Taniguchi Masaharu

Taniguchi Masaharu ( Japanese 谷口 雅 春 ; born November 22, 1893 in Kobe , Japan ; † June 17, 1985 in Nagasaki , Japan) was a Japanese author , new spirit and founder of the neo-religious movement Seichō-no-Ie (literally: House of Growth or Home of Infinite Life ).

life and work

Youth, Influences and Training of Teaching

Taniguchi was born in Kobe on November 22, 1893 and grew up with aunt and uncle. Contrary to the wishes of his foster parents, who favored a medical career, he began studying literature at Waseda University in Tokyo in 1911 . The confrontation that took place with Schopenhauer , Tolstoy , Nietzsche and Oscar Wilde later influenced the formulation of his Seichō no Ie movement.

In his 1963 book Seimei no jissō ( 生命 の 實 相 , "Truth of Life", Vol. 19), Taniguchi describes that during his studies he found a convicted and life-torn 17-year-old girl named Fusae who took refuge with him sought, took in (pp. 58–67). He felt sorry for her, but felt a platonic love for a 10-year-old girl named Hisako, who lived across from him (pp. 65–70). Because of this, his aunt disowned him, and as a result, he had to work in a spinning mill . He again entered into relationships with two women at the same time (p. 113) and finally contracted a sexually transmitted disease that had to be treated medically (p. 115–117). Taniguchi was not sure whether he had infected his second girlfriend with the disease and went through times of great fear. During this time of uncertainty he developed the idea of ​​not clearing up his girlfriend about the true facts, but rather of healing her spiritually - without her knowledge.

As a result, he began to occupy himself with spirituality and joined the religious movement Ōmoto . He began writing articles as well as preparing them for publication in Ōmoto magazines. Soon he began to occupy himself with other religions, he discovered Ittoen , dealt with the teachings of Gautama , Shinran , Jesus and Paul and delved into the writings of Christian Science as well as Spiritism .

In 1920 he married Teruko Emori (1896–1988), a woman from the Ōmoto headquarters, and their daughter Emiko (* 1923) resulted from the marriage . When she got sick, he didn't have the money to get medical treatment and he tried to cure her himself. When it came to looting in Tokyo after the Kanto earthquake in 1923 , Taniguchi lost his already small property and was completely destitute. In that dreary situation it occurred to him to use the healing powers of the spirit in conjunction with the psychology that was just coming into fashion to create a marketable “product” that could eliminate his financial difficulties. But only seven years later it came to fruition.

Seichō no Ie

According to Taniguchi's own statements, he had heard voices during his meditation since the 1910s and in 1929 he is said to have received a divine announcement telling him: "Start now". He then brought out the magazine Seichō no Ie in 1930, initially organized as a publisher with a commercial background. The demand developed very positively and a steadily increasing number of subscribers spurred him on to further publications and to write books. Gradually the subscribers turned into devout followers, but above all the commercial idea faded into the background. Taniguchi himself, like his readers, increasingly saw themselves as heralds of a new truth, " the philosophy that only God is reality ". Eventually a religion grew out of it, the Seichō no Ie .

Taniguchi published more than 400 books, but only about ten titles have been translated into German. Under his leadership, the Seichō no Ie spread to several million followers around the world, where he completed numerous trips through Europe and North and South America. After Taniguchi's death in 1985, his son-in-law Seicho Taniguchi (* 1919, born Seicho Arachi ) took over the management of the organization.

Teaching and classification

Taniguchi was significantly influenced by the work The Law of Mind in Action by Fenwicke Holmes , the brother of Ernest Holmes . Seichō no Ie combines thoughts from Christianity , Buddhism , Shintō and Christian Science and is assigned to the Neugeist movement . The organization stands up for world peace and against dogmatism . The only point of criticism and rejection on the part of the established churches is the extensive deviation from the Bible's understanding of God .

Single receipts

1. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.sni.org.br/sam/jornal/ch-outubro.pdf
2. ↑ ^{a b} Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Works (selection)

• The law of the heart. Applied art of living . Bauer, Freiburg im Breisgau 1997, ISBN 3-7626-0551-3 .
• 365 keys to live without fear. Munich, Verlag Peter Erd 1987, ISBN 3-8138-0018-0
• The spiritual healing power in us. Nature, principles and successes of spiritual healing . Turm-Verlag, Bietigheim 1999, ISBN 3-7999-0258-9 .
• Education for the divine through spiritual instruction of people . Bioverlag Gesundleben, Hopferau 1983, ISBN 3-922434-68-1 .
• Life from the spirit. Believe in yourself and in your strength! . Schirner Verlag, Darmstadt 2007, ISBN 978-3-89767-547-6 .
• Source of life, source of joy. 365 keys to success . Heyne, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-453-02742-6 .
• Seimei no jissō dai 19 kan ( 生命 の 實 相 第 19 巻 , Truth of Life ), Vol. 19. Nippon Kyōbunsha, Tōkyō 1963.
• The college of happiness and happiness . Bauer, Freiburg im Breisgau 1965, 2nd edition 1976: ISBN 3-7626-0170-4 .

Web links

• Detailed biography and presentation of the teaching - English
• Official biography at Seichō no Ie - English
• Tsushiro Hirofumi:  "Seichō no Ie" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , May 24, 2006 (English)
• Pictures and brief biographies of Taniguchi and his wife Teruko - Portuguese
• Short, critical introduction to bible-only
• German website of Seichō no Ie

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Taniguchi is the family name, Masaharu the first name.