[Zoom Prayer Meeting Japan: 00026] 250322_Video Prayer Gathering – Goi-sensei’s Dharma Talk Read Aloud: "A Life of Receiving Anew Through Gratitude"
To all participants
Thank you very much for always participating.
I am sharing a Dharma talk by Goi-sensei that was read aloud during the recent Video Prayer Gathering.
250322_Video Prayer Gathering – Goi-sensei’s Dharma Talk Read Aloud: "A Life of Receiving Anew Through Gratitude"
*Dharma talk by Masahisa Goi, read aloud on Saturday, March 22 – from Human Beings as Spiritual Entities
"A Life of Receiving Anew Through Gratitude"
By Masahisa Goi
A way of life in which we live by the grace of God
"A Way of Life in Which We Live by the Grace of God"
To “receive anew through gratitude” is a fundamental way of life in the Pure Land tradition. But in truth, regardless of the religion, unless one comes to live a life of receiving anew, one cannot truly live as a child of God or a child of Buddha.
So then, what kind of life is this “life of receiving anew”? Let me speak on that a little.
Human beings are born and raised through the physical bodies of their parents. Therefore, parents are certainly our physical parents and benefactors.
However, neither the life of the parents nor the life of the child is something they themselves created. These lives have been passed down from distant ancestors long ago, and even those ancestors received life from someone.
That “someone” is the origin of life, the Great Life Absolute—one who has been alive in the vast universe since before the beginning of humanity, a being of great wisdom and great power.
This Great Life, the Absolute of Great Wisdom and Great Power, is the true Parent of our life—our All.
The misfortune of humanity began when we stopped clearly recognizing this very obvious truth.
There are those who say they won't believe anything unless they understand it fully—but how many things in this world can actually be understood completely?
In the first place, people do not understand the most important thing—life itself. What exactly is “life”? It is surely the force that keeps all living things alive. Because we have life, our brain, internal organs, and blood vessels all function. The physical body is sustained because of it.
To say, “I won’t believe what I don’t understand,” while not understanding life itself—the most essential thing—is quite absurd.
Whether one believes or not is irrelevant. Human beings are given life regardless.
What sustains us is none other than life itself.
As long as there is life, we live. And because that life is not something we created, but something we have been given, it means that we are not living by our own power—we are being kept alive.
To realize that “we are not living by our own will, but are being kept alive” is the very first step in religious faith.
The view of humanity and of life that seeks to fully make use of the life that we’ve been given—that outlook is what will elevate humanity to a higher level of evolution.
If life is something we did not create, but were given, how can we live as if it were our own without gratitude?
Living as we please, without gratitude toward God or Buddha for the life we’ve received—how can such a way of life possibly lead to a peaceful and happy world in harmony with the Divine Heart?
Where there is no gratitude for life, there can be no true happiness—this applies to both individuals and to all humanity.
“The Body is a Vessel for the Spirit”
The physical body that people think of as “themselves” or as “their own” is, in fact, not being moved by our own will.
Its most important functions—like the heart, lungs, digestive system, liver, kidneys, and countless cells—operate not through our own conscious control but through a force beyond our awareness.
What is that force? Simply put, it is what we call “life.”
Human life is the activity of drawing in power from beyond the physical world and letting it operate within the physical body.
When this life force ceases to act upon the body, the functions of the physical body stop, and we call that “death.”
Death, then, is the state in which life has departed and no longer interacts with the body.
At that point, can we still call the body “a human being”?
No—it is no longer a human being but only the remains, the shell.
In that sense, the essence of a human being is life itself, and the physical body is merely its vessel.
If we compare this to a television, the body is the box, and the events and stories being broadcast are projected through the invisible waves transmitted from the broadcasting station.
These light waves or radio waves are like the waves of life. Behind them lies the individual life, and beyond that, the Great Life—the fundamental source of all life.
So, those who believe the physical body alone is the whole human being are in a state of delusion, mistaking the container for the self.
If someone lives in a way that prioritizes the protection of the physical body while damaging the very essence of their being—life itself—then that person is truly misguided.
Yet sadly, this is the condition of many people in the world today.
"What It Takes for a Human Being to Be Born"
Even before a human being is born into this world, the life force that will form the physical person—say, person A—has already been working through the parents to build A’s body in the mother’s womb.
For a physical human being to be born into this world, the guardian deity of that soul first takes the lead and harmonizes the soul (spirit) of the child who is to be born with the souls of the parents who are to raise the child.
The life of A thus begins to extend from the spiritual realm into the physical world. The cooperative life energy of the parents, the divine guardian spirits who oversee and emit vibrations of harmony upon them, and various other elements of life all work together to fulfill their roles.
Since a human being called A already exists as a life entity before being born as the physical person A, the physical person A is merely a temporary manifestation of that life entity.
This life entity called A is a divided life of the Great Life—the Divine Being—and, in the spiritual realm, functions as part of the great cosmic order according to its assigned portion.
The same applies to A in the physical realm, but due to interference from material vibrations and various karmic influences that cover the physical realm, the individual cannot perform the pure work of the Divine Being as they do in the spiritual world.
Not only are they unable to act as the Divine Being does, but they also completely forget their true identity, which exists in the spiritual world, and come to believe that their thoughts and consciousness attached to their physical body are their true self. Most people in the world are like this.
As long as one’s awareness is fixated only on the physical body, they will believe that life operates solely within that body. To dispel the superstition that life exists only in the physical body, we must recognize the fundamental truth that life existed even before physical humans—through the lineage of parents, grandparents, and ancestors.
"Foolish Superstition"
However, those considered intellectuals, who are deeply educated in academic knowledge, often fail to recognize these basic truths of life even more than those with little formal education.
They believe that the self is limited to the physical body, and that life functions only within the body and ceases to exist when the body dies. As a result, they tend to laugh off and dismiss those who speak of life continuing after physical death, or the existence of a spiritual realm, as foolish.
Such people harbor a strange emotion—they feel embarrassed even to utter the word “God.” Many self-proclaimed intellectuals have the odd habit of rejecting any knowledge that does not carry the label of “academic,” taking pride in this as a mark of their intellect.
These are the people who are most difficult to save in a religious sense. They live cut off from the eternal flow of life and spend their entire existence confined within the narrow framework of the physical body.
Worse still, since they deny the existence of life beyond the physical body, after physical death they are unable to see the light of life. Instead, they must spend long years in utter darkness, a world devoid of life, where only thoughts and awareness remain, unable to move at all. This is the dreadful consequence of their superstition.
Therefore, even someone with little academic knowledge—if they accept God's love with humility and live with gratitude for all they are blessed with—will reside not only in the physical world but also in the vast, profound world of God. Such a person will live a happy life even in the next world.
“The Blessings of God”
It is certain that human beings live by receiving everything from God, beginning with the most essential thing—life itself. At times, God becomes a fisherman; at other times, a farmer; at still other times, a weaver or a builder—working for the sake of humanity, providing food, clothing, and shelter.
Why is this so? Because fishermen, farmers, weavers, and builders alike are all embodiments of God’s life force. They are each given a portion of divine life and are working in this world as expressions of that divine life. The care and provisions necessary to fully express that life in our physical bodies are also all arranged by God.
No human being, through their own physical strength, could produce even a single drop of water or a breath of air without using the fundamental elements provided by God. It is necessary to honestly and humbly recognize this fact.
When we honestly and sincerely contemplate this truth, a spirit of gratitude arises toward all people and all things. From long ago, one such expression of gratitude has been practiced: the spiritual discipline of giving thanks to the sun.
Even those who do not consider themselves religious have long practiced this simple form of gratitude toward the sun. This basic spiritual discipline of appreciation is, in fact, the foundational attitude of a life of “receiving anew through gratitude.”
Without sunlight, nothing can grow, and humanity itself cannot survive. Sunlight is truly a divine blessing. The increasing number of people who cannot look at this truth with gratitude is one of the great tragedies of humankind.
In Japan, it is strangely common for the intellectual class to feel embarrassed to speak of God or to express gratitude. This strange shame creates a growing distance between human beings and the natural world.
The founder of the Kurozumikyo faith, Munechika-Kamihito, was once on the brink of death from tuberculosis. One day, he gazed steadily at the sun, and through his oneness with it, his illness was instantly healed. It was from that moment that he became a spiritual leader. His unity with the sun was essential to his recovery—and such a state of union with the sun is profoundly important for all humanity.
Munechika-Kamihito revived his once-dying body by “receiving it anew” through unity with the sun. Every human being continues to be sustained moment by moment by blessings such as the sun’s rays, the air, water, and many other external influences. Therefore, we are continually receiving God’s blessings each and every moment of our lives.
Why is it that people do not realize the foolishness of assuming that the life they did not create themselves is “their own”? Human beings must live moment by moment by “receiving anew through gratitude.” This is a truth that must be clearly recognized.
Just as sunlight is a manifestation of God's love, so too are the earth, the mountains, rivers, plants, and all natural phenomena channels through which God's life-force is expressed. As long as we dwell in a state of heart that is one with the Divine Will—like the oneness with the sun—then everything in nature becomes a power that supports human life and activity.
However, when human beings arrogantly assume that their lives and livelihoods were created solely by their own efforts, they become separated from the loving heart of God. This also separates them from the natural order, leading them down the path of destruction. Unfortunately, modern humanity seems to be heading in that very direction.
“A Grateful Heart Is a Prayerful Heart”
To avoid humanity’s decline into ruin, we must adopt a life attitude rooted in humility—or rather, an attitude that is not just humble, but fundamentally proper: a life of receiving anew through gratitude.
All authority resides within the Divine Will. Humanity has been entrusted with a portion of that authority in order to manifest the Divine Vision on Earth. This is our sacred mission.
Humanity exists because of God. A humanity cut off from God is destined for destruction. Therefore, we must urgently strive for unity with God, and we must live in a way that allows Divine authority to work directly upon humanity.
To achieve this, we need a constant spirit of prayer. The feeling of gratitude that says “Thank you, God” is itself a prayer. The wish, “May peace prevail on Earth,” is also a prayerful heart. So too are the wishes, “May peace be in our homes and countries,” and “May our missions be accomplished.”
And if, even before those prayerful wishes, we can live our lives in complete gratitude—recognizing that all things are gifts from God—then truly, nothing more is needed.
"The Heart of Prayer and the Power of Will Are Different"
The heart of prayer and the power of will (mental force) are different. Prayer is a method through which one unites the thoughts of the physical body with the vibration of the life of God, allowing one’s true heart to resonate outward. Willpower, on the other hand, is the act of concentrating the strength of one’s own thoughts.
Therefore, prayer always reflects the will of God, and the result is harmonious. But with willpower, the force of one's individual will and thoughts is projected without connection to God, and this often results in outcomes that go against the divine will and lead to disharmony.
Prayer is the act of always entrusting one’s thoughts into the divine will—offering all human thoughts into it, surrendering everything to God. When human thoughts are completely entrusted to the divine will, one’s true self—which is one with God—comes forth, and from that moment on, the lower thought vibrations fade away. Only the true heart begins to act. The true heart is the heart of God, and through that, the perfection of the divine will is expressed, and things are accomplished.
In the case of willpower, it is not the divine will or true heart that is activated, but rather the energy of thoughts accumulated in the astral body is concentrated and poured into a specific goal. If another person or group pours the same kind of energy into the same goal, it becomes a battle of mental forces, causing mutual harm.
Strong willpower may succeed more than weak willpower, but since it is ultimately the power of ego, it runs counter to spiritual awakening. If a religious person were to recommend the use of willpower to others, it would be considered a heretical practice. The aim of a religious person is the world of the divine—not the egocentric world apart from God.
The reason Shakyamuni Buddha taught the practice of meditation to become “empty” (kū) is because he knew that without becoming empty—if one practiced concentrating energy through thought vibrations (willpower)—one could not transcend the suffering of the three realms (desire, form, and formless realms).
The reason Buddha established Buddhism that transcended the Brahman teachings was to teach that only by releasing all attachments to the physical self—including willpower—can one become one with the world of the Divine.
There may come a time before this true realization, when humanity celebrates willpower as a method of achieving things by one's own strength. When that happens, battles of willpower will emerge in various places.
However, true religious practitioners have no need to concern themselves with such willpower. They need only continue living a bright and righteous life with a heart of prayer. Each day of praying for world peace is a prayer to unify with God and to continue living rightly and brightly.
The way of life of receiving anew through gratitude and a life of praying for world peace—these are the best ways to purify this tainted and chaotic Earth and to build a world aligned with the great harmony of the universe.
"Let Us Live Sincerely Without Rushing or Forcing, with a Heart of Prayer"
Humans must not be impatient. One should not rush or seek immediate gain. One should not believe sweet talk that promises instant happiness.
Whether it is becoming wealthy, gaining position, or attaining happiness, all of it requires a certain amount of time. Opportunities come as well. What’s important is to live the role given to you sincerely, with a prayerful heart, without rushing or forcing anything.
Everything is seen by your guardian spiritual beings. Therefore, entrust all your destiny to them. Always offer gratitude by saying, “Thank you, Guardian Spirit. Thank you, Guardian Deity,” and continue to live a life of praying for world peace. In doing so, the most appropriate and effortless destiny will naturally unfold before you.
Even if your business prospers for a moment through greed or cleverness, it is like a castle built on sand—it will eventually collapse. The only destiny that never collapses, that remains unshakable, is the destiny we receive anew, moment by moment, from God and Buddha.
Saying “Namu Amida Butsu” and offering gratitude to Amida Buddha is good. Offering thanks to God is also good. In any case, as long as you live with gratitude for receiving life anew from God and Buddha, the future of humanity will be bright and radiant.
We must abandon the arrogance of thinking that human capabilities alone can bring peace to this Earth. Let us make gratitude to the guardian spiritual beings—who have protected humanity until now—the foundation of our lives. Let us continue praying so that the wisdom and ability needed to open the path of evolution for humanity may be granted by God.
How can humanity evolve with the way we’ve lived until now? Rather than evolving, human arrogance has created nuclear bombs, battles of willpower, and increasingly disturbed the vibrations of the Earth—causing natural disasters and upheavals.
All of this stems from the false view that humanity is merely physical. In truth, human beings are meant to receive the vibration of divine spirit into the vessel of the physical body. The body is the vessel, the stage, through which the divine ideal of great harmony is meant to be expressed. That is our sacred mission.
For that reason, we must once abandon the physical-centered view of humanity and immerse ourselves fully in the divine will. We must continue offering the Prayer for World Peace so that, within the divine will, all people may unite their hearts and fulfill humanity’s aspiration for peace.
Above all else, I wish to emphasize once again—and for the third time—that the way of life of receiving anew through gratitude must become the spiritual foundation for all humanity going forward.
(May 1974)
The End