Great Construction

Regarding Atheism

     Ordinarily, when writing about atheism, it is standard to advance the argument on religious grounds, but I will not touch on religion at all, and write from the standpoint of I myself as an atheist. In that vein, to begin with, when human beings are born, they immediately begin to receive from the mothers that bore them flowing in copious amounts milk which is required for their upbringing. Babies steadily develop, and when their teeth begin to appear, parents bring them food that they can eat. Thus, human beings gradually develop until they become independent persons. In the course of living, as regards to the essential item of food, various sorts of flavors are contained within foods and within the tongue of human beings are gustatory nerves that provide pleasure while individuals receive the amount of calories they require. Among the pleasures of human beings, the king of pleasures is surely food and eating. As human beings take in food, they steadily grow, as well as develop their brains through schooling to get to the point where they can be independent beings and are able to work. At this stage, various desires come forth. Aspects ranging from intelligence, superiority, competitiveness, and self-improvement to the physical side such as enjoyment, pleasure, and love come to the consciousness. Thus are mixed and balanced reason and emotion, in which all the conditions for high-level living organisms are supplied to experience suffering and pleasure as they swim in society. Here I have dealt in general terms about the route of the human being from birth to adulthood, and next I would like to make some observations on the world of nature.
     Belittling the obvious, between the heaven and earth are the heavenly bodies, the heat and cold of climate, rains and winds, various types of natural phenomena with and without form that through the power of nature give birth and nurture all things that have a direct connection to human beings, such as animals, flora, and minerals. This is the form and substance of our world as it is. When we put aside all our accumulated intelligence and preconceived ideas, make our mind a clean slate, and look objectively at that world, and if we are not completely insensitive individuals, we should be at a loss for words, overwhelmed by how intriguing it all is. In all respects the only adjectives available are profound and unfathomable. In which case, many probably can not help but think by whom, why, for what intent was this wonderful world created? When the eternal limitlessness of the heavens are observed, impossible to understand is its extent. Then again, what is the center of this planet earth like? The high temperatures of the heat of the sun, the coldness of the moon, the number of stars, the weight of the earth, the depths of the oceans, and so forth are all beyond measure. The more one thinks about it, words fail to describe the mystical and mysterious nature of it all. In addition, how long will continue the precise movement of the heavenly bodies, the distinction of night and day, the changes of seasons, the number of 365 days in a year, the unstopping evolution of all in creation; will they all continue infinitely and forever? Other topics such as limits to the increase of population or the future of the planet earth and such are all inexplicable, anybody’s guess.
     As described above, all flows quietly, steadily without even one millimeter of deviation nor one moment of delay. But be that as it may, for what reason was one born? What is one supposed to do? How long can one live? Does one become nothing at death? Or does one go to live in an unknown realm called the spiritual world? And there are even more questions. The more one thinks about these questions, the less one understands. None of these issues has a plain answer. Buddha says that in the fruit is emptiness and in emptiness is the fruit, the earth and heavens are obscure, vast, infinite, and boundless, that there are no other words to describe reality. To uncover this reality, human beings for the past thousands of years have used every method, creating fields of study dedicated to the pursuit of learning, but so far only a small tip of reality has been uncovered, and most still remains a puzzle. In which case, the knowledge of human beings as regards to nature is but a drop in the bucket. This is the emptiness and desolation described by Buddha. But the arrogance of human beings is flagrant, and efforts to subjugate nature as galling as they are are nothing other than the actions of fools who do not know the extent of their conceit. Thus the most advisable goals for human beings are to know themselves, to follow nature, and to bathe in its blessings.
     In this world of entirely no understanding, however, there is only one thing that is clear. What is clear is the question of who created and is freely manipulating this wonderful world. When we try to imagine who might this be, it would be along the lines of, in the case of a family, the master of the house; or, of a nation-state, the sovereign or president. This great world of ours as well should not be able to make due without a main figure or character. There is no way that we cannot escape the conclusion that this figure or character is X who is referred to as a divinity under different names.
     In this sense, if there were no X, no God, there would not be all we see, touch, and feel. Neither would there even be atheists. There should be nothing as clear as this point. Someone who does not understand this point would be only an animal. That is because animals have neither will, thought, nor intelligence. There are no other words to describe the phenomenon of understanding nothing than “a human being in the shape of an animal.” Good evidence exists for this assertion. It is easily observable in the criminal born of atheistic thought whose mentality and behavior is mostly animalistic. Therefore, extracting this animalism from animalistic human beings and creating an advanced human being is my mission whose basic provision is the destruction of thought that believes there is no God. My task is the transformation of human beings. 

 Eikō, Issue 242, page A1, January 6, 1954
translated by cynndd

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“Mushinron ni Tsuite,” originally published on the front page of Eikō, Issue 242, January 6, 1954, and reprinted while Meishu-sama still alive in the essays anthology for the general public Tengoku no Fukuinsho (Gospels of Heaven), page 39, August 25, 1954, has appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.

“Atheism,” Foundation of Paradise, 1984, page 40.

“Atheism,” A Hundred Teachings of Meishusama, no date, page 23.