Great Construction

What Is Kannon Power? (Hikari 2)

     The terms mystic power and Kannon power have long been topics of concern and study. Naturally Kannon power includes mystic power. There are no such phrases as Amida power, Shakyamuni power, or Bodhidharma power. The fact that it is only Regarder of the Cries of the World about whom this power is spoken is quite intriguing, but there is no cause why there should be some kind of reason for this. There are no written records or anything such as a legend that has been handed down about Kannon power. I myself used to have questions about this point, but as my faith has continued to deepen, this subject has become clear to me, so I would like to explain it here.
     In this regard there is one question that first must be clarified. I am often queried about whether Regarder of the Cries of the World is male or female, and it is this question that does have a close, inseparable relation to Kannon power. In truth, The Honored One is male and is female, having the characteristics of both sexes.
     Thus, in the relationship between male and female, male is yang and female is yin, which has also been well known since antiquity, but when understood within the distinction of fire and water, male is fire and female, water. Fire burns vertically and water flows horizontally. The vertical and the horizontal until now have not been truly connected. The time for the formation of this connection has come. This connection is transforming the world of night into a world of daylight, a point central to my teachings. The vertical and the horizontal will be joined in the shape of a balanced cross.
     Light is the fusion of fire and water. The greater the amount of the spirit of fire, the more intense is the light. Following this principle, the daylight world is one in which the amount of the spirit of fire has increased and the light has become stronger. This is the reason the activity of Regarder of the Cries of the World will manifest as Tathagata of Divine Light.
     Next, the most important point to be made is that true power is generated through the fusion of the vertical and the horizontal. The Chinese ideogram for the word “power” is written by connecting a vertical stroke to a horizontal stroke that ends with a slight upward-pointing serif. The connection of these two dimensions means that clockwise rotating power is generated which certainly suggests the profound significance of written ideograms. The explanations above apply to only the Bodhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World. The fact that the vertical and horizontal, male and female aspects are so embodied means that power from the fusion of the vertical and the horizontal is generated, hence particularly is extolled the expression Kannon power.
     At this stage, let me introduce another important aspect. After the transformation into and the activity of the Tathagata of Divine Light will be the activity of Maitreya. As I related before, light is fire and water, and when soil is added to this fusion, the fusion becomes the activity of fire-water-soil. Originally, fire and water alone are active on the spiritual level and not on the physical. But with the addition of soil, the power of the trinity of fire-water-earth is manifested for the first time. This power is that of the gem of Chintamani, the jewel of Mani. Fire is five and water, six; soil, seven, so I read the ideograms for five, six, seven as “Mi-ro-ku.” One of Shakyamuni’s prophecies that the world of Mi-ro-ku, more properly called the world of eternal bliss, would begin 56.7 million years later was referring to a world in which five, six, seven, or fire, water, soil would be in the correct order.
     No matter how great a prophet, there is no reason Shakyamuni should prophesize events that will occur after the astronomical figure of 56.7 million years. That is because such a prophecy does not mean anything. A prophecy has value if it pertains to something coming about within at least several thousands of years. Christ’s prophecy about two thousand years in the future is an appropriate number.
     Mi-ro-ku (five-six-seven) which is Regarder of the Cries of the World refers to the Flexible Maitreya, and the Flexible Maitreya is a part of the Buddhist tradition, but it is the limitless activity of the Flexible Maitreya itself that we should probably keenly observe and follow from now on.
     Thus, the set of the numbers five, six, seven, as well as the set of the numbers three, six, nine both add up to eighteen. The Chinese ideogram for “ten” forms a balanced cross, meaning “connection” or “completion.” The ideogram written for eight represents a start or beginning. The statue of Regarder of the Cries of the World enshrined in the temple at Asakusa in the vicinity where I was born has been said since antiquity to be made of gold and be 1.8 inches tall. In addition, the temple building itself has eighteen spaces between its pillars with four sides, so the whole phenomena can only suggest profound significance.

 Hikari, Issue 2, March 20, 1949
translated by cynndd