E25254

     I am frequently asked about daijo and shojo, and even though I have written extensively on the subject before, it seems a thorough understanding is still lacking, so I write about it again here.
     First, to speak to the fundamentals, daijo is horizontal and shojo is vertical. In other words, daijo is water and shojo is fire. Thus, daijo flows endlessly. Shojo is indeed profound and noble, but it is narrow. For example, Christianity is daijo so it has spread throughout the world, but conversely, Buddhism is shojo, so it has not spread. It has become isolated. In addition, as daijo is materialistic and shojo is spiritual, the cultures of the white races have developed materialistically due to Christianity, but Buddhism is a spiritual civilization, so it is ascetic and although it grew at the time, it has gradually declined.
     Then again, and this is a familiar illustration, Japan lost to the United States because Japan is fire and the U.S. is water, so the fire of Japan was extinguished by the water of the U.S. In this manner, the world has been a contrast of vertical fire and horizontal water until the present. At this stage in the explanation, there is another point that cannot be overlooked. That is, that since communism is fire as well, it is the color red. In which case, it is also in opposition to the U.S. which is water. Consequently, in the end, the vertical and the horizontal of the world will be joined, forming the balanced cross. This very culture of the balanced cross is the completion of the ideal world. The cross of Christianity as well implies the completion of the ideal world. Of course, this cross also signifies Jesus’s crucifixion. The cross does indeed have this meaning, but this is its lesser sense. The Lord of all creation does not have only such small significance. It should be understood that the great meaning described above is also suggested.
     The vertical stroke of the cross is spirit and the horizontal stroke is body, so any susceptibility to either extreme is not truth. As described above, completeness is attained only when both are joined. That is, shojo must be present as well as daijo and daijo as well shojo. The very center where these two join is izunome, the activity of Kannon. That Kannon is a man and is a woman has no other meaning. So, putting heart exactly at the place where these two join, the activity of infinite ever-changing flexibility is created. In other words, when heart and soul is placed in the center, although very small, activity will start to spread, becoming able to increase to any size. The vertical activity is to be strict as father’s wishes which are not to be crossed, and horizontal activity is to be free and flexible as the spring, as most fondly think of the mother. As far as climate is concerned, winter is shojo and summer is daijo, so both are extremes. Spring and autumn have pleasant weather, so they are the very middle of the balanced cross and are neutral. The periods of spring and autumn are called higan in Japanese, “the other shore” and are when the ancestors are memorialized, because the other shore is the ideal. In other words, because it is the climate of the paradisical Pure Land, commemorations are held; pilgrimages to gravestones, made; and the spirits, consoled.
     I am sure the above has provided a substantial understanding of daijo and shojo.

“Daijō to Shojō” was originally published on the front page of Eikō, Issue 81, December 6, 1950, and later while Meishu-sama still alive, reprinted in the essays anthology for ministers Goshinsho: Shūkyōhen (Divine Writings: Volume on Religion), page 100, March 25, 1954. “Daijō to Shojō” has previously appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.

“Note on ‘Daijo’ and ‘Shojo’,” The Glory, Number 004 (second paragraph), February 1, 1955.

“Izunome—The Point of Perfect Balance,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Three, 2005, page 50.

“Daijo and Shojo,” A Hundred Teachings of Meishusama, no date, page 53.