A megathrust earthquake occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, and a mega-tsunami hit the coast along Tohoku on March the 11th, 2011 (Heisei 23).

 

  While thinking of this disaster, I happened to grasp the real nature of fretfulness which I had had in my ordinary lives, and I just thought I should write it down right away.  I am intending that this writing should be read by the believers, not by people in general.

 

  The non-believers will have a lot of things which they do not understand and they may repulse the writing.  I suppose it could not be helped.

 

  This is because this earthquake disaster is easy to understand when we think of the “last judgment.”

 

  The mega-tsunami, at this time, was so powerful and it caused great many casualties.  On the other hand, there are many people who survived, escaped narrowly from death, drifted by tsunami water while either they were driving cars, they were on their ways to escape, running, or they stayed at their houses.

 

  This reminded me of a story of Jo(an old man) and Uba(an old woman) of Takasago Play (a traditional Noh play). The Izanami Goddess sweeps with a broom and the Izanagi God gather with a rake.

  The fishermen at the coasts had two choices to survive soon after the earthquake.  One way was to evacuate to a highland and the other was to drive a fishing boat with maximum speed, apart from the coast.  A tsunami increases its height as it reaches the coast.  So, they could have been able to survive if they got off the coast.  However, almost nobody who tried to evacuate by boats survived because the waves were way too huge.

 

There is a difference between the last judgment and Noah’s flood.  In the case of Noah’s flood, people who were not onboard the ark could not survive even if they tried to evacuate toward a mountain.  On the other hand, in the case of the last judgment, people who are not onboard the ship “Shumei-maru,” may survive if they evacuate to a highland.

 

I imagined the world of spiritual layers, when I thought about this highland story.  Yes, they can be saved if they stay in a higher level of the spiritual layers.  A non-believer who is not onboard the “Shumei-maru” can survive if her/his status in the world of spiritual layers is high enough.

  Then there is a question if everybody onboard the “Shumei-maru” is in a high level or not.  As Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) gives great mercy and great compassion and lets both good and evil indiscriminately go onboard the ship, the level of the spiritual layers among those people varies.

  I believe that the “Shumei-maru” will reach “Higan1” of everlasting spring, overriding however huge tsunami, as it will be protected by Meishu-sama (Master of Light) and Kaishu-sama (The first president and spiritual leader of Shumei).

  However, this does not mean that everybody onboard the ship can reach “Higan.”  Some of them may pass away enroute because of sickness or accidents, some may fall out of the ship, or some may get off from the ship.

  Recently, only those who wish to get onboard the ship are allowed to be onboard, and there are very few people who wish to get onboard because people may find more freedom than before.

  One thing I felt strange about when I watched some videos of towns hit by the tsunami was that there were people who were trying to evacuate very slowly, walking, even when tsunami is getting nearer and nearer.

  I also recall one video about the 2016 Sumatra earthquake on the internet.    In that video, I found people, not only local residents, but whole lot of white tourists, stood on a road along the coast, looking at the beach and ocean, just waiting for a tsunami to come closer.  Then, they quickly start running into a hotel only when the wave was just too close.  Some of them, unfortunately, did not have enough time to escape, and were swept away.

 

This seems to be on account of mental state of what is called majority synching bias.  I am not a cooperative kind of person, so I am confident that I will be the first that would evacuate.

  Actually I am already one of those first evacuators owing to the fact that I am onboard the ship “Shumei-maru.”

 

  Even though I did not use to have very little knowledge on tsunami, I studied about it thoroughly this time.  I also made some research on how the sufferers thought, judged and acted at the time of previous tsunamis, and on what were the things that divided those who had survived and those who had not been able to make it.

  And I came across a word “tsunami tendenko.”  (It is a word traditionally used in Tohoku area as a precautious warning against tsunami. The outlined meaning of this saying is “Each person has to take care of her/himself, go immediately to a highland.”)  This word made me feel at ease.  I noticed that I was not the only one.

 

  The last judgement is not the same as heaven’s judgment.  It is a trial by the God done every several thousand years, when a night turns into a daytime.  The God has warned us that the last judgment would be here since thousands of years ago.  Just like there were people who had kept warning that mega-tsunami would be here.

 

  The last judgment is a final settlement of the itinerancy of souls all through past several thousand years.  One’s good and evil in the past will be put on a pair of balance, and she/he will live in the heaven if passed, but that’s it if failed.

  This is why I think it is time for tsunami-tendenko now.  One should judge by oneself and should act with one’s best ability.  Otherwise, she/he will regret.  Only you can tell what you can do and what you cannot do.  One’s fate, level of sprit layers and mission is different from those of anybody else.  You can run if you want, even if everybody else is walking.

 

  I suppose that the No.1 thing that separated the life from the death at the time of mega-tsunami was the ability of judgment.  You may accept your fate of death if it happened owing to your own judgment.

  In case somebody gives wrong directions and many people die because of that, the person who gave the directions, as well as those who died, will regret it so deeply.

  Things not foreseen occur at the last judgment.  It is your self- responsibility to face the last judgment.

  Of course, there were people who lost their lives while trying to save someone else.  And, the life and the death of one’s physical body is not the same as pass or fail of the last judgement.

  It is you, yourself, who decide how you live and how you die.

 

  I have heard that there are people who have some impotent and/or guilty feelings, watching the news.  But, in any case, and sooner or later, everybody will have a huge ridge which she/he has to overcome.  So, it is all right that you just do what you can do and what you believe is good.

  Destruction and construction will go on simultaneously forever and ever.

  Well, I wrote the above sentences.  When I sit in front of my PC, I started to think that I would like to write cool sentences and the above sentences are the results, even though I have been writing down completely different impressions and ideas on my notebook for the past few days.  I felt like it was useless if I wrote something similar to everybody else’s.

 

  Meishu-sama says reform of mind caused by fear is not a true reform, and I think that a good manner is truly a good one if it comes out of sincerity.

 

  Perhaps, people all over Japan have various senses in each mind and I suppose that it is a good chance for a change.

 I have a feeling that number of suicide and bullying at schools is decreasing after the disaster in Japan.

  The number of people who committed suicide may be less than 30,000 in Japan this year.

  However, far more than 30,000 people could kill themselves once administration and governmental aid fails.

  I was imagining this sort of dismal things a couple of days after the disaster, maybe because I watched a TV drama originally written by Seicho Matsumoto.

  March is a month, compared with other months, when very many people commit suicide.  One reason is it is the end of the fiscal year.  It is also true in Tohoku area.


  Some people who had been thinking of committing a suicide evaded that because everything was settled after the disaster.  Some people might have done a moonlight flit in this chaotic situation.  Some people might have gotten freedom, liberated from “onzo eku2” and fetters.  People who see the lists of survivors, deaths and missing might have various speculation.  Some people might have a new religious faith after looking at such lists.  Or, there might have been opposite cases.  These are the examples of weird things I have been thinking.  But my image toward people of Tohoku area changed as they seem to be rather cheerful and good natured.

 

  Some people are talking about a declaration of “tsunami tendenko.”  They may use this as a declaration as they are not responsible.  I am in a stance that the result is the important thing.

  A huge red mark with an X, approximately the size of 1m long, was painted with airbrush in a devastated town, as a record of a place where a dead body was found, even though they don’t show the dead body itself on TV.  These signs were everywhere, on a wall of a house, on a wind shield of a car… It was a scene that could cause me psychological trauma.

  There would be nobody that can mourn and give memorial services once a whole family was gone.

  It would be tough even for those who have survived.

  　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　At the end of March, 2011



1)　Higan

 Higan in Shumei-kai is “a world of light, without any darkness.  It is also a world of joy, without any sin nor agony which have been cut completely.  It is a heaven on the ground without any illness nor poorness nor conflict, and is an ideal world of complete truth, goodness and beautifulness.


2) onzo eku

A concept of a suffering in Buddhism.  A suffering where you are forced to meet with somebody whom you hate and detest.