2025 New Year’s Message
Happy New Year!
I would like to express my best wishes for the New Year to all the leaders and members in each Missionary Area and Unincorporated District of Seicho-No-Ie United States of America. This year as well, we will continue to practice together the Seicho-No-Ie Truth and propagate the Seicho-No-Ie teachings to lead further greater number of people to happiness and prosperity.
God created human beings and brought them into this world as His children. That is why human beings are called children of God. Throughout time and space, these human beings-children of God express the infinite truth, goodness, and beauty by being reborn many times into this world. By being reborn again and again, even if one’s expression is poor at first, they will eventually be able to express it wonderfully. Moreover, not only are we reborn many times, but we are also reborn in various places and environments, so that the abilities within us are developed in various areas.
A pianist expresses the beauty of God through the piano. A musician expresses the beauty of God, not only through one instrument, but also through other instruments or songs, orchestras, etc. But human beings manifest their infinite potential not just as musicians; there are also sculptors and painters, architects and athletes as well. Furthermore, we demonstrate our human abilities as entrepreneurs, politicians, culinary chefs, actors and actresses. These abilities cannot all be experienced at once, so we are reborn many times. There is more to it. At times, we are born in poor families, others as children of wealthy families, expressing the infinite capacity within human beings. We are also born as Americans, Arabs, Japanese, Brazilians, the French or Indians, in the unique environment of each country and acquire abilities that can only be manifested in America, Africa, Europe or Asia, and express our infinite potential.
In order to manifest infinite capability, we need various media and stages to fully express ourselves. Without them, human beings would not be able to demonstrate their infinite potential in this world. God has prepared these media and stages so that human beings can demonstrate their unlimited power. These are each family in this world, the nation, the diversity of animals and plants, and the natural world. Without this natural world and its diversity, the infinite power within human beings would not be able to be drawn out.
The following is written in this year’s Movement Policy.
Human beings use nature, such as animals, plants, fungi and minerals, to express the infiniteness of the True Image in this world. And without this nature, nothing can be expressed. In other words, we are sustained by nature, and destroying this abundantly diverse nature is an act of expelling humans themselves from this world. We correctly understood this message, and up until now, Seicho-No-Ie has been implementing plans to build the foundation of a “New Civilization” to realize the “Grand Harmony of God, Nature and Human Beings.”
The natural world and its diversity are essential to expressing the infinite possibilities of human beings. The act of destroying it with human desires is a suicidal act that will strangle us.
The reason why such diversity exists is because this world is a changing phenomenal world. If it stayed the same, it would end with one expression, without the need for new realizations. But then, the infinite would not exist. Since a child of God is infinite, in order to express the infinite in a finite world, the finite world must continue for an infinite amount of time, and thus diversity is able to exist through the constant change. Therefore, this phenomenal world is a changing world.
In his message at the Holy Master Rev. Masaharu Taniguchi’s 39th Memorial Service on June 17, 2024, Seicho-No-Ie President Rev. Masanobu Taniguchi said as follows.
Incidentally, religious movements have one role to play in times of strenuous social change: to “maintain order.” People’s minds become uneasy in times of change, so order is maintained by “conveying a consistent teaching.” On the other hand, however, providing support to society is also an important religious role. Therefore, making “doctrinal interpretation” according to the changes in society would be a common matter. Religions that refuse to do so would fall into the category of “fundamentalism.” (“Seicho-No-Ie” Japanese Monthly Magazine, August 2024 issue)
Seicho-No-Ie has been conveying the human being-child of God Truth through easy-to-understand power of the words by adapting the way to express its doctrines according to the times, to draw out our indwelling infinite potential. Sometimes people say that what they are learning now is a little different from what is written in the “Truth of Life” series. However, this is because the content expressed in the “Truth of Life” was unfolded within the cultural background of a certain time that is different from the present, and the common knowledge and examples of that time have naturally changed, thus, the contents being taught must change.
For you to correctly understand the Truth and express the wonderful truth, goodness, and beauty of a child of God, we have been devising and publishing the English Truth of Life magazines that can be easily understood by modern people. In addition, the Missionary Chiefs in each Missionary Area have been conveying the Seicho-No-Ie Truth in an easy-to-understand manner to everyone. I have no doubt this year will be a year of great growth.
According to the Chinese zodiac sign, this year will be the Year of the Snake. Its fortune is likely to be a time of growth and fruition. I sincerely pray that your efforts to date will lead to further growth and that this will be a year of great results. The Seicho-No-Ie movement is not one that leaves things to fate, but a movement that creates opportunities. At Seicho-No-Ie, we are taught to not wait for the right chance, but to create them. This year, let us create favorable opportunities by ourselves, and broaden our movement to “realize the Grand Harmony of God, nature, and human beings.”
Thank you very much.
Rev. Mario Kawakami is the Acting Bishop Seicho-No-Ie U.S. Missionary Headquarters Chief, Seicho-No-Ie New York Missionary Area
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