SHUMEI MAGAZINE. Vol. 243. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2003

Rekindling the Fire of the Heart
Lothar Rapior (Frankfurt)

On December 31, 2002 I had the opportunity to visit Misono for the very first time in my history with Shumei. As it was not planned to happen in the year 2002, it was not on my mind. Unforeseeable as it was, how it came about after all was like a miracle to me. Personally, I am sure that Meishusama had a helping hand in all of this.

    On November 28, 2002 my company (Lufthansa) informed me I was to go to Seoul, Korea, on December 31 and I thought, "This is so close to Japan, so close to Misono, I would rather go there." It was a little miracle that I met a colleague who was scheduled to fly to Osaka; he did not want to go there, and lo and behold, we were able to exchange flights.

    The Frankfurt Seagulls, Seiji Tajima and Shige Yamakata, organized my visit to Misono. After arriving at the Osaka Hilton, I took a four-hour rest before Akira Hashiguchi of the Misono International Department came to pick me up. It had been 20 years since I was in Osaka last and I could see that the city had changed a lot. The greatest helping change for me as a foreigner is the English-written names of the train stations. No more need to ask, "Excuse me, where is…." This also eliminates the experience of being sent in all four directions by very friendly Japanese people.

    Changing trains in Ishiyama, we went on to Seta where Victor, the head of the International Department, came to pick us up. As it was dark by then, I had no idea what the landscape looked like.

    Many people had arrived at Misono for the occasion of the New Year, I mean busloads of them, but checking in was a quick affair. Akira took me to have my first meal in Japan on this trip and it was delicious. Being a vegetarian in Japan is a bit of a challenge, as seemingly everything contains fish or meat, but the kitchen staff at Misono managed very beautifully—thank you.

    Living in 5-star hotels all around the world all year makes moving into a room at Misono a special experience. Three different pairs of slippers are the first learning challenge. There is no furniture in the room except for one little table, but everything is impeccably clean. Akira created the bed, and when I looked out the window into the dark I could only see the shadow of pine trees, still not knowing what the view would be like. Only the daylight of the next morning would reveal that to me.

    Oh yes, I had to learn when to bow where in Misono, so many places and so many reasons to bow. I must say, at the end of my two-day visit my body was quite flexible.

    The first part of the New Year program was the Purification. On the way to Meishusama Hall we passed the waterfall [called the Cascade], and that was very impressive at night; washing hands and rinsing of the mouth before entering a sacred space I already knew about from my visits to the Pasadena Center.

    Suddenly, there at the end of the open square was Meishusama Hall. Man, I was so surprised. I thought to myself, "It is so huge !!!" I learned how to walk into that Hall, when to take off which cloth and how to cover the shoes (yes, now I am a proud owner of Japanese cover shoes). Thousands of Shumei members were filing down the stairs to put away their coats—with yet another bow—and changing shoes to slippers when in the restroom (they keep you quite busy, I must say). Before we went up the other stairs, I saw this beautiful statue made of black stone. Akira said that Kaicho-Sensei had encouraged everybody to touch it. I immediately knew why. In India, where my spiritual teacher lives and where I spend a lot of time, black stone statues are very common and very important. Blackstone statues have the ability to absorb the negative energies of either the onlooker or the person touching. What a great insight of Kaicho-Sensei to ask everyone to touch it (letting go of stress and negative energies) before going upstairs to meet Meishusama (nobody told me that I would). Everything is so very organized and not one person is complaining when, for instance, being asked to sit somewhere else (try this in Europe or the U.S.).

    I had no idea what to expect when I lifted my head after bowing it. I thought I would see the Holy Scroll of Light, but there he stood, and I thought, "How did he walk in?" There stood the full-size statue of Meishusama. Once again I was reminded of India. In the ashram of my teacher, Swami Kaleshwar, there is a beautiful life-size statue of his master, Shirdi Sai Baba. These life-size statues have the tendency to become alive (in an energetic way), which to a western mind is pure nonsense, but to a person with an open heart it is clearly obvious why this is so. I had to smile, and I utterly enjoyed the whole program from that moment on even more.

    For my next visit to Misono I now know how to plan my Otamagushi [voluntary offering of a financial donation or work]. Akira is a beautiful teacher in explaining all the ways of Misono, and that includes the science of Otamagushi (I can be such an ignorant westerner at times!).

    After a break we went for the main New Year's program. Sitting in the first row I could see how accurately the offerings were brought and placed. Can somebody please explain to me the meaning of holding two sticks and bowing and putting them back into the belt, only to pull them out again and bow again, in-between the placing of the offerings?

    There she was, Kaicho-Sensei, sitting in her chair and later singing the New Year chant. We all chanted Amatsunorito and Zengensanji and Kaicho-Sensei gave us Jyorei. She gave her New Year speech, and she was beaming with a huge bright face and big-time love.

    How much time does it take some 6000 Japanese people to leave Meishusama Hall, and how much time would it take anywhere else on this planet (try Egypt for a change!)? Amazing, the discipline! We all left the Hall and filed up in front of the Daikoku Temple and again we lowered our heads and the walls came down (Jericho?). [The heavy bronze doors of the Daikoku pagoda are opened when a scheduled chanting takes place there.] Kaicho-Sensei led all of us in chanting Amatsunorito for material well-being.

    Next was the amazing fire. I just got to the top of the heavenly stairs when the fire was lit. From small to blazing, the fire element rose, moving through a myriad of figures as it first consumed the stick of wood from Kaicho-Sensei, to be followed by the many thousands of sticks and pieces of wood from others, symbolic of last year's memories.

    In India we directly work with the Five Elements: Earth, Fire, Sky (Akasha), Water, and Air. The fire at Misono was something else. It was so alive, and all these people with their sticks were waiting. Sticks came flying from all directions, and some daring young men were dashing close to the fire to pick up those sticks that went too far or not far enough. In this way, everybody's wishes were well taken care of.

    Throughout, the taiko drum music filled the very cold air. The stars were shining and there was cold and hot sweet sake. I did not know how much I should drink, as I was still to have an official meeting with the head of the Natural Agriculture Department, Deguchi Sensei, and I did not want to be too sake-happy meeting him.

    We had our meeting and talked about possible EU-projects, and the meeting lasted until 3 A.M. I was ready for a good night's sleep, and after my night meditation I blissfully fell asleep. "Hey, what is going on here?" I asked myself, being confused and startled awake by an announcement in Japanese which I, of course, did not understand. Well, this is Misono and there are many announcements to be heard. OK, I surrendered and used my being awake to do the morning meditation.

    For breakfast, I met with Tony Sensei. He had just returned from Spain where he had visited Barcelona, and he was still glowing with praise for the art and the treasures he found there.

    Again, Akira took me to Meishusama Hall, and again some five thousand Shumei members passed the beautiful waterfall [the Cascade is the lovely area where water flows over granite walls into a still pool, where hands and mouths are purified prior to entering Meishusama Hall]. Not many people get to take part in two New Year ceremonies and I was very lucky to have a night and a day version, with Kaicho-Sensei reading her Message for the New Year. Right after that, Akira took me to the meeting room to meet with Kaicho-Sensei and there, in a beautiful red room, I had a wonderful meeting with our President.

    Do miracles ever end in Misono? After this meeting and some lunch, Akira took me to the offices to meet everybody working there, and then the leader of the Shumei Taiko Ensemble, Shimizu-San, took us to the Miho Museum. Although it was closed for the winter, I was invited to come and visit it by its Curator, Mr. Kaneko. Shumei is truly blessed with this Museum, and having all the Museum to myself was awesome. I could especially relate to the pieces from Egypt as I conduct tours to that country and visit it once a month. (One day I would like to take Shumei members to visit that amazing, historic country.) The exhibit of the Buddhas seems to be inviting us to spend time in that room and meditate. We had very intense discussions about the various art pieces. I know that I will return there for more exploring and inspiration.

    Less than 18 hours after this visit I was back on the plane on my way to Germany, where the next exciting event was awaiting me, the enshrinement of the Holy Scroll of Light in Berlin at the home of Annah Kampmann.

    And so the rekindling of the heart takes all these different forms, and that is truly exciting. Thank you God, thank you Kannon, thank you Meishusama, thank you Kaicho- Sensei, thank you Akira and everybody at Misono. Thank you Swami for all your love and guidance.

back