Seicho-no-Ie or house of growth is a syncretistic sect which combines elements of Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism and New Thought. Apart from the distinctive form of meditation called shinsokan and certain chants/slogans there is nothing particularly unique about this group. The founder Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi was originally a disciple of Omoto and pretty much has stood on the shoulders of others as assimilating his philosophy/religion from various sources.
Furthermore this movement is considered to be a part of the cult phenomena in Japan in competing as one among hundreds of other new movements which have arisen throughout this land known as Shinshukyo or Shinko Shukyo.
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One of the objectives of Taniguchi Is to combine religious world views by distilling the main elements or components as determing the essence of these perspectives in finding the key points of truth. Yet for a person to perform such an analysis does not evade the possibility to have a bias or presupposition as arriving with some predetermined goal of commonality. Like the critical scholarship of the Jesus Seminar who is a team of liberal scholars who have preconceived ideas that does not allow them to believe in miracles or prophecy so when they begin sifting and sorting through the biblical text they just begin taking these things out which leaves you with a choppy view of scripture devoid of supernaturalism making it more consistent with naturalistic philosophy. So what Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi has believed to be important or essential is subjective based on his own perception of reality and does not necessitate truth but rather the basis of his conclusions rest on subjectivism and preferences. After all these previously mentioned movements are so divergent on their essential views that they are radically irreconcilable and therefore to somehow coalesce or unite them to form some kind of an agreeable fashion would only make it a three headed monster which was created either out of dishonesty or as an unscholarly approach towards the facts.
In addition to this whose to say that he has properly reconstructed truth by devolving these complicated religious views which may be no more than achieving or satisfying his own personal agenda and goal for religious expression? Whose to know what to include or exclude and by what authority is he able to rightly access? Whose to say that his selectivism shouldn’t also include other destructive or major religious world views such as Satanism or Islam? How do we know that his hodge podge of beliefs is no more than just a preferential treatment of religious tastes much like a box of assorted chocolates?
In moving on to discussing Seicho-no-Ie teachings it conveys such idealism as having an optimistic worldview on life which the bible clearly discredits as identifying the reality of sin and evil in respect to humanity which will ultimately result in judgment by which even our higher conscious bears witness to by means of its conviction. After all we don’t construct laws for the basis of perfect humans but rather they are instituted for the sake of law breakers as a real threat to civilization and society.
Romans 2:15
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Also to take a position that the concepts of a materialistic world is phantasmic and yet to propose such a radical belief is not provable especially as one does not live life as though it is illusionary. I once heard a former Hindu man say that us Indians still look both ways before crossing a street thus this philosophy is not sustainable or livable and therefore this proposition is less plausible than its counterpart as the day to day living becomes a contradiction to this controversial philosophy.
Moreover this philosophical view or objection to dealing with the problem of pain and suffering is contrary to the practice of Seicho-no Iye itself which has also participated in identifying the real presence of evil in society such as it being proactive against the abortion movement as well as its involvement in militarism of which the latter does nothing positively to strategize in converting others to their way of thinking.
To state that ultimate reality is that mankind is perfect but ignorant of the truth is already a faulty view of perfection which if mankind was truly perfect then why preclude his mind as being anything less than perfect knowledge? If humans are predisposed to faulty logic then who can ensure that this group has not succumbed to its own philosophical dilemma of being deceived especially since they take a minority view with their beliefs and statements which could merely be a projection of ignorance on the minds of its adherents contrary to the axiomatic truths of humanity. Accordingly, Masaharu eccentric views can not be established apart from the reports of our global society or even within his own movement let alone his personal life as he supposedly healed his daughter from the evil influence of an illness.
Also to disavow our common sense knowledge as the essential part of our being would discredit most everything we do and even deny the realm of rational and empirical evidence as regarded by the sciences. To state that the material world is imaginary should also include the very outcome of goals of this movement who acknowledges such ideals as joy, health and prosperity which comes via the phenomenal world and to affirm the positive is to obviously state that the opposite also exists otherwise you would have no point of reference to this positive and perfect outcome. To understand health there must be sickness and to explain joy we must know what sorrow is and to realize prosperity we must also understand poverty . To mention one is to affirm the existence of the other. If something is good or perfect it must be countered with the concept of what is definably considered or called imperfect. To somehow question the reality of negativistic outcome is to likewise question such positivism for to remove negativity from the equation of life is to likewise get rid of positivism. Conclusively to give such an promising view to mankind in spite of our current world condition is an unrealistic worldview of radical optimism that is inconsistent with how things really are and to say this is just how things appear or that its all in the mind does nothing to establish its point. To convincingly prove that nature of mankind is innately or at least potentially perfect when actions say otherwise is a blatant oversight as thinking that a thorn bush can produce figs. After all have you really achieved perfection or enlightenment in its entirety having come under this teaching and if not then how are you reassured that such a grandiose idea really exists? Moreover I not only question this fringe movements ability to completely change itself from within but also its premise to transform our corporate society hence this philosophy breaks down as it can never be fully realized in that it will always be met with the opposition of depending on the free will of man resulting in a failure to heal itself and thus must be acted upon or saved by an outward force namely God apart from trying to find another answer in some new wave of religious crave or rave.
Skeptically speaking for an elitist group to believe these outrageous beliefs that have been handed down from the influence of just a few people that have claimed to have overcome the ignorance of their humanity as obtaining this special insight is essentially cultish in behavior. To address life with this kind of mentality is only a mind game of escapism which is no more real than an imaginary play of make believe. This brain washing technique of positive thinking takes away common view of reality only to be deceived and deluded under the mesmerizing influence of charismatic individuals who have developed a methodology of mind control which again is a common practice among cult leaders to bring others into a form of submission and dependency in believing they are somehow a chosen remnant who alone possesses this gnostic ability for ultimate truth. Lastly people can become susceptible for many and various reasons but these kinds of movements somehow prey upon those who are needy for some form of security from the tragedies of life yet ironically they become adversely victimized under an ideology of a coping mechanism which may appeal to the heart of the individual but may not represent objective reality or truth. Essentially, ultimate truth isn’t about something that we want to believe or have to be right about as fulfilling a psychological need to bring comfort to our lives but rather it stands or falls on its own merit regardless of our emotional attachments. You can put your faith in the mind to heal itself from the problems of life but is this kind of belief which religious snake handlers die from. Essentially, no amount of mind control can keep you from the decay of death and dying regardless of your mindset and in the same way death is inevitable so is the reality of evil as not only permeating the mind but also as defining the very heart beat of our society at large. The idea of evil isn’t some type of gross misconception as a matter of a wrong perception or diagnostic on life and to say otherwise is an over simplistic view that the mind alone has the power to somehow mystically solve the equation to the enormity of pain and suffering.
In conclusion this whole concept is attractive and one day universal perfection will occur when the element of evil is finally eradicated under the rule and reign of Christ yet in the meanwhile we are still subjected to a world which is in rebellion against a holy God and who are acting out according to their sinful nature. In the short term we can have peace with God and be given a new nature as He changes our very hearts and lives enabling us to live righteously as overcoming the dominance of personal evil.
Ephesians 2:1-10
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Romans 8:1-11
8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Finally Jesus is our perfect representation as the embodiment of the “truth of life” in giving you rest from the rigors of religious observance and expectations in stating:
John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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Encyclopedia of Religion Second Edition, copyright 2005 Thomson Gale a part of The Thomson Corporation, Lindsay Jones Editor in Chief, Vol.10, pgs.6573-6574, Robert S. Ellwood, Shimazono Susumu
Encyclopedia of Religion Second Edition, copyright 2005 Thomson Gale a part of The Thomson Corporation, Lindsay Jones Editor in Chief, Vol.10, pg.6587, Dell DeChant
Religions of the world: a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices/ J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, editors; Todd M. Johnson, World Religious Statistics; Donald Wiebe, Introduction-2nd ed., Copyright 2010 by ABC-CLIO, LLC. Reproduced with permission of ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®)
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
All rights reserved.
ESV Text Edition: 2007