I. Group Profile

1. Name: Seicho_No_Ie

2. Founder: Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi

3. Date of Birth: November 22, 1894

4. Birth Place: Japan

5. Year Founded: 1930

6. Sacred or Revered Texts:

   Seimei no Jisso, translated to The Truth of Reality of Life, is a collection of forty volumes written by Masaharu Taniguchi. This collection focuses on five main factors including:

   • Emphasizing an individual of sensitive temperament with an inquisitive mind and a literary gift.

   • A social environment that is restricting and threatening.

   • A succession of traumatic personal involvements that create anxiety and bewilderment and encourage escapism.

   • The discovery of other persons in similar predicaments and of ones own power to speak to them persuasively and comfortingly.

   • Exposure to a book that says what one has sought to say and that prescribes a way by which one may become a teacher and a great "philosopher."¹

   Along with the Seimei no Jisso, followers of Seicho No Ie receive monthly magazines such as:

   • Seicho No Ie (House of Growth)

   • Hikari no Izumi (Fountain of Light)

   • Risosekai (Ideal World)

   • Shirariato (White Dove)

   • Seishingakie (Mental Science)²

   The Seimei No Jisso is the most important collection of Seicho No Ie. However, as further discussed, Seicho No Ie was originally created as a publishing company. Over four hundred books have been written by Masaharu Taniguchi for his subscribers.

7. Cult or Sect:
   Negative sentiments are typically implied when the concepts "cult" and "sect" are employed in popular discourse. Since the Religious Movements Homepage seeks to promote religious tolerance and appreciation of the positive benefits of pluralism and religious diversity in human cultures, we encourage the use of alternative concepts that do not carry implicit negative stereotypes. For a more detailed discussion of both scholarly and popular usage of the concepts "cult" and "sect," please visit our Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" page, where you will find additional links to related issues.

8. Size of Group:

   The Truth of Life Movement began in 1930 and has reached over four million followers with over one quarter of the followers being outside of Japan. It is practiced in over 42 churches and over 1200 meeting places, mostly in private homes. The followers are primarily middle class or upper class individuals, with the majority of the group consisting of middle-aged women.³

II. History

According to Clark Offner in Modern Japanese Religions, Seicho No Ie is among the more sophisticated and influential new religions among the Japanese intellectuals.⁴ The founder, Masaharu Taniguchi, came out of a background of financial, physical, and spiritual difficulties which he incorporated as a foundation for his new religion.

Taniguchi was born in Kobe, Japan on November 26, 1893 and was cared for by his aunt and uncle. His foster parents encouraged a career in medicine, yet his interest in the writing and the arts directed him to enroll in the literature department at Waseda University. While at the University, he became exposed to the works of Schopenheimer, Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde and Nietzsche. Exposure to these philosophers helped Taniguci incorporate his basic ideas into the theology of the new religion.⁵

After his first year at the University, he returned home confused. He began relations with a poor seventeen year old woman but soon discovered that his feelings for the young girl were not love, but in fact pity. His emotional confusion lead him to begin an affair with a ten year old. His aunt disowned Taniguchi until he ended the relationship with her. ⁶

Taniguchi did not return to the University the next year due to the dispute with his aunt. Rather, he found employment at a spinning company. He continued to become involved in two simultaneous affairs and as a result contacted a venereal disease. He began to fear that he could have communicated the disease to his other love affair and started to go through a period in his life of great anxiety. He had to receive medical treatment for his disease and hoped that he could cure the girl without her being aware of the infection through spiritual healing. ⁷

At this point in his life, Taniguchi became interested in the spiritual order of things and world reconstruction. He began believing in the practice of Omotokyo where he started to edit and write articles for publications by the sect. Omotokyo is a Japanese religion that bases their faith on the idea that "God is the Spirit which pervades the entire universe, and man is the focus of the workings of heaven and earth. When God and man become one, infinite power will become manifest."⁸ Over time, Masaharu eventually married a lady from the Omotokyo's headquarters.⁹

It did not take long before Taniguchi began to show interest in another religion, Ittoen, which emphasized a life of selfless service. His interest in this small religious movement allowed him contact with the teachings of Guatama, Shinran, Jesus and Paul. It also expanded his research into the writings of Christian Science and Spiritualism.¹⁰

Taniguchi returned with his wife and his infant daughter to live with his aunt and uncle. His daughter became ill, and because there was no money for medical help, he tried to cure her himself. Meanwhile, Taniguchi began to hear voices during his time of meditation. It revealed to him that matter was not real and all was spirit. When Taniguchi began to talk to sick people, they seemed to get better. ¹¹

After the Tokyo earthquake of 1923 and subsequent burglaries, Taniguchi was left penniless. He believed in the exciting possibility of creating a marketable product by joining the principle of mind over matter to the emergent popular psychologism.¹² It is taught that Taniguchi heard this divine message telling him to "Arise Now." This revelation prompted him to begin writing the Seicho No Ie magazine in 1930.

Originally, Seicho No Ie was organized as a publishing company under capitalistic management. The Seicho No Ie supporters were regarded as "subscribers."¹³ Taniguchi's "subscribers" rather than "believers" began to read his literature encouraging him to write more periodicals and books. Despite starting as a book company, it gradually developed into a religion.

During WWII, the Japanese government implemented several laws and regulations to assure the loyalty of the Japanese people. In 1936, Seicho No Ie was registered as a kyoka dantai, translated in English to mean "a religious organization." By redefining Seicho No Ie as a kyoka dantai, the leaders of Seicho No Ie were able to indicate their willingness to cooperate with the government in the task of edifying the people. ¹⁴

In 1939, the Religious Bodies Law gained control over all religious organizations, controlling service and propaganda agencies. Seicho No Ie officially became a religious organization in 1941, allowing it to be subjected to supervision by the Minister of Education ¹⁵

At the end of WWII, Taniguchi and some of his colleagues were purged by the occupation authorities because they continued the publishing of Seicho No Ie articles. As a result, Seicho No Ie became Seicho No Ie Kyodan, thus allowing Taniguchi to function as a religious teacher throughout the period of the occupation.¹⁶

In 1952, Kyodan was dropped from the name. The leaders thought that Kyodan restricted the organization exclusively to the religious sphere. The leaders also wanted to advertise Seicho No Ie as a "truth" movement, therefore eliminating the stereotype as a typical religious group.¹⁷

Seicho No Ie has continued to grow since WWII and has appealed to millions of followers because it allows individuals to continue to belong to other religious affiliations. Seicho No Ie has spread worldwide. It is still evident in Japan, and now more recently has expanded to centers in both Brazil and the United States. There are also small groups in Latin America and in Europe including Great Britain. Since the death of Masaharu Taniguchi, the movement has been led by his son, the Reverend Seicho Taniguchi.¹⁸ Since the founding of Seicho No Ie, over four hundred books have been published by the family. Reverend Seicho Taniguchi continues his father's legacy and has since published several books as well.¹⁹

III. Beliefs of the Group

Seicho No Ie refuses to refer to itself as a religion. Rather, the followers believe that it is "a religious body linked with real life."²⁰ Taniguchi believes that the difference between accomplished religion and the new revelation of Seicho No Ie is slight but very important. He believes that the teachings of established religions cannot be applied to practical life because they do not realize that now is the time to act.²¹ Seicho No Ie insists that it teaches the truth that is common to all religions and it acknowledges that salvation is available to any religion. It believes that all religions do emanate from one God. The primary goal of this movement is to teach its followers that each individual came from one God.

The essence of the teachings of Seicho No Ie is that only God and the True-Image World created by God are reality and man is originally a child of God.²² Since man is created in the image of God, man possesses virtues of infinite wisdom, infinite life, infinite supply, infinite joy and infinite harmony.

This belief that we are one of God is shown below in Tanginuchi's writing.

Gautama is not the only incarnation of the External Buddha in flesh. We are all the Eternal Buddha in flesh. Jesus alone is not the only son of God. We are all sons of God. Jesus taught us to pray saying our Father, which art in Heaven. ²³

This statement is emphasizing that all of humanity are sons of God and that he is everyone's father. We have infinite power because we are all God's children. Evil, matter and sickness are non-existent,and the phenomenal world is the mere reflection of his thoughts. When one's mind realizes all of these realities, the sickness will naturally fade away. The term name, Seicho No Ie, is actually coined from the connection between man and God. The vertical line of God, or the Sei, meets the horizontal line of the man, or the cho, at the one point, or Ie. This one point is the "true home of the man, the center of the world." ²⁴

The Seicho No Ie text, Seimei no Jisso, quotes the first chapter of the Apocolypse by opening with St. John's vision of the Son of Man in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. This "Seven Golden Lampstands" contains various biblical references and is written as though it was spoken through Jesus Christ himself. The promise that the Seven Golden Lampstands makes is that reconciliation and gratitude will result in the solution to all of man's problems and the manifestation of Christ. The "Proclamation of the Seven Rays of Light" are listed below. It is important to note that all of these revelations are printed in every issue of the Seicho No Ie magazine.²⁵

1. We should not be prejudiced in favor of any sect of any religion, but believe in the spiritual nature of Man, living in accordance with the spiritual truth of Life.

2. We believe that to bring the Great Life Principle into full manifestation is the way to infinite power and plenty, and that the personality of every individual is also immortal.

3. We study and make known to all the Law of Creative Spirit so that humanity may follow the right way to infinite growth.

4. We believe that Love is the best nourishment for Life and that prayer and words of love and praise are the creative Way of Word, necessary to bring Love into manifestation.

5. We believe that we, Sons of God, have infinite power and plenty within ourselves and we can attain absolute freedom by following the creative Way of Word.

6. We publish the monthly "SEICHO-NO-IE" and other books and booklets filled with good messages so that all men may follow the creative Way of the good words and live happy lives.

7. We organize actual movements in order to conquer all the pains and troubles of humanity including disease, by means of the right view of life, right living, right education, and at last to bring the Kingdom of Heaven onto earth.²⁶

Taniguchi has demonstrated the Truth by perceptive commentaries on the Old and New Testaments, the Buddhist sutras and the scriptures of Shintoism. ²⁷

Seicho No Ie believes that sickness is caused by warped, illusionary thinking. To cure sickness, one must straighten out their thinking, grasping the true nature of reality. To do this, one must recognize that he is a son of God and one with him. ²⁸. As noted earlier, Taniguchi was exposed to Christian Science while he was interested in the beliefs of the Ittoen religion. Seicho No Ie's belief in sickness and the methods of healing significantly parallels those beliefs of the Christian Science faith. Christian scientists, like Seicho No Ie followers, believe that "Christian Science healing comes through scientific prayer, or spiritual communion with God. It is specific treatment. Such prayer recognizes a patient's direct access to God's love and discovers more of the consistent operation of God's law of health and wholeness on his behalf. It knows God, or divine Mind, as the only healer. It brings the transforming action of the Christ, the idea of divine Love, to the patient's consciousness. A transformation or spiritualization of a patient's thought changes his condition."²⁹ Through the use of shinsokan prayer and the belief that we are all the son of God in Seicho No Ie, the idea of sickness is virtually identical in the Christian Science and Seicho No Ie religions.

The concept of sin in Seicho No Ie parallels that of the beliefs of Buddhism . For Seicho No Ie, there exists no sin in the world because they believe that God, being goodness and love, could only create things that are from the same goodness and love. Taniguchi states, "The idea that I am a sinner, is the mother of all kinds of sin in the physical world. The idea that I am a son of God, is the mother of all good things in this physical world."³⁰.

To achieve salvation in Seicho No Ie, one must realize that man is the Son of God, that man is Buddha, and as a result is born to live free in freedom and abundance with limitless possibilities. To achieve salvation, one must achieve successfully the three steps of salvation. These steps include:

1. One must first read the Seimei no Jisso and other related literature, hearing the speeches of Taniguchi, and attending the services of Seicho No Ie.

2. The second way to achieve salvation is to practice meditation, and through this, realize that all people are brothers and that there is nothing real in the world except love. This experience should generate gratitude, and is an important prerequisite to salvation.

3. The third final step to salvation is to testify to others that you have recognized sonship and have been saved. The teaching on healing by Seicho No Ie is considered to be metaphysical since it brings man the true view of reality. This idea of salvation is one of the most appealing beliefs of Seicho No Ie. Taniguchi explains that if one realizes that he is a son of God, that individual has a limitless amount of resources at his disposal. There should be no fear because we are all sons of God and God would never put enemies in our world.³¹

The center of the devotional practice of Seicho No Ie believers is the shinsokan. As defined by Taniguchi, shinsokan is a "prayerful meditation in concentrating of the mind." By meditating in this way, man attains to unlimited power. Evil, hate and suffering disappear and love and happiness remain. Once we realize that we are all sons of God, we understand that God cannot create evil things. Thus, disease does not exist in the world of Seicho No Ie. Disease is an evil thing so God would not create it. Since God created the world, disease could not exist. Seicho No Ie claims to be able to cure all diseases .³² As discussed previously, Christian Science also claims to have cured thousands of individuals through prayer alone.

Since the establishment of this religion, several subgroups have been created to appeal to certain age groups of individuals. It is divided into three different associations, including the men's association, known as the Mutual Love Association, the women's association referred to as the White Dove Association, and, finally, the Youth Association. A typical training session consists of lectures, shinsokan, discussion, laughing practice and other practices to encourage their idea of their "indwelling divinity."³³

III. Books Written by Masaharu Taniguchi

This is a short compiled list of the major writings of Masaharu Taniguchi available in Japanese and English translation.

Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1956.

Divine Education and Spiritual Training of Mankind. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1959.

Seimei no Jisso. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1935.

The Power of Faith. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1961.

Truth of Life. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1959.

Kanro No Hou. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1954.

Shinri. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1955.

Shinyu e no Michi. Tokyo, Japan.


Taniguchi, Masaharu. 1958.

Ware-ra nihonjin toshite. Tokyo, Japan.

VI. Links to Seicho No Ie Websites

Seicho No Ie Truth of Life Movement Homepage
This site is the most comprehensive resource available online on the Truth of Life Movement. This page includes information about the history of the movement, as well as the teachings of the New Life Movement and location of centers that practice Seicho No Ie beliefs.
http://www.snitruth.org

The New Thought Movement: A Link Between East and West
A paper written by Alan Anderson that emphasizes the overlapping of Western and Eastern traditons. It uses the practice of Seicho No Ie as a representative Eastern new religion and uses it for comparison to traditional Western religions.
http://websyte.com/alan/parl/htm

VII. Bibliography

Clarke, Peter B. and Jeffrey Somers. 1994.

Japanese New Religions in the West. Sandgate: Japan Library/Curzon Press.

McFarland, H. Neill. 1967.

The Rush Hour of the Gods. New York: Macmillan Publishing.

Kitagawa, Joseph M. 1966.

Religion in Japanese History. New York: Columbia University Press.

Murakami, Shigeyoshi. 1968.

Japanese Religion in the Modern Century. Tokyo, Japan: University of Tokyo Press.

Offner, O.B. 1963.

Modern Japanese Religions. New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc.

Thomsen, Harry. 1963.

The New Religions of Japan. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press Publishing.

1. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p148.
   
2. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p148.
   
3. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p156.
   
4. Offner, Clark B. Modern Japanese Religions. p71.
   
5. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p148.
   
6. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p148.
   
7. McFarland,H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p149.
   
8. Oomoto Homepage http://www.oomoto.or.jp/English/index-en.html
   
9. Offner, Clark B. Modern Japanese Religions. p72
   
10. Offner, Clark B. Modern Japanese Religions. p73
    
11. Offner, Clark B. Modern Japanese Religions. p73
    
12. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p151
    
13. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p153
    
14. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p153
    
15. McFarland, H. Neill The Rush Hour of the Gods. p153
    
16. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p156
    
17. McFarland, H. Neill.The Rush Hour of the Gods. p156
    
18. Clarke, Peter B. and Jeffrey Somers.Japanese New Religions in the West. p58
    
19. Clarke, Peter B. and Jeffrey Somers.Japanese New Religions in the West. p58
    
20. The New Thought Movement: A Link Between East and West. http://websyte.com/alan/parl/htm
    
21. The New Thought Movement: A Link Between East and West. http://websyte.com/alan/parl/htm
    
22. The New Thought Movement: A Link Between East and West. http://websyte.com/alan/parl/htm
    
23. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p161
    
24. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p161
    
25. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p161
    
26. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p161
    
27. The New Thought Movement: A Link Between East and West. http://websyte.com/alan/parl/htm
    
28. Christian Science Homepage http://www.tfccs.com/GV/QANDA/CSHQ3.html
    
29. Offner, O. B Modern Japanese Religions. p185
    
30. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p164.
    
31. Thomsen, Harry. The New Religions of Japan. p165.
    
32. McFarland, H. Neill. The Rush Hour of the Gods. p162
    
33. Clarke, Peter B. and Jeffrey Somers.Japanese New Religions in the West. p58