223. Fearing no devil, walk towards the right Divine path. Him who takes the correct path God will protect as a fellow-traveller.
224. Even if the sun were to rise in the west or the sun and the moon were to fall from the sky, this teaching and God’s favour would remain imperishable.
225. Man, living in this world like a short-lived flower, cannot but fall at some time. Man is such that he must fall once in the fierce wind. Although old, he is not old; although young, he is not young: no one knows when he will die. So ephemeral is human destiny. May all of you, then, carry out your faith with full care. Visit the garden of the Divine realm where it is always spring, with flowers in full bloom and fruits never falling.
226. Perfect your faith with all your heart and with all your strength. Whether you die sooner or later, the place where you go will be one of two: one is the Divine realm, full of eternal prosperity and joy, the other is the abysmal realm, full of suffering and ruin.
227. The favour of God, who is the Master of the universe, is limitlessly vast. He constantly endows our hearts with the abundant pure spirit or naohi, so that we may shine and be cleansed of our countless profound sins.
228. If you repent and wish to improve yourself, you are already favoured by God. May he who drowns in sins take the ship of salvation as soon as possible and reach the shore of the Divine realm. Be sure not to miss the ship of salvation through negligence: may you not gnash your teeth in regret.
229. God, the most compassionate and the most loving, endows every human heart with naohi so that humans may examine themselves, drive away malicious spirits and open to themselves the door of the Divine realm. Thus does God constantly protect the life of every human being.
230. Yet despite this, human beings defile their naohi through self-love, and God, taking pity on them, has sent down from heaven the Spirit of Mizu as saviour, with kind words of persuasion to enable them to make their naohi pure once more. He who disregards God’s deep compassion becomes a serious sinner against God. May all take care, therefore.
231. He who believes in God, observes the teaching of the Spirit of Mizu and is solid in his conduct will never perish, but will be favoured with eternal life, tranquillity and joy.
232. The enchanter or devil always fears the light of God. It is afraid because the evil which is its substance is immediately exposed by that light. The Spirit of Mizu is a light which shines on devils.
233. The just gods love light and enjoy warmth. Devils, however, love darkness and are fond of cold.
234. The true and good God is full of virtue, which nurtures and nourishes everything in the world. Devils amuse themselves only by destroying and ruining everything.
235. God does not rejoice in one who serves Him having purified only his body, with however much water. He who believes that to serve God it is sufficient if only the heart is pure is also a false believer in God’s eyes. True faith is such that one should serve God having purified both heart and body.
236. Amenomanai, the pure spring of the realm of heavenly beings, is invisible to the eyes of ordinary humans; neither can they draw from it. The hypocrites in this world have no idea how to wash and purify themselves in its water. But he who follows God and the Spirit of Mizu can easily draw from the spring and bathe in it. Because this spring is the sacred pool of the realm of heavenly beings, he who does not purify his body and heart in its water is not allowed to go before God.
237. Washing in water makes the body healthy and the skin firm. It is the best of all for hygiene. Bathing in warm water is the best thing for removing dirt and odour from the body. He who serves God must remove the dirt of his body by washing in water and by bathing. But if he does not remove also the impurity of his heart he will not be able to bring joy to the heart of God. That which purifies the heart is the spring of the realm of heavenly beings.
238. Coming down from heaven, the Spirit of Mizu shows the affairs of heaven. But it is natural that human beings in the world cannot understand this. Little do they know the affairs on earth, where they dwell: even less so the sublime affairs of heaven.
239. The Spirit of Mizu is a true envoy of God. The desire to reach the Divine realm in heaven should be directed to the envoy from heaven. The true envoy or messenger of heaven is only one throughout all time. Besides this one, all who call themselves direct envoys are false. How can one be saved and brought to the side of God in heaven, asking a false envoy?
240. The Spirit of Mizu is the saviour who with his tears redeemed the human beings on earth from their various sins, taking the sins upon himself instead. In hell he redeemed the various spirits from their sins with his blood; and bearing the sins himself, he became their saviour. The God who opened the door of salvation, redeeming the sinners of the world, is the Spirit of Mizu; the God who forgives the sins is the Spirit of Izu. This applies only to the worlds which belong to the solar system, however: above this sits God, who makes the last judgement.
241. The true guide to the Divine realm is one and only, that is the Spirit of Mizu. Those who are led by a false guide will never be able to enter through the gate of the Divine city. Rather, they will wander into a thicket of thorns and their bodies will only be wounded and torn. For them there will be no escape from falling together into the ditch.
242. Although I show the holy work of God, presenting that which I have experienced through practice and seeing, the perverse people of this world do not accept this as the truth; rather do they doubt, contradict, and defy the Divine heart. Pity on them!
243. Yet it is natural that they fail to understand, because they try to interpret the words of the true Spirit, the words of the infinitely sublime and profound heart of God, with their own limited wisdom and reasoning.
244. When you pray to God, never repeat the same request. God dislikes above all those who ask immoderately.
245. When you recite Norito (words of prayer) of purification, you do not need to repeat the same request before God, because in it the various requests, large and small, are already sufficiently expressed: for the peace of the nation, to keep oneself and one’s house in order, to avoid misfortune and to wipe out sins.
246. Often to be found are those who are proud of the fact that they recite Norito fifty times in a single day. Far from praising such conduct, God reproaches it.
247. There is a religion that teaches that God is love. To be sure, God is He who has the deepest love. But God is not love only. If He were only love, that would mean that He would be the possessor only of Sachimitama (love). God is also wisdom, activity and harmony; that is, He is the complete possessor of the four spiritual qualities.
248. God loves not only human beings but all things; in the world there is nothing which does not receive God’s love.
249. God loves human beings especially deeply. Therefore you too must love God especially deeply and wholeheartedly.
250. Love of God should not be like the way human beings love their children, but must be love with respect and humility. It must be true love from the highest, purest and firmest heart.
251. God’s love is the true love. When you turn to God who is true love, you too should have true love.
252. The Divine teaching is pure and white like an egret or like the snow. It is colourless and unornamented; it is without lies, without fiction, without calumny and without insult. Know, therefore, that teachings which contradict this are not from the true God.
253. Do not ornament your words before the true God, who is unadorned. Do not say false things before God, who is without falsehood.
254. In the Divine realm there is a way changeless for eternity. This way is truth. Truth is quite straight and is like a rod of iron; it cannot be bent or twisted at will.
255. If, while the father accepts truth, the son does not follow him, however great the love between them may be, it must be subordinated to the way and to truth. In the world there exists nothing more important than truth.
256. When you accept truth, and also your enemy accepts it, even though your interests are incompatible, you must walk hand in hand in harmony.
257. When one twists truth because of one’s affection and love, the truth becomes their slave and the true path of God is ruined. On the Divine path one must not distinguish in one’s love between one’s own child and the children of others.
258. God’s activity, wisdom, love and harmony are in conformity with truth; they are not such as human beings imagine these to be. Even if because of truth the present order is broken, it cannot be avoided. Truth is more important than order.
259. The saviour does not suddenly descend from heaven. He appears from the lower classes, from the poor, in accordance with God’s will.
260. Generally, heroes arise from the lower classes, downtrodden and treated dishonourably. But because they are born according to God’s will they achieve renown and bring benefits to the world.
261. He who does not believe the Founder or the Leader because they are lower-class cannot be saved into the realm of heavenly beings.
262. Obedience to the Spirit of Mizu is the same as obedience to God. Learning the teachings of Mizu is the same as learning from God.
263. Defiance of the Spirit of Mizu is just the same as defiance of God; reviling him is the same as reviling God.
264. All human beings in the world are children of God. Good and evil alike are God’s children. The countless spirits in the material and spiritual worlds, too, are part-spirits of God, that is, they are children of God.
265. Respecting the heart (soul) more than the body (matter) is the beginning of good. He who makes treasures of his heart and of truth, therefore, is goodness itself and conforms to God’s heart.
266. Respecting the body more than the heart is the beginning of evil. He who makes treasures of his land and of his possessions, that is, of physical things, is evil itself and will fall into the abysmal realm.
267. That which one does for the world at large is good. That which one does only for one’s own profit is evil. He who accomplishes virtue with a just heart is good. He who does not perform just deeds, having an unjust heart, is evil. The good and the evil are equally God’s children.
268. A good person opens the door by himself to the realm of heavenly beings, full of beauty and prosperity. An evil person falls by himself into hell, full of ugliness and suffering.
269. Whether one is saved into the Divine realm or falls into the abysmal realm depends only on the good or evil of one’s own faith and conduct. The difference between the two is like that between the sky and the earth. Who is at fault?
270. Do not envy those who are exalted only in name. Do not become noble only in your worldly position. Do not become a monster of gold and silver. These are the poisonous insects of the world; they are disliked by God.
271. Do good away from the sight of people, so that no one may know, and accumulate virtue. Whether in light or in darkness, God clearly sees every action of human beings.
272. The spirit of God is called Complete Spirit. Complete Spirit does not increase, neither does it decrease. The spirit of God is without beginning and without end.
273. Not so is the human spirit, which increases and just as surely decreases. That is, when a man does good, his spirit increases and when he does evil, his spirit decreases.
274. God is such that He is able to give spirit to a human body or take it away.
275. The basis of heaven and earth is truth. Because of truth the exalted may live, the people prosper and all beings remain at peace.
276. When I am called the Spirit of Mizu this does not refer to my body. It refers to the words of the Spirit of Mizu which is a part-spirit of God, dwelling within my body. Let there be no misunderstanding.
277. A man who hears the truth but does not practise it defies God’s heart and cheats himself.
278. Missionaries, take care! Do not relate the teachings with pride, thinking of yourselves as pure missionaries spreading the Divine will. The causes of dishonour to the Divine teachings arise more often from the deeds and words of missionaries than from those of ordinary believers.
279. Do not be proud of the fact that you serve God and spread the teachings on God’s behalf. For it is God’s will to bring sinful humans close to Him and enable them to repent. Let him who serves God never forget to be as patient and humble as possible.
280. Save humans with true love, guide humans with true faith, protect humans with true courage and give strength to the weak with true wisdom.
281. The envoy of God, whose wisdom and virtue are perfect, cultivate deep faith, eschew favouritism and invite believers to the just path with sympathy and gentleness, modesty and compassion.
282. Missionaries, who have the role of leading the believers, children of God, to the Divine realm: before all else cleanse your souls and your conduct, acquire the key to open the door to the Divine realm, and then you will be ready to lead them.
283. Do not do missionary work without sufficient knowledge of the Divine way. If you dare to do this, you will dishonour God and sully the way, deceive your own heart, and finally lead people to fall into hell; and you yourself will fall into hell and suffer infinitely. This is most to be avoided.
284. The true path of God remains quite unchanging, in the present as in the past. He to whom it seems that it changes should know that this is caused by the errors of previous prophets. This is why the teachings of Mizu are seen as anomalous. Until now there has not been a prophet who has imparted the true teachings of God without change.
285. He who thinks highly of the rich but looks down on the poor is not in accordance with God’s heart. For God makes no distinction between rich and poor.
286. The poor are rich in faith, and therefore many are saved into the Divine realm. The rich are poor in faith, blinded by treasures which will decay. Therefore there are many rich people who cannot taste the true happiness of the realm of heavenly beings.
287. Those rich people who are perfect in their faith and whose conduct is good can receive the joy of the realm of heavenly beings, which is much greater.
288. Missionaries, may you all make your hearts tranquil and understand without error the correct way of God: never be confused by malicious spirits.
289. Many are the missionaries who first become confused themselves and then confuse believers. He who confuses people and sullies their hearts is the greatest sinner of the Divine realm.
290. Do not regard the poor man as worthless and do not look down on the foolish. Those who cannot refrain from such conduct while being missionaries or believers of God will become sinners, profaners of the pure name of God.
291. When giving seats to the believers at worship of God, never distinguish between the regular and the newcomer. Do not separate people into high and low according to their rank.
292. God has defined 181 classes eternally unchanging for all gods.
293. Before God never apply human ranks and degrees, which human beings can freely change, give and take away.
294. Human beings, born as God’s children! Which would you prefer, rich in material treasures to repeat crimes and finally be fettered in the prison of the spirit world, or, materially poor but rich in the virtues of faith, to enjoy life in the Divine realm? Richness on earth is finite, but richness in heaven is infinite and eternally unchanging.
295. Suffering on earth or in the flesh is finite, and consequently it is only temporary. Suffering after death or of the spirit is infinite, consequently it is true suffering; it is impossible ever to liberate oneself from it.
296. The teachings of Oomoto are not such that they have newly appeared in the modern age. This is the true teaching of the original God of the world. Until now it has not been able to appear because of devils who dared to rule the earth. At this time, therefore, God has sent down the Spirit of Mizu from heaven to bear witness to the teaching.
297. Do not confuse about freedom with arbitrariness. Though there be freedom of belief, to go the way which is not truth is arbitrariness. Arbitrariness is most hated by God. A way which is not truth is a malicious teaching.
298. He who submits to the teaching of a malicious god is an arbitrary person, even though it may be allowed to all to believe in any teaching.
299. He who believes in God, first remove doubt. Faith with doubt is like a floating grass: if the wind blows to the east, it too drifts to the east; if the wind blows to the west, it too flows to the west.
300. May your faith be unmoving like a rock. With faith like a floating grass you will remain without Divine favour for your whole life, and your body and soul will finally perish.
301. There is none who stays without Divine favour. But a man with wavering faith cannot receive the full favour of God.
302. He who follows the Divine teachings, let him hold an unmoving heart, directed towards a single goal. An opportunistic person will finally profane even the holy name of God with his inconsistent behaviour.
303. Do not be surprised even if you suffer offence and torment for believing in God’s way. Trust everything to God’s heart, and walk straight along the middle of the road with truth as your support. Endure through Divine activity, keep friendship through Divine harmony, revive yourself through Divine love and understand through Divine wisdom.
