Eighth
Stop
Tokyo,
Japan
May 7, 2000
It was indeed the greatest blessing for the Japanese people that
Master included our country in Her recent lecture tour. It has
been seven years since She gave Her last lecture in Japan.
Once
Master's tour schedule was confirmed, fellow practitioners threw
themselves enthusiastically into the preparation work. Noticing
that there were too few publications in Japanese to provide sufficient
information about Master to the public, the Translation Group
began working wholeheartedly to prepare News magazines, books
and video subtitles in Japanese, finishing the task much more
quickly than usual. Everyone knew that this work had been accomplished
so speedily through Master's blessing.
With people in Japan becoming generally inclined toward material
values in recent decades, very few were interested in spiritual
practice, or had much idea about God or the Buddha. However, recently
, and especially this year, the Japanese have shown a discernible
change in their willingness to pursue spirituality. Therefore,
we believed that Master's lecture would represent a new turning
point in Japan's spiritual growth.
Using their inner wisdom, fellow practitioners contributed many
suggestions on how to let people know more about Master, and how
to make Her lecture a success. For example, realizing that Japanese
people are generally reluctant to receive pamphlets, we finally
came up with the idea of wrapping the flyers like gifts, with
tissue paper inside transparent plastic sheets. Our hope was that
this approach would make the flyers more appealing to the recipients.
The result was fantastic! When we distributed these "gifts"
to passers-by in Tokyo and other cities, many were immediately
absorbed in reading the flyers , which were adorned with beautiful
photos of Master. Others were impressed by the devoted work of
the fellow practitioners, and thanked them sincerely. In no time
at all, many boxes of flyers were emptied, and the distribution
project ended successfully. At the same time, we also dispatched
the news about Master's lecture to the Web sites of various groups
and individuals.
As the date of Master's lecture approached, we began advertising
and also inserting leaflets in local newspapers. After the newspapers
were distributed, inquiry phone calls and emails began coming
in incessantly. This warm response greatly exceeded our expectations.
The week preceding the lecture was the "Golden Week"
holiday in Japan, and many people were abroad for vacation. As
we were distributing flyers , some people told us that they had
attended Master's lecture in New Zealand; others said that they
had seen many advertisements for Master's lecture in the MTR (underground
train) stations in Hong Kong. Instantly, we felt as though all
of Asia and Oceania was bathing in Master's divine light.
Not all went easily, however, in preparing for the Japan lecture.
While it appeared that Master's activities in other countries
were always accomplished smoothly, in Japan we felt crippled by
many limitations and conceptual obstacles. For instance, we contacted
several newspapers and radio stations very early on, hoping that
they would report on the "Ocean of Love" lecture. But
after reading our materials, they told us that they could not
do any prominent promotion of spiritual groups.
Just as we were beginning to feel upset and frustrated by this
setback, we received an important phone call. The sister answering
the call was precisely the one who had approached the media and
failed, while the person calling was a 74-year-old journalist,
who had previously worked as a reporter for a major newspaper
in Japan, and knew key people in many civic organizations. He
was also the facilitator of a women's organization in Japan, and
expressed a wish to know more about Master's lecture, so our sister
immediately went to meet him. After she discussed Master and the
lecture with him, he was very touched, and promised to spread
the news to the representatives of major groups, as well as to
the women's organization he worked with. As a result of his sincere
interest in Master and Her teachings, he also brought several
guests with him to the lecture.
It is often through continuous setbacks that we can empty ourselves
completely. If in the face of these obstacles we can still maintain
our faith to work for God, then God will naturally open up new
paths for us. And without noticing it , we will accomplish all
of our tasks smoothly.
Finally May 7 arrived, and the lecture was held at the U-Port
Kan-I Hoken Hall in Tokyo. Wearing a silver-gray blouse, long
blue skirt and blue jacket, and with Her hair tied at the back,
Master looked very beautiful and graceful.
The background of the stage was decorated in the pattern of
a huge kimono, featuring a golden sun, silver moon and many stars,
which symbolized peace in the universe and the oneness of all
Creation. The stage itself was decorated with colorful flowers,
fruits, and green plants, making it very pleasing to the eye.
Before Her lecture, Master asked the audience members to silently
pray for peace and prosperity in Japan and the world. We also
prayed that worldly people would become enlightened and enjoy
happiness forever.
In Her lecture, Master pointed out that there is something within
the human body, within human beings, that makes us know that we
are great. And when we find it we know that we are from God, that
we are Buddha. Some of us find a portion of this something, and
some of us find the totality of it. The Buddha and Jesus found
it completely, as did many other Masters, such as Mohammed and
Krishna.
When
they found it completely, they became Buddha, they became completely
enlightened, they became one with God, and they knew where they
came from and where they would go after leaving the physical body.
And then they told us that we also have the Buddha Nature within
us , that we have God dwelling within this physical temple. If
we find even a portion of this magnificent quality, this magnificent
original nature within us, we will become wiser, more intelligent,
happier , more peaceful and more loving.
Some people in this world have found a part of this greatness,
and therefore they have become greater than other ordinary beings
who have not found it. But all of us have this greatness within
us, and any time we choose to know this greatness or want to make
use of this greatness, we can always do so. In order to find this
greatness, this original Self or Buddha Nature of all beings,
we simply need to concentrate in the right place, in the right
way.
Even in this physical world, if we want to be successful at anything,
we need concentration. And I think the Japanese people know that
best. Most companies in Japan send their employees to Buddhist
temples to learn the Zen method of concentration so that the company
will have more efficient workers. Japan is one of the very few
nations (if not the first or the only nation) that is aware of
the power of inner concentration), and perhaps that is why Japan
is very successful in many aspects.
But in order to be happy, to be more peaceful, and to gain lasting
happiness, we also need to use our concentration to go to a higher
dimension to learn the nobler purpose of life, the nobler wisdom
of the universe. Then we can become complete beings, not just
successful executives in this world, but also saints, Buddhas,
in order to bless the world and the universe.
With just a little concentration, people can be very successful
in this life already, so if we apply more concentration, deeper
concentration, and in the right way, we will be successful even
in heaven, and can leave this physical life any time we want,
visit heaven, visit the kingdom of the Buddha, and go back again
to discharge our duty on the planet and vice versa.
We always envy people who are more intelligent, more successful
than we are, perhaps because these people know how to make use
of their inner wisdom more than some of us, so they become very
intelligent, very sharp, and they know how to solve problems more
quickly than many of us who do not make use of our inner wisdom.
That's why the Buddha encouraged all of us to find our own Buddha
Nature, our own wisdom inside. That's why the Bible tells us "Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God, and all other things shall be added
unto you." At any time, we can find this Kingdom of God,
this Buddha Nature, which has made all the Masters great, and
which makes every one of us great, because we are originally great.
During the question and answer session, the audience raised
many spiritual points. One person spoke about feeling a very strong
energy radiating from Master toward him during the lecture. Master
said that everyone is not ordinary, everyone can develop this
kind of power that makes you feel elevated, and then everyone
around you feels elevated, in just the same way. Not only can
She , but also we can have the same energy that radiates all over
our surroundings, and around the whole planet. But everyone who
is near us , who is sensitive, and a little spiritually elevated
can feel it. This energy is the God Nature, God within us; once
we have awakened this power, we are powerful like that, and at
that time, we can bless many people; we can bless the whole world
with our energy.
When the lecture ended, several children and teenagers offered
flowers to Master, who graciously accepted them, and then shared
all the flowers and fruits on the stage with the audience.
After the lecture, making use of the time while preparing for
the initiation, we held a press conference to address the questions
of news reporters and other media representatives. Among them
was the chief editor of the periodical Religious News, who commented:
"In our magazine, we published a series of stories about
the Buddha, and I personally have tried to learn more about what
a Buddha is, through the study of news reports and books. My conclusion
is that, once we have realized our Buddha Nature, we are the Buddha.
In Master's lecture today, I noticed that Master was saying precisely
the same thing. As a religious news specialist, I have visited
with many Japanese religious leaders. Having listened to Master's
discourse today, I realize that She is a truly Enlightened Master.
Master has truly come from Nirvana, and Her wisdom is extraordinary."
The chief editor also expressed a hope to remain in contact with
us.
From these bits and pieces of information, we can see how Master's
divine messages float in all directions like the flying petals
of wind flowers: Once they come to rest in people's hearts, they
will surely grow into beautiful flowers. We feel that Her lecture
has been a great blessing for Japan. May more and more Japanese
people awaken to the God Nature within them , and walk in the
way of the Heavenly light.