1. "My friend A has entered a new religion and now has problems. Could you come and counsel her".

She had had problems with her child and had gone and enquired at one of these new religions for its "effective remedy". They said "You and your child must wear this around your necks and you’ll be protected. If you drop it, it will lose its potency and you must come and get another one." So she paid for two($1000). She was also told "Please come for counselling", and it was recommended that she buy a charm with " light" inscribed on it ($400), and a small idol for $600 and a big one for $1000. "If you put these in your living room you’ll be blessed. The more money you spend, the more will come in" she was told.

After a while, one of them arrived, stood in the porch and said "Brrr...! as soon as I entered your house, I felt many evil spirits here. Firstly, your house has a toilet facing NE, which is always bad. If you don’t fix it up you’ll have a miscarriage". Because of that she became frightened to use the toilet.

"Your entrance has thirteen steps doesn’t it? That’s bad! It’s best to have that altered." But the flat was in a block and there was nothing she could do.

Then he asked "In which rooms do you all sleep at night?" When Mrs A explained she was told, "That’s no good. The children can’t sleep here. The father must sleep here, the mother here and the children over there." They changed all their sleeping arrangements.

After a while the person came back again. This time he spoke about the trees. "That tree is in the wrong spot in the garden, it’s best to replant it. And plant an omoto tree in the middle. Money will pour in, you know!" So Mrs A went and replanted the trees. The next time they came, they said "Because you are not looking after your ancestors your child will be cursed. Buy an altar and enshrine your ancestors. Lets see .... Because its this house spending $7 or 8000 is no good, one costing at least $20000 is necessary."

With this Mrs A finally realised something was wrong and weeping visited her friend.

The night I visited she was really upset. "I want to give it up but I’m afraid of the charms I have. I just don’t know what to do", she said. The charm she showed me was made of white paper squares 7 or 8 cm wide.

"Watch" I said as I started to open the charm and leaf through the papers one by one. Because it was made of many sheets it made a pile on the desk. The last piece had "light" written on it. "This is how it is made. Paper like this. Probably Kudzu paper. Tonight let me have this, tomorrow I’ll burn it". And I came home. The next morning early I burnt it and phoned Mrs A. "Good morning, how are you? Did anything happen last night".

"No, nothing."

"OK, well because I’ve already burnt that paper, don’t worry. If anyone suffers it will be me. Really there’s no chance that paper can put a spell on me."

"Thank you very much" she replied.

After this Mrs A took courage and told the religion she was pulling out and had had the charms destroyed. At that they told her "For doing that your bad luck will be fearful" and they said threateningly "Because your friend is a fanatic in another religion he won’t be cursed but you will be!”

2. Mrs B was also upset because of her child but had lost him in a fatal accident. He had been a difficult child and when she lost him, she was not sad. Seeking peace of mind she visited a fortuneteller who told her, "In your previous life as a young woman you caused great suffering to your parents because you wasted money. Your parents arranged for you to marry a clerk who was a good accountant, but because your wasteful living didn’t stop, eventually the shop went bankrupt and he committed suicide by throwing himself into the sea. In the present world he became your son in order to cause you to suffer."

What a strange story .... but what proof? she wondered. Mrs B felt she should comfort her son’s spirit so that her own might be comforted too. At this she cheered up.

You always hear this kind of story wherever you go. Especially recently there has been a resurgence of this and that god, this and that curse, which is enslaving a lot of people.

Japanese traditions

1. Curses to do with direction.
"There are demons in this house. I felt "Brrr" when I came in." Often this is said and many people move house because of it. If you say "Show me the proof of demonic activity" often they’ll say, "Look at the problems you have with your children."

But naughtiness in children maybe caused by the way they were treated when small, or family relationships or the influence of their friends. But even though a NE facing toilet may be dank smelling compared to a SW facing one, to make people think that their child will be cursed is really sick.

Mrs A lived in a ready built block of flats, the entrance faced north and the toilet was on the left so it faced - northeast. Because among the direction curses the worst is the NE it is called the devil’s door. Many people will even change house because they have incurred the wrath of the god of a particular direction. Indeed, people go as far as to say that because of the curse of devil’s door Napoleon suffered a thorough defeat when he went north. He was beaten, it is said, because Moscow is in the direction of "devil’s door" from Paris. However, Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow was inevitable because he lacked winter equipment — so one can hardly say it had anything to do with "devil’s door".

According to a book on fortunetelling (Analysis of superstition), Emperor Meiji denied devil’s door. The account continues"... .Devil’s door is a great evil and even if everybody in the world makes a taboo of it the Japanese should resolutely oppose this. This is because Japan is an NE to SW lying country (from Hokkaido to Okinawa). Even though in other countries devil’s door is not taboo, why is it so in Japan? People who live in Japan and at the same time say they believe in this superstition are stupid. If they say that devil’s door is the worst evil they can’t live in Japan!

Because Japan is a country facing devil’s door, people from Tokyo can’t go to Hokkaido with peace of mind. People from Hokkaido visiting Tokyo are OK but can’t return home!

In order to demolish superstitions like this it is necessary to think objectively.

2. Curse of the ancestors

Today in Japan all religions, no matter what, teach that you mustn’t neglect your ancestors. That’s OK, but for every little thing that happens, there are people who brandish the curse of the ancestors. They say, "Buy an altar, set up the grave" and cheat people of money.

Why has this happened? There are a number of reasons. But first let’s look at the Japanese view of death. In Japan it is thought that when a person dies the spirit leaves the dead body and becomes a ghost which lingers round the area. Therefore to pacify the spirit one must look after it and enshrine it. Spirits of those who are not looked after and who died unusually are thought to wander about and do harm.

In connection with this we must think of those who are the family founders. In Japan the existence of the altar and grave has great meaning. If one does not venerate these things one is called a "disrespectful rotter of a child" and is especially accused "if that’s so are you Japanese?". If one asks why are they so trifling, it has to do with the problem of religious service to ancestors. The altar and the grave show that the people who started the home have existence. You could say that we exist today because of our family ancestors. This is not a matter of belief but a fact. And because the people who started the home have died and exist as spirits, praise directed to the ancestors has become the symbol of their existence. In other words it has taken the shape of worship directed at the altar and grave.

Therefore it follows that rejecting altar worship is not simply rejecting idolatry but is thought of as denying the founders of the family and betrayal of one’s family. The feeling of religious service toward ancestors is an expression of thanks to those who’ve given us life. In 1613 the Tokugawa regime outlawed christianity, instituted Buddhism as the state religion and forced everyone to become Buddhists. Buddhism was used as a tool to suppress Christianity, those who neglected to worship their ancestors were taken for investigation and those who worshipped somebody other than Buddhism were made to suffer and were occasionally killed. Because this continued for 2 or 300 years, Japanese have accepted Buddhism uncritically and have come to worship their ancestors in the name of Buddhism even though this practice originally was unrelated to Buddhism. Worship of your ancestors is made a virtue and those who don’t are treated as heretics. And whenever anything happens it is urged "this is the curse of the ancestors. Buy an altar... .repair the grave".

At this point it is necessary to try and think. The duty of parents is to bring up their children. Parents surely want the best for their children. Then why should these same parents (when dead) invoke curses and punishments on their children? It doesn’t make sense.

3. "Good and Bad Days"

Recently calendars which say things like "auspicious" (lit. great peace), "inauspicious" (lit. Buddha’s death) under the dates have been increasing. One of Japan’s traditions is the choosing of good and bad days which people then live by.

For example on an inauspicious day happy events, weddings etc will be avoided. On a good day ("pulling friends") you won’t have a funeral (because you can’t "pull your friend" out of death). They will choose an auspicious day for leaving hospital and buying a new car etc. But it’s not just a matter good and bad days, other "days" arise too. 1 Jan (New Years Day) 1988 was a Buddhas death day. About this day it is said "Everything is a calamity. All evil will coincide". But people then said "Congratulations" (because it was New Year) and the whole country was chattering away. The 2nd was "Great Peace Day", 3rd was "Red Month Day", 4th was "Before Victory Day", 5th was "Pulling Friends Day", 6th was "Before Defeat Day" and the 7th was "Buddhas Death Day again etc.

"Before Victory" is lucky in the morning, unlucky in the evening. "Before Defeat" is unlucky in the morning but lucky in the evening. "Pulling Friends" is lucky in the evening. "Great Peace" is lucky the whole day. This is the only day you can relax. "Red Month" is lucky in the middle, the morning is bad, a day you must keep your wits about you!

Because these days recur in cycles, it is impossible for those who believe in them strictly to put together any long term plan. Despite this special events can only be performed on certain days. People say it must be a "great Peace Day" and not a Buddhas Death Day". It’s weird.

Firstly although the same sun shines with the same light over all the earth, one is saying that only Japan receives special light! This is nothing but superstition. Human life is short and so each and every day is so important we can’t neglect it.

4. "Good and Bad Years"

Years are also designated good and bad, and are called after 12 animals in order e.g. "rat, cow, tiger ... etc". The person born in the year of the tiger is supposed to be brave, but what of the person born in the year of the sheep?! Among these years is HINQEUMA. Women born in this year are not allowed to be married, and the percentage of births in these years drops significantly. Children born in this "bad" year, with their small class sizes at school probably do well at their studies!

Also there is another year. It concerns males of 25 and 42, and females of 19 and 33 years old. There is the custom of having to behave with discretion and attending shrines etc. People at these ages are supposed to cause lots of trouble to others. Either side of this calamity year you have "Before Calamity and After Calamith, so it is a set of 3 years. This business about picking up calamity and distributing it is another crazy story.

Because these years have years before and after they come in groups of three. Therefore if you put together these so- called Calamity years, you’d have to be 102 or 103 before they don’t effect you. This is because each year ends up as a calamity year! Maybe some people spend their lives earnestly thinking of these things. However, it is not right for us to be bound by the curse of these years. Also this is not solved by paying money or attending shrines.

5. Reincarnation In Japan there is belief in the transmigration of the soul and it is thought that people are reincarnated. For example there are many who believe in the second story given at the beginning of this book. In the theory of reincarnation there is the principle of cause and effect (good cause — good effect, bad cause - bad effect). If you are bad, in the next life you’ll be born as something bad.

A certain person has killed an animal. Those who believe in karma said "Because you did that you will be reborn as an animal." If those who kill animals become them, then what happens to those who kill people?! If you think a little about the transmigration of the soul theory you realise how strange it is.

Besides this there are innumerate superstitions questioning this name or that date of birth. Many people are held captive because "this is a spell" or "that is magic". Wanting to be protected from disaster and seeking happiness they become bound hand and foot, which far from being a solution causes them to be enmeshed in various problems.

The other day I had the opportunity to hear how some people were delivered from a certain new religion. I had wrongly thought that they were bound by the organisation. But I found out that rather than the organisation they had been taken in by what they had been taught and while being dissatisfied were scared and unable to break away. People by the very traditions that promised them happiness instead are ensnared and brought into suffering.

Release From Tradition

Now how can one be freed from these traditions? I heard about a merchant who long ago tried to increase his sales of spices. And this is the inside story of how he did. Apparently he tried various things, and expended a lot of effort, studied much and tried various ideas. In the end what did he do? He widened the diameter of the opening of his spice bottles. The wider the opening the more was used. A change in thinking was necessary.

Likewise in order to be set free from old traditions and to be liberated it is necessary to change our thinking.

1. What is man?
With scientific progress man is starting to reach out into space. But if asked where did you come from? Where are you going? What is the meaning of living? is there life after death? Science can’t provide an answer. As it has always been, old traditions are being made to flourish even in this age of scientific progress. Shouldn’t man earnestly investigate what man is himself?

Firstly let’s think about man’s makeup. Man is made up of a body and a soul. The body consists of about 30 basic elements and is splendidly put together. This body houses the soul which directs the body’s activity. Now who constructed the body, and created the soul?

People say "we came from nature". There is no way. No matter how minutely a machine is made it doesn’t surpass the ability of the human foot. When I looked into the structure of the human body I was truly moved. I came to know the structures enabling the ears to hear and the eyes to see and to know the quality of sound and light. Whoever measured the sound and constructed the tiny ear boxes, whoever was it who knew the quality of light and created the retina and put together the light cells? I can find out the answer in the Bible.

"Who was it who planted the ear? Does he not hear?" Who created the eye? Does he not see?" Ps 94:9

The point is our eyes are made by one who has the ability to see and our ears by one who can hear.

Now who is that? Is it the ancestors of the family? No it is not. I have 2 children but I did not make them. Within my body is the built-in ability to produce children.

The Bible also says. "You made my internal organs, in my mother’s womb you put me together. You have done such wonderful things to me it is fearful. You know my soul perfectly. I have been made in secret, contrived in the earth’s depths. The structure of my bones was not hidden to you. Your eyes saw me when I was a baby in the womb, all was written in your book. Days have been made for me, not one was left out. Ps 139:13-16.

In this passage who is the "you" who made me in my mother’s womb? Because it says "in my mother’s womb" it’s not my mother. Here "you" means "the Creator Lord of heaven and earth." The Creator put us together in our mother’s womb. This person has made us in his own image. The Almighty, all knowing creator concentrated his own wisdom and his power to make man. And he included the power to reproduce children.

Man is not an accident. He is the most noble work of God’s power and knowledge. The originators of life were not the founders of our families. Human life is given, taken and destined by God.

Next let’s think about death. It changes your life to find out about God. "That curse, this spell" loses its power. When you are in a relationship with the God who made you, gave you life and rules the world he created, it intensifies your life. And also you come to understand about death. Death is the separation of body and soul.

"You (Creator) speak and make man return to the dust. "Children of men return"" Ps 90:3. God who gave the spirit to the body causes it also to separate. "Dust returns and the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Eccl 12:7.

The disembodied spirit returns to God who provided it in the first place, and is kept until the final judgement. It doesn’t wander around this present world.

The one who we should thank and worship first and foremost, is the creator who created this world and gave us life and preserves us. God also made the ancestors. Created man shouldn’t take the place of God. We should not seek our final position in the "house" rather we should seek it in the hands of the life giving creator.

2. What is Nature?
Rather than the works of a creator, the Japanese think of nature as a god’s self manifestation. In other words the unwise is thought of as God. And when people die it is thought that they become one with this god or this universal spirit. But I believe the teaching of the Bible which says that this universe is a handiwork of God’s.

In the universe the 2nd law of thermodynamics operates, and available energy with the passage of time decreases. This law is also called the law of entropy and there is evidence that, together with the passage of time, order in the universe breaks down and disorder increases.

Now at one time this existing universe was created from without with intense energy and order and come into existence. Within the universe the law of entropy has been built in to operate, and it is impossible by its own strength to increase its own energy. So it follows that this universe also like ourselves was finely made and is preserved by an almighty creator.

3. The break in relationship
People, while saying that if you don’t worship your ancestors you’ll be punished, do not worship the creator who made them all (including their ancestors), and they even deny his existence. The creator is he who made our every hair and fingernail and to keep us alive graciously provided us with our environment, water, light, air and every bit of food. To deny the existence of this person is to break the relationship. If we think we’d like to be released from problems and suffering, then rather than trusting in various traditions we should of first importance correct our relationship to the creator and Ruler of all.

How then are we able to correct this broken relationship with our Creator.

1. Why is the relationship broken? It is necessary to make sure that we know the reason. The Bible says that it was because man lost the purity that he had when he was created. God made man pure like himself.

Just like when a single worm enters a cup of water and pollutes all the water so even a little envy, pride, hatred in the heart pollutes it. A person with an impure heart is an impure person.
 

Human Heart

During peace the sinful elements rest at the bottom.  During testing the sinful elements fly around

2. What shall we do? No matter how well a person who doesn’t have a licence drives, if he drives he
commits a crime. Likewise human beings who are corrupt on the inside produce actions that are
also corrupt. Whatever we do, there can’t be anybody who pleases God.

"Because by the works of the law shall no one be justified before God. By the law (the Creator’s required actions) comes consciousness of sin." (Rom 3:20). No matter how much money is given, and even if fallen man offers his life, it’s no good. It is because the whole life and soul is polluted.

The Bible says that man is under the wrath and judgement of the Creator.

Now if a person even by offering his life cannot restore his relationship with God, solving his problem by his own power is impossible. Then, what can one do? If it is impossible by our own power we have no choice but to trust in the power of another.

In order to restore the relationship with our Creator it is necessary to offer a life as pure as in the beginning when it was made without sin. Yet there is no one among men who has a pure life like this. Due to this, the love of God has moved into action. (It’s a mistake to start from "love" when trying to understand the Creator. One should start with goodness and purity).

God by the miracle of the virgin birth of his own Son became a man. This was Jesus Christ. This pure person gave his life on the cross. The cross means 2 things. One is that He offered a pure life, the other is that He became our substitute and took the wrath of God on himself. The offering was not flowers, incense or an expensive altar but the pure life of Jesus Christ. "Be reconciled to God (the Creator). God (Creator), in our place made him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin (impurity). So that we, in Him (Jesus Christ) might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor 5:20,21.

In order to restore the relationship with the Creator who gives man life and gives happiness, suffering, money, water, flowers etc are of no avail. The only way is by offering a pure life. That offering is Jesus Christ.

Therefore Jesus Christ is the only offering which is able to restore the broken relationship between man and his Creator. The Bible says, "God (Creator is one. Also there is only one Mediator (a person who pacifies anger) between God and man. This is Christ (Saviour) Jesus who became a man" 1 Timothy 2:5.

Trusting in this person to be our mediator is our only hope. Let’s pray "Please be my mediator". By Christ’s death all curses are solved and disappear. It’s no longer necessary to worry about spells and superstitions. When we receive this person as our own saviour, we are able to have His solution for ourselves. From then on things that happen to us are not curses. Rather all that happens to us comes from the hand of God an so it is training.

""The Lord disciplines his loved ones and chastises all the children he receives" Think of it as discipline and endure. Afterward it bears the fruit of peaceful righteousness in those who have been trained by it." Heb 12:6—11.

Try to find the Creator who commands you, who causes you to live. And so that you can get right with him, pray to the propitiation for our sins: Jesus Christ "Please be my substitute (Saviour)".

By this we will be released from tradition. God will be on the side of those who pray like this. May you have the peace of God through Jesus Christ