Shinji Takahashi - Practical Activities As A Religious Leader

Practical Activities As A Religious Leader

Takahashi referred to the law that he preached, and practiced, as shoubou (proper Buddhist law). It has been said that when he held lectures in the provincial regions, he would spend several hours afterwards "self-reflecting", based on the hasshoudo, as to whether there was any wrongness in his role and whether there were any inaccuracies in the "law" that he preached. It has also been said that Takahashi possessed all of the capabilities of the six spiritual powers (tengantsu, tenjitsu, tashintsu, shukumeitsu, jinsokutsu, and rojintsu.)

Takahashi took in people such as elderly people who were homeless, a woman who had intellectual disabilities and no relatives, and people who had difficulty living independently in society, such as gangsters. He supported these people with the profits that he made as a company owner.

Takahashi criticized blind faith and fanatical belief in religion and consciousness, and paraphrasing Karl Marx, he also believed that religion based on blind faith is like opium. In his teachings he insisted that one should always doubt, and should believe only what cannot be doubted any further.

Takahashi believed that religion should not be turned into the sustenance of life, so he lived off of the profits that he earned as the corporate manager of Koden Industry Co., Ltd., without taking any profits from his religious activities. Takahashi allotted the profits he made as a corporate manager to fund missionary activities and regular administrative expenses for his religious organization.