Mind Purification
How to Purify the Subconscious Mind
Rev. Mario Kwakami,
Chief of Seicho-No-Ie New York Missionary Area
The Mind Purification Service is a unique Seicho-No-Ie exercise intended to eliminate negative thoughts and emotions from our minds and, at the same time, to introduce positive thoughts into our minds. We should cleanse our minds several times a year and practice Shinsokan as Seicho-No-Ie Founder Masaharu Taniguchi taught it. Then, we will be able to change our destinies. Now, how can we eliminate our negative thoughts and emotions which seem set in stone? We take two steps:
1) We write down our negative thoughts and emotions on paper.
2) We burn them while reading the Seicho-No-Ie Holy Sutra.
Learn how to do a Mind Purification Ceremony
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At Seicho-No-Ie we do this ceremony of Mind Purification many times throughout the year.
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Let us rid our minds of every single unhappy memory of the past.
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Man’s happiness depends upon whether his mind is at peace and maintains a happy and pleasant attitude.
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It is essential to completely eradicate from the bottom of your subconscious mind those unpleasant thoughts and emotions imbedded in your deeper being.
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The Mind Purification Service is a unique SNI exercise intended to eliminate the energy of negative thoughts and emotions from our minds and, at the same time, to introduce positive thoughts into our minds.
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We read the Seicho-No-Ie Holy Sutra while we burn our negative thoughts and emotions.
In order to write down our negative thoughts, we are forced to draw them out from the buried depths of our subconscious minds and to face them. Burning these thoughts represents releasing these burdensome troubles from our minds, and replacing them with positive thoughts and feelings. Before explaining the actual practice and how to write our negative thoughts and emotions down on paper, I will discuss why we need to cleanse or purify our minds. Over time the average person, almost without exception, accumulates some negative emotions such as anger, hatred, fear, jealousy, etc. in his or her mind. These negative thoughts may actually play a part in bringing negative situations into their daily lives. So, we should eliminate these negative thoughts which are deeply rooted in our subconscious minds. What is the subconscious mind? The mind consists of two different minds which are a conscious mind and a subconscious mind.
Founder Masaharu Taniguchi likened each person’s conscious and subconscious minds to an iceberg. The conscious mind is about 5 percent of the total individual mind. It is a tip of the iceberg which appears on the surface of the ocean. The subconscious mind is almost 95 percent of the mind which is like submerged iceberg in the ocean. Rev. Taniguchi said our subconscious minds control our lives. For example, if something embarrasses us, we suddenly blush and our heart rate goes up. How can we stop blushing and bring our heart rate back down? We cannot control these reactions with our conscious minds. When something negative happens to us, we just add another worry or concern into our minds. In other words, we have continuously accumulated negativities in our minds without cleansing them away. If we repeatedly hold old grudges, our minds are more inclined to become upset and angry, and even hateful. In turn, these negative emotions make it difficult to be kind and forgiving to others, and even to ourselves. These emotions can cause great harm to our physical and mental health as well as our business and personal relationships. Many people do not recognize that our subconscious and conscious thinking habits are what prevent us from leading healthy and happy lives. One of the reasons is that people usually forget about their negative thoughts at the conscious level after a certain period of time has passed and assume that they feel fine. However, these negative thoughts did not disappear but have accumulated in their subconscious minds. This is like sweeping dirt and dust under a rug. It has simply been hidden from view. However, it is still there doing great harm from the deep recesses of the subconscious mind. Therefore, we need to cleanse our minds. How then can we do this?--By writing down our negative thoughts and emotions on paper exactly in the way we felt the emotions at that time. The mind purification manual explains it in the following way: “It is important to be honest with our feelings—to be frank. We must faithfully record even the most terrible thoughts and feelings without disguising the feelings in any way.” The best way to do this is to recall the exact situation that we encountered at that time and how we felt at that moment, and then write it down.
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Why is it important to put ourselves in that same emotional state of that moment? It is because the conscious mind and the subconscious mind are connected, but there is a screen or barrier between them. Any impression which stimulates thought or emotion either good or bad in the subconscious mind must first come through the conscious mind. When we are calm, this screen or lid usually works properly to interrupt unfiltered or raw thoughts. However, when we are emotionally upset or if our state of mind is emotionally uplifted by a
moving story or a selfless action, this screen or lid will open and accept every thought and emotion as it is. This is okay if they are good thoughts, but if they are negative thoughts, they will harm us in the future. Therefore, the instruction explains, “We must faithfully record even the most terrible thoughts and feelings without disguising the feelings in any way.” Then, we can more easily draw them out and put them on paper.
I have had a very personal example of being motivated to record my negative thoughts as part of the Mind Purification Ceremony. When I was in my early 30’s, I had a chance to
attend a mind purification service in the morning just a few days before Christmas Day. I was assigned to serve as a person who burns each member’s writing paper. The same day in the evening, I was scheduled to go to the hospital for an overnight stay because my doctor planned to operate and remove my blood clots in my large intestine the next day. So, I wanted to confess and write down every negative thought and emotion in my mind. I recalled my negative thoughts as much as possible. Fortunately, I could successfully remember several very negative situations that I really didn’t want to recall or even think about. I was emotionally upset and wrote down my negative thoughts onto several pages with strong feeling of hate and anger. I broke two or three pencils because I pressed too hard on the pencil while holding it. At the same time although it was very embarrassing, I started crying because it was too much to bear to recall these negative situations in my past.
Just before starting the Mind Purification service, the Chief of the Missionary Area, who presided over this service, suddenly changed his mind and asked me to officiate at the service instead, which I did. So then, the chief took my position for burning everyone’s papers. Later, he told me that while burning the papers he was almost overcome by a foul smell which indicated to him that he had destroyed extremely negative thoughts. He sensed that the particular sheet of paper with these negative thoughts had been mine.
The next day when I was in the hospital, I took barium before my operation. When the doctor examined me again through an X-ray, he couldn’t find blood clots in my large intestine. He was puzzled, but fortunately, I didn’t have to have the operation and went home. I was grateful that I had been able to write my negative thoughts and emotions very frankly and honestly out on paper. This is my personal experience, and I am not trying to imply that serious health problems will disappear without the need for medical intervention as a result of the mind purification service. However, my story certainly demonstrates that if we truly desire to, anybody can reach into his/her subconscious mind to draw out and resolve even the most difficult thoughts and memories. So, if you could do as I explained, your mind screen or lid between your subconscious mind and conscious mind will open and you can transfer your negative thoughts onto the paper in proportionate to your writing. I used to regularly attend the Mind Purification Service as much as I could throughout the year. Now I hold this purification service several times a year, so I hope you will attend this service regularly and cleanse your subconscious mind.
Now, while we burn our writing papers, we will simultaneously read the Holy Sutra in unison. This is because purification cannot be attained by one’s personal power alone. It is accomplished by the power of the Truth found in the Holy Sutra, with the guidance and protection of God and a great deal of support that comes from the spiritual world. That is the reason why we all read the Holy Sutra while we burn our negative thoughts and emotions. I hope you can attend our Mind Purification Service.