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 Origin of Sun Worship

At The Grand Shrine of Ise, they hold a big event every 20 years called “Shikinen-Sengu” 式年遷宮. They rebuild all the shrines from scratch. At The Grand Shrine of Ise, there is an open space next to all the shrines called “place of Sengu.” The open space is the exact same size space as the existing shrine. Every 20 years, they would rebuild the shrine on this open space.


All of the accessories and treasures called shinpō <神宝> are also renewed every 20 years. Why does it have to be 20 (futo in Japanese) ? There are many different theories, but simply know that it is done according to a divine will that has been kept from the ancient time.

The basic of Shinto is to worship the Sun. All the Shinji < 神事 >, events held at a Shinto shrine, reflects and signifies the movement of the sun or its character.

For example:

1. When the new shrine is rebuilt on the right side open space of the existing shrine, it means that the sun has been reborn and signifies a sunrise.

2. After 20 years, the shrine is taken down which signifies a sunset.

3. When the new shrine is rebuilt on the left side open space of the existing shrine, it means that the sun has reborn in another dimension.

4. After another 20 years, the sun rises again back in the same dimension.


This tells us that forty years cycle in our human cycle is equivalent to one day of the sun cycle = The World of the Gods.

It’s like the folk tale “Urashima-taro”, when a young man goes to The World of Gods < 神界 >, and returns in two days (= 80 years), he turns into an old man after returning to the World of Reality.

The space that holds the existing shrine represents the World of Reality, the physical body, the visible. And the open space of “Sengu” represents the World of Gods, the spiritual body, the invisible.

The man who created and started this curious event “Sengu” is Emperor Tenmu(673~86AC).

He is a very interesting character. He had created a war with his elder brother to fight for the Imperial Throne. He defeats his brother and become the Emperor. This karma has been going on in the Imperial Family even before him. Later Emperor Kammu had inherited this fate and kills his younger brother.



When I use my psychic vision to see the background of Emperor Tenmu, I sense the influence of Taoism that arrived from China. During his youth as a prince, he had left the Imperial Family and entered a monastery in Yoshino, Nara. He seemed to have gone to Ise, Kumano area as well to train in Shugendo* < 修験道 > and some Shinto rituals. I sense that through his training in Taoism and Shugendo*, he had come up with the idea of “Sengu.”

And even before the Sengu was establised, just 2000 years ago, Yamato-hime-no-mikoto(倭姫命), an Imperial Princess came up with the idea to built the Naikū of The Grand Shrine of Ise. She connected to the 8th rank* of Amaterasu-Ohomikami, the Sun Goddess, and was led by the ultimate 10th rank of Amaterasu-Ohomikami, the mother of all rank, to come to Ise and build the Naikū.

And before any shrine was built on the sacred ground of Ise, in the very ancient times, the local people of Ise visited this ground to worship the Stone Pillars. One pillar was brought from Haku-san as a stone that the Root God resides. It was placed where it is now the Gaikū. There was another stone pillar located at Izawa-no-miya of today which was said to represent the 10th rank of Amaterasu-Ohomikami. These stone pillars are now buried under these sacred grounds.

These traces are all led by the Kunitama <国魂>, the soul of a country, Amaterasu-Ohomikami (Sun Goddess) and Kunitokotachi-Ōkami (Earth God). The energy of these gods are guiding different families and people to the right place at the right time and governing Japan.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live



Ranks: According to the author, each god has ranks(derivatives) or different levels that can be sensed by humans. The higher the rank, the higher the vibrational energy.

Shugendo 修験道: Syncretic religious order which combined elements of ancient pre- Buddhist worship of mountains with the doctrine and ritual of Esoteric Buddhism.