understand why I could not have a mutual understanding with others. I think I can form a new relationship from now on.”

This month, I would like to think again about what it means to pursue the Study of the Soul, in time for the seminars.

The responses of the seminar participants referred to above indicated that we can experience a great change in transforming our entire life if we can make a serious effort to pursue the Study of the Soul over three days. These impressions of having made major discoveries and gained clues to transform life are common features of those having participated in the Age-Based Seminars, however, such experiences are not limited to occur only in seminars.

I believe that if those who encountered the Study of the Soul continue to learn earnestly and accumulate their practice for a year, two years, or three years, every one of them will be able to gain the reality of a new life.

To Walk the Royal Road of Life

If we think deeply about it, rather than casually, the shear act of living life is quite formidable.

Without realizing it, any one of us starts living our life

shouldering various conditions in which we have no idea why we have them. In addition, unable to become aware of every one of these conditions, we are controlled by the three streams of influence (family, place, and era)^*6.

Unable to establish a stable center within us, we are pressured by circumstances that come to us one after another. We are posed the question, “What are you going to do?”, and we repeat the choices in which we think “It is good,” according to the standard that we have acquired from our birth and upbringing. In such cases, it is extremely difficult to establish a solid life.

Scattered incidents occur that have no coherence and we keep scattering our experiences that we wish “to be good” one after another. In such a state, no one can walk through life without failing.

In fact, many of us cannot find the path we should take and once we make a wrong choice, a downfall of dark transformation will begin. Even if we try to stop it and lift our life, it is extremely hard to do so. Even returning to the original level requires tremendous efforts.

It is immeasurable how much energy and time we would spend in such trial and error.

The fact that we learn about the Study of the Soul, study and accumulate the time of practice, and further, participate in the Daily Life Group Study or the Global GENESIS Project (GGP) Study Session means that we are able to naturally minimize the time and energy we would spend in such trial and error.

This is equivalent to obtaining the master key that opens up every possibility in life. Having this single key in hand, we can open doors to any obstacles, trials, or difficult challenges. Not only that, if we hold this master key, we can find a path to take, even under circumstances in which the path is hidden by over-grown weeds and scattered rubble. Once the invisible path is revealed before us, it will then be brightly lit.

It could be said that the Study of the Soul enables us to connect by a single thread, the events that seem incoherent and our scattered experiences, and so clearly shows us the mission in life to which we must respond.

What the Study of the Soul brings to us is, ultimately, the royal road that we must seek. We are individuals who wish to continue to walk the road that maintains the unchangeable essence of life; the royal road.

Editor’s Note

1. Age-Based Seminars
As the four seasons of nature—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—are irreplaceable, the seasons that make up our life are also incomparable whether it is the stage of childhood, adolescence, middle age, late middle age, or senior as they all emit a noble light. We are born by going through the gate of birth into the phenomenal world (this world), savor the seasons of life, and return to the world of our origin (the other world) by going through the gate of death. We are then born once again in this world when the time comes. This is the new view of life, a cyclical perspective of life, which is invisible from the linear view of life that regards human beings to begin with birth and end with death. The Age-Based Seminars enable us to learn the significance of living in each season of life. There are four types of seminars, namely, the Youth Seminar targeted for adolescents (May), the Joint Seminar for Frontier College and Heart Nursing School targeted for middle-aged men and women (June), the Hoshin Daigaku Seminar targeted for seniors (May), and the Kakehashi Seminar targeted for children and parents (August).

2. Daily Life Group Study (Seikatsu Jissen)
Twice a month for about two hours, GLA members of a nearby residence and workplace gather in a group of five to six people and learn the basics of the Study of the Soul. Specifically, while focusing on materials such as Takahashi Sensei’s books, monthly magazines, lecture videos, and Shikan Sheet (Reflection and Insight Sheet, a worksheet to look into the mind), participants observe the tendency of their mind and talk about each other’s lives so that they can naturally deepen their way of accepting each situation.

3. Global GENESIS Project (GGP) Study Session
It is a practice-based studying opportunity of the Study of the Soul, combining studying and rendering service into one. Once a week, participants learn the most recently divined wisdom of the Divine Truth through project activities (volunteer activities at GLA) to gain hands-on understanding of the Divine Truth.

4. Study of the Soul
It is a perspective that grasps our lives from the dimension of the soul. It also refers to the system of the truth, the Divine Truth, that permeates every

aspect of the human soul and the world. As opposed to the study of phenomena that is directed at the　tangible world, the Study of the Soul is an investigation of all things, including the formless and intangible world. (Excerpted and summarized from p.3 of The Reason Why You Were Born as You)

5. Soul Compass (Bonno Map)
Bonno is originally a Buddhist terminology and it means all delusional thoughts that bother and aggravate (OR afflict) people mentally and physically. The Soul Compass grasps them as tendencies in four types of Bonno that turn our life into darkness. The four types of Bonno are as follows: Pain-Recklessness (victim type) that is symbolized by anger and discontent of human beings; Pleasure-Lethargy (complacent type) that is symbolized by laziness within humans or blind dependency on others; Pain-Lethargy (self-deprecating type) that is symbolized by fear and negative thoughts; and Pleasure-Recklessness (overconfident type) that is symbolized by greed or controlling others. (Excepted and summarized from pp.105-107 of The Book to Solve Equations of Life, available only in Japanese)

6. Three Streams of Influence
It means a condition of life which is given to us without exception. The influence from family is symbolized by values and way of living flowing from parents and family lineages; the influence from place is symbolized by values and way of living flowing from country, land, region, industry, and company; and the influence from era is symbolized by values and information flowing from the era. (Excepted and summarized from p.116 of The Book to Solve Equations of Life, available only in Japanese)

Translator’s Note *Royal road: the road that royalty would take and is the shortest path

Excerpt Translation of G. Monthly Journal June 2018 issue
Preliminary translation as of June, 2018
GLA member-volunteers translated Takahashi Sensei’s words.
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