Great Construction

Erroneous Faith

     The following is an interesting episode that occurred during the early period of my work. In 1931, for my very first follower, a Mr. Yamamuro, I rented a house on a backstreet in district five of Kojimachi and had him start a treatment center. In the neighborhood was a public bathhouse where the father of the proprietor’s family was having problems with his legs, and Mr. Yamamuro went to treat him. The man became much better, and just about when it looked as if he might be completely cured, he abruptly stopped coming for treatment. Another person from the neighborhood went to Mr. Yamamuro and told him the reason why the father did not come for treatment anymore. Mr. Yamamuro was told that the father was a hard-core follower of Jôdo Shinshû and that if he were to be completely healed by Kannon, he would have to stop believing in the Amitabha Buddha. In which case, after he died, he would not be able to go to the side of Amitabha, so before completely recovering, he quit coming to us. Listening to this story, I was simply flabbergasted and gave a forced smile.
     An account similar to the one above is that of the grandfather, about fifty years old, of a buckwheat noodle maker. His wrists hurt and he could not bend them, so he came to us to be treated. He came for treatment for about a week, but there was no improvement, so I thought the condition must be spiritual and asked him, “Are you the follower of some religion?” My suspicion was confirmed when he answered that he had been a believer in Acala, the Immobile One, for twenty years. He went on to say that every morning he took an offering to the Immobile One. I told him to stop doing this and see what happened, so he said, “All right. Tomorrow morning, I will have my wife make the offering.” From that day when he stopped making the offerings, he recovered immediately, and surprised, he immediately changed to faith in Kannon. It was then that he said that his son was suffering from chronic headaches and would I please come and cure him. When I went to the house, I saw that there were several nails sticking into the ceiling of the room. This is a phenomenon that can often be observed in homes of the Acala faith, and I thought, “Ah, this is the problem,” and as soon as I had the family remove the nails, the son quickly recovered. Thrn again, there is the following episode. The president of a car company told me that when going to pray to Acala, on the way back, without exception the engine would stall. He asked me why, and with a big laugh, I told him it was only natural because Acala is the Immobile One, so the car wouldn’t move.
     As the above examples show, the object of your worship deserves serious consideration. That is because the gods or buddhas one prays to must respond according to the level of the petitioner’s soul, karma, and fate, and as reverse effects can occur, prudence and caution are called for.

The Pathway to Light, Jikan Library, Volume 9, page 59, December 30, 1949
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