Seicho-No-Ie


Seicho-No-Ie is a syncretic, monotheistic, New Thought Japanese new religion that has spread since the end of World War II in Asia. It emphasizes gratitude for nature, the family, ancestors and, above all, religious faith in one universal God. Seichō no Ie is the world's largest New Thought group. By the end of 2010 it had over 1.6 million followers and 442 facilities, mostly located in Japan, Brazil, and the United States.
WWW seicho-no-ie.org/eng

History

In 1930, Masaharu Taniguchi, working as an English translator, published the first issue of what he called his "non-denominational truth movement magazine", which he named Seichō no Ie to help teach others of his beliefs. This was followed by forty volumes of his "Truth of Life" philosophy by 1932. Over the next forty years, he published an additional four hundred–odd books and toured many countries in Europe, South America, and North America with his wife Teruko, to lecture on his beliefs personally. Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science, and his brother Fenwicke were of great assistance to Taniguchi. Fenwicke traveled to Japan and co-authored several books, with one called The Science of Faith becoming a cornerstone of the denomination.
Taniguchi died in a Nagasaki hospital on June 17, 1985, at the age of 91. Today the president of Seichō no Ie is .
In the 2000s, the Seicho-No-Ie Fundamental Movement seceded from the headquarters. As of 2017, there are three factions of the original movement. The two largest factions are led by Masanobu Taniguchi, the president of Seichō no Ie; a group of elder teachers of Seichō no Ie known as Manabushi leads the other faction.

Scriptures and publications

The four holy sūtras of Seicho-No-Ie are:
  • Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines. Taniguchi Masaharu claimed that it was divinely revealed to him by Kannon on December 1, 1930. There are eight sections: God, Spirit, Matter, Reality, Wisdom, Delusion, Sin, and Man. Similar to many Nichiren sects' views of the Lotus Sutra, this sutra is treated as a protective amulet that can be carried, read, or copied for protective benefits. In Uji, Kyoto, there is a hall for followers to copy the sutra.
  • Song of the Angel: consists of the Divine Messages of Eternal Life and the Holy Sutra itself
  • For Spiritual Healing : consists of the Divine Messages of Repentance and the Holy Sutra itself
  • Prayerful Song to Praise and Bless the Holy Missioners
The following two prayers are typically placed before and after compilations of the four sutras, respectively:
  • Invocation
  • Song of Reality
Other scriptures include:
  • Daily Recitation of the Thirty-Chapter Sutra
  • Pure Land Revelation Sutra
  • Great Japan Divine Nation
The most important texts in Seicho-No-Ie are:
  • Truth of Life, which consists of 40 volumes published since 1932; this is the religion's most important doctrinal text. There is also an abridged edition with 20 volumes.
  • The Truth, which consists of 11 volumes, was initially published from 1954 to 1958. It summaries key doctrines mentioned in the Truth of Life.
Seicho-No-Ie publishes a newspaper called Seishimei "聖使命, Sacred Mission"). It also publishes three magazines:
  • Inochi no wa for general readers
  • Shirohato for women
  • Hidokei 24 for young readers

Beliefs and practices

Seicho-No-Ie is a syncretic religion that incorporates concepts and terminology from Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions. The religion teaches belief in the "single absolute divinity". One of their proverbs is "Be grateful for everything in the world". Seicho-No-Ie's other basic teachings are:
  • "Only God is reality"
  • "Only the mind affects phenomena"
  • "All religions are one"
The Seven Promulgations of Light is one of the main doctrines of Seicho-No-Ie. At Seicho-No-Ie's Sōhonzan head temple in Saikai, Nagasaki, there are seven stone lanterns representing the Seven Promulgations of Light.

''Shinsōkan'' meditation

Meditation in Seicho-No-Ie is called shinsōkan, of which one type is inori-ai shinsōkan . There is also the prayer for world peace.
Shinsōkan meditation originates from a type of meditative technique called chinkon kishin, which was widely practiced in the Oomoto religion from 1916 to 1921.

Associations

Some Seicho-No-Ie member associations are:
  • Seinen-kai 青年会, founded in 1948
  • Sōai-kai 相愛会, for middle-aged men
  • Shirohato-kai 白鳩会, founded in February 1936
  • *Shiyū-kai 誌友会, small women's groups that are magazine study groups for discussing Shirohatokai's monthly magazine Shirohato
  • Chichi-oya kyōshitsu 父親教室
  • Haha-oya kyōshitsu 母親教室

Education

Higher educational institutions include Seichō no Ie Yōshin Joshi Gakuen, a tertiary young women's boarding school in Yamanashi Prefecture that was founded in 1954.

Locations

Seicho-No-Ie has centers in the following locations.