E24146

     When interest is focused on religion, what first must be thoroughly understood is knowing about the relationship between the spiritual and physical worlds. This is because the object of faith in a religion is either a god or a buddha, and since gods and buddhas are of the spirit and cannot be seen with the physical eye, to try and understand the actuality of gods and buddhas through theory alone is a foolishness akin to fishing in the trees. But gods and buddhas actually do exist, so to deny them and pretend they do not exist is impossible. Trying to convince barbarians of the existence of air is as hard as the difficulty of the attempt to convince most people nowadays of the existence of spirit and spirits. To begin, as premise, I explain as deeply as possible about that such as the composition of the spiritual world and life for individual spirits in the spiritual world.
     The human being is composed of two elements, a spiritual body and a physical body. Upon the death of a human being in the physical world, the spirit and physical body separate, and the spirit immediately goes to the spiritual world and begins life there. Upon separation, the spirit of an extremely good person will leave through the forehead, and that of an extremely bad person, through the soles of the feet. The spirits of most people leave through the naval in the abdomen. The expression for death in Buddhism is “going to be born,” and this is because from the point of view of the spiritual world, physical death is spiritual birth. The period before one dies is called “before life.” In Shinto, death is called “returning to the mystery” or “change and return” for the same reason that the spiritual world is considered the real world. When one becomes a resident of the spiritual world, as is described in many traditions, one crosses a river and encounters a judge, and this is a fact. This process has been described to me by many spirits. The “judge” that is encountered is much like a courtroom in the physical world. As the newly departed crosses the river, the color of the body changes. The bodies of those with the least amount of sin and impurities become white, and next in order, pale blue, yellow, red, and black. In accordance with the amount of sin and impurities, the colors change. The color purple, however, is reserved for divine beings.
     The gods of purification are in charge of the court in the spiritual world, and each judge determines the appropriate rewards and punishments, extremely good spirits going to heaven or the land of bliss, and extremely bad spirits descending to hell. Ordinary spirits go to intermediate levels which in Shinto are called “the eight crossroads” and in Buddhism as “the crossroads of six paths.” The majority go to the intermediate levels where they undergo training. The first stage of training consists of hearing lectures by instructors. Those who are penitent go to heaven and those who do not, to hell. Training usually lasts about thirty years after which the spirit’s destination is decided. The instructors come from the teachers, priests, and ministers of each religion and sect.
     The structure of the spiritual world is composed of three major levels: upper, intermediate, and lower. Each major level is further divided into three, making for nine levels. The upper level is heaven, paradise; the lower level, hell; and in between, intermediate levels which correspond to the physical world. The crossroads of six paths as taught in Buddhism refers to the three paths of the land of bliss and the three paths of hell. The eight crossroads of Shinto refers to the six paths of Buddhism plus one level for the highest heaven and one level for the lowest hell. Vividly describing the aspects of heaven and hell, as the levels of the highest heavens are ascended, the stronger becomes the light and heat, and spirits there live in near nudity. Since antiquity, statues and paintings of buddhas of the higher levels have been in that state. To the contrary, the farther descent is made to the lowest levels of hell, the less light and heat there. The very lowest levels of hell are conditions of total darkness, complete ignorance, a condition absolutely frozen. Thus, in the midst of this suffering, the most diabolical, atrocious spirit can do nothing but repent.
     The above is a general introduction to the worlds of the spirit and the physical, and to people today, the explanation may seem to be preposterous nonsense, but as this explanation is based on the points of agreement that in over twenty years of experience I have found among the stories conveyed to me by spiritual mediums of a great number of spirits plus my investigations and research through other methods, I would hope that readers peruse the explanations with a rather large amount of confidence. I do believe Shakyamuni’s teaching that heaven and hell are both within and that Dante’s Divine Comedy are not contrived conceits.
     It can be known from looking at the face of dead persons to which of the three levels of the spiritual world, which I have just described, the spirits have gone. Faces which show no signs of suffering, that are vibrant as if alive, are going to heaven, while pale and green faces with sad, melancholic expressions, in other words, the faces of ordinary persons are of spirits going to the intermediate levels. Of course, those going to hell have dark, bluish-black expressions that quite noticeably display large amounts of suffering.
     The above is meant to provide a basic knowledge of the spiritual world, on which I would like to illustrate step by step spiritual phenomena of various kinds that I have experienced.

Glimpses into the Spiritual World, Jikan Library, Volume 3, page7, August 25, 1949
translated by cynndd

* * *

“Reikai to Genkai,” first published as the second chapter of Glimpses of the Spiritual World, Jikan Library, Volume 3, August 25, 1949, was reprinted twice while Meishu-sama was still alive, first in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyōhen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 129, March 25, 1954, and later in the essays anthology for ordinary followers and members of the general public Tengoku no Fukuinsho (Gospels of Heaven), page 53, August 25, 1954. “Reikai to Genkai” has previously appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.

“Spirits and the Spiritual World,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Two, 1968, page 86. (This translation is an amalgamation of “Reikai no Sonzai” [C6-201][E24-145] with “Reikai to Genkai” [C6-203][E24-147] and “Yūrei wa Aru ka” [C5-287][E22-066].)

“The Spiritual World and the Physical Plane,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 84.

“Spirits and the Spiritual World,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Two, 1968/2004, page 57. (This translation is an amalgamation of “Reikai no Sonzai” [C6-201][E24-145] with “Reikai to Genkai” [C6-203][E24-147] and “Yūrei wa Aru ka” [C5-287][E22-066].)

“The Spiritual World and the Physical World,” Meishu and His Teachings, page 89, circa 1965 (text abridged by approximately ten percent).