Hakone train ride Winding and backtracking some. With a very slow And beautiful mountain trek. Felt the sacred Grounds near by.
I guess the best way to describe this God Shot is by sharing another story. Before becoming a member of Sekai Kyusei Kyo (Church of World Messsianity) I was always looking for different ways of becoming a better person. While stationed in Saudi Arabia I stumbled upon a feeling that I later called ” the feeling of being present.” when something totally gets my attention, and I am in the zone, this tingling sensation would course thru my body. It happens when I practice Taichi. It happens when I practice Jujitsu. It happens when I channel Johrei. It happens when I do Hoshi. It even happens when I wash the dishes. ^_^ (I will share an essay I wrote about in the zone . . . some day) And, lately, it always happens when I think or say, “Wouldn’t it be nice . . .” Now going back to my first trip to Hakone. I did not know how long the train ride would be. But as the train began climbing a steep part of the trip, my body started tingling. Sure enough the station where we got off was minutes away. The tingling sensation lasted the entire visit. Oh what a feeling! ? I would like everyone to feel it. But don’t worry if you don’t. We are all wired differently. My senses are all over the map. But I have learned to live with it. Hey, and that story is another God Shot. ^_^
Fruit Trees and Underground Highways Daily walk is nice. Alison, Charlee and I. Meishu-sama is Sharing the future with us. Fruit trees along side our roads.
It seems we have God Shots every day of our lives. Once we are awakened to the possibility it seems like we become more aware of the little miracles occurring around us. Yesterday we decided to take a longer walk around the neighborhood. We always do things for multiple reasons. The weather was perfect. Charlee, our dog, needed a walk, and we wanted to check the neighborhood for artificial turf that looked great. Well, we were walking along and we noticed fruit trees planted between the sidewalk and the street. This reminded us of a teaching of Meishu-sama. The following excerpt of this teaching makes this prediction along with another interesting prediction:
“. . . The town is beautiful. I am surprised to find fruit trees planted between the roadways and sidewalks in the same way that ginkgo and sycamore trees used to line the street in the old days. . . .”
And earlier in the teaching Meishu-sama writes:
“ . . . Interestingly, the only vehicles I encounter are automobiles. This is natural because mass transit and trucks run underground. The streets are for the sole use of automobiles, and they are noiseless. Finding this curious, I look carefully at the streets . . . “ (Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Four, page 76)
Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Four, page 76
This teaching has many predictions. Many have come true and others are yet to come true. Either way, it is a great read. And once again this is confirmation of our faith in God and Meishu-sama.
The first time I experienced this highway under Tokyo Metropolitan area was a few years ago during Minister training.
While in Japan, on a trip to do Hoshi (Service), I met a member from Florida named Natasha. She was casually sharing a story which fascinated me. She used Johrei to help heal a burn instead of doing the normal first aid move to soothe the pain by pouring cool water on the burn. Well, since I do a lot cooking I knew I would burn my hand at some point in the future and I decided to give it a try. After we got back I was busy cooking in the kitchen. Unknowingly, the handle of my ladle came too close to the burner and became very hot. I grabbed the handle and actually lifted it up before I realized it was burning my hand. I dropped it on the floor, stated a few expletives and was about to put some cool water on the burn. I stopped myself and decided to use Johrei. I started the Johrei and the pain became worse. I decided to keep trying for a minute. After the minute the pain disappeared. There was the usual red spot where the handle burned my hand. I kept cooking. Did not think anything about the burn until after cooking. I looked down at the burn spot and the redness was gone and the pain was gone.
Jasmine was on the move. Her Mom requested her help. The “Hurricane” came. The living room feels lighter. Good bye to TV, for now. ^_^
This is definitely a God shot. Everything I write here happened in 24 hours. Alison asked her daughter, Jasmine, for help redesigning our living room. Alison kept saying over and over, “It is too dark.” Jasmine has a gift for redesigning rooms and her recommendation involved removing most of the dark furniture and replacing it with lighter colors. So . . . good bye to the coffee table and good bye to the chest of drawers. Wow! The living room is fantastic and we have a much bigger dance floor. We can even dance the aggie swing. ^_^ We also said goodbye to the TV, for now. Btw, this God Shot is not about the redesign of the living room. It is a combination of things that happened on that day. I usually check out some interesting things online. I saw an e-mail that seemed interesting so I started to drink the Kool Aid. I did not watch to the end. I stopped after the author of an idea or product talked about blue light coming off the typical cell phone, computer, and TV. He was saying that it may interfere with our ability to obtain deep sleep. I know I would like to achieve deep sleep and if cutting back on technology time did the trick, I was game. Well, when Jasmine redesigned our living room it gave us the perfect excuse to do this. It has been about a week now. After dinner . . . no more cell phones, computers or TV. Very few exceptions . . . we have stayed the course. We both have been getting great sleep. We are well rested and this morning we woke up at 4. We are ready to go. I am also down to one cup of coffee. ^_^ I feel lighter and we both have so much more energy. Thank you God and Meishu-sama. We now have more time and energy for prayers, Johrei and reading and living the teachings. Btw, we have energy for other things. ^_^ You know what I mean . . . ping pong
Don’t worry about our heads. I wanted you to see the dance floor. ^_^
We are not “shojo” about this but . . . we are experimenting with reading ^_^ as a substitute for TV.
Reading “Musashi” has a strange influence on us. ^_^
We both love Kyoto. The gardens at Heian kyo Are cramazing. Wow! Said “Hello Meishu-sama” At his home and saw God. Wow!
The sequence of events which occurred leading up to Alison (my fiance’e and my visit to Meishu-sama’s home in the Kyoto Sacred Grounds (Heian Kyo) is a God Shot.
Prior to visiting Japan . . . I was talking to my minister about the meaning of our Church’s name, Miroku. We also see it in many of our prayers. Miroku Omikami is the Japanese name for the one and only Great God of Light. We have a copy of the original Kannon at the Center. And here is a picture:
Then we talked about the change in the Kannon when the Kannon evolved into Miroku Omikami. And when we visited the garden at Heian Kyo we said hello to Meishu-sama. It was a very bright early summer day and we had an umbrella to keep cool. I was trying to keep cool and take a picture of Miroku Omikami that was just delivered to the home for exhibit. That was the other reason I was trying to get a photo. The picture is below:
Notice the differences and also the look of the umbrella i was holding at the time the photo was taken
Well, that went ok. Then I tried to get a picture of us in the reflection of his patio window. That turned out ok. But later on when I looked at that picture closely I saw something that was inspiring. This is the normal picture of the reflection shot:
Do you see it??
And this is the close up of what showed up in the picture:
8/30/23 – We are looking forward to returning to Japan and visiting the Sacred Grounds. I don’t know if we will be able to visit Kyoto but I wanted to share something which brings me closer to God and Meishu-sama. Alison is taking a class where a person was explaining the act of praying. The hands placed together over our heart and the head bent forward. Wow! It brought back great memories of our visit to the Sacred Grounds. Sometimes . . . not always . . . we feel this tingling sensation when we approach the grounds. Well, that feeling is back. It is very strong at the Center and the feeling is definitely there at our home altar. I am looking forward to attending the Service at Atami on my birthday.
God, show me a sign. Wow! Just as I prayed for this . . . A dedicated . . . Member was doing Hoshi. Cleaning the carpet near me.
A group of Church members from the U. S. were on a “Hoshi” (Service) trip to the Sacred Grounds and to Centers/Churches close to Tokyo. Normally, we would be on a pilgrimage but this was not. The God shot occurred while we were doing Hoshi at the Sacred Grounds at Atami after the Paradise on Earth Service. Rev. Nagase set up individual training and counseling sessions with us. The timing was perfect. At the end of my prayer session in the altar room in the Hall of Worship, I received the answer to my prayer. “What is my mission?” The answer came immediately in the form of a sign and an emotional release the likes of which I have not experienced before or since. I shared my God Shot with Rev. Nagase and what I do remember is an overwhelming connection to God and myself. What happened during those precious moments cannot be described but . . . I pray everyone has such an experience some time during their lives. Btw, I have an affinity for doing that type of Hoshi. For all ten years of serving as a member, I truly enjoy vacuuming the Altar Room. Looking back on my prayer and the timing of God’s reply . . . it confirmed what I am doing “as a true instrument of God.” “We serve where we stand” Btw, the first time I heard this phrase was second hand. My fiancée had a conversation with a minister with the Johrei Fellowship Church. They also follow the teachings of Meishu-sama. I don’t know where he got the phrase from . . . . but I like it. ^_^
Please use your imagination. The day I was praying the altar room had two people in it. On the right of the picture is the stage and altar. The first row of seats in the center is where I was praying. ^_^
This God shot is about a basic rule in Ikebana (flower arranging). You always find a vase that matches the flowers. Being a beginner, I chose a vase that I fell in love with. (Btw, this Ikebana class was held in Yokohama Japan). Well, I tried every trick in the book to force the flowers into the vase I was in love with. It did not work. Our instructor came by and kindly pointed out my error and reminded me that Sangetsu does not use the usual tricks that other schools of ikebana uses to make flower arrangements. Armed with new wisdom, I went back to the storage location and found a vase that matched the flowers I had. Well, I had limited experience using this type of vase so I thought I expertly placed the flower in the vase to stabilize it. The flower looked a little short for the vase but I felt I had no choice. Then it happened . . . our instructor, who btw was from Sri lanka, said my arrangement looked ok . . . but she said, “what do you think about this small change?” Between two fingers, she lightly held the stem of the flower and she slowly raised it out of the vase. I thought the change would look great but I was sure the stem and flower would fall because of gravity. She slowly let go of it and what happened next was a miracle. “Wouldn’t it be nice if the flower stabilized in that position? Wow, it did! Lesson? Any miracle is a message from God. And I am incorporating these lessons into my life. All parts of my life . . . not only in Ikebana.
Name and brief background. My name is Eiji Takahara. At the time of this faith experience I was 57 years old. I am presently a retired Air Force Officer and I am also a retired Air Force Junior ROTC instructor.
Difficulty/situation faced (event, diagnosis, feelings, thoughts, etc): I have been trying to improve my relationship with God by committing to the precepts layed down by Meishu-sama. What has kept me on this spiritual journey is an amazing miracle concerning my daughter who was experiencing a mysterious pain which doctors could not diagnose. She is much better now. But that is a faith experience to be shared later. I have been experiencing blessings during the past five years of my spiritual growth and I would like to share a small aspect of these blessings.
Guidance received/Practices done (also can include challenges experienced): The five treasures are very important to me. I use to do it because I thought I had to do it. Now, it is part of my life. I think I would lose my way if I did not have God and Meishu-sama in my life. I admit to praying for the big blessings. But it is the little blessings which have finally got my attention.
How you overcame, results experienced, blessings: I believe, now, that praying for the little blessings are just as important as praying for the big blessings. Our ministers often mention, “what are we expecting when we pray? What is our sonen?” Well, I have to be truthful. Sometimes I have doubts as to my ability to channel God’s Divine Light. I don’t doubt God’s power but I definitely doubt my abilities. There is a chance you will read this and think that I am a crazy golfer. Well, I may be, but . . . it works for me. I try to play golf as often as I can. And I pray almost continuously while I am playing. Sometimes my prayers are answered and sometimes it appears that they are not. In either case, I am eternally grateful to God and Meishu sama for the health, money and time to be able to play a game which I love so dearly. And now, I can also work on my faith. Sinking a 5 foot putt is a small miracle. Sinking a 50 foot putt is a much larger miracle. And hitting a shot from 100 yards away into the hole for an “eagle” (two under par) is a much larger miracle (to put this into perspective: the last time I had an eagle was 24 years ago). All of these have occurred on the golf course within the last 5 months with the sonen of thanking God and Meishu-sama for a great shot and not so great shots. My relationship with God and Meishu-sama is much improved because I have included them into every aspect of my life. Including golf. ^_^
8/30/23 update – well I know what it feels like with no golf in my life. Looking back on it . . I should not have let that happen. My spiritual level depends on it. Over a period of 5 years golf became a distant memory. It is now coming back. I will read this blog periodically so I never let that happen again. Wouldn’t it be nice if . . . I read my own blog to keep my Journey into the Daylight Age on track. ^_^
How you expressed your gratitude (donation, etc): Yes I have. For me, the monetary donations are not significant enough. They will never be. Everything I earn is God’s. So everything I use the money for is now used to help God fulfill his divine plan. Including the money that I donate to Miroku Assn. USA. My commitment to the Center is foremost in my sonen. Whenever I visit I can feel and see the intensity of the Divine Light emanating from the Sacred Scroll. There are many reasons for my increased commitment to the Center. The presence of God and Meishu-sama in my life is the primary reason.
What have you learned from your experience, changes occurred in thinking: Until my golf experience, I believe I was just going thru the motions. I was doing the five treasures with an indifferent sonen. It was like doing something because I had to. Now that I want to do it, some amazing things have started to happen in my life. I will go into detail in all of these in subsequent faith experiences (God Shots) Something big is about to happen and I need to learn as much as possible . . . as quickly as possible.
God gave me the passion for the game. He gave Traci the skills to play this game. ^_^Until I play with Tiger Woods . . . Bruce is the best golfer I have had the pleasure of playing with.
I pray, Eureka. Prayer is thinking with love. Then the small prayers Can be phrased in a special Sonen . . . “Wouldn’t it be nice if . . . “
I say, “Eureka” I believe I got it . . . what is the miracle power of the phrase, “Wouldn’t it be nice if . . . You are opening the possibility for something. If you ask for something “head on” it most likely will not work because the operating manual for the brain says . . . something else works better or that is impossible. I did not quite understand all the lights turning green when I was going to the Center. I was running late. I had four minutes to get to the Center. First, I had a sincere need to be at the Center. I was meeting someone there and I had many reasons for wanting to be there on time. Then I thought of that phrase which was mentioned by a member just a week prior. I used it for each light and it came to pass. Normally, it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to drive to the Center. This time . . . it took 4 minutes. Wow, I arrived on time. ^_^
Another hypothetical situation: (read on the internet but author unknown)
I pray that I can use a very sharp knife.
Miniature prayers: 1) Wouldn’t it be nice if I took some Yoga classes 2) Wouldn’t it be nice if I got some lessons on the use of a knife. 3) Wouldn’t it be nice if I bought a pair of eye glasses.
What we have here is the perfect partnership between our minds with a possible reality and God who knows what really needs to be done . . . Wow!!
There are many situations in my life where I am presently using this partnership. The prayer prior to starting Johrei is an important one. The prayer before and after a meal. The prayer before going to bed. The prayer before starting a project. The prayer before looking for a parking space in front of a busy store. The prayer prior to an important golf shot. ^^ What comes after the prayer is just as important. Wouldn’t it be nice, if raising my hand . . . we can help this person. Wouldn’t it be nice if eating this meal brings us enormous pleasure and lot’s of vitality. Wouldn’t be nice if closing our eyes for bed after 2 hours of reading brings us deep, restful sleep. Wouldn’t it be nice if this first phone call will get the project started. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone leaves a parking slot open for us in front of the store. Wouldn’t it be nice if this golf ball goes in the hole. ^^
SO…. for tomorrow . . . try it
When I look at this picture it reminds me of so many miracles that occurred prior to and after the taking of this picture at Britt’s Pin-On-Ceremony. You realize how true it is that each day is a miracle because everything has to kinda work for us to even wake up every morning. ^_^
Their is a particular small miracle that I would like to share. The phrase . . . Wouldn’t it be nice if . . . came into mind when I prayed for a miracle in the security line at the Atlanta airport. I move like a turtle so Alison and Britt got into the TCS line way before I did. That has to be the longest line I have ever gotten into at any airport. Multiple times we moved into a space where the roped off area s’d many times and then the entire group moved into another area where once again it snaked around. Well, I had to use the bathroom so I started wishing I was with the girls. ^_^ Then came the moment. I was standing right in front of the security check and I saw the people ahead of me following the line going into another room far to the left. Wow! I was disheartened. I thought to myself . . . Wouldn’t it be nice if I could go thru the security now? Then I saw a security person lift the rope and directed 5 of us to the check area. Wow! It is very nice to constantly experience confirmation of this Universal Law. The Spiritual precedes the physical and God gave us knowledge and access to this law when he shared it with Meishu-sama. And Meishu-sama shared it with us. Fleeting thoughts have very little power but thoughts generated because of a need or want definitely have power. Especially if we follow Meishu-sama’s guidance when it comes to prayer. He shared with us the following teaching:
“Since God is all powerful and omnipotent, God can do anything. But if a person isn’t in a condition to receive God’s help, there is little God can do. If someone wants to receive it, that person only needs to become worthy of God’s help through a change in faith, attitude and behavior.”
So . . . Wouldn’t it be nice if . . . is an attempt to change our attitude. Meishu-sama said, “If we detach ourselves from undue ego, worries and attachment, and leave the outcome to God, it is easier for God to extend a helping hand.” So in this situation, the need was great (I had to use the bathroom right now). And my thoughts aligned with the phrase, Wouldn’t it be nice . . . gave me the correct attitude for a prayer.
That takes care of attitude. The other two . . . a change of faith and a change in behavior is up to you. ^_^
Seriously, please let Meishu-sama help us . . . Reading and living the teachings is a good place to start and will put you in position to receive God’s Blessings.
6/27/24 Update: Reading a faith experience such as this and realizing that 4 years have gone by . . . reminds me how important it is to read the teachings daily and perhaps review my blogs more often so the lessons I have learned may be more consistently added to my life. Meishu-sama consistently advised us to read the Teachings as much as possible. I just started this prayer recently and I know what I have to do. Since I do channel Johrei everyday, I will include this phrase in my prayer prior to and after the session.
Before channeling:
God and Meishu-sama, please use me as your instrument . . . wouldn’t it be nice if _________ experiences Your Will.
After channeling:
May God and Meishu-sama Bless you!
Before receiving:
Thank you God for Your Light, Energy and Wisdom. Wouldn’t it be nice if I can become a more effective instrument of Your will.
This is my attempt to find myself. It appears . . . I have several reasons for doing this. I could find myself thru journaling and reflecting on my spiritual journey but I believe my true purpose in life has to do with helping another soul find his or her mission. So . . . by sharing my journey in finding my mission I could help other souls find theirs.
There is a chance we all found our true calling early on in our lives. In my case, I think when I was 5 or 6 years old and my baseball career was just beginning, I turned away from religion and pressed on with my physical life. My parents were guiding me and I can see now that my path was not meant to be a straight line. Everything that happened in my life . . . happened for a reason.
This is me. Years upon years of constant change. One of my favorite photos of my children and of Kona.
Bad Influence of Early Schooling (Foundation of Paradise)
Education is
Very important today.
What is the best way?
Balancing of the spiritual
With the physical seems right.
Today, 6/17/24, I was guided to a teaching in Foundation of Paradise. It is about a page long and I will connect the dots after I share the teaching in its entirety.
Meishu-sama wrote:
“It seems to me that in recent years people in general have developed intellectually while they have degenerated mentally.
This may sound odd, but what it means is this: People who are mentally shallow, though witty and clever on the surface, have increased in number, while it has become difficult to find individuals who have true, deep wisdom, self-control and dignity. Why is this so? From my viewpoint, this trend is definitely due to early schooling. Let me tell you the reason for my thinking in this way.
When education begins before children’s brains are mature enough to digest the lessons given to them in school, as is done today, there is a discrepancy between the degree of their mental development and the amount of knowledge forced on them. In truth, children should be allowed to use both mind and body properly according to age and in ratio of their individual development. Early schooling means that children seven or eight years of age are forced to do brain work which is appropriate for fifteen or sixteen-year old pupils.
This is nothing but mental overwork. What will be the result? Let me give you an example. When I was an elementary schoolboy, I had a desire to take lessons in judo (a Japanese art of self-defense) and applied for them. However, I was rejected for the reason that I was too young, that anyone under fifteen was not permitted to practice judo. On my asking why, the instructors told me that if boys under fifteen took judo lessons they would stop growing, due to the extreme physical exertion required.
The same idea can be applied to education. Today, children twelve or thirteen years of age are forced to study material that is best suited to adults, and it is considered wise for them to do so. It is true that intellect can exhibit remarkable development temporarily, and this gives the impression that the present method is effective for educating children. However, this does not help their deeper thinking faculties to develop. Instead, it causes them to grow up to be individuals whose thinking is clever but shallow.
In fact, in today’s Japan it is becoming harder and harder to find great statesmen, men of substance; indeed, such deep thinkers as we used to have are few and far between. I believe this is a serious matter to which educators should give deep consideration.”
Connecting the dots: This teaching opened my eyes to a better way of teaching. Let’s not use the excuse of new discoveries to increase the shear number of information required to learn in school. Take any field of science like biology. What is taught now about DNA has increased since I learned about it 55 years ago. Let’s teach the basics when it comes to the physical world and slowly bring in information and discussions about the spiritual side of things. We could use Einstein’s theories as a bridge between the spiritual world and the physical world. The reason I want to suggest this is because we can teach the basics about the spiritual world and create subjects for deep-level discussions, thus, preventing the shallow learning of the physical world.
The above solution will help the majority of students who are average and who are taught in regular classrooms. We can also take care of the special education students as well as the top level students with one-on-one tutoring. This will prevent mental overwork.
Meishu-sama also wrote an interesting chapter in the book, Foundation of Paradise, entitled, “Discrepancy between Time and Academic Learning”.
We speak of academic learning sweepingly, but you must know that there are two kinds: one is a living learning and the other is a dead learning. This may sound odd, so let me explain.
Studying just for learning’s sake offers a dead kind of education, while studying with the purpose of putting what is learned into actual practice offers a living kind of education. Studying for the sake of the search for the truth is quite a different matter; this is a learning that is the most valuable of all.
7/6/24 Update: I do not believe I was a victim of mental overwork. There were a number of years where I may have thought I was being overworked but . . . I realize now that I was not overworked. Some of the classes I took in college were dead learning. I was learning things because I had to and studying just to earn a grade. That was my perception of the class and not the fault of the professors. When I walked out of the finals for those classes I dumped most of the material at the door as I left the room. But some of the classes I took were living learning and I was planning on using the course materiel later in my Air Force career and definitely later in life. I still remember a lot of what I learned in courses such as Law for Commanders and Honor and Ethics. Most of my major courses also were living learning because I was definitely interested in what I was learning. And as Meishu-sama wrote the highest level of learning, “studying for the sake of the search for the truth . . .” was just barely covered. A simple procedure could have turned all my classes into the search for the truth. Question the truth of everything. Question the material in the textbook. Question the information coming from the professor. Question the truth of what anyone says, including ministers, friends, family, colleagues. Finally, confirm all facts and pieces of evidence like a murder trial so that the truth can be revealed.
My Journey into the Daylight Age 
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