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     Previously, I have written on happiness and good fortune, but the more I observe society today, the number of unfortunate people is just so great that I decided to discuss the topic again even more thoroughly. Needless to say, since antiquity there is most likely no problem so intractable for human beings as misfortune. It is probably inevitable that from the time they become aware of the world until the day they die no one can escape from thinking about fortune. It seems to be a given in the world that the more one wants to understand an issue, the harder it becomes to understand. There could be nothing as satisfying if one could understand even only a little. Happily, however, I have come to clearly understand the fundamentals of this issue. Not merely understand, from practical experience, I know there is not even a little error in my understanding, so I explain here with confidence.
     As all are well aware, even to discuss fortune, there is probably no topic so beyond grasp, so vague and extensive. When one is in a hopeless situation, there is nothing but to entrust the situation to others, and such could probably be called fortune. The person who said “Life is a great gamble” was quite apropos. Regardless of greatness or importance, individuals may be resigned to some situation although they cannot figure out its cause which is probably why these types of situations are called human destiny. In this situation, activities are initiated with the one thought that good fortune must be grasped somehow or another. Probably it is this that is called life where non-existent wisdom is exercised, and life ends with desires and ambitions remaining to be fulfilled. Thus, there is nothing as ironical as fortune. The more one tries to catch it, the more it gets away. The Western proverb, “Seize good fortune by the forelock, not seized, it is lost forever,” is precisely to the point.
     Throughout my experiences over many years, I continually seemed to be teased by that guy called luck. When I thought I could easily grasp him, I could not. He seemed to be right out in front of me, but when I put my hand out to take him, he just slipped away. The more I tried to chase him, he was quickly away, definitely an oddball with whom difficult to deal. And yet, finally I was able to take hold securely of this guy named luck. An explanation of how I was able to get hold of good fortune might be easy for my followers to understand, but members of the general public will find it taxing. That point is that they look at the surface of things and do not see the inside, the contents. Nay, the contents do not even appear. But as far as fortune is concerned, its roots lie entirely in the contents, so if this point is not understood, grasping good fortune is not possible. Think about it. When individuals move their physical bodies, it is not the physical that directs the movement, it is the heart, the mind, which is the contents, that does the moving, and so with good fortune as well, it is the contents that is essential. I will set out the reasons for this.
     To begin, let’s expand the analogy above. That is, the surface of things is the present physical world. The contents is the world of invisible space, the world of mind, heart, and spirit. This is the composition of the whole wide world, and it is the way it was fashioned by the Creator. Thus, as the heart or mind moves the physical body, so does the world of spirit move the physical world. In every thing, the spiritual world predominates, and the physical world is subordinate, so even in the case of fortune, it is sufficient to have one’s fortune change for the better in the spiritual world, as it reflects as is to the physical, and one naturally becomes an individual of good fortune.
     Let me describe the spiritual world in a bit more detail. The spiritual world consists of levels more strict and impartial than those of the physical world. It has one hundred and eighty levels, upper, middle, and lower, divided into three stages. Of course, the upper levels are heaven; the lower, hell; and the middle, intermediate stages that correspond to the physical world.
     When this organization is explained, people nowadays find it difficult to believe at first, but God has informed me in detail about this composition, and through a long period of practical experience with the connections between the spiritual and physical worlds, I have come to understood this relationship thoroughly, and there is not one jot of error. Why I can declare so is because the number of those who believe this principle and have put it into practice is immeasurable, and I myself am one of that immeasurable number.
     When I step back and observe myself objectively, I know right away. I am in extremely happy circumstances. To show why I am happy, let me explain the levels and stages mentioned previously. As I have described in other places, the physical body of the human being is in the physical world, and its spirit is in the spiritual world, so of those one hundred and eighty levels, one’s spirit will be on one of them. Something like a registration or membership. This registration, however, is not fixed, it is constantly moving up or down, and fate accompanies this movement, so individuals should aim and strive to attain the higher levels as much as possible. Needless to say, the lower levels swarm in all forms of suffering that of course include disease, poverty, conflict, hosts of evil spirits, scandalous pandemonium, blackness, and darkness. In contrast, the more one moves upward, the better one becomes, an ideal condition of Buddha-field-like peace and bright promise, health, prosperity, and peace. The intermediate levels come in between the two extremes.
     As outlined above, it is all so obvious that as the registration of the spiritual body in the spiritual world reflects to the physical and becomes one’s fate, the position or location of the spirit is fundamental to good fortune. The best example of this is when we observe the reality of society. Those who find success are envied by the general public, and just when they become complacent about their success, experience failure and fall, finding themselves back where they were before. They experience such because they do not know of the composition of the world and depend only on human energy, plus, because they have made others suffer and have pushed themselves too much, even if they have succeeded on the surface only, their spirit has fallen into hell, thus according to the law that spirit precedes physical, their fate turns out that way. And, spirit, as does the physical, carries weight. The heavier the weight, the more one sinks to hell; the lighter, the more one rises toward heaven. The age-old expression “the weight of sin” is apt. With evil acts, the cloud on the spirit becomes heavier, and with acts of good, cloud becomes lighter and the spirit rises. Therefore, human beings should abstain from evil, try not to commit evil, as much as possible do good for which the spirit becomes lighter, and this is the key to good fortune. As this is truth, I declare that there is no other path to good fortune. Even so, the logic is understandable but rather difficult to put into practice. Still, there is an easy way to do so. This easy way is faith, and those who would like to attain good fortune should first of all enter a life of faith.

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“Kōun no Hiketsu,” which was published in Eikō, Issue 246, February 3, 1954, appeared too late to be included in any of the Japanese-language anthologies that were published immediately preceding or following Meishu-sama’s death but a translation did appear in the English version of The Glory in June 1955 and later in the English version of Sekai Meshiya Kyō Hayawakari as a substitute for the chapter “Dōri ni Shitagau.” A Guide to World Messianity appeared in printed form in August of 1955, so the translation and publication of both The Glory and A Guide to World Messianity must have been started while Meishu-sama was still alive. In addition to The Glory and A Guide to World Messianity translations, “Kōun no Hiketsu” exists in other translations. Citation is given below for reference.

“Way to Happiness,” The Glory, Number 007, June 15, 1955.

“Way to Happiness,” A Guide to World Messianity, 1955, page 24.

“Way to Happiness,” Teachings of Meishu and Kyoshu, no date, page 13.

“Secret of Good Fortune,” Fountain of Paradise, 1984, page 279.

“Secret of Good Fortune,” Teachings of Meishu-sama, Volume Four, 2007, page 35.