Realization of Truth
A religion's principal objective should be the realization of Truth.
What is Truth? It is Nature itself in its pure and unadorned state: The sun always rises
in the east and sets in the west; all those born into this world must meet the fate of
death someday. As the Buddha taught, "All living things must die; those who meet
must part." Every man exists physically by breathing, eating and drinking. These are
self-evident facts, but humanity has become so confused I must speak of them.
When we look at the abominable conditions—conflict, crime, confusion, disorder—
pervading every area of society, we cannot help realizing that there exist greater
conditions of unhappiness than of happiness. The basic cause of this state of affairs,
the ultimate reason, lies in the fact that man has drifted—and continues to drift—
away from Truth. Moreover, he remains unaware of this.
Why is man so confused? He has lost sight of Truth, partly because he is so involved
with the problems of everyday living he has little time to give thought to the matter.
To this day, religion itself has been unable to give a clear picture of Truth because its
own vision has been too limited. Efforts have been made, of course, but in the main,
religion has offered pseudo-truths, believing them to be Truth itself. Man would not
have drifted into his current depths of distress if religion had been able to offer clear
revelation of Truth, and paradise on earth might even have been realized to some
degree by now.
The time has come, however, when the great love of God will be manifested. God has
given me His revelation, has chosen me to explain Truth, and now uses me to bring
about its realization. Since my teachings are Truth itself and are being brought forth in
a form that is easily understood, if approached with interest and attention, without
prejudice, Truth will be vividly realized within the sincere seeker.
To give some familiar examples, man is very susceptible to sickness because his way of
living has deviated from Nature. For the same reason, he has been unable to eradicate
his disease. People complain of bad administration, demoralization of thought,
increase of crime. They suffer from man's deviation from Truth. If he was living in
accord with the laws of Nature, as long as his desires continued to be right and good,
everything would work out as he wished, for this is the way God created human
society. Herein lies the possibility of the realization of paradise on earth that I
advocate.
2
Some may think that what I advocate is strange, but it is not strange; it is simple
common sense. The more my views are considered farfetched, the more proof there is
that the views of society are distorted.
God has given to man complete freedom of choice. His innate value and dignity lie in
this gift, which causes him to differ from animals. He is free to elevate himself and so
approach divinity, just as he is free to lower himself to the level of a beast. Under
normal conditions, man is at neither extreme but is somewhere between.
Furthermore, through his own choice and efforts, man can make this world into a total
paradise or an absolute hell. Unless he is completely possessed by an evil spirit, it
stands to reason that he prefers paradise. It can therefore be concluded that man's
ultimate goal is the establishment of paradise on earth and the realization of Truth is
the sole path to this goal.
Since the realization of Truth is the essential mission of religion, I am doing my utmost
by teaching Truth through both oral and written words, by living Truth myself, by
totally occupying myself each day in efforts to awaken the entire world to Truth.
July 16, 1949