fall of his business. Ryōkan was deeply hurt by the incident.

Funny episodes are told about Ryōkan. One day when he was taking a nap on the veranda, a flea came out from his sleeve. He talks to the flea, “hey, where do you think you’re going? Come back home” and puts it back into his sleeve. Another story tells about him breaking his own roof of his shabby home for the bamboo shoot that came out from his floor. He was also once caught being mistaken for a robbery and was buried into the ground alive. Even then, he didn't try to defend himself and kept silent.

There is something about him that is very childlike and innocent. But the reason behind his character comes from breakdowns, sadness and sense of impermanence.

He acted as he was a free spirited man. His image seems to have no relation to discipline. But actually, another side of him had ninety disciplines. That makes him different from vagabonds.

Some of his disciplines were:

* Don’t interrupt when others are talking.
* Don't try to convince your beliefs.
* Don’t under value others.
* Don’t quibble while drunk.
* Don’t try to hide your mistakes.
* Don’t show off your intelligence.
* Don’t make promises easily.
* Don’t talk about regrets.
* Don’t make a fake smile.
* Don’t be proud of your position.
* Don’t scold people with your ugly thoughts.

Ryōkan was a man of effort.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Don’t think of Kami like your Personal Servant

御祈祷(go-kitō) or 祈願 (kigan) is a ceremony to offer gratitude to kami (god) in hopes that we receive continuous protection. The shrine offers two types of gokitō, 御饌(mike) and 神楽(kagura). Both the Naigū (Inner Shrine) and Gaigū (Outer Shrine) provide a Kaguraden (a ceremonial hall). And the priests and the maidens will performs in front of kami as the conveyor on behalf of the offerer. (quote from Ise-Jingu official website)

I feel, using these two words, 祈祷 (kitō)・祈願 (kigan) should be reconsidered at this time.

Because these two words or Chinese characters are used, the people misunderstand the way to worship a kami.

These letters were used by the influence of Buddhism, and it has a hidden meaning such as curse, win, battle and request personal desires. They are all self-centered evil attitudes of human and what kami dislikes.

Most people think that kami is there to ask for wishes. That is a misfortune. Why is it a misfortune?

You are asking kami for your personal desires to come true. This is a rude attitude towards a kami, and most people do not know about it. This is happening because the priests of today’s shrines cannot sense the kenzokus (the spirits that protects the kami). They have forgotten the osore - the reverence towards kami.

How would you feel if your child come to you, hand you a small coin and say “I pay you this much so would to make a move to make my wish come true?”

Do you think the kami who has given you life and who is completely in the position of justice would say “yes, I shall make it happen” to every personal desires?

If your wish comes true, there will always be someone in trouble on the other side. That is how the balance is created in this society. Is that what you want?

If my child came to me to ask for a wish, because I love him I would really want to make it happen. But then, I think whether it would be good for him. I might secretly help him make it happen. But I would never say yes to everything he asks for. Sometimes, I would scold him that it’s not going to happen and life is not that easy.

You shouldn’t be asking for small details to the almighty god. Simply send gratitude for what you have at this moment, for being alive. Put your heart to it. The energy of gratitude will reach to kami. And if he thinks you need help, he shall help you. The gratitude prayer would work much stronger than a wishful prayer. Wishful thinking should be left in your daily moments to encourage and bring focus to yourself.

It is the shrine’s responsibility to have led the mass to a wrong way of praying.

When you are asking for a formal prayer (mike or kagura) the priest would ask what the purpose would be? And give you a list. Select 神恩感謝 (shin-on-kansha) gratitude sending to kami. Some shrines don’t even have this on the list. What a shame.

If the shrine does not have this in their listing, ask for 家内安全 (kanai-anzen), safety of family. During the ceremony, think as you are offering this to kami rather than asking for protection and be in gratitude.

The energy of gratitude will create 神気 (shinki), divine energy. The energy you send will always come back to you and change your life in someway.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

A Collection of My Photography

"Mt.Haku -The Home of the Gods" - 「神々の故郷、白山」


From few years ago, I have been sensing the nature withering away. It will escalate faster then one can imagine. Whether we can save the nature from dying or not, depends on how much appreciation we have for the nature. The shrine is a place where you could go and send gratitude to the gods of nature. When you come to a realization, your gratitude could save the nature. The energy of true gratitude would be felt by the fairies in the forests and help save the forest.

I have been taking pictures of the forest and the nature since I started to think of this. I used to visit Haku-san (Mt.Haku) area for work, so I had a lot of chance to catch the scenes of Haku-san. It’s often covered with clouds, but when you can see it covered in snow it is spectacular.

I've been wanting to take the whole mountain view. So I had visited many weekends. I felt I was guided. And found unusual spots where there are no artificial buildings in front. The clouds were gone when I was there.

I took many great pictures but the best one is the one with a strong blue aura of a god in front of the Haku-san mountain.

Haku-san is very hard to get to. And even if you go there it’s very rare to see the whole view. Usually, it is covered by clouds. It would be a pity for the readers not to be able to see this beautiful mountain.

Just when I was thinking about it, I happened to find a photo book of Ise Jingu at a book store. I looked at the publisher. It was Random House Kōdan-sha. This publisher had contacted me two years ago when my blog first became a book. There are many photo books of Ise Jingu but almost none on Haku-san, the origin of Shinto.

Through my blog, so many people have started to worship Haku-san, and I felt like I wanted to show them the image through my perspective. I have more than a thousand photos. But interestingly, the publisher picked up 108 photos to publish. The number 108 is said in Buddhism the number of earthly passions.

To each image, I wrote a comment through my inspiration in hopes that the viewer/reader of this book will feel enlightened.




To get 10 free photos, you can go to:
http://www.randomhouse-kodansha.co.jp/isehakusan/

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Lets Practice to be the Musubi

One of the important God’s job is to be the musubi (結び). It is to join two or more different things and create something new. This is the core feature of the Creator.

At a Shinto shrine, there is thick twisted rope hanging on top of the front opening. This is called shime-nawa (注連縄). The shimenawa is the actual image of what the musubi is about.

Sake is also something that cannot be forgotten in Shinto tradition. Sake is made of this process of musubi of different substances and then fermented. Sake is one fine musubi art work. One of the finest symbolic god’s artwork is offered to the altar at a Shinto shrine.

Rice contains the divine energy of Amaterasu-Ohomikami and pure water. Sake that is made out of rice has the spiritual power to expel evil spirits and purify.

Rice = Amaterasu-Ohomikami
Water = Susanoo

These two divine Gods’ power is in the sake. And it is mixed with all the other eight millions gods’ power and fermented. The sake is a creation with all the Gods together.

Japanese sake is sacred. In Shinto, sake is used in many different ways for purification.

When I pore sake on the ground, I sense it cleanses the place and expel the negative energy. But like salt, it only works temporarily.

We also play the role as a “musubi” in the society. For example, we introduce a job to a friend or vise versa. This is unknowingly creating a “musubi”. When you are cooking for your family, you are also doing the “musubi” by putting together different substances.

Meeting your life partner is also a creation of the power of “musubi”. In order to be jointed, you shouldn’t just wait for it to happen. You must actively work on it. As a human being, you are here to learn to be a better “musubist”. In this World of Reality, we humans are the creators.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Watch the Amount of Food You Eat

Until five years old, I remember I hated eating. I remember thinking, “why should I put all these things into my body?”

My mother worried about my health and forced me to eat. I still didn't eat so much, but I was chubby. My wrists were meaty it looked like I had a rubber band around. My brothers used to tease me and say, “hey lend me your rubber band” and push my skin around my wrist.

Also, I never ran out of breath when I was running. I was always running around with my yellow rain boots on bear feet. We had a large open ground in front our house. I used to run around in circles clock wise.. counter clock wise… then I would start to run swirling around in different directions. And that was my first out of body experience. I knew I was running but the scenery around me had stopped. And I was sucked into the blue sky. The next second, I realized looking at the Earth from space. I remember this very clearly. It was before I entered preschool. Now when I think about it, I think I might have accidently danced the Sufi dance.

Like in my childhood, when you are eating little and maintaining a healthy body, you consciousness can expand.

Since the beginning of September, I am only eating once a day and very little. I exercise everyday like I have been always doing. I am starting to feel that my body senses are returning to when I was five years old.

If you are recently starting to feel some health issue, it might be the amount of food you are consuming. People have a belief system that one has to eat a certain amount. The older you get you have to change your diet and the amount you eat. But your thoughts are set and doesn’t want to change. If you eat more than you should, you are overworking your organs that is screaming stop! Stop! And your physical condition becomes poor.

If you are recently feeling fatigue, you might want to change your diet and eat less. If you are doing well and feel good, you don't have to worry.

Eat less and if you feel a little hungry, have something like dry fruits. I carry dry figs and have one occasionally.

In the microcosmic world everything is vibrating. The Earth is also vibrating. Recently I sense the Earth substances are vibrating faster. This is influencing our body as well. It is time to reevaluate the amount of your food consumption.

Ikashite itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live