Challenge to Medical Innovation

The world's medicine recognizes 'spirituality'

'If you have a perspective based on spirituality and think positively, a happy life will open up.' This is one conviction I have gained based on my long years of research into the Buddhist truth of Happy Science and cutting-edge psychology. As the director of a psychiatric and psychosomatic clinic, I have actually achieved results in solving many people's mental troubles using this way of thinking. The fact that I am currently conducting joint research with universities in Europe and the United States on the theme of 'Religion and Health' as an honorary senior researcher at University College London is thanks to President Ryuho Okawa open_in_new's teachings of Buddhist truth. Through this research, I have realized that the Japanese medical community is extremely behind the global standard. What is lacking in Japan today is precisely the 'spiritual perspective on life' that President Okawa advocates.

※ Spirituality: Defined academically as 'the desire to seek the sacred.'

Painful and Strange Experiences

I am treating patients using the latest theories based on 'spirituality' that are being researched in the West. I want to bring about a revolution in the delayed Japanese medical community, which could be called a 'medical innovation,' with a medical theory that values spirituality backed by Buddhist truth. In fact, my strong desire to do so was triggered by an experience during my high school days. It was during the stressful days of preparing for medical school entrance exams when my mother suddenly collapsed with a brain tumor. The weight of my mother's illness and the entrance exam bore down on me, and I was plagued by nightly sleep paralysis. My body was always heavy from lack of sleep, I had headaches, and I even saw what seemed to be the spirits of the dead and suffered from auditory hallucinations. Days of unspoken anguish continued. Because I have this experience, I understand the suffering of those who come to psychiatry.

I want to overcome unspoken troubles

I sought a 'guideline' to protect my mind and body. I even recited the Heart Sutra every day, but my symptoms did not improve at all. Time passed mercilessly, and I failed my entrance exams. Rather than just suffering, I began to calmly reflect on 'why do these unexplained symptoms occur?' At that time, I encountered President Okawa's book ' The Law of the Sun open_in_new ' at a bookstore. It was 1991. I was shocked by its content. The structure of the mind and the reasons for troubles were written in an extremely rational manner, including the relationship with the spiritual world.

I understood the true nature of my troubles

'To be able to elucidate the laws of the mind to this extent...' As I read the book eagerly, I learned about the 'Law of Resonance,' which states that 'when the mind becomes sticky and dark in wavelength, bad spirits that resonate with it are attracted, causing physical and mental disturbances, and leading to spiritual disturbances and possession phenomena.' I finally understood the cause of my auditory hallucinations and sleep paralysis. To change my 'mind's wavelength,' I practiced the mental correction method called 'Eightfold Path' written in the book and worked to improve my negative beliefs. As a result, my perception of things changed, and when my mental state changed, the symptoms of sleep paralysis and auditory hallucinations that had troubled me for so long improved. It was as if I had shed a heavy armor and my body felt light, experiencing the wisdom of Buddhist truth.

Encounter with Positive Psychology

Convinced that President Okawa's teachings were genuine, I became eager to convey this dramatic experience and help those suffering from the same symptoms as I did. I worked harder than ever and successfully passed the medical school entrance exam. Upon entering, I became a believer in Happy Science. A few years later, I pursued graduate studies to deepen my understanding of the relationship between the mind and body, obtaining a doctorate in medicine. My future as a researcher began to open up. However, Japanese medicine is dominated by materialism, and it is impossible to clarify the relationship between 'religion and health' or conduct medical research based on a spiritual perspective. Feeling a limit to conducting research in Japan, I was driven by a 'longing' that surged from the depths of my soul, and I sought a university where I could realize my ideals. I sent letters to dozens of universities abroad, expressing my desire to conduct medical research based on a spiritual perspective, and finally encountered the latest psychology that assumes spirituality, 'Positive Psychology.'

Abandoning everything to go to London

I began my research at University College London on the condition of 'no salary.' This field of study is still immature compared to Buddhist truth, but compared to the Japanese academic world that does not accept spirituality, it is a world apart. I was persuaded many times by the university I was enrolled in at the time to reconsider. However, I cut off everything and flew to London in 2006. With no achievements or income, I sometimes lived on a few hundred yen a day, relying on scholarships and savings. There were days when I was overwhelmed by anxiety about the uncertain future, but there was no other way to open up a path than to produce results in research. Just then, President Okawa, the author of 'The Law of the Sun,' visited the London branch.

Recognized for my achievements, I became an international researcher

I seized this opportunity and asked the president, conveying my dream of 'realizing medical care that saves souls.' The president said, 'It's a difficult job, but don't worry, walk your own path.' How much encouragement I received from those words. I published papers demonstrating the correlation between spirituality and health one after another. I wrote about the relationship between 'the mind and cancer' and 'religion and lifespan,' with about 50 English papers published. My achievements were recognized, and I received numerous international academic awards. I was welcomed as a formal researcher at University College London. If the Japanese medical community can incorporate this perspective of spirituality and overcome materialistic thinking, it will be able to save the suffering of many more patients. My desire to transform the Japanese medical community is only growing stronger.

Burning with ideals

Now, I have returned to Japan. I heard about President Okawa's plan to establish Happy Science University (HSU), a private school that aims to create and disseminate a new civilization based on the teachings of the heart of Happy Science, and I couldn't sit still. I don't know if a medical school will be established at HSU. However, I have a strong passion to contribute to the ideals that President Okawa is trying to realize and to transform the Japanese medical community.

Spiritual perspective in the Japanese medical community

To begin the transformation of the Japanese medical community, I opened a clinic based on my research achievements. I have achieved results in improving symptoms through the latest psychological counseling based on Buddhist truth. In Japan, where materialistic prejudice still prevails against the world's common sense, how much could Japanese medicine change if we could incorporate a spiritual perspective into medical care? It would advance significantly and surely save people suffering from symptoms like those I once experienced. I have only taken the first step. It may not be possible immediately, but I will definitely create a medical school at HSU. Until I realize medical care based on a spiritual perspective, I will not give up on my dream.