The day that I
am writing this article, April 22nd, is Earth Day. As a response to
the call from the US Headquarters of Seicho-No-Ie for Earth Day, we have accepted
their invitation to read the following prayers and sutras: Divine Message of
Grand Harmony, Holy Sutra Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines, Prayer to
Visualize Grand Harmony Between Nature and Human Beings, Song in Praise of
Nature and Prayer for World Peace at the same time throughout the entire week. Gatherings to recite
the prayers and sutras have taken place both at the Toronto and Vancouver
Centres. The event celebrating Earth Day started on April 22nd in
all over the world, ending on the 24th at the Vancouver Centre, the
25th at the Toronto Centre, and the 26th at the US
Missionary Headquarters. On the first day, there were two participants in
Toronto and four participants in Vancouver.
On April 20th
in Toronto, as part of the Earth Day Event, a community cleanup was held. There
were eight participants, including two kitchen staffs. We collected the garbage
around the Toronto Centre from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. While I was participating,
I found myself thoroughly enjoying the activity. I was so absorbed that when I stopped
to look up, I realized I was far away from the other members and alone in a
nearby park. The day was very cold and windy as forecasted, and there was even a
little snow remaining, although it was half past the month of April. Despite
the chilly forecast, because of everyone’s valiant efforts, all together we
gathered 12 bags of garbage. Our hands became numb in the cold weather, but we
were pleased once we were able to partake in a delicious warm meal, after finishing
all the hard work.
On
April 21st, we held Mrs. Teruko Taniguchi's 25th year Memorial Service
in Toronto. On this Memorial Service day, I introduced what Mrs. Taniguchi once
explained to us as: the importance of balancing "salt" and
"sugar," as a metaphor for “wisdom” and “love” in raising children. One
week before the memorial service in Toronto, I presented a similar service which
was held in Vancouver with the transmission of a video message, which was
previously recorded, delivered by me on a similar topic.
Besides that, I have
released videos with mini lectures in Japanese onto Youtube in response to
requests made by some Japanese members. Since it was Earth Day and close to
Mrs. Teruko Taniguchi's 25th year memorial service, my first video lecture was on
how Mrs. Taniguchi used to live her daily life by being ‘considerate towards the
environment’. I introduced her article about a Memorial Service for old sewing needles
from her book Mezame Yuku Tamashii (The Way to Spiritual Awakening.) Mrs. Taniguchi first explained the purpose of
the memorial service, called ‘Hari Kuyo’ (Gratitude for the Needles or Festival
of the broken needles). It was held
yearly, in giving thanks to the needles used for sewing purposes. She stated
that bent or broken needles, after being kept for one year, were re-used and
skewered into tofu or roasted rice cakes on February 8th. She wrote as follows:
However, it is
not at all a useless act. Whether it is inorganic or organic matter, all things
in nature were made by God’s and people’s love. All things are filled with mind.
God made iron, the raw material of the needle, and through love, it can be used
for the benefit of people’s life. And the person who made it in the form of a needle,
made it with love to help people to sew. And the needle itself exists to
fulfill its mission. By the grace of God, and thanks to the manufacturer and
the needle, we can sew various small things including a kimono. It is only
gratitude.
(Mezame Yuku Tamashii “The
Way to Spiritual Awakening” p. 18)
In this way, Mrs.
Teruko Taniguchi found the love of God, the love of the manufacturer, and the love
of needle in the needle itself. We as human beings tend to consider ourselves
as superior to all beings, but we cannot live without these unanimated beings. Human
beings keep close to material possessions which are convenient. However, they discard
or ignore what may seem like inconvenient things. While man created the city by
destroying nature, dwellers in the city have lost the opportunity to be in contact
with nature. While man in the city can still enjoy a convenient urban life, this
lifestyle can cause negative events in the world of microbes and insects. For
example, large quantities of bees have been found to not return to their nests
and are found dead. The cause is not clear, but it seems that the present natural
environment makes it harder for bees to survive.
When
I first arrived in Toronto, I thought the city did not have enough nature. After I gave up my car and started walking from
home to the subway station and taking the subway to the Seicho-No-Ie Centre, I
realized that Toronto Hiroshima Toronto
At the end of Mrs. Teruko Taniguchi’s
article, “Memorial Service of the needles,” she wrote as follows:
Not only when
memorializing the needle, nor when worshipping the machine, but with all things,
food, clothing and shelter, we need to keep in mind that we have been supplied
with lots of things indispensable in our daily life. Let us reflect upon
ourselves whether we have a feeling of thankfulness and a considered warm heart
toward all things we touch.
(Mezame Yuku Tamashii “The Way to Spiritual Awakening” p. 22)
A while ago, there
was the common belief that Nature was in abundance. However, we see now that nature
has been devastated, causing global warming and climate change, and the situation
of our global environment is worsening. The first step to solve environmental problems
such as global warming, in my opinion, is to regain the heart of thankfulness for
everything around us, as we have learned in this topic of the memorial service
for needles.
Thank you very
much.
April 22, 2013
Yoshiharu Taka
Chief of Toronto
Resident
Ordained Minister in Canada
Youtube
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/alohamahaloyoshi
