Leave the World of Common Sense and Enter the True World
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Masahisa Goi
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The Meaning of Taking One Step Forward
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The Zen Sect uses the words “Take one more step forward.” I will explain the meaning of these words. To sum up in just a few words, it means, “Complete Entrustment.” I am referring to the world of common sense (practicality). The world where visible things can be seen, audible things can be heard, and tangible things can be touched. However, the real world of truth (the universe) cannot be understood if we live in the world of the so-called common sense. We must transcend the world of the physical (the world of common sense) in order to understand the true image of human beings.
The best way to understand our self is to objectively look at what we are doing, thinking and wishing from a distance. If we look only from within, we will not understand. We need to take a closer look at ourselves with a sense of emptiness in order to truly understand ourselves.
If we think that our self is different from others, that our self is different from the world, or from humanity, we will never understand our true original self. Therefore, we must rise above the world of common sense or practicality. If we continue to view everything in creation only from the perspective of what we can see, hear, and touch and do not take one step forward in our daily lives, we will never enter the world of true religion.
The fact remains that many newly emergent religions only pursue the advantages and disadvantages that physically manifest without transcending the world of common sense. People will join a religion because they want to cure their illness, make more money, or have their children enter a better school. This is not the world of true religion or truth. It is the common sense world of benefits and dimensions generated by the belief a human being is only a physical body.
If a religion only teaches about benefits in the physical world, it is not a true religion because we cannot enter the true world until we rise above the physical. The world aiming at real truth cannot be attained unless we transcend the physical world and study anew the world of the source of life. Therefore, what shall we do?.
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Recognize the World of Common Sense
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People cannot free themselves from material benefits. Regardless of how much they wish to transcend the daily life of the physical world or the world of common sense, many things place pressure on them hour after hour. First there is the desire for money, then the burden of disease, and the inability to escape misfortune and disaster. If you ask them to transcend the world of common sense, they will probably agree. They will also probably agree when told to seek “emptiness” or to practice “complete entrustment”.
However, in practice, they do not succeed in becoming empty, practicing complete entrustment, or transcending the world of common sense. This being reality, people of modern times will think, “This is unreasonable, and of little importance. It would be nice to live that way. However, in this busy world pressured by interests if we act like that we will not be able to make a living, or stay alive.” Accordingly, the new religions teaching their followers to desire profit, cure their illnesses and obtain higher positions are in vogue at this time. People join these religions because it is easy to do so. This is not a world of truth.
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We Must Enter the World of Truth
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It is all right to enter the world of truth driven by benefits. It is all right to join to have oneÅfs disease cured to make money, or various other reasons. However, ultimately we must enter the world of truth where there are no thoughts that fear disease, poverty or disaster. The basis of religion is to enter such a world.
People may think they wish power, and not wish to suffer misfortune, etc. These are all karmic thoughts far removed from humankindÅfs true nature. Because true human beings are children of God, they are perfect and integral, and not intended to suffer diseases or disasters. Moreover, people are not meant to harbor fear of such things. But in practice, there is also unhappiness, disease, disasters and thoughts of fear. By living in the physical world for a long period of time, it cannot be avoided to have such habits without one realizing it.
People get into the habit of fearing diseases and disasters and it becomes natural to dislike diseases, being poor, or to desire warmth when one is cold. This is what we call the world of common sense. However, dwelling in this world only will lead nowhere. People are often in distress because they cannot control the temperature when it is extremely hot or extremely cold. This is the reason I recognize that it is natural to hate poverty, and to desire to be better than others, to offend others who offend you, and not to do anything one does not like.
It is said to be natural because it cannot be helped. However, if you cannot rise above such a mentality, you will separate yourself from the true world. You will not connect with others if you view situations only from the world of appearance. For this reason, instead of thinking of others needs first we must take care of our self first. If we must choose between our children and the children of others, it is a matter of course to take good care of our own children. If other children contact infantile paralysis, we will pity them, but we also think how lucky we are because our children do not have this disease. Not a single parent will think, “It is a good thing that our children rather than other children became ill.” This is the natural course of common sense. And so, when we are told to sacrifice ourselves, it is difficult to accept.
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Transcending the State of Mind of the Human Being
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The majority of religions advise their followers that they must render service to others and that we must consider our self and others as being the same. And because we are the same, we must consider the pain of others as our own pain, and we must equally share the pain.
There are many other people around us, but just try to consider the pain of others as your own pain. Good people will consider the pain of others as their own pain. To say, “LetÅfs make the pain of others our own pain” are really nice words, but practically speaking, people do not feel like that. Even if we suppose that some could put this into practice, they will be people of extraordinary strength, people who have made themselves empty (free), and who have attained redemption.
There are those who feel guilty if they cannot make the pain of others their own. To those people there is no unhappiness or insufficiency. Notwithstanding, such people are in pain all year round. When they see others, they pity them thinking, “how miserable these people are.”
As a result, every day they feel uncomfortable. Many religious people are like this. However, because they are lacking in strength and cannot do anything on their own they cannot cure their illness. They cannot extricate themselves from misfortune or disaster. TheyÅf re always suffering. The more they focus their thoughts in this way, the more they will suffer, and because they cannot help it, this type of people abandon a stabilized life and want to join those who are in pain.
But in practice, they are unable to do this. This is where religious ideas and common sense ideas are often confused. Some suffer so much they become neurotic. However, you know they are good people. Nice people suffer being nice and bad people suffer being bad.
The world of common sense is full of people who are suffering. As long as human beings are not delivered from attachments, they will continue to suffer. Even experiencing momentary happiness, their pain will never fade away. This is why I teach how to transcend the state of mind of the human being.
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A Brilliantly Shining Divine World
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The various thoughts and actions that intertwine around the physical body are all vanishing phenomena. You are not to blame others and or yourself. At the present time, you are in the midst of digging a tunnel that joins heaven and earth. Once the tunnel has been dug, a brilliantly shining divine world will emerge, but the digging is not completed yet. You are all frantically digging by the sweat of your brow. Some of you are covered with a large amount of dust and others are covered with sand. But once the tunnel is completed, all of you will become perfect and heaven on earth will manifest.
As you cannot see the light when you are digging inside the tunnel you will think what an unpleasant world this is. There is disease and poverty and no matter how loud we say, “My God, My God,” this world will not become good. You are harboring doubts, thinking “is it true that God is love.” As long as you are digging, the good world will not manifest. Hereupon I advocate the existence of the Guardian Spirits and Guardian Deities.
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The Existence of Guardian Deities and Guardian Spirit
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As the physical human beings are digging in the tunnel, they are completely covered with dust and mud, and they might even collapse before they finish digging. In order for this not to occur, God with His infinite love has dispatched the Guardian Spirits and Guardian Deities behind each human being to protect them. They lend a hand by hurling mud out of the tunnel while human beings are digging. This means they are steadily making our karma fade away. In this way, the digging of the tunnel will be completed faster. And as the Guardian Spirits and Guardian Deities pour forth their light, even while digging, those who believe in their existence will not forget the brightness.
When the tunnel is completed in due course, those who thought they were suffering will understand for the first time that they were not suffering, but in reality, it was their karmic thoughts from past lives in the process of fading away that manifested in the form of pain, misfortune and disaster. In due course, all humanity will understand they were digging a tunnel that joins heaven and hearth in order to manifest GodÅfs love on earth. They will come to understand that the hardship of digging which appeared as unhappiness was neither unhappiness or disaster in reality.
God who is great love does not bring unhappiness to the world of human beings. God is love, and like a Great Parent, has no reason to bestow ill things upon human beings. While digging the tunnel, people become covered with mud, and because they believe this is their true image, they suffer. It is important to believe that you are still midway through the digging and that when the digging is complete, you will become a bright person.
Many people harbor the following thoughts, “ It is said that God is love, but there is no end to illness. Our misfortune stays with us forever. Forever, the world is full of struggle. How can a good world materialize if theyÅfre so many bad people?” Therefore, I say cast all such thoughts and doubts into the prayer for world peace.
In the world of common sense, people care the most about their own self. The karma of the common sense world is to try to protect oneÅfs self. Therefore, various religions are attempting to do away with egoism, but since there is no ego in humanityÅfs origin, I do not try to do away with ego. Once again, this is just vanishing phenomena. Therefore, if you always recite the prayer, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” before you realize it, these thoughts will board the elevator of the prayer for world peace and unite with the great intention of God to manifest world peace.
This is my teaching. If you always pray the prayer for world peace, without realizing it, you will make one more step forward, and you will attain the state of complete entrustment and the state of emptiness. Then you will understand that you are a child of God. You are GodÅfs light. Therefore, it is very effective to pray the prayer for world peace day and night. |
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