Questions & Answers

The art of spiritual purification is the practice of radiating the Light of the Creator God from the palm of one’s hand. It is Light of the highest dimension, through which one is allowed to purify all things and solve all kinds of problems. The art of spiritual purification is also called the art of True Light.

Through the Bible and Buddhist scriptures, we can understand that Jesus and Gautama were allowed to demonstrate miracles through this practice.

Throughout history, the art of spiritual purification, which allows the demonstration of miracles, could only be practised by great saints. However, this divine art can now be practised by anyone, because it is part of God’s plan to purify humankind and the earth.

The art of spiritual purification with God’s Light is a divine art which eliminates the spiritual cause of problems and misfortunes, such as disease, financial problems, including bankruptcy, disharmony in relationships, problems concerning young people, traffic accidents, contamination of food, and environmental pollution. The purpose of the art of spiritual purification is not to cure illnesses or to provide temporary help. It is a spiritual art that can save humankind by eliminating the root cause of misfortunes and difficulties.

A person might say, “It sounds too good to be true.” However, when members purify with the Light of God, many unbelievable phenomena occur. For example, relationships with families and co-workers improve, business activities begin to proceed smoothly, and physical pain and illness disappear.

There exists a mysterious realm that cannot be explained by human-made theory and reason. However, one can experience this realm through the practice of spiritual purification with God’s Light.

The spiritual dimension of the art of spiritual purification practised in Sukyo Mahikari is completely different from any other practice. Therefore, there is a difference in the spiritual power of the Light of God.

God’s Light allows anyone to understand the existence of the soul and spirit. Through the art of spiritual purification, people can discover the unseen spiritual influences that greatly affect our lives, and resolve them.

The art of purifying with God’s Light purifies the spirits that disturb people and awakens them. As a result of resolving disturbance by spirits, this purifying practice can bring people happiness, including true health (freedom from illness), true harmony (freedom from conflict), and true prosperity (freedom from poverty).

God’s Light purifies our soul as well as our physical body, allowing us to return to our original, pure condition that is our nature as God’s children. The Light of God revives our own power and enables us to attain a divine-like character, growing closer to God step by step.

The ultimate goal of the art of spiritual purification is to enable people to participate in God’s great plan to establish a world of happiness. Recovering from illness and becoming free from other unhappy phenomena are granted through this practice so that people can actively help in accomplishing this ultimate goal.

When we understand this ultimate purpose of the art of spiritual purification, we can understand that the Light of God is of a different dimension from other practices. The best way to truly understand the difference between Sukyo Mahikari and other spiritual practices is to experience this art.

People can easily receive Light and attend the Sukyo Mahikari course while participating in other religions. In fact, listening to the teachings of the course helps people to better understand the teachings of Christianity, Buddhism and other religions. This is because the mysteries behind the teachings of all religions can be understood through the fundamental teachings, some of which have not been known until now.

Sukyo Mahikari teaches that the Creator of the universe radiates Light throughout the universe. In Sukyo Mahikari, we learn that “the origin of the earth is one, the origin of the world is one, the origin of humankind is one, and the origin of religions is one.” Priests and ministers of various religions have attended the Sukyo Mahikari Course and learned to give the Light of God. It is wonderful to help others by giving them Light while participating in one’s religion. When giving people Light, miracles occur regardless of one’s religious belief. It is important to experience the existence of God and the spirit realm through experiencing God’s Light.

Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism, and other religions were all established by God as part of His plan. Therefore, the basic teachings are the same. Now, through Sukyo Mahikari, the opportunity to purify directly with the Light of God has been granted by God.

Now, anyone who wishes to learn to give the Light of God can help people throughout the world.

(Published as Sukuinushisama's short teaching
March 2009 issue of the 'Sukyo Mahikari international Journal' - page 4
"Now is the time to unite and spread the Light of God")

"From the viewpoint of religion, whose main mission is spiritual salvation, it is clear that civilisation in the twenty-first century will need to be God-centred. Therefore, it is vital that all religions change so that they can really help people to attain salvation. Only then will religion live up to its true purpose.

When people unite in the practice of the art of spiritual purification utilising God’s Light, awe-inspiring miracles will occur. All religions should unite to try to make this a reality. Although people have tried to unite religions in the past, until now there has been no concrete method around which people could unite. But now, thanks to the art of purification with the Light of God, we have such a concrete method for the first time.

There is a reality that transcends religion, as can be seen from the fact that religion has nothing to do with our being born into this world or with our ability to breathe the air around us. Whether we find ourselves in a Christian church or a Buddhist temple, we all breathe the same air. It is the same with God’s Light. Only the Light of the Creator God can eliminate spiritual toxic energy and solve spirit disturbance. We need to be absolutely clear in our mind on this point.

People need God’s Light to erase their spiritual impurities, and it is precisely for this reason that I (Sukuinushisama) say that we should not hesitate to be “wholesalers” of God’s Light and share His Light with people of all religions. I would like to encourage you to go out and save people with God’s Light.

You can refer to the Light in whatever terms people will understand: the Light of Kannon, the Light of Christ, or the Light of Yahweh. Thanks to the Light, people will gradually come to understand the true nature of God. They will come to understand that there exists a Creator of heaven and earth, and that He is the highest God. They will come to understand the realm of divine spirits, the divine plan and the mission of religion.

This is the reason that I emphasise the importance of sincerely and earnestly giving Light."

Sukyo Mahikari is registered as a religious organisation in many countries, because at present such an organisation cannot legally be active without such registration. However, Sukyo Mahikari is unique, because the teachings of Sukyo Mahikari encompass more than just teachings about religion. They include teachings about medical science, general science, economics, agriculture, and more.

The teachings of Sukyo Mahikari are for all humankind rather than for a particular religious group. Anyone can practise these teachings regardless of religious belief, age, gender, race or nationality. Priests of various religions and many other people worldwide are members of Sukyo Mahikari. Because the teachings of Sukyo Mahikari explain the origin of all religions, people are able to more easily understand the teachings in the Bible and other scriptures.

The teachings of Sukyo Mahikari also encompass medical science. The goal is not to heal illness but to help people become completely free from illness. The purpose of the art of spiritual purification is not to treat symptoms but to eliminate the root cause of illness.

Regarding science, the goal of Sukyo Mahikari is to achieve a scientific approach that is in harmony with nature. The teachings of Sukyo Mahikari also explain God’s arrangements for the creation of all things in a simple way.

Sukyo Mahikari also teaches spiritual economics, in which, by changing our innermost attitude from a self-centred one to one of helping others and society, we can experience great changes in our destiny.

Kotama Okada, the founder of Sukyo Mahikari, was concerned about humankind’s excessive materialism and proposed an ideal for the eternal peace and prosperity of humankind. This ideal was to establish principles for a world civilisation based on the teaching, “The origin of the world is one, the origin of humankind is one, and the origin of all religions is one.”

In order to realise this ideal, Sukyo Mahikari regularly sponsors international conferences, forums that transcend the barriers of religion, race, and nationality, where scientific and philosophical viewpoints can be united. It also sponsors yoko farms, where farming is practised with a new approach that emphasises the spiritual aspect in addition to organic farming methods, and the yoko health centre, which promotes spirit-centred medical science.

Sukyo Mahikari allows everyone to direct themselves toward the Creator of heaven, earth, the universe, and all things. By directing ourselves toward the Creator God, we discover there are no barriers of religious sect, denomination, race, nationality, age, or gender. Directing ourselves toward God means to grow closer to God and, step by step, to attain a God-like nature.

Through the practice of giving Light, we experience the existence of God and the spiritual realm. In the past, only saints and sages could practice this great art. In the present age, it can be practised by anyone who seeks it.

Through the giving and receiving of God’s Light, we purify our spiritual, mental and physical aspects. Disturbances in the spiritual realm, which are the cause of unhappy phenomena, can be discovered and resolved. As a result, through giving and receiving Light and practising the teachings of Sukyo Mahikari in our daily lives, we can cultivate our true nature, which is like the nature of God, our original Parent. Practising the teachings in our daily lives means to practise the teachings naturally in our actions, thoughts and speech. This is an important practice for us as we strive to attain a God-like nature.

The profound teachings of Sukyo Mahikari are teachings for all humankind. The founder of Sukyo Mahikari, Kotama Okada, taught that “the origin of the earth is one, the origin of all humankind is one, and the origin of all teachings is one.” Sukyo Mahikari also teaches that we exist thanks to our ancestors and that our ancestors are alive in the spirit realm. We learn the importance of offering gratitude for our ancestors and how to serve them in accordance with God’s arrangements.

The Creator God has revealed His plan for the universe and humankind, which has been unknown for millions of years, through Kotama Okada. Sukyo Mahikari explains aspects of God’s plan in its introductory course and gives people a way to participate in the accomplishment of God’s plan. It is an important mission for human beings, who are children of God, to participate in this plan.

No special training is necessary. Saints, sages and high priests of the past were able to give rise to miracles through the art of purifying with the Light of God, but only after going through rigorous spiritual training for many years. Today, all anyone has to do is attend a three-day course. This is hard to believe at first, but once a person completes this course, receives the Omitama (a divine pendant worn around the neck that enables one to give Light) and gives Light, miracles begin to occur one after another.

Why is it that anyone can now practise the same art after only three days?

Humankind is presently facing a critical time: weather patterns are abnormal; environmental pollution affects every part of the earth; rare, incurable and chronic diseases are increasing; crimes and traffic accidents occur daily; the fields of politics, economics and education are at a crisis point; and weapons of mass destruction threaten humankind.

Modern civilisation has come to a deadlock. If things remain unchanged, human beings may even destroy themselves.

Therefore, God has allowed humankind to practise the art of purification with the Light of God, in order to bring positive, spiritual energy of the highest dimension into this troubled world. Because there is an urgent need to allow as many people as possible to participate in this work at this crucial time, anyone who wishes can practise the art of spiritual purification after three days regardless of age, religion, race and nationality, and help other people who are suffering.

The sacred scroll enshrined in every Sukyo Mahikari Centre is called the Goshintai. The literal meaning of the word Goshintai is “a holy object of worship.” A Goshintai itself is not God. A Goshintai is a sacred contact point through which we can connect with God.

The Goshintai of the highest God enshrined in Sukyo Mahikari Centres is connected by a spiritual cord to the Creator of the universe. Therefore, praying in front of a Goshintai allows our prayers more easily to reach God. God’s Light of the highest dimension flows through the Goshintai and purifies the spirit realm of the area in which it is enshrined.

The Creator God is at the centre of the functions of the universe. He is the God of the Light of Truth. People generally cannot see the Light. However, some people have seen golden Light radiating from the Goshintai of the Creator God. Wondrous miracles have been occurring all over the world through enshrining this unique Goshintai.

The Omitama is a divine pendant that connects an individual with the Creator through a spiritual cord. The Omitama is like an antenna for receiving God’s Light and power and giving it to others. When a person wearing Omitama raises his or her hand, invisible spiritual Light of a high dimension radiates from the hand. This Light is the Light of the highest God. Anyone can give Light after receiving the Omitama by completing a three-day course.

The reason God has granted the Goshintai and the Omitama to humankind through Oshienushisama, the spiritual leader of Sukyo Mahikari, is to purify people and the earth, restoring them to their original condition.

If a person does not attend the course until he or she understands the teachings completely, it is similar to waiting to choose a major in university until one understands that whole field.

The teachings covered in the course are teachings that have not been available to the public before, teachings that were not allowed to be revealed even by Jesus or Gautama Buddha. This is why it takes time for people to understand these teachings. Therefore, it is necessary to listen to the teachings presented during the course carefully and with an open mind.

The teachings of Sukyo Mahikari cannot be understood only with the mind. It is important to put the teachings into practice in our daily lives so that we can understand them through our own experience. It is also important to give and receive Light and gradually become purified in order to grasp the essence of the teachings. By giving and receiving Light, we are able to have experiences of the spirit realm. The experiences that are granted are very important in comprehending the teachings and practice of Sukyo Mahikari. When we see changes in our personal lives and those of others, we can truly understand God’s existence and His love.

Experience is important on the path of Sukyo Mahikari. This is why everyone is welcome to receive Light.

The founder of Sukyo Mahikari, Kotama Okada, taught the following, which was revealed by God:

"When God created the universe, He filled the earth with a multitude of natural resources, and He created various creatures and made them prosper. Then He created humans so we can fulfil His prayer to create a heavenly world, just like the one in the divine world, but on earth. By developing and using the materials that He put on earth, God’s wish is for humans to make manifest God’s vision of heaven on earth. It will be God’s joy and happiness to see a reflection of His world on earth and watch His children, humans, live happily."

God has always had a plan to accomplish this goal. This plan was revealed completely for the first time through the founder of Sukyo Mahikari, Kotama Okada.

Children do not realise they are living because of their parents. However, children are able to live because their parents care for them morning and night without their knowing. Our relationship with God is like that of children and their parents. Just as parents take care of their children without their knowing, God takes care of us without our knowing. We have parents, and our parents have parents. If we go back in our ancestry, we will find that our original parent is God. In other words, we are children of God.

In order for us to live peaceful and healthy lives free from financial worry, we need to live in a way that is virtuous in the eyes of God. People in ancient times knew that God was the parent of human beings. They carried out their daily activities guided directly by God. As a result, they were able to use an abundance of materials and lived without conflict or unhappiness. However, people today do not remember how to live in that way. People have come up with their own ideas about the ideals of human life. This is why confusion exists in politics, the economy, education and other aspects of life.

Humans naturally have a relationship with God. Realising this is the first step toward leading a happy life.

Usually, humans are not able to see the form of God or hear His voice. Nevertheless, it is possible to experience God’s existence through the mysterious arrangements resulting from the spiritual purification practice of giving and receiving the Light of God.

For example, people who give Light to their homes often have had little or no damage from earthquakes and floods. Children who are given Light often show improvement in their study habits, their grades in school, and their social interactions. Relationship problems that seem impossible to overcome frequently improve dramatically through unexplainable and intricate arrangements when the individuals receive Light. People who combine receiving Light with medical treatment for their health often find unexpected and dramatic improvements in their condition. Through these arrangements, we are able to understand the reality of God’s existence in our daily lives.

Moreover, through the communication of spirits that sometimes occurs when people receive Light, we can understand about the previous lives of these spirits, the condition of their lives in the spirit realm, and the relationship between the astral and physical worlds. These experiences of the spirit realm also show us that God exists and is making arrangements for the spiritual elevation of all souls so they can grow closer to God and be of service to Him.

In order to answer this question, we should clarify what true happiness is.

The teachings of Sukyo Mahikari state that to be truly happy is to attain health, harmony and prosperity.

True health means becoming free from illness. It means to maintain a tireless, illness-free body, and to live peacefully without worrying about sickness.

A life of true harmony means being able to live without any conflict with others at home, school or in the workplace.

Being truly prosperous means being free from financial worries. How much money one earns is not what is important. Being truly prosperous means to become a person who does not lose or waste money unnecessarily and who is able to live without having to suffer from poverty.

Attaining these three aspects of true happiness may seem simple. However, in the present age, wouldn’t you agree that there are only a few families that are healthy, harmonious and prosperous? For example, a seemingly happy family whose members are healthy and have a steady income cannot be called truly happy if they do not get along or if their children get into trouble. Even if everyone in such a family gets along well, if someone becomes ill, this family may go through financial difficulties and therefore again cannot be called a truly happy family. Most families are experiencing some aspect of illness, financial instability or conflict these days.

The true cause of these problems is disturbance from the spiritual realm. More than eighty percent of the world’s population are experiencing the influence of disturbance from the spirit realm and, as a result, are unhappy to some degree.

In order for us to become truly happy, resolving spirit disturbance through purifying with the Light of God is of utmost importance.

We cannot conclude that world conditions would improve if only society is changed. To improve the world, it is important for each one of us to change. We cannot blame others or society. In addition, it is important for each of us to establish a happy family. Families create a community, communities create a nation, and the world is made up of nations. If every family is happy and harmonious, we will have happy and harmonious nations and a happy world.

Sukyo Mahikari teaches the path of directing oneself toward God, which means to gradually grow closer to God. The goal is to become of divine nature, in other words, to elevate our character. To do this, it is important to become purified by practising the art of spiritual purification with the Light of God as well as by learning and practising the principles that govern our existence and daily lives. As we do these things, we will naturally be able to establish a happy family.

By making each family – the basic unit of society – happy, we can improve the condition of the world. It is possible to gradually change the world for the better through the practice of directing oneself toward God.

In essence, with all things, it is important to proceed in the right direction. The key to life is to know the right direction. The Creator God arranged things so that everything will prosper. Thus, from the beginning, everything was created to be happy. If we are not healthy or happy, it means that we have been going in the wrong direction, that is, not living in accordance with the principles with which God created everything.

Making effort is important. However, if we are going in the wrong direction, we will not achieve our goals, no matter how hard we try. For example, if we study for a test that will be given in French thinking that it will be in English, we will not pass the test, even if we make great efforts to study for it.

In the Sukyo Mahikari course, people can learn about the principles that the Creator God used to create the universe. Many people have attained happiness by changing their lives to harmonise with these principles. If we know and follow the principles of God, we do not have to worry about anything.

Moreover, the art of spiritual purification has a great power to purify our soul. As an analogy, if we put a ping-pong ball and a lead ball in a tank of water, the lead ball will immediately sink, while the ping-pong ball will float to the surface. Even if we try to make the ping-pong ball sink, it will float. This illustrates one of the principles of the universe, that is, if we purify our soul with the Light of God, we will be able to remove the spiritual impurities surrounding our soul, and our soul will rise spiritually, returning to being pure and bright, as it was when created. When this happens, our destiny will improve.

When we practise the divine principles and the art of spiritual purification, we will be able to conduct our life in a more positive way. By combining God’s power with our own efforts in this way, we will be able to live a wonderful life.

There are virtuous and hard-working people who sometimes experience unhappy phenomena, while there are immoral people who are often successful. When some people see situations like this, they may think, “If God exists, He would not be so unfair. Therefore, God does not exist.” It can appear this way when we look at our present life only and do not think about what we may have done in the past.

There may be people who think that when they die, they will cease to exist. This is not so. Our soul continues to exist eternally after death. In other words, we have had previous lives, and when this lifetime ends, our soul will still continue to exist.

Although we may be virtuous in this lifetime, we do not know what we were like or what we did in our past lives. We also do not know what our ancestors were like. Descendants of families who have lived virtuous lives will prosper. On the other hand, descendants of families who have lived in negative ways will have to undergo compensatory phenomena. God created the universe so that everything is fair when taking into account the big picture.

If we are born into an unhappy family, we should reflect on our situation, thinking about what we might have done in the past. We do not know about our past lives. However, every effect has a cause. It is important to have a positive attitude of wanting to compensate for our negative deeds and to think about how God wishes humans to live. If we live with altruism toward others, then our unhappy situation will improve. Moreover, we will not pass on so many spiritual impurities to our descendants.

At the same time, if we are born into a happy family, it is important not just to simply enjoy the good fortune we inherited from our ancestors and live as we please. If we do so, the positive effects of the virtuous deeds we can pass on to our descendants will eventually run out, and our descendants will not prosper. In addition, if we live only to enjoy our inherited good fortune, we will have to compensate for living that way in our next life. Thus, if we are born into a happy family, we should be humbly grateful to our ancestors and live virtuously. Then our descendants will naturally prosper.

When we give Light, we will be able to more clearly understand these arrangements of God more clearly.

In order to address this question, it is important to know what illness really is.

Sukyo Mahikari teaches that human beings are originally free from illness. Then what is the phenomenon called illness, and why does it occur?

We have done negative things in our past lives that created spiritual impurities, and we have inherited spiritual impurities from our ancestors. We also accumulate spiritual impurities now if what we do in our daily lives is not in harmony with the principles of creation.

When we accumulate spiritual impurities, we must go through the process of cleansing as part of the laws of nature. It is just like doing the laundry or cleaning the house. When our clothing becomes soiled, we wash it, and when the house gets dirty, we clean it. Illness is a process of cleansing that God arranges to eliminate spiritual impurities and purify our soul. Cleansing can also take other forms – of what seems to be misfortune, such as poverty or disaster – through which we compensate for the negative things we have done.

When the process of cleansing occurs, various phenomena for discharging spiritual impurities through the body occur. For example, we may experience fever, runny nose, and the discharge of pus or diarrhoea. After the cleansing, we become healthier. However, we cannot eliminate all spiritual impurities by going through cleansing only once or twice. We need to go through cleansing and the discharge of spiritual impurities on a frequent basis throughout our lives in order to become free from disease.

In order to understand why our health improves when we receive God’s Light, it is important to examine what the Light of God is.

Although it is invisible, God’s Light has the wondrous power to purify our soul and eliminate spiritual impurities actively. When we receive this Light, the cleansing process is expedited. Impurities in our spirit, mind, and body will be discharged as a natural result, and our condition will improve quickly.

In addition to spiritual causes, there are also cases in which illness is caused by the accumulation of medication, artificial food additives and colourings, agricultural chemicals and other chemical substances in the body. In these cases, also, such toxins in the body can be purified and eliminated by the Light of God, thus making the illness disappear.

Countless people with no hope from the viewpoint of physical medical science have been saved through the art of purifying with God’s Light. This is because more than eighty percent of the phenomena called illnesses are caused by disturbances on the spiritual level. Once these disturbances are solved, the phenomena called illnesses disappear. This is confirmed by actual experiences through this spiritual purification practice.

However, experiencing the reality of God’s Light and the purification process does not mean people should not utilise modern medical science. Medical science is necessary and valuable. The spiritual purification practice does not preclude doctors or medical techniques. There are doctors and nurses who are members of Sukyo Mahikari who also practise the art of purification with God’s Light.

Medical science has greatly advanced in modern times and has saved many people’s lives. However, in recent years, many new diseases that are not easily cured have appeared one after another. The Light of God can eliminate the true root cause of illnesses, which exists at the spiritual level, the realm of the unseen.

The goal of Sukyo Mahikari is true medical science of a high dimension, which looks at the human body and illnesses both physically and from the viewpoint of the realms of the mind and the spirit, realms that cannot be seen with the physical eyes. This is spirit-centred medical science, incorporating all three aspects, which exist in an interlocked condition.

Science that relies on theories based on the third dimension (the physical world) alone is insufficient for understanding the true nature of the universe. Pioneering scientists are now studying science of the fourth and fifth dimensions.

The founder of Sukyo Mahikari, Kotama Okada, emphasised that the science of the future will be a science that can explain things such as extrasensory perception, telepathy and spiritual phenomena, that is, a science that primarily focuses on spiritual and mental factors. He taught that when this type of science is attained, religion and science, which were originally one, can come together again.

Moreover, when God’s science, which created all things, is compared with human science and technology, one cannot help but be in awe of God’s sublime science. At the same time, one must realise the limits of human science. Human beings become lifeless once the soul and spiritual body leave the physical body. Science has advanced greatly, yet it is still not as advanced as God’s science. Human science cannot even create a single fly or a single spider and make it spin a web. We human beings cannot even create our own hands, legs or brain.

God, on the other hand, does not need machinery, electricity or a power plant to maintain the sun and rotate the earth. God creates waves in the ocean without putting a heart or a motor inside the earth. He also created human beings so that they can move without a push-button or a wind-up key.

If we try to demonstrate the functions of the liver, we will need a facility that is the size of a large city. Even then, we will not be able to decipher all the functions of the liver. Moreover, a human gene, weighing only about two-hundred-billionths of one gram, holds about three billion DNA sub-units concerning the human body. The amount of information contained in it is equivalent to several thousand volumes of books, and it is not something written by human beings.

Albert Einstein, who proposed the theory of relativity, said that there is a will in the universe. Hideki Yukawa, a Japanese scientist, said, “We cannot deny that science is connected with something absolute in the universe.” If there is will in the universe, there must be something that projects that will. Many scientists feel they cannot talk about God due to their profession, which has seen itself as separate from spiritual matters. However, many scientists have begun to admit the existence of something great and absolute, an existence we know as God.

God wants human beings to live happily. This is why God created nature and everything on earth. Human beings should protect the beautiful world that God created for us to use now and for the future. Although we may think that we are living on our own, we cannot even control our life span. Human beings are allowed to live by God. We should not forget that every living thing is granted life by God.

Recent advances in biotechnology have resulted in the production of genetically altered food and cloning. While food is an important necessity for human beings, only when we eat food grown through the blessings of nature will it be truly nutritious.

Experiments on rats, for example, have proven that their immunity is lowered when they are fed genetically altered food and that such food also retards their growth. This finding and other research results show that eating genetically altered food has harmful effects on the body.

The advancement of modern technology has many benefits. However, it is important, above all, to protect the preciousness of life. Genetically altering food and cloning sheep and cows from cells in order to produce exact copies of the donor animal violate the sacred domain of God. Cloning human beings has serious implications for the future of humankind.

Many people do not know where we come from and where we go after we die. It is widely thought that human beings cease to exist after we die. Actually, life exists before birth and after death.

There is an astral body, which exists within the human body. There is also a spiritual body, which exists within the astral body. The soul controls all these aspects of the human body. Death occurs when the soul, the spiritual body and the astral body leave a person’s physical body and enter the astral world.

When the soul, the spiritual body and the astral body enter the astral world, a person begins training to eliminate all attachments to the physical world and to purify his or her spiritual impurities. This training takes approximately 200 to 300 years on average. After completing this training, the person is born again into the physical world. This is called reincarnation. Human beings go through this cycle many times, with the purpose of elevating spiritually and developing various abilities over time.

Giving and receiving the Light of God helps people to elevate spiritually while in the physical world, and even after death.

In this modern world, life and death have been defined only in terms of life in the physical world. However, the soul and the spiritual body live eternally by travelling between the physical and astral worlds. In this way, life and death are actually the same, since death refers to the continuation of life in the astral world.

When Jesus used the expression “the end of the world” and Buddha spoke of “the age of decadence,” they were predicting a decline in public morals, and the coming of a natural cataclysm.

Jesus, Buddha and other holy saints have prophesied the baptism by fire. In accordance with the revelations he received from God, Sukuinushisama revealed for the first time that it is part of God’s plan. The purpose of the baptism by fire is to purify humankind and the earth in preparation for a spiritual civilisation in which materials will be governed by spiritual wisdom.

The coming of the age of the baptism by fire is a warning, telling us that if human beings continue to follow a materialistic way of life, placing priority on money, material goods and personal benefit with little thought for others, modern civilisation will come to a deadlock. It is also a sign that humankind has entered an age of great change in which people everywhere must return to a way of life that befits us as human beings, children of God, and thus build a truly ideal, that is, a peaceful and stable, civilisation.

Humankind has made great strides in the pursuit of material progress. Unfortunately, by placing self-centred desires above all else, we have brought on an endless series of crises: global warming; unusual weather patterns; damage to the ozone layer; pollution of the environment (air, land and water); destruction of forests from acid rain; a rapid rise in the extinction of plant and animal species resulting from damage done to their habitats; the poisoning of the human body due to the use of chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system, including food additives, chemical fertilizers and agricultural chemicals; an increase in rare and serious diseases; and problems of population growth and food shortages.

We have brought all this upon ourselves by forgetting the existence of the Creator, by following a way of life that goes against the laws of nature, and by giving consideration only to our own interests and concerns.

It is important for us to awaken to the existence of God, apologise for the spiritual impurities we have accumulated as a result of our selfish desires, return to a way of life in accord with divine principles, live in harmony with nature, and establish a heavenly world where all people respect one another and live together in love and harmony.

In order to realise a heavenly civilisation on earth, God endowed human beings with desires so that we would develop the earth’s resources. Without the motivation provided by our desires, human beings would not have taken a single step toward material progress. It is because of these desires that we have been able to advance and build the material civilisation we enjoy today.

However, whether people will use the fruits of material civilisation for beneficial or for destructive purposes depends on the decisions they make. For example, to use dynamite to clear the way to build bridges and dams is beneficial, but to use dynamite to kill people is destructive. To use knives to peel fruit or carve wood is appropriate, but to use knives to kill people is clearly inappropriate.

To use the products of material science as weapons to kill people is clearly wrong. To use them to wage war is an even greater tragedy. God has been using the tragic suffering of war to make humankind understand that war is wrong. Humankind must put a stop to all war.

We have a tendency to think that it is God who should stop war. For God to accomplish this, however, He would have to deprive human beings of their free will. Then war would stop, but so would all material progress.

Still, God will not allow human desires to remain unchecked and continue in negative directions. Today, the development of nuclear energy is focused on producing weapons of mass destruction, rather than on peaceful uses. Therefore, God has no choice but to slow down the material civilisation. If the situation is left as is, there is the danger that we will destroy ourselves.

It took a tremendous amount of time and enormous effort for God to create the universe, nurture human beings, and make us progress. The spiritual power and creativity of human beings cannot be compared to the power of God. However, God has bestowed upon human beings a power to manufacture and move material objects. God’s will is for us to use this power to utilise the earth’s resources to establish a heavenly civilisation.

Ultimately, unless we ourselves make the effort to meet God’s will, a heavenly civilisation will never be realised on earth.

God created human beings so that they could establish a heavenly civilisation on earth, similar to that in the divine world, by utilising the earth’s resources.

This is the true reason that God endowed human beings with material desires and encouraged us to develop the material resources of the earth. However, as time passed, these desires gradually became excessive. Thus, we accumulated spiritual impurities and became unable to perceive God’s will.

Now that humankind has polluted the earth and is caught up in the production of conventional and nuclear weapons, we have reached a stage where we could destroy the earth at any time. It is for this reason that God is bringing about a deadlock to humankind’s pursuit of materialism.

Through the phenomena of purification of the earth, God wishes to thoroughly cleanse the polluted earth as well as to purify humanity of our impurities. We have to become purified in order to start a new civilisation, using materials guided by spiritual principles. This is the will of God.

Now is the time when it is essential to promptly respond to the will of God and change our way of life to harmonise with God’s will.

Problems of young people, such as bullying, school violence, truancy and juvenile delinquency are serious social problems. However, we cannot blame these problems only on the youth. Modern society, which has become extremely materialistic, is one of the principal causes of these problems.

The main cause of the problems of young people lies in the spirit realm. Most people today are experiencing disturbance from the spirit realm, and this is the true cause of illnesses, conflicts, financial difficulties, accidents and disasters.

Why do we experience problems stemming from disturbance from the spirit realm? Human beings do not live just one life. We have lived before and have had other lives. We may have caused others to suffer in our previous lives and accumulated negative karma (spiritual impurities) in various ways. Although we do not know what we did in our past lives, everything is arranged in this world so that we reap the harvest of the seeds we have planted.

Because the spiritual aspect is primary, purifying the spiritual aspect with the Light of God is the best way to solve the problems of the youth. In addition, it is important for the adults of society, who have the responsibility to nurture the youth, to receive Light, elevate their own character and guide young people with both kindness and firmness.