The Lore of Living

The following information was sent to me from one of our reader.

Yukiyoshi Sagwa (a notable Budo/material artist/ born 1902) said:

1. When I say the Hara (gut) is important, it’s not about making your Hara tight. If you position yourself in a Zazen (seated position for meditation in Zen practice.), is that the right way to set your Hara? Not really that either. You set your Hara in the right way as you do the moves.

2. A Ki-ryoku(気力- the power/strength, the power of the chi/ki) is not to be shown outward. It is the inner strength that goes deeper as you are using it.

3. When your opponent says “O-ho” coming to you with a fighting spirit, you say “hoho” and start the move lightly (relaxed).

My viewpoint:

Around the 1900’s, many interesting & unique individuals have come out to this world globally. Especially, people in the religious field and in the martial arts. It was a time, when many of the so-called Mononoke’s (a powerful spirit) souls incarnated.

This master of Budo, Sagawa, is one of them but for a Mononoke, the commonly seen strong character was quite drawn out in his case.

When I vision his sensei, Sokaku Takeda (born 1859), I can only see a small Oni demon wearing a Kimono. I almost wonder why someone like him came into this world of reality. He must have been taken as very “inhuman” to others in his time.

I am not personally acquainted with Mr.Sagawa, but through his lore, I could see he was a man who knew the true essence of what we are.

This teaching is not only the secret essence of the path of Budo. It’s the essence to live a good life in a fruitful and wealthy manner.

My interpretation on his lore no.1 is:
“Don't sit in meditation. Meditation can be done in the movement required in your daily life (which I have been saying in my blog). The Hara is a very important part of one’s body. It is the center of one’s body and it holds the health of the whole. The Hara (gut) is something like an atomic power station, a spiritual center that holds your health, life span and fortune. ”

There is a famous story about Hakuin (1685~1768, one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddism) who practiced an abdominal breathing technique to bring back his life force when everyone thought he was going to die from a serious sickness. Physically, the body will bring back its life force by breathing deep from the Hara. People who tend to get sick often or carry symptom such as depression, I feel their breathing is shallow. Lack of oxygen can do a lot of things. Deep breathing is a key to maintain your health. 　

The physical body needs to be in motion in order to let it pay attention to its “physicalility”. At this time only, the mind is set free to be in the right place in order to see the truth.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, just say in your mind “ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu (thank you for letting us live)” as you breath deeply from your abdomen. If you are not sure about the abdominal breathing, simply do a deep breathing and try to put your attention on your abdomen. That will be fine.

The ki of gratitude will help your heart and the ki of your deep breath will help your physical body. And maintaining these two will strengthen your spirit body.

The core power of your spirit body is also at the center of your body, the Hara. The stronger the Hara, the stronger power you have to manifest your dream aligned with your good will. Finance will follow if it comes from a good will.

The meaning of lore no.2&3 is exactly as it’s said and can be used in your daily life practice:

No.2 is also about shutting off your emotional drain by going into inner-self rather than worrying about what’s happening outside. Simply focus on the work in front of you.

No.3 is about practicing to be in a relaxed state even when someone say things to hurt or offend you. Just let them say it and don’t try to talk back. There will come a time, when you will have your chance to be in a better position then him/her. Having the space in your heart and be at ease is another key to be a strong person.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Be humble to the Spirit of the Land

The Shinto shrine that is closest to where you live now is called Uji-gami(氏神). Ubusuna-gami(産土神) is the god of the land of your birth place (Where your mother lived when she had you in your her womb). It seems that many people are confused of these two different gods.

Like in the old days when people used to live all their life in one place, Uji-gami and Ubusuna-gami was referring to the same god. But in the modern days, most of the people move from one place to another.

When you are displaying a Kami-fuda, the formal charm with the name of the Kami (god), at your Kami-dana altar, you should prioritize the Uji-gami. Why is that?

When you think about your land–lord, which is more important? The land-lord of your former apartment or the land-lord of your present apartment? I should say the present one is more important because he is the one providing you good deeds in your present daily life. But you mustn’t forget about your first land-lord either. It’s better to pay a visit once in a while.

If you display your Uji-gami at your Kami-dana, it will help to bring you good fortune. It’s like if you ignore your land-lord and not pay any rent, he will kick you out. It’s sort of the same idea. If you don't have a Uji-gami in your local area, your nearest Ichi-no-miya Jinjya in your prefecture would become your Uji-gami. When you worship the Kami by sending gratitude, it means you are spiritually paying your rent.

It’s not that you have to display the charm on your altar. You will still live on even without it. But it’s a good thing to acknowledge the great spirit who lives in your surrounding. You are sharing the space with him/her. When you acknowledge the presence of your local Kami and be humble about it, he/she will help you bring good fortune.

We can explain to a certain degree, but a “life force” is still a mystery even in the modern science of today.

It’s easy to forget that we live on top of a spirit of the land, so I am suggesting that it’s a good idea to have a tool, a Kami-dana altar that is visible to your eyes. For some reason, if you cannot set an altar at home, you could use the Buddhist memorial tablet or a Tanzaku with the three incense and gratitude sending to your ancestral spirits.

Many people live in the same environment, but each person’s life runs differently.

We have the day and night. The day (reality) is half of our life. The other half is the invisible part. It's more effective for your life when you acknowledge the night (dark& invisible) side. You will be able to make your life more fruitful.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Your Own Way is the Best Way

Putting your hands together toward the rising sun sending gratitude that you are led to live. This idea was part of the nature worship in the ancient times, a common practice seen all over the world.

In ancient Europe, people were conscious of the sun’s orbit. And the giant rocks were worshipped placed on the so-called Ley lines. In South America, the ancient sacred buildings were designed using of the shadows accordingly to the sun’s orbit.

All religious beliefs originate in sun worship. Especially in Japan, we continued the ancient belief in Shintoism. In truth, all the detailed doctrines are actually unnecessary other than worshipping the sun.

The detailed doctrines were made by humans as a method to make money out of religion. In order to position themselves in a special place, they would impress the commoners by telling them or showing them some unusual content.

For example, during the early-modern times, there was the Yoshida Family in Kyoto famous amongst the Shintoists. They had the authority to give out licenses to become a Shinto priest. In Japan, few families like them have been controlling the Shintoism since the time of Heian.

They had created some special Norito chants and other esoteric rituals to sell and make money from the believers. For this reason, today we have so many unnecessary and ineffective chants and incantations.

In my opinion, I sense that the Norito, Ooharae-no-kotoba(大祓詞), is the only chant that is actually made with the right sounds that would resonate with the World of the Gods. The others are all man made and artificial.

Especailly, Amaterasu-ohomikami, the name of the Sun God(-dess) in Japanese, is the true name of a god with the right sound that expresses the energy of the spirit of the sun. The sound, the pronunciation has been the same since the time of the mysterious giant floating island that existed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

So many different ways of pronouncing Amaterasu-Ohomikami has been introduced by authorities. Many competed each other to claim his pronunciation was actually the correct one, which I found completely immature and nonsense.

I sense that the sounding of Amaterasu-Ohomikami has an effect to balance your breathe (life force).

In the past article, I have mentioned about ;
1) paying attention to the sounds of a・la(ra)・su・ho. (The ‘ra’ in Japanese is pronounced closer to ‘la’)

Out of the four sounds, ‘su’ is most important, that is in the middle of the name of the Sun God.

2) When you breathe out with the ‘su’ sound, it seems to have the effect of Harai, “purifying.”

3) When you breathe in with the ‘su’ sound, you suck in the energy of the environment surrounding you. So when you are breathing in the fresh morning air as you pray to the sun, you are breathing in the good ki(chi). You don't have to necessarily make a ‘su’ sound aloud, it could just be in your mind.

When you are at a place that you feel uncomfortable, you can use the ‘su’ sound and breath out. Breathing out the ‘su’ sound can also be used around sunset to cleanse any negative energy you might have accumulated during the day.

You can take the above suggestions into consideration, but most importantly, always pronounce in the way you feel right for yourself.

When you can feel it’s right for your body, right for your heart, that is the best breath, the best chanting method.

The method taught by all the sensei are only good for him.

Don't follow others. The best way for you, you already know within.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Thank you for reading this blog. Next update will be January 22nd.

Leaving the negative energy from the past

I mentioned in the past, about cleaning the house is a good way to clear off the negative emotions that are accumulating in your space from the past. Even when you are trying to change, if you have all the heavy static energy in your space from the past, it’s dragging you down.

Such stones like crystals, from the day you have bought it, it sucks all the energy in your space. Good ones and bad ones, they all get sucked and remain inside. Many people mistaken the sense of discomfort to a magical phenomenon.

The recording system inside a computer is actually using stones also. Stones have the quality to accumulate all sorts of magnetic energy including emotions.

The issue here is the motivation of those who buy crystals and other stones. They seem to be people who wants a change, strong wishful thinking and who are less confident about themselves, depending on objects or things outside of self.

When these kinds of people keep a stone nearby, what sort of memories do you think would stay inside the stone? Dependency, dissatisfaction, frustration, etc… All the negative energy will be accumulated.

When I see through my psychic vision, the person who obtains a crystal and ask me for advice, I see multiple hands coming out from the crystal. It’s symbolically showing the condition of the person who posses the item. He is crying for help to an outside source.

This actually creates more problems to the possessor. The minus energy accumulated in the stone(s) in his space will become a handicap.

Even when he is trying to start all over again, his legs will be pulled by his own negative energy from the past accumulated in his living space.

Normal people, don't posses crystals. Therefore, they are not dragged by their past. However, those who have bought crystals, it comes from wishful thoughts and dependency. It becomes a handicap to themselves.

The truth of spirituality is that the more you look for the short cut by queer tasks, the more you are going the roundabouts.

The world we live in, we shouldn’t accumulate anything from the past. When you do, you become sick. Simply let it drain, like the running river. This will bring the right projection to your world.

Do be careful not to make the things from the past become a handicap.

So, could we erase the memories of the past that has accumulated inside the crystals or the stones? If you have any psychological dependency, it will be very difficult. Chanting or exposing to the sunray will not make any difference.

Those who can erase the memories of the past will not posses such materials in the first place.
Those sensei who like to decorate themselves with jewelries are not authentic. This is a simple way to determine the authenticity of a real teacher.

Those who possess crystals or stones should accumulate the energy of gratitude. It will eventually be restored by your original electro-magnetic energy. This is the only way to move on.
It’s not just about the stones and materials.
It is about the whole environment of your living space and workspace. The energy of gratitude will make a difference.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Countermeasure against Thunder

Billions of years ago, during the process of the creation of Earth, I sense that there was quite a long period of time when the surface was wreathen by thunder lights.

Just like the capillary vessels, the electricity from the thunder covered the entire planet. I sense that through this stimulation from the eletro-magnetic energy, the original genes that were still loose got tightened, merged and started to develop as creatures. It was a necessary process for the birth and evolution of lives.

I could see through my psychic vision that the Earth itself also developed and solidified the ground by experiencing the long period of thunder covering the entire planet.

At this century, the genes of creatures are starting to loosen once again. This is the main cause of people getting sick from diseases in the way we have never experienced before. At the same time, I sense the earth is loosening too and the continents are starting to move. The Earth itself is trying to self-restore.

My prediction is that we will be experiencing another period of thunder covering the Earth with the support of the electro-magnetic radiation from the Sun. From the past few years, I am sensing that the sound of the thunder is heard much lower than before. In the near future, we might be seeing thunder lights running through the surface of the earth. Scary…

So I am suggesting we should consider a countermeasure against thunder in our daily lives.
I hear it’s safe inside the car. The problem is inside the house.
I hope to share more knowledge about thunders on the blog later. If you have any useful information please let us know.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Transcription from the Mythology – 2

The people standing in front of the sword rock are related to Hakusan-Chukyo-Jinjya. You could see how huge the rock is comparing to the size of the people. For the locals, it was a place to go as a hiking trip from school.

Surprisingly, this giant rock is said to have disappeared in one night. People thought it might have fallen down the slope by an earthquake. But the remains weren’t found. It is still a mystery to the local people. When I heard about this story, it reminded me of an incident that took place on September, 1991 at Hakusan-Hime-Jinjya. Typhoon #19 hit the area. There was a very old big tree that was worshipped as a god on the left side of the main Honden shrine. And the tree fell onto the shrine and completely cut off the left side. When I heard this news, I strongly felt the fearful interference of the deities and immediately went to see it. This typhoon had destroyed Itsukushima-Jinjya in Hiroshima as well.

I sensed that it was a message from the World of the Gods, about the completion of the era turning over from Showa to Heisei. The disappearance of the Sword Rock and the Divine Tree at Hakusan-Hime-Jinjya did not happen just as a coincidence. The symbolic transcriptions that took form in the nature were no longer needed. The time for the humans to believe in their own Innate God has come. The Kami has shown us that we no longer need a symbolic image outside of us. That is my understanding on these incidents.

I sense that the sword rock actually fell down the slope. It was already quite old and breakable. I see with my physic vision that it completely broke into small pieces as it rumbled down the slope of Mt.Haku. Spiritually, they have gone to heaven.

The Will from the World of the Gods is actually transcribed around Mt.Haku. They come and go. It is surely a rare place on this planet that is so connected to the World of the Gods.

I have been claiming that Mt.Haku is the place of origin for the whole human race. The fact that the Sword, Ame-no-nuboko (天の沼矛) really existed here on Mt.Haku is very romantic and becomes a proof of my theory.



Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Transcription from the Mythology - 1

Since it’s the New Years time, lets talk about a fanciful fable.

In the Kojiki, God Izanami and Izanagi (parents of Amaterasu) are said to have done a “Kuni-umi-no-shinji”(a divine work of the land-making). The husband and wife deities stood on Ama-no-ukihashi, a bridge that connects this world and Heaven or the Worlds of the Gods, and used the divine sword to stir the open sea.

The Ama-no-ukihashi bridge, I sense, is a vehicle to travel between one dimension and another. I see it in a cloud like form that is made out of magnetic energy ball
in five colors.

The Japanese mythology tells, the couple deities put their power together and stirred the ocean from this five-color cloud with the Ame-no-nuboko, the divine sword. When they took the sword out from the ocean, the seawater dripped from the tip of the sword and created lands.

This story has many layers of hidden meanings. One of the hidden meanings is about Kuni-umi (land-making) that could be interpreted as “giving birth to children.”

The “five colors” are significant colors that have been used from ancient times in rituals. It signifies the Creation, the Yin & Yang and the Five Elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water).

So, imagine this. A couple lying on top of a five-colored futon and united. This must be a very good way to create a child. The Hoko sword is wider on the pointed end which represents the male organ. The ocean is the female.

What if the divine sword, Ame-no-nuboko, that was used to create land on Earth really existed? Wouldn’t that be exciting?

Actually, it did exist.

It existed on one of the slopes of Mt.Haku behind Hakusan-Chukyo-Jinjya. What was used in the myths had been transcribed in this World of Reality as a form in the nature. I was amazed when this photograph was shown to me. It took a form of a giant rock. Something peculiar happened to this rock and it no longer exists. To be continued…

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Happy New Year !

Akemashite-omedetō gozaimasu.

The first thing I felt early in the morning, is that, this year, people all over the world will be having more awe and respect towards the Great Nature.

People are still slaved in the survival game, trapped in small social problems.

Why are we alive? What is the real purpose of life?

These fundamental questions will start to rise more and more amongst all of us.

Those who have found their own answers to this eternal question will be set free from problems.

Whether your answer is right or not could be felt with your own heart. If you feel a deep comfort to the answer, that is the right answer for you. No one else can be the judge.

The strategic preparations for the human evolution have been done in the past few years. This year, your Innate God will start to manifest.

With the help of the Sun, it will start to bloom radiantly.

Let us walk together slowly but surely.


Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 12

I concentrated my mind at the riverbank of Tenkawa village. The next moment, I felt a flow of strong divine energy coming from two directions. The flow of energy was like a huge pipeline, one coming straightforward from Mt.Tamaki and the other coming from Mt.Kōya. I used my psychic vision to locate the precise source and I’m sure that it comes from Koujin-take (location: http://xurl.jp/pt2b), a small mountain next to Mt.Kōya where God Shiva descent.

At the same time, my psychic vision showed me another view, looking at the Chain of Islands of Japan from the sky and targeting to Kinki District. The straight line of the spiritual energy connecting the “floating island” on the Pacific Ocean ⇔ The Great Waterfall of Nachi ⇔ Tamaki Jinjya leads to a beautiful triangle between Tamaki Jinjya ⇔ Tenkawa village ⇔ Koujin-take. The Chain of Islands of Japan is in a shape of a giant dragon. The triangle is located at the center of her body, the hara (belly) and it is shining in silver. With my psychic vision, I can see clearly that the area is coated in beautiful metallic silver. I felt strange of how clear it was. So I used my power to look close in detail and found out it was made out of mercury. There must be a rich mercury vein lying underground this triangle. I assume the underground water contains mercury as well. From this reason, the local people who drink out of the well might be suffering from neuralgia or arthritis as they age. The mercury triangle would definitely strengthen human consciousness. All the powerful spiritual places have some sort of special magnetic energy that comes from a geophysical source.

There was a reason for the notable monk, Kūkai, to choose Mt.Kōya as his designation coming all the way from Shikoku. He knew the jutsu (術), the technique to utilize the magnetic energy of mercury. He intentionally chose Kōya-san and not to be inside the triangular kekkai (結界), the bounds of the sacred ground, so he could be in control of the ON and OFF between the underworld and the state of consciousness. Inside the kekkai, it is too restrained. (It’s hard to explain in words)

I wanted to dedicate this special journey of the ancient trace from Ise to Kumano・Nara in gratitude to the readers who have been a great support to me. I reaffirmed that The Time has already began for the Great Human Evolution.
Nippon is spiritually a special place on Earth. I sincerely believe that the consciousness arousing from this “Land of the Rising Sun” would become the fundament transcribed to the whole world.




What will happen to the land of Nippon from this time on? Will the nation disintegrate or will it maintain the ancient tradition uniting in harmony by “being grateful for the present condition”? The deities are observing. For them, this era is just a blink of an eye, but for us, it ‘s the biggest turning point.

2010 will be in many ways, a “time of motion.”

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank for letting us live

The Celebration of Christmas and the Sun

Around December 22nd, the northern hemisphere including Japan enters the winter solstice. At this time, the day is the shortest and the night is the longest. The darkness is at its peak. And from this day, the daytime starts to get longer. This is the day the sun is spiritually reborn in the annual year cycle. The rebirth of the sun takes three days. From the 22nd ~ 25th, the embryo is moving out of the motherly body. And on December 25th, the day of Christmas, I sense the sun appearing as a whole complete new being.

Christmas is known as the birthday of Jesus Christ. The actual interpretation of this is to celebrate commemorating the day God descend to this World of Reality as Jesus in a human figure.
　
But when you really try to see this interpretation, another important understanding may be lying beneath. Is it really talking about one human being, Jesus himself? Or is it talking about the birth of the whole human race? The two has a significant difference. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to think that it is actually the day to celebrate the spirit of the sun descending as the first human beings to this World of Reality? It is the birthday of the whole human race.

It seems to me, to deify a man who died just over two thousand years ago, has to do with a lot of imagination invoking more imagination with political schemes behind. Even before the establishment of Christianity, many traces of sun worship can be seen in Europe. For example, the Stonehenge seen in England was made more than five thousand years ago and it has to do with the sun’s orbit.



Five thousand years ago and before, the whole world worshipped the sun. The sun was the foremost and fundamental aspect of faith. Japan still keeps the faith. We have the sun on our national flag. We worship Amaterasu-Ohomikami, the Sun God as the principal kami, or deity. Japan has been the life-long authentic sun worshipping country. (In Japanese, Japan is named Nippon or Nihon written as日本. 日 is the sun. 本 means base/root/origin).

I believe the 25th of December is a day to celebrate the birth of the sun. It seems more spiritually correct.


The attached photo was taken by one of our reader on the morning of Dec. 25th, at the Uji Bridge, the entrance to Naigū. At the center of the torii gate, you could see the sun after the three days rebirthing phase. This is a rare shot of the new sun of Year Heisei 22, a good omen.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 11

It has been a while since my last visit to the Tenkawa-Dai-Benzaiten shrine. My psychic eyes detected a spiritual existence of a giant white serpent calmly residing inside the shrine. The existence once supported a female religious leader who was called the "Avatar of Benzaiten." The serpent was completely in dormant. With the end of the Showa Era, his activity was banned by the World of the Gods. And the serpent himself seemed to have become disgusted with the human beings’ excessive demands through greedy prayers.

The female guru was a living psychic medium for the Giant White Serpent. And even after death, her soul is still bound to the World of the Ghosts. To repay the favor given by the serpent, she must render good service to the existence on behalf of the people whom she helped. It may take a lot of time before she is released.

Two famous persons are included in her followers, Mr. M-shita and Mr.S. The former was called the “god of economy” during the Showa Era and the latter was the powerful fixer in the back society of Japan who was in control of Jimin-Toh (the dominant political party). The two notable big bosses of both front and back societies had no hesitation in stating that they were the adherents of this female guru. This statement has a profound meaning.

The two bosses received a lot of requests for donation and extortion from the religious organizations all over Japan. They both replied, “I will give you the money. But don't disclose my name.” The two met many psychics and noticed that nobody exceeded this female religious leader. Although she was the representative of a new religious organization, she and her husband were entrusted as the presiding monks for the eleven hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Mt.Kōya. This treatment was unprecedented in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism.

I sensed that this female guru’s capability of seeing the future was quite remarkable. She could probably foresee the forthcoming 30 years of the customers in a split second. On the contrary, most of the famous psychics on TV are immersed in joy to guess the right answers to such as what he ate recently. It is useless and meaningless information for the person’s spiritual progress.

The female guru collected much money, but she kept sitting on the floor to consult her customers spending half a day of every single day until her death. At last, her legs seemed to have got gangrenous. She died young without living in luxury. She was indeed one of the most extraordinary beings who contributed to the prosperity of the Showa Era behind the scenes. From her contribution and the standpoint of spiritual possessing phenomenon, I will never forget this woman’s friendly laughing face I see through my psychic vision.

Going back to the giant white serpent, I sense that he used to live in the Tenkawa-mura village located between the mountains from the super ancient times. I think the shape of this village itself was suitable to accumulate a comfortable energy for the snakes to gather. In comparison with the place where the Tenkawa-Jinjya is built, the energy of kami was more abundantly filled in the other places of the Tenkawa- mura village. Through my psychic vision, I could see the whole village enveloped in a divine mist.

Why is this village so special? The reason I sensed was the relation of this village to the “floating giant island”(see article Nov-30-09) in the Pacific Ocean. The flow of energy came from that floating island through The Great Waterfall of Nachi and Tamaki-Jinjya shrine to the Tenkawa-mura village in a straight line (http://xurl.jp/cd2b, drawn by one of the readers).

Tenkawa-mura village geographically acted as a uterus and the energy heaped there and then returned back to the floating island, which created a spiritual energy circulation harmonizing the land and the sea into oneness. (To be continued… the final of this series)

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

Journey : Ise ~ Kumano to Tenkawa 10

I went around the shrines in the territory of the Gods of Tamaki Jinjya to pray for peace in Japan.

At the Kumano-San-Zan shrines, up to God Susanoo is worshipped, but a shrine that worships Kunitokotachi-Ohokami (the Creator of the Earth) at its main Honden shrine is only exercised at Tamaki Jinjya.

The reason why this God’s name of Earth has been concealed at Gekū of Ise Jingu was probably because of the era. It seems to me that this God was meant to be hidden in the deep forest by the God’s will.

As I pay a visit to the shrine, I felt absolute tranquility. He is silent, but observing us in a solemn manner. Then, I received a revelation. “Due to the destruction of the World of the Ghosts, the evil spirits from the rivers to the mountains are rampant, but when it changes, it will change in blink of an eye.”

There was a path going into the woods, still within the sacred ground. However, I had decided to go back. We had to start our way back home today, and on the way back, I wanted to stop by Tenkawa Jinjya. We still had 400km to drive. I was determined to come again next year to try and find the stone statue. I simply stood there and used my psychic senses. I felt that the stone statue was as least 500m into the animal path and inside the bushes. But I definitely felt the existence. I waved goodbye to the Jōmon Sugi (old cedar tree) and left Mt.Tamaki heading to Tenkawa.

It has been 25 years since my last visit to Tenkawa Village. It was a surprise to feel the rising of the frequency of magnetic waves (spiritual energy) as we got closer to Tenkawa on the state road. The river that was running parallel to the road was remarkably beautiful. I could see the pure energy of nature overflowing the river.

We got to Benzaiten-Sha(天河大弁財天社) or Tenkawa Jinjya(天河神社). The parking lot was completely full. Looking at the number plates, people are coming from all the over Japan. This place is still a Mecca for the people who believe in so called “Okage” faith. I felt uneasy about the popularity of this place.

When I come here, I am reminded of one person. She was born a little below Tenkawa Village and was very active as a guru during the Showa Era (she dedicated her life to a giant white serpent and helping people until her legs were rotten).
to be continued …　

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

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