Great Construction

Nutrition (Treatment of Tuberculosis Through Faith)

     In its treatment of tuberculosis, medical science puts the heaviest emphasis on nutrition, but the whole “science of nutrition” is a series of egregious mistakes that I will detail here. The first mistaken point is that the science of nutrition takes as the basis of its research only that which is eaten, food, and neglects the nutrition-producing functions within the human body. For example, vitamins are classified into different groups, as in A, B, C, etc., which is taken to be a sign of progress, but such a classification has no meaning. The A, B, C classification is meaningless because the fundamentals are not understood. Actually a lack of vitamins in the body means that the body’s vitamin producing and extracting functions are weak. The real way to fix vitamin deficiency is to restore these functions. These functions weaken because there are obstacles that block the activity of the functions. Those obstacles are lumps of toxin. To make an analogy, when human beings do not have money, they are idle, so there is nothing for it but to get people to work, but medical science is all about doing nothing and telling the idlers they will be given money, and because practitioners of the science of nutrition are able to get away with this practice, patients continue to idle their time away which shows how much the concepts of nutrition of material science and medical science are erroneous. Consequently, the more vitamins are ingested, the more the vitamin-producing functions atrophy, so the body continues to weaken. When the physical body weakens, the purifying functions also weaken, so the symptoms of illness decrease. Medical science mistakenly interprets these results to be the good effects of the science of nutrition, so rather than describe the science of nutrition as merely ignorant of the relationship between the human body and food, the fundamentals of the science of nutrition are topsy-turvey.
     The food needed to nurture human beings is produced in every region of the planet. Whether it be that such as cereals, vegetables, fish or fowl, meat or game, God has distributed around the world the foods appropriate for each region, for each climate, and for each nation. These foods were created so that sufficient nutrition could be had and health maintained. Because this principle was not understood and material science cast its spell on all, the ridiculous academic field of nutrition came about. Because the science of nutrition exhausts a lot of trouble as well as money and weakens health, there are no words to describe the foolishness. The same can also be said about the promotion of extreme mastication. When food is overly chewed, functions in the stomach become unnecessary so they weaken and appetite is lost. When stomach functions weaken, digestive medicines are taken and only easily digestible food is consumed, so the stomach increasingly atrophies, with the result that the stomach becomes afflicted with gastroptosis and ulcer. Actually, it is quite all right for tuberculosis patients to not make a big issue of nutrition, to eat the same foods as healthy people, and to masticate only half as much as recommended. That is what the saying, “the more quickly one eats, the more healthy one is” means.
     To introduce another aspect of the fallacy of nutrition, compared to those of past ages, contemporary peoples are not nutritionally deficient, rather they are overly filled with nutrition. That is, since nutrition is what is manufactured by bodily functions, when the body ingests too much nutrition from the outside, the bodily functions dull. To describe the process in more detailed terms, so-called “nutritious” food and nutrition supplements are finished products, so when ingested, the functions are left with nothing to do. Thus, the coarser the food, the more “unfinished” it is, the greater is the need for the body’s functions, which are all in reciprocal relationships, to work, so these functions become more active, and health is increased. The vitality of the human being is born from the activity of the body’s functions, which is clear when the body is seen to weaken as the stomach becomes empty. That those who eat only gourmet food are weak while those who consume simple, plain food are healthier shows the same principle. Therefore, even for tubercular patients, the more vegetables are eaten, the better.
     I can write about this from my own experience. At the age of seventeen, I was afflicted with pleurisy, had my lungs perforated and drained once, and for three months I was cured. I was sure I had really been cured, but after a year, the pleurisy returned, and unlike the first time, the recurrence did not improve. While undergoing medical treatment, my condition gradually worsened, and a little over a year later, it had turned into tertiary tuberculosis. I was examined by the then well-regarded Dr. Tatsukichi Irisawa and at the end of a meticulous examination, his diagnosis was that there was no hope for recovery. And no wonder as day by day I had weakened, my own hands seemed to be like white candle wax, I was extremely pale, and I had become so thin, I was skin and bones. From the degree of my weakness, I understood that I probably had only about a month left, so I mentally prepared myself, but still I wondered if there was some way I could be saved. After mulling it over, I thought I should do something really different, with the feeling that if it worked, that would be good, and if it did not work, well, I was where I had started from.
     Before getting sick, I had studied painting, and one day I was looking through some books illustrated with paintings when I ran across a volume about Chinese medicinal herbs titled Honchō Yakugusa Ihon (Collecion of Medicinal Plants of This Nation). Of course, it was full of pictures of the roots of plants and the bark of trees, and as it noted what leaf was good for what disease, which fruit, seed, which flower was used in which medicines, I thought, “well, even these plants do have these efficacious components,” and what immediately came to mind was that until then I had thought that nutrition came mainly from animal food products, so as a test I tried a vegetarian diet for a day. Surprisingly I felt good, so intrigued, I continued it the next day, and I felt increasingly better. It was then that I started to have doubts about medical science. After I had quit taking medicines and followed a vegetarian diet for three months, I became healthier than I had been before coming down with tuberculosis. Related to this, I was twenty-five years old when I married, and one year later, my wife came down with tuberculosis. She continually coughed up blood and phlegm, and although she was a big person, she thinned down to about 39 pounds. Based on my own experience, we did not see a medical doctor, I put her on a vegetarian diet, her health improved remarkably, and within three months, she recovered completely. Weighed two years later, she had become almost 62 pounds.
     And then there is this experience. This is not about nutrition directly, but there was a Keio University student who coughed up blood every day and came for treatment. He said to me: “I don’t have any pain, so I behave as a ordinary person and don’t seek medical treatment. I told him that coughing up blood was a purifying activity and was a very good thing, so it would be better if he continued as he had been doing. I heard that he had recovered completely in two years. I think this student’s story is of great value. Another case about coughing up blood involves a youth of about thirty years of age. After he ate meat, he would cough up blood, but when he went on a vegetarian diet, the coughing up of blood immediately stopped. It seemed to be automatic. As can be seen from these accounts, I learned that a vegetarian diet was best for stopping the coughing up of blood, and I have been teaching this to everyone since. A vegetarian diet is certainly good for tuberculosis patients, so I would hope that nutritionists research this subject. In this regard, I believe the following account is most appropriate, so I run it here.

Hand of Salvation Immediately Before Surgery

 Yoshio Iseri (34), Kōhō Grand Church
Kengunchō 6000, Kumamoto City

     In 1944, I came down with pleurisy and afterward, once in 1947 and once in 1950, during one set period, every time there was a recurrence, the progress of the disease accelerated, and when it recurred at the end of 1950, I was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. It came to be that I would be hospitalized in July of 1951 for surgery.
     A most fervent atheist, the first time I heard about World Messianity, I was not merely doubtful, I absolutely did not think that any such thing was possible. But, it was so enthusiastically recommended to me that I postponed going into the hospital for about a week to ten days. I thought that I would try it out and go for Johrei, believing that in the time I was going, the faults would certainly be exposed. I received Johrei every day. In accordance with the minister’s instructions, I immediately stopped following the regime of absolute rest and acted as I wanted to; quit taking PAS, para-aminosalicylic acid; and gave up the primarily meat diet that I had diligently been trying to follow and switched to a vegetable diet. At that time, my only perceptible symptom was a mild fever, so even after the week to ten-day period of carrying out such unscientific practices, I did not perceive any subjective symptoms. But it was indeed intriguing. From a medical standpoint, if I overdid myself after quitting the rest-cure regime plus not take nutritious food, my condition was supposed to worsen with mild fevers, headaches, dizziness, and my body overall, feeling weaker. Instead, on the second day, my complexion became better, my appetite increased, and after a week I felt remarkably energetic. That is when I thought that Johrei, which was administered only by a wave of the hand, was no joke.
     Another thing I did was read Meishu-sama’s many publications and transcriptions. In the beginning, I was merely astonished at his revolutionary peculiar views, and as regards politics which is of most concern to me (I work in the Kumamoto Prefectural Office), his opinions of politicians and his criticism of bureaucrats were what I expected a man of religion to expound, but I thought that his views of actual society were just empty theories. But when I thought over and over carefully about why these criticisms annoyed me, I realized they touched on places most sensitive to my position, and that he was directly addressing subjects with which most people do not concern themselves. While pondering such topics and reading his published essays and asking the minister various questions, I realized and understood that Meishu-sama not only teaches the highest levels of human morality on fields covering all aspects of society but he is also actually carrying them out. I also realized that Meishu-sama’s detailed analyses, all his own, of all aspects of politics, society, religion, medical science, philosophy, the arts, etc., were not the work of a mere human being.
     When I think about it, July 13, 1951, the day I was shopping in preparation for hospitalization could be called my day of rejuvenation, by what was indeed a close shave, to the world of divine light. It was exactly on the day of the Bon Festival—and I am sure this was the workings of my ancestors. If I had been hospitalized at that time, what would I be like now? Even if surgery had progressed and turned out as planned, I would be looking at half a year of absolute rest, a whole year of just lounging about, and even if I had been able to work again, I would be an unfit cripple, not knowing how I could begin again, living in fear as my life ended after only a very short time.
     In the three months since joining World Messianity, I cannot begin to measure how much my daily life has become brighter, more filled with peace of mind just since learning and understanding about the teaching of truth that disease is the function of purification. Until now, whenever my child came down with a cold, we all panicked, “Go to the doctor! If it isn’t cured right away what if it becomes pneumonia?” and other things such as “Hey, there’s a temperature!” “Your stomach aches? What did you eat?” and so forth. When I think of it now, it was all needless worry, worrying about bridges before coming to them. Moreover, I cannot but apologize deeply for living a little more than thirty years without believing in the actuality of God.
     As I look back upon this past, I am filled with deep emotion which is all thanks to Meishu-sama. I am resolved to be of help in whatever little way I can to repay by even one-millionths the vast, unbounded divine debt that I bear towards the sacred task of the construction of paradise on earth.

Treatment of Tuberculosis Through Faith, essay, page 26; testimonial, page 29; December 1, 1952
Testimonial also carried in some editions of Salvation for Americans, page 45, January 1, 1953
translated by cynndd

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“Eiyō,” the eighth chapter of Kekkaku Shinkō Ryōhō (Tuberculosis Treatment Through Faith), published on December 1, 1952, was never anthologized while Meishu-sama was alive but has appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference. It can be pointed out that although not labeled as such either by Meishu-sama or by subsequent editors, this essay is indeed part of a “testimonial critique,” that is, an essay in which Meishu-sama provides commentary on a testimonial.
     To wit, the first appearance of this testimonial in Sekai Meshiya Kyō publications immediately follows the chapter, “Nutrition” in Treatment of Tuberculosis Through Faith, page 26, December 1, 1952. Although not ostensibly explaining particular details about this testimonial, Meishu-sama does end the chapter with “In this regard, I believe the following account is most appropriate, so I run it here.” The second appearance of “Seikei Shujutsu Chokuzen ni Sukui no Mite” is in some editions, not all, of Salvation for Americans.

“Nutrition,” Religion and Science, 1955, page 22 (last two paragraphs are deleted and testimonial does not appear).