Great Construction

The Japanese People and Mental Illness

     Nowadays, it seems that whenever people open their mouths, it is to talk about the deterioration of thought, the increase of crime, the impoverishment of the political process, or some other negative aspect. Of these phenomena and their intimate relationship with the cause of mental illness, I would like to explain.
     The true cause of mental illness will astonish everyone, and there will be some who simply dismiss the reason as a fancy. But it is truth, and apart from those persons who have a true case of mental illness themselves, all readers should be able to be persuaded. The actual causes of mental illness are either physical in nature or due to spiritual possession. This may be rather difficult to understand for people educated in accord with the principles of materialism. We fully take into account the fact that understanding does not come easily as society has been indoctrinated with the view that the invisible need not be believed. No matter how much it may be denied, however, truth is truth. If existence is denied because it is invisible, then that also means that neither does exist the air nor the human mind which are all invisible.
     Here my argument is developed on the premise that spirit exists and that spiritual possession as a phenomenon exists. Therefore, we see those who persist in denying the existence of spirit in the same way as they see us, as being superstitious. Indeed we believe them to be pitifully superstitious. But, to proceed to the main subject, the following is an explanation of why mental illness is a phenomenon of spiritual possession. In everyday conversation, it is a fact that many people speak of experiencing a stiff neck or of feeling stiff in the shoulders. All Japanese could probably be said to suffer from this condition. In my long experience, I have observed that everyone has stiffness in the neck and shoulders. There are the rare persons who say their neck and shoulders are not stiff, but in these cases, the stiffness is so hardened that the torment and pain have become oblivious. Obliviousness to such stiffness could also be called their physical constitution or disposition. Stiffness in the neck and shoulders being the cause of mental illness is quite surprising and will astonish, but as I explain step by step, I am sure my reasoning will be acknowledged.
     Stiffness in the neck and shoulders puts pressure on the vessels sending blood to the brain, and constriction of the vessels causes anemia in the areas around the neck. This constriction is the problem. Anemia in the neck area is not just ordinary anemia. Because blood is the materialized form of spirit, it means that anemia in the neck also means there is a lack of spiritual cells, a condition that could be termed spiritual anemia. Spiritual anemia is the cause of mental illness, and spirits either animal or human that want to possess human beings look for persons with spiritual anemia. Most of the spirits that seek to possess human beings are those of foxes, but there are also those of raccoon dogs, and rarely even spirits like those of cats and dogs. Of course, these are all the spirits of dead animals, but sometimes possession is the joint effort by the spirit of a dead human being together with that of a dead animal.
     At this stage of my argument, I would like to dissect human thought. To begin, in human thought there is reason and there is emotion, and then there is the volition that puts both of these into action. How this happens is that the functions in the front part of the brain handle reasoning and functions in the back part of the brain, emotion. As evidence of this, it is clear that the forebrain of the Caucasian races is wider, more developed, which indicates abundance of reason, and conversely, the Mongoloid races have narrow forebrains and higher developed hind brains which show an abundance of emotion. Everyone knows that Caucasians are intellectual while Mongoloids are emotional. Thus, within human beings, reason and emotion constantly vie for supremacy. If reason continually predominates, the individual will not fail but can become heartless. If emotion prevails, danger may arise because the individual will act based solely on instinct. The point is that it is essential to harmonize these two aspects, not inclining untowardly either way. Human beings, however, incline to one extreme or another. Whether it is for reason or for emotion, when put into action, volition is more or less needed, and the source of that volition is the function located in the solar plexus. This is the origin of all individual human action, and the fusion of reason, emotion, volition is the trinity of human thought.
     A lack of spiritual energy in the front part of the head will cause insomnia and in most cases the source for a lack of sleep is the solidified lumps of toxin in the right side of the back part of the head that put pressure on the blood vessels and slow the flow of blood. A lack of sleep will accelerate spiritual anemia, so an animal spirit readily possesses. Inside the front part of the head is the center of the human body, and when the animal spirit occupies this area, it can freely control the entire human body. Fox spirits, particularly, are fond of keeping a tight rein on human beings. Moreover, the more the fox can control human beings, the more it increases influence in the fox world. It is indeed a phenomenon that human beings cannot imagine. Quite soon, I hope to put down in a book an account of my actual experiences with fox spirits, so readers may look forward to reading these accounts.
     Human beings continually control the instinct of their emotion, and it is the instinct to keep human beings from committing mistakes that is the work of reason and that allows human beings to maintain an ordinary condition. This power of the regulation of reason controls the emotion. Therefore, to lose the power of this regulation is for the emotion of the human being to be set free and allowed to stray. This is mental illness.
     Spirits who would possess know when the power of regulation is shining in the forepart of the head and cannot occupy and possess it, but once the spiritual energy becomes thin, the evil spirit can possess. There are distinctions in graduation to this thinness, and the spirit can only act within that distinction. For example, given that a full amount of spiritual energy in the fore area of the brain equals ten, then, while at the level of ten, a spirit cannot possess a human being. If an individual’s level drops to nine, then a spirit can possess to the amount of one. As the level drops to eight, seven, six, etc., the would-be possessing spirit can possess to a level of two, three, four, etc., respectively, so at a level of four, reason loses out to emotion’s level of six and the human being can be freely controlled.
     As I related in the beginning of my argument, spiritual anemia arises because stiffness constricts the blood vessels. The percentage of spiritual anemia means that a spirit may possess an individual’s head to that percentage, and since there is no one who does not have stiffness nowadays, there is no one who does not have a complete level of ten of spiritual energy. Even individuals respected in society probably have a deficiency of two or three. When we hear comments like “that great person caused such a problem,” “why doesn’t that kind of person understand such a thing,” or “why did such a person have to fail?” it is because of this deficiency of two or three. This deficit, however, is not absolute. It is constantly shifting. When someone does something really wonderful for another or for society, one’s deficiency may only be at around a level of two, but if the individual has some occasion to get an evil or negative thought and commits a sin or a crime, the level may drop to four or even lower. If often happens that after the commission of a sin or a crime, the perpetrators are sorry and regret their acts, and this change comes about because the level of spiritual anemia has returned to two or three. The expression, “be tempted by a devil,” refers to this occurrence.
      But most people are usually around level three or four and, depending on behavior, can cross the line of five at any time. In such an instance, an unimaginable evil deed can be committed. An example of this is hysteria which is caused most often by fox spirits. At the time of possession, the front part of the head is occupied. The cause is the feelings of jealousy and anger for which the line of five will be crossed and the level will drop below five. Those possessed may say reckless things they do not mean and perform disgraceful acts, but these periods do not last long. That is because there is always the possibility that their level will be restored above five. Therefore, people should try to keep their level to three at least. Anything less is dangerous. The reason there are so many criminals these days can be ascertained when the principles outlined above are understood. Possession means, of course, possession by some sort of animal spirit, so when the level of five is breached, the mental state of individuals may become animalistic even though on the surface they still appear to be human beings. There is no difference between their hearts and those of the beasts, so these people can perform animalistic acts without any thought at all. On this point, the conspicuous difference between human beings and animals is that human beings have love. Among the beasts there is certainly love between parent and child and between spouses, but love for the neighbor is extremely weak. Rather, this kind of love can be seen in classes of birds and insects. But for most categories of beasts, there is not even any love between parent and child or between spouses, so although human beings may exhibit some degree of bestiality, the animals show a level of cruelty that human beings cannot imagine.
     Previously, I referred to the levels of spirituality in the head area, and as there is no one at a level of ten, anyone can more or less expect to be attacked by a possessing spirit to the extent that they lack full spiritual energy. To the degree that these individuals are possessed, they may be called mentally ill. Therefore, it could be said without reserve that all Japanese suffer from some degree of mental illness.
     In my own experience, I meet and talk with dozens of persons everyday, and there is hardly any one who does have some kind of breakdown. Each and every person has something wrong. Even persons whom society looks upon as being important have some defect that escapes attention in most circumstances. Light cases of mental illness can be said to be the general rule.
     These remarks apply not only to what people say but to their behavior as well. Of course, even in daily life, there are hardly any who are not nonsensical with no regard for manners or etiquette. Most individuals cannot even enter a room without making a mistake in bowing. They bow facing directions such as the wall, or the shoji screen, or the sliding door. The types are of infinite variety. Then again, there are overly officious types and there are those who rush through the motions. These are all light cases of mental illness.
     To close my argument, the way to fundamentally heal mental illness is to dissolve the stiffness of the neck and shoulders that blocks the flow of blood to the brain. The way to dissolve these lumps is, of course, through the Johrei of World Messianity to which I hereby declare that in our wide world, there is no other way. Therefore, most World Messianity members are of a level of at least two or three and no member should fall below level three. One only has to look at the character of our members to see this. In this sense, World Messianity continues to perform a great service in contributing to the prevention of social evil. A final note, the substance of the stiffness in the shoulders is needless to say medicinal toxins.

The Divinely-Inspired Approach to Health, Jikan Library, Volume 10, page 43, April 20, 1950
    translated by cynndd

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The version of “Nihonjin to Seishinbyô” from The Divinely-Inspired Approach to Health (Shinji no Kenkôhô) has previously appeared in translation. The citation is given below for reference.

“Mental Imbalance,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Two, 1968, 2004, page 42.