To have perfect trust in God is the advice I always give to our members.  One cannot overemphasize the importance of placing our faith in God implicitly and refraining from worry.  This may sound simple and easy to put into practice, but it is not as easy as it appears.

I, too, used to be concerned when I found myself in a dilemma.  In spite of my best effort to place my trust in God, feelings of uneasiness or misgiving sometimes came into my mind.  In our materialistic world, it is almost impossible to be completely free from anxiety.  However, there is a great difference for those who have faith in God.  When they are faced with problems or difficulties, they become aware of the spiritual meanings underlying these events far more easily than others do, and this makes it much easier for them to endure adversities.

Though few people realize it, from a spiritual point of view worry is a form of bondage that can adversely affect all aspects of living.  This is not the extreme desire for possessions, luxury, fame, and so forth that people often think of as bondage.  Nor is it an inordinate attachment to grudges, hatred, vindictiveness, or similar destructive emotional attitudes.  The bondage I speak of is the worry that comes as result of our attachment to the past, the present, or the future.

God wishes to help people and send them blessings, but worry may spiritually hinder God’s helping, protective hand.  The more unrestrained the worry, the more it obstructs divine help.  This is why things do not go as people wish.  Let me give you some examples.

We often prevent our own success.  Nearly everyone has experienced an intense desire at one time or another for something that seemed unattainable.  After despairing of it and releasing it, it unexpectedly came to pass.

The same can apply to giving Johrei.  When an attempt is made to help someone, anxiety, in place of trust, can retard progress.  But when Johrei is given in a true spirit of prayer – without excessive concern by the giver, that person or their family – unexpected results are often obtained.

Interestingly, there are cases in which people who are particularly attached to living feel that through a strong mental effort they can heal themselves when ill, yet they usually succumb nevertheless.  Their inordinate attachment to life has been a contributing factor to their transition.

The same idea applies to a love relationship.  Inordinate possessiveness on the part of either one often produces a reverse effect and causes the other to respond unfavorably.  Here, too, the over-attachment is responsible for the trouble, ironic as this may seem.

The world is full of such ironies and contradictions, which seem to complicate our lives yet make them interesting as well.

I often say that it is wise to consider the reverse effect.  This is actually part of truth itself.

Meishu-Sama

November 28th, 1951