Description of the Spiritual World
There are nine major strata in the spiritual world, three in the upper plane, three
in the intermediate plane and three in the lower plane. The primary difference between various strata or planes
are those of intensity of light and heat, the lowest level is pitch dark and has no heat at all, while the intermediate
plane is somewhat similar to the physical world.
We find both very happy and fulfilled individuals and extremely unfortunate
people in our physical world. They are living in circumstances whose vibrations correspond to those of heaven or
of hell in the spiritual world.
In the highest area, often called the first heaven, light and heat
are extremely intense, so those who live there are almost naked; this is why the most divine beings in old paintings
and sculptures are usually unclothed. If a spirit in hell were able to visit this heaven, the moment it arrived
it would be dazzled by the strong light, would be unable to bear the heat, and would hurriedly return to its regular
place in hell. You can easily understand this situation if you will imagine a person born to a low position suddenly
being promoted to a high rank or office; such an abrupt change would make him feel uncomfortable and uneasy, thus
causing him suffering instead of pleasure. The light and heat decreases in intensity in the second heaven and still
more in the third.
In heaven, the highest and holiest of all is the Supreme God, of course.
Then there is a divine being who is in charge of each religious group, besides its founder.
Immediately after entering the spiritual world, the spirits of those
who have belonged to religions while on earth join those same groups. They are far more fortunate than those who
have never been members of any particular religion. Such non-believers have no groups to join and therefore they
go around feeling lost, just like aimless wanderers in the physical world .( There are a large number of people
today who have quite a lot of spiritual awareness and trust in God but do not belong to any religious organization.
After they pass over to the spirit world, they join others who have had comparable understanding and faith, according
to the law of "like attracts like." So they are different from those who in the material world have had
no faith, they do not feel lost.) Since olden days there has been an expression, " to wander without knowing
where to go in the intermediate region," which refers to spiritual beings who move about aimlessly in the
middle plane. When those who know nothing about the spiritual world and do not believe in life after death pass
on, they become like earth's demented cases and remain in that state for some time, for they have no spiritual
place to settle down.
As an example of this, let me tell you a true story. Several years
ago, some individuals who were doing spiritual research work were engaged in an experiment with mediums, when the
spirit of a writer who was well known in Japan possessed one of the mediums and began to talk through her. The
writers wife was immediately contacted and asked to come to hear her husband. A number of questions were then put
to the entity. The answers, to the listeners surprise, were vague, almost imbecilic. I believe this was because
the writer had passed on with no understanding of spiritual truths.
When we think of the fact that someone as distinguished as this famous
writer had become the way he was in the spiritual world, we cannot but realize how important it is to have an understanding
about spiritual truths and to begin to prepare for life after death while still in the physical world.
What kind of place is heaven? Does such a world really exist? Many
people think that all descriptions of this are illusionary ideas, born in the brains of people who are in a primitive
stage. However, I am firmly convinced that the Christian heaven, and the Buddhist Land of Bliss or Pure Land, are
real.
Let me tell you an episode I heard about which concerns this subject.
A high priest and a man of learning once had an argument about whether or not heaven and hell exist. The high priest
said they do and the learned man said they do not. Finally the priest said, "There is no way to prove the
truth but for us to die and find out. Let us solve this problem by death." So, the learned man gave way.
This is no laughing matter; what the priest said makes sense. But if
you can find out what the spiritual world is like while you are still on earth, don't you think this is a most
wonderful opportunity?
Now, I would like to share various examples of the knowledge I gained
through my experiences.
Years ago, I was invited to visit a thirty-year-old women, the wife
of a high executive of a large company, who was seriously ill. Her doctor had pronounced her case hopeless, so
her family and relatives begged me to help her. Her home was about twenty miles from where I lived and it would
have been hard for me to treat her there many times, so I went by car to get her and bring her to my home. Taking
into consideration the possibility that she might die on the way, I asked her husband to ride with us. As we traveled,
I kept an arm around her to brace her and gave johrei with my free hand. We all arrived at my home safely.
Before dawn the next morning I was awakened by the lady's attendant.
I immediately got up and went to the room where she lay. As soon as I stood beside her, she seized one of my hands
in hers and would not let it go. She said, " I am filled with fear, for I feel that something is going out
of my body. Please let me hold onto your hand. I feel strongly that I am dying. Please call my family together
as soon as possible." I telephoned her husband and other relatives at once.
In a little over an hour, her immediate family, several other of her
relatives and the doctor arrived. By then the sick women was in a coma and her pulse was very weak. The doctors
diagnosis was that it was only a question of time.
The women surrounded by her relatives, continued to lie in a coma,
but at least she was still breathing. Evening came, and she remained in the same state. Around eight o'clock, however,
she suddenly opened her eyes and looked about as if wondering what had happened to her. Then she said," I
have just been to a most beautiful place. It was a garden, with hundreds of varieties of gorgeous flowers in full
bloom. There were many beautiful angelic beings, too. Far away, in a distant part of the garden, I saw a noble
individual who looked like Kannon, whom I have seen in pictures. He turned toward me and smiled. I was so happy
and grateful and struck with awe that I feel on my knees. At this point, I woke up, I feel very refreshed now.
I haven't felt so good since before I first became ill.
From the next day on she was completely relieved of any pain and she
almost healed, with only some weakness still remaining. In about a months time she recuperated from this weakness
also and totally regained her health. After this, she had no more illness. This was the experience of an individual
whose spiritual being temporarily left her body, went to heaven, and had her spiritual clouds dispersed by Kannon
himself.
Next, I will tell you about a young women, around twenty years of age,
who had a serious case of tuberculosis. She was healed of this disease once but had a recurrence in about a year's
time and finally died. I had her spirit enshrined.
This girl had an elder brother who was a drunkard, a lazy man, and
indeed the black sheep of the family. One day, a few months after the girl had passed away, while the brother was
seated in his room, he saw something like purplish smoke beginning to form in front of and a few feet above his
eyes. The "smoke," which proved to be purple clouds, began to descend slowly, and on the clouds he could
see his sister standing. When he could perceive her clearly, he realized she was wearing lovely clothing that looked
like the ceremonial dress of a court lady. She had a dignified look about her which commanded his respect. Then
she spoke, " I have come to advise you to stop drinking. Please abstain for the sake of our family, as well
as for your own." After saying this earnestly, she returned to the purple clouds and on them disappeared in
the direction of heaven.
A few days later, the same thing happened. Then in a few more days
the girl came to visit her brother for the third time. On this occasion he saw a beautiful bridge that was lacquered
with vermilion and had a curbing on it. His sister came down from the purple clouds, crossed the bridge, and said,
" This is the third and last time I can secure permission to visit you. So, I will not be seeing you again."
Then she once more advised her brother to stop drinking. After that there were no more visitations. This indicated
that the man had only temporarily been made clairvoyant.
The above is a good example of how a spiritual being who has been raised
to heaven comes down to earth to visit a member of the family. An interesting part of the story is that this man
had totally disbelieved in spiritual matters and had had no interest in Spirit or in spiritual beings, so he could
not have had any subconscious ideas. Thus, we can only say that those experiences were not the workings of his
imagination. Incidentally I heard this story from the girls mother.
Next, I will tell you about a case that did not involve a physical
illness, but a mental one- or a spiritual condition, as we might term it.
A young man a little over twenty years of age was infatuated with a
women who was working in a red-light district. He was so captivated that he was making plans with her to commit
double suicide. Miraculously, I was able to save both of them, just on the brink of their putting their plan into
action.
I could tell what a dangerous condition the young man was in, for I
found him carrying in his pocket enough poison for two people. I brought him to my home and immediately examined
him by extra-sensory means. From this it became clear to me that a low, animalistic spirit had possessed him and
was making him act in that way. The session took about twenty minutes, during which time I gave the spirit a strict
warning, telling it how wrong it was to do such a thing.
Even after the session was over, the young man still sat with his hands
together and his eyes closed( the usual position for this type of examination), and he had his head tilted to the
left side. It was three or four minutes before he finally opened his eyes, his head still tilted as if mystified.
Then he said, "I saw something very strange. There was someone beside me, playing an instrument that looked
like a Japanese harp. The sound of the music was so indescribably rich I was enraptured by it. As I looked around,
I found that I was inside a spacious place that looked like a shrine. At the farthest end there was a flight of
stairs, at the top of which was a hanging reed screen. Then you appeared in a full court dress of traditional fashion,
walked slowly up the steps, and went behind the screen."
I said, "How could you know who it was when the figure walked
with his back toward you?" To this he answered, "I knew, I am sure it was you." According to his
description, I was wearing a crown with a ceremonial-style pendant on it, a blue coat, and a scarlet-colored skirt
This entire experience meant that the young man's spiritual vision
had been expanded temporarily and he was shown a part of the spiritual world. He was an employee in a store, did
not belong to any church and had no spiritual knowledge of any kind. I think we can therefore trust his words all
the more. Incidentally, in the room in which all this happened, on the left side of the place where he was seated
there was an altar where a Divine Scroll had been dedicated.
I believe the three examples given above help to picture pretty well
the interior of the buildings and the outdoor parts of the higher spiritual realm, and to realize how the spiritual
beings who reside there sometimes contact people on earth.
Next I will write about the state of the Buddhist Land of Bliss.
The medium with whom I worked at the time was an innocent, unmarried
girl of eighteen years of age. The spiritual being who came to her was one of her ancestors who had been a warrior
killed on a battlefield over two hundred years before. While on earth he had been an ardent member of the Shingon
sect of Buddhism, so soon after he passed over to the spiritual world he joined the group led by Priest Kobo
In answer to my inquiry, he said, "When I first arrived, there
were several hundred members. But since every year since there are more spirits that reincarnate than there are
those that come here, the number has decreased to about one hundred. We now live in a spacious temple. We do not
have special work to do, so we spend our time with such pastimes as playing the koto, samisen, flute and drum, or
with such entertainment as the kinds of pleasures we enjoyed while in the physical world- drawing, painting, sculpting,
reading, making calligraphies, playing go and
shogi. Also, once in a while, Priest Kobo himself,
or perhaps one of his disciples, gives a sermon, and we look forward more than anything else to listening to either.
( I heard that once in a while, Priest Kobo visits Shakyamuni Buddha, who resides in a realm higher than this Land
of Bliss, the realm which is full of light that is so brilliant it is almost blinding.)
"There is a big lake outside the temple. On the lake are floating
innumerable lotus leaves, so big that two people can ride on each one. Generally, husbands and wives are seen on
them, and they can go anywhere they wish without rowing.
It is always day here, there is no night. The degree of brightness
is a little less intense than the bright light of a fine day in the physical world. The rays are of a soft golden
hue, and give a very pleasant feeling."
I have heard from many spirits who live in the Buddhist Land of Bliss
that when they have been there for a long period, they have become tired of it. Since all their time is devoted
entirely to pleasure, they have become bored. Some of them have asked me to help them move to other areas of the
higher realms. I have accepted their requests and have assisted quite a number so their spiritual beings have been
elevated. The reason for this desire has been that the higher realms of the Gods are in a state of greater activity
than ever before and the divine beings and other spiritual beings there are busily engaged in doing worthwhile
work. Needless to say, this is because the Daylight Age is very close at hand.
Now, let me tell you about the lowest division, hell. Of the three
sub-divisions there, the lowest plane is what is referred to in Shintoism as "the land at the very bottom",
in Buddhism as the " hell of extreme coldness," and in the west simply as "hell." It is a realm
of no light, of total darkness, and a place that is in a completely frozen state. The spirits who have been sent
there cannot see a thing for many hundreds of years. They are in a frozen condition, are unable to move at all,
in great misery so great it cannot be expressed in words. When I heard of the suffering in this part of hell from
a spirit who was finally raised from there, I was struck with dread and compassion. What was written by Dante in
his Divine Comedy concerning the frozen hell is
true.
The middle part of hell is divided into various realms of suffering,
such as the realm of violence, the realm of beasts, the realm of lust and the realm of starvation.
There are red devils and blue devils who supervise the spirits in this
part, just as can be seen in pictures depicting hell. The punishments inflicted by these devils are beatings with
iron bars edged with many spikes, and the pain of the beatings is far worse for those being punished than any sufferings
they experienced while in their physical bodies. This is because the nerves of the spiritual body have no protection,
they are completely exposed.
The Burning Hell is a place where spirits of individuals such as those
who died in fires or who committed suicide by throwing themselves into the craters of active volcanos must go.
I once met a middle-aged man who was afflicted with a kind of fire epilepsy. This is what he told me: He would
suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. As he opened his eyes and looked around he would see a fire blazing
about thirty or forty feet away. It would move toward him, closer and closer, until he would be suddenly be gripped
by a seizure. At that moment his whole body would become as hot as fire, then he would loose conciousness. He told
me that he was first attacked by this disease the year after the Great Kanto Earthquake, which hit Tokyo and its
vicinity in 1923. I am sure that this man's condition was caused by the spirit of one of those individuals who
were burned to death by the fire which followed the earthquake.
The Realm of Lust is the part of hell where people who had immoral
sexual relationships on earth are sent. There is a difference in the degree of suffering according to the degree
of immorality.
For instance, those who committed double suicide in love affairs, killing
themselves in an embracing position, are fastened together so tightly they cannot be separated. The inconvenience
and shame they experience make them regret a great deal. Lovers sometime commit double suicide with the idea that
by doing so they can go to heaven and live together in peace and joy, but you can see how far away from the truth
their expectations are. We occasionally read in the newspapers reports about twins having been born with some parts
of their bodies grown together. A case in point: before being purified enough, a man and women who had committed
double suicide reincarnated as Siamese twins.
A perverted affair such as a relationship between parent and a child
or an illicit one between teacher and a student causes the spirit of those involved to be fastened together in
a topsy-turvy manner; that is, when one is standing up the other is one its head. They experience such tremendous
discomfort, pain and shame, they suffer great remorse. In the spiritual world, everything is fair and impartial.
From this, you can realize what a big mistake it is for lovers to commit double suicide.
Here is another thing you must know. There are some individuals who
are wealthy but quite stingy with their money. These people are materially rich but spiritually very poor. When
they pass over to the spiritual world they become poverty-stricken and find themselves reduced to dire circumstances,
so they greatly repent their past way of living. Conversely, those who may now live at a standard below the middle
class but are satisfied with whatever they have, who live with hearts full of gratitude and do good deeds for others,
contributing whatever they can for the good of other individuals and of society in general, become wealthy after
they pass over to the spiritual world and enjoy total happiness and good fortune there.
Let me tell you a few of the reasons wealthy families are sometimes
ruined. There are some individuals who are so penurious in monetary matters that they do not give when they should,
or do not meet their obligations when they are due. The money they hoard is the same as stolen money, spiritually
speaking, so it accumulates reverse interest. Thus, the spiritual amounts of their fortunes become smaller all
the time, and according to the law of spiritual proceeding physical, they are eventually ruined. Sometimes a family's
second generation after its wealthy founder contains either a delinquent or mentally deficient individual who squanders
all the fortune. You can easily see why this happens when you think about the above explanation.
As a result of Japan's defeat in World War ll, its financial combines
were all dissolved. The spiritual cause of this was the same as the above. That is, some of the money they had
accumulated should have been distributed among employees and other laborers.
Let me give you an idea as to what the proper percentage of profit
margin to capital should be. For example, postal savings and bank savings in Japan are usually the safest, so about
a 3% interest rate at this point is proper; government bonds, which are a little less safe, should offer an interest
rate of about 31/2%; trust deposits should pay about 3.8%; share certificates, which involve some risk, should
properly pay a greater interest rate, maybe 4 or 5 percent. When we figure from the above examples, the most logical
rate of profit margin for a capitalist would perhaps be from 7 to 6 to 10% at most. If there is more profit margin
than that, the surplus should be distributed among the workers. However, generally speaking, many capitalists think
only of satisfying their own avarice, and do their best to gain as much profit as possible. This is why they must
often be frightened by labor movements or have bitter experiences with strikes. For capitalists to take more profit
than is reasonable means that they are taking the percentage of profit which should rightfully be distributed among
employees and that is the same as stealing money, that belongs to them.
Before the war, many individuals in Japan accumulated this kind of
money, formed giant family combines and lived in luxury. Things could not go on in such a way. The money created
negative interest, which increased steadily. The time came for that money, plus negative interest, to be taken
away from those individuals. Indeed, they had no one to blame but themselves. If they had come to recognize the
spiritual laws in financial matters, they would have started doing exactly the opposite to which they had been
doing. That is, they would have begun distributing the appropriate percentage of profit among their employees and
done good deeds by contributing some of their own profits for the welfare of society, and for the good of individuals.
In this way, they could have truly won the respect of the world and then be blessed with lifelong prosperity.
Once the spirits have completed the ordeal of the middle level of hell
they are raised to the highest level, and they stay there until they are ready to enter the intermediate division
of the spiritual world. The assignments they receive in the highest level of hell are something like light labor,
accompanied by just a little suffering. Some of the tasks they are given are the carrying of food offerings from
the ancestral shrines of families, transmitting of messages and taking care of newly arrived spirits.
I would like you to know about food offerings. Spiritual beings need
nourishment; without it they become hungary. In the orient, their sustenance is provided by the spiritual vibrations
of material food. What is different from the physical world is that spiritual beings need very little nourishment,
for they are satisfied with a small daily amount. Accordingly, the spiritual vibrations of the food which is ordinarily
offered at an average home can feed quite a number of relatives and other loved ones. There is often some left
over, so this surplus is given in charity to the spirits in the realm of starvation. When this is done, the elevation
of the spirits of the family is expedited.
I would like to explain a little about ancestral altars.
The interiors of ancestral altars are constructed to be small replicas
of the Buddhist Land of Bliss in the spiritual world so people can invite their ancestors and loved ones to them.
In the Land of Bliss there is always plenty of food, and there are all kind of flowers in full bloom so the air
is permeated with their good scent; also beautiful music is constantly played. So, even though an ancestral altar
is small, food, flowers and burning incense are offered as prototypes of paradise.
In Buddhist temples, a wooden drum is beaten, cymbals are sounded,
and pan pipes and flageolets are played, in order to make music like that heard in the Land of Bliss.
Also, Buddhists ring bells when they are offering food to the ancestors,
which are signals to them that their sustenance is ready,
Feb 5,1947
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