THE GREATEST GIFT

                         by Clarke Williamson

     What's the greatest thing you can do for other people?  Is it giving
 food, jobs, money or to cure them of some disease?  Can you really say it's
 any of these or even some other noble deed?  Maybe, instead, it's telling
 others how to obtain all of the above, and more, without help from anyone
 else!  Is this possible?  Yes!  And without too much difficulty!

     Could we get rid of governmental health and welfare programs plus the
 taxes to support them?  Could not private charity be eliminated if everyone
 learned to be healthy and prosperous all by himself without the need to ask
 for assistance?

     In December 1929, a man in Japan became "enlightened."  That means he
 suddenly hit upon the truth of life, the very mystery of it.

     "So what?" someone may sneer.  "Don't many people know the secret of
 life?"  Don't church people?  Prophets?  Seers?"  The answer is:  If they
 do know it, how come the ordinary man today doesn't know it and can't for
 the life of him tell his next door neighbor what the riddle of life really
 is?  At least, he can't with any certainty now, can he?  Why can't those
 who are in the know explain it so that the average person can understand
 it?  But this Japanese man was certain he had found it, and his discovery
 was so exciting he simply had to tell as many as he could in language they
 could understand.  What he revealed was just as revolutionary as Copernicus'
 finding in 1543.  His discovery that the earth goes around the sun rather
 than that the sun circles the earth.

     So he began to print a small magazine and mailed it to friends and
 acquaintances so they could understand, too.  He never expected what began
 to happen next.  Readers began telling him they were being healed of many
 different diseases.  Families were becoming happier.  Many lives were
 improving.  Prosperity was coming to those in need.  Nearly all his readers
 were definitely improving.  They merely believed what he wrote, and he
 explained so simply and clearly that they had no trouble in understanding
 his explanation of the truth.  The truth simply explained who they really
 were inside.  It explained  what everyone else was like and the meaning of
 the world around us.  Is not this, then, if true, the greatest thing anyone
 can do for another?  Help them to learn the truth about life so that without
 outside material aid, they can, by themselves, become happy, healthy, and
 prosperous in whatever they do?  Do you not agree that once anyone knows
 this secret, no other gift could possibly compare?

     It was March 1930 when Masaharu Taniguchi Ph.D., began his magazine and,
 later, five more, with some million subscribers.  He wrote forty  volumes on
 what is known as, "The Truth of Life."  It is estimated over seventeen
 million have read these and other books.  He became affectionately known as
 "Dr." Taniguchi.  At age 91, he made his transition on June 17, 1985.  Truth
 of Life Centers  have sprung up around the world.  He urged that all learn
 the fundamental truths of life without leaving the religions of their choice.
 Once learning these truths they will understand their own religions even
 better.  Eventually all religious groups will become aware of these deep
 truths.  And then, instead of insisting that this one or that one is better,
 they will recognize and teach God's truths the way individual members of a
 symphony orchestra together play a great musical work in concert.

     Just by reading the Bible or deep Buddhistic writings, one rarely, if
 ever, finds himself becoming healed of the deadliest of diseases such as
 cancer, or becoming prosperous, or gaining happier circumstances.  Why?  No
 doubt because of the old-fashioned language.  But even scholars of Buddhism
 or Christianity, priests, ministers, finding themselves with tuberculosis or
 cancer or worse, have learned Dr. Taniguchi's truths and, upon understanding
 them, have become healed.  Healing is now so commonplace it's taken for
 granted in Dr. Taniguchi's movement.  Jesus said, "He that believeth in me,
 the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he
 do." (John: 14:12)  Are these words now coming true?

     So what is this "Truth of Life"?  In 1930, Dr. Taniguchi had been trying
 to understand how God could have created this imperfect material world.
 Most all religions teach that God did create this material world that we see
 around us (the so-called "phenomenal" world).  But, as atheists argue, if
 God is so perfect and all-loving and then created such an evil material
 world, how could God be all-loving or perfect?  How could anyone have faith
 in such a God?  If this one problem cannot be satisfactorily answered then
 the atheists win overwhelmingly.  The man in India called the Buddha, (which
 means "God") faced this and, temporarily, like Dr. Taniguchi, denied God.
 It was in this state of mind while considering the dilemma when he was 37,
 that Dr. Taniguchi received what seemed a divine message that the only
 existence is God; only God exists.  And therefore, God being a spirit being,
 "matter is nothing; flesh is nothing"; these do not really exist!  Each life
 is the spirit image of God Himself!  Thus, we exist in the only true Perfect
 Heavenly World of God Himself!   So we do not deny God, but rather flesh
 and matter, as well as all of this material world, for it is not the true
 Reality.

     Look at your hand and fingers holding this page.  Isn't this so-called
 "material flesh" what you have always thought was "you", your real self.
 Dr. Taniguchi suddenly saw that this wasn't "you", that only God and what he
 creates is real and exists!  God whom you cannot see, together with God's
 invisible heavenly world, is the only true Reality that exists even though
 our five physical senses give us little indication of it.  Look at everything
 in the room where you are reading this article.  Wasn't everything you see
 first imagined in somebody's mind?  Man's mind that creates these things is
 close to the true world of Reality, but bear in mind that God's world of
 Reality is the only true perfect heavenly world.

     This was the very beginning of Dr. Taniguchi's Truth of Life movement.
 This heavenly world created by a loving God must be what Christ meant when
 he said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36) and, "Behold, the
 kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)  The heavenly inner world
 perfectly reflects God's wishes.  After reading Dr. Taniguchi's magazine,
 people, upon rereading the Bible and the Buddhistic deep prayers, found new
 meanings: "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
 (John 8:22)  and "What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye
 receive them and ye shall have them." (Mark 11:74)  In other words, in the
 heavenly world of God which is within you, what you pray for does already
 exist there; you already have it and it is already yours.  Further, "I am
 the Way, the Truth and the Life." (John 14:16)

     If Dr. Taniguchi's enlightenment is correct, then this must follow:
 Everyone is the Perfect Child of God, not the physical body, but the Heavenly
 self within the body cocoon.  Your body is not the real "you" anymore than
 the cocoon that houses the silkworm, or the space suits on the men who
 landed on the moon.  The body is more like the reflection that we see of
 ourselves in the mirror, or like the figures on a motion picture screen that
 have no existence but are merely chemical shadows.  The physical self is
 only a shadow or a mere reflection of your True inner Godself!  "Ye are
 Gods."  Jesus reminded his doubters by quoting the 82nd Psalm, and then drove
 it home by emphasizing "and the scripture cannot be broken." (John 10:34)
 The material body and all the material world crumbles and passes away; so
 how could this be the real "you" created by God?  The "real you" is pure
 spirit, like God, the only Being who creates.  Then why is man's body
 imperfect or diseased and the material world so evil or at war?  All because
 of peoples' delusions (wrong or incorrect beliefs about themselves and
 others, false thoughts that really don't exist, like a mirage).  False
 thoughts of things that don't exist bring wrong deeds and wrong happenings.

     If we accept Christ's word and The Buddha's same statement in his last
 sermon 500 years before Christ, that there was a "Buddha (God) nature within
 each and every member of the human race," why do people become healed and
 their fortunes and destinies improve by suddenly acquiring and believing
 these truths?  Dr. Taniguchi says that our inner life force which is
 constantly renewing, repairing our bodies goes about its task perfectly until
 it is knocked off track by wrong runaway emotions.  Get rid of the bad
 emotions and then, left alone, the perfect life force will do its job
 wonderfully well.  Bad emotions vanish with newly acquired Truth of Life
 beliefs.  Dr. Taniguchi's followers stay rid of all bad emotions by
 maintaining emphatic powerful belief.  All people actually have this same
 ability.  Be continually aware of your perfect Godself within, and then, in
 line with Jesus's teaching: "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto
 thee." (Matthew 8:13)  It is the power of the mind, strength of belief, the
 same today as it has always been.  "Realizing the Heaven within, the land
 of eternal blessing, shall be realized 'without' as its reflection," writes
 Dr. Taniguchi.  But he also urged putting the belief into action - living
 the truth daily.  His own "Shinsokan" meditation to visualize God is unique,
 designed to bring not just intellectual understanding, but an intuitive and
 spiritual awareness of the truth that we are children of God - perfect in
 every way.

     Four other steps are also helpful for healing:  first, accept the belief
 that disease does not really exist because God did not create it.  It is
 merely a sign of past wrong thinking.  Secondly, believe - and picture it
 clearly without any doubt at all - as stated before, the thought that "I am
 a child of God, perfect and without blemish, already in perfect health just
 as God created me, and with God's wealth and supply."   Thirdly, say the
 words out loud to yourself with an attitude of absolute belief.  Finally as
 the fourth step, wear a happy expression on your face and act in absolute
 confidence that the spoken words are true.  This is true vivid belief in
 line with Christ's teaching, "As you believed so be it done unto you."  It
 will come to pass on this physical material plane of existence just as a
 reflection appears in a mirror.  Bear in mind that what you now see around
 you comes from what you were thinking about some time ago.  Change your
 thoughts right now to the good and you will see it come to pass in the
 future.

     This last truth was Dr. Taniguchi's final message during his
 enlightenment: "Everything in our environment is only the reflection of our
 own mind."

     The greatest gift, then is giving to others the truth that the visible
 world around us is not the "real" world.  But you should further include
 additional truths that stem from it.  Dr. Taniguchi's followers know that
 it is not of much use just to know this truth.  You have to live this truth
 every hour of the day through vivid prayer or meditation.  Truth of Life
 people love and are grateful to the true inner Godself of everyone and
 everything in the universe without exception.  In Matthew 5:23 and 24 the
 advice is to leave your gift at the altar and first seek out and love your
 enemy before seeking God.  These actions are not commandments in Dr.
 Taniguchi's Truth of Life movement.  They are, simply, logical once you
 know the central truth that you are not your body, but, rather, a true Child
 of God.  That is, you are actually God's Spirit, Love, Harmony, Peace,
 Wisdom, Truth, Good, Abundance, Joy, Power, and Eternal Life (which also
 means eternal youth).

     Although the Bible states "love thy enemy," the Truth of Life says there
 is no enemy, because God never created an enemy and there is none anywhere.
 Therefore , it is easy to love one's husband or wife, or anyone else who was
 formerly hated.  That is when miracles come to pass for people; accidents do
 not happen or are mysteriously avoided; and those hated become friends.
 Thus, diseases caused by hate such as cancer, simply disappear, proven by
 many testimonials.  Childbirth becomes painless.  Just repeated reading of
 Dr. Taniguchi's famous "Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines,"  frequently
 heals and can be read to one asleep or unconscious with equal effect.

     Dr. Taniguchi has found that wrong attitudes - complaint, jealousy, hate,
 anger, fear, all of which come from wrong beliefs - cause all diseases.  But
 it is fear that causes jealousy, anger, hate, and complaint!  Your fear
 comes first and then it turns into the other emotions.  Unless we know the
 truth and are careful, our fears, moment by moment, hourly, daily, can
 destroy our lives, fortunes, and destinies.  But who creates fear?  God
 certainly doesn't.  Everything God creates is perfect, Dr. Taniguchi tells
 us.  Fear is not perfect, so fear is not real.  Evil, sickness, death are
 not perfect, so cannot be real.  "Take nothing to be real that has not been
 created by God."  Never dream of things that have no existence in Reality.
 Being unreal, they are delusions (false thoughts and beliefs like mirages),
 and through mere words, these are reduced to nothingness."  What this means
 is all false incorrect beliefs - delusions - are the cause of fear, disease,
 and other imperfections such as poverty and unhappiness.  If you fear you
 will be poor you will automatically attract poverty to you.  If you deeply
 believe you are a child of God, you will be naturally joyous, always happy.
 In short, by simply changing deluded false beliefs to those of truth, and
 maintaining a constant realization of truth, all disease and imperfection
 will vanish.  Fear disappears for those who become at one with God.


     Children's diseases, caused by parental discords, can be healed by the
 above truths.  It is the same for pets because they, like children are apt
 to be dominated by the more mature minds that are closest to them.

     What about the gift of self-sacrifice?  Some religions teach that
 sacrifice is necessary for a happy life.  Dr. Taniguchi writes, "Nothing is
 more blasphemous than the idea that sacrifice is necessary for the happiness
 of God's children.  God did not create the world imperfectly,  I'm
 sacrificing myself for others seems noble at first thought.  However, this
 feeling is a belief in limitation and an assumption that gratitude and
 appreciation should therefore be forthcoming.  This is obviously unpleasant
 and a burden on the other person."  Naturally, one should not assume from
 this that sharing with and helping others - especially in emergencies - is
 not necessary.  These are acts of love and should be encouraged and, if
 anything, increased.  But people should be guided to stand on their own two
 feet.  When you know you are a child of God, everything you need is given
 to you right here and now!  You need only know how this truth can be brought
 into the physical world around you by further studying, such as reading Dr.
 Taniguchi's magazines and books.

     Perhaps some readers still have doubts?  Throughout ages past in every
 generation, there have been gifted individuals, called clairvoyants who were
 able to see into the after world.  Their writings once ridiculed, are now
 found to be true.  The books by Dr. Raymond Moody on what happens to those
 who were medically declared "dead" but who nevertheless recovered, bear it
 out.  Further, the August, 1977 Reader's Digest carried an article giving a
 number of examples of the world of psychic happenings.  It demonstrated that
 civilization is now beginning to realize that there is much more within and
 around us than we ever realized - which most of us cannot see but which do
 have definite influence on our present and future lives.  The literally
 thousands of healings among Dr. Taniguchi's followers because of their
 accepting the belief that "I am not my body" bear it out.

     The most valuable gift one can give to relatives and friends, or anyone,
 is the "gift of no fear" - the realization: "I am a child of God and
 therefore, I have no fears, worries, or illnesses at all."  When enough of
 this world's population have received, accepted, and put into practice this
 greatest of all gifts, we shall be on the threshold of world peace,
 happiness, health, and abundance.

     "There is always God and therefore Good wherever I turn; though delusion
 may be around me, I always see God.  This is because I myself am a child of
 God.  This is the way the Truth of Life Man lives," the son-in-law of
 Dr. Taniguchi, Seicho Taniguchi tells us: "We believe that 'I myself am a
 Child of God.'  Therefore there is only a brilliant shining perfection of
 God wherever I go, wherever I live, whatever I see.  Such a conviction will
 make you a true master of all things."

 [End of Text]
 (c) Copyright 1995, Seicho-No-Ie Inc.