10. The Gyohs (disciplines) for Ryuhjins (-Dragon-gods),Inaris (), or Shodens().

If those who are in process of their Gyohs, whatever their bodies for Gyohs (disciplinary bodies) may be, are fascinated by anything, or relax their attention, they will be regarded as failures of their Gyohs (disciplines - a general term of the conduct for achievement Of a duty or mission). From this the Gyohs to be raised to the gods named Ryuhjin , Ryuh-oh (Dragon King), Inari , and Shohden are much more difficult than the ones for humans.  There are 36 ranks in the Ryuhjin class, 8 ranks in the Ryuh-Oh class, 88 ranks in the Myohjin class of Inari, Shohden, and others. They always make every possible effort to gain the ranks of god they aim for by doing their Gyohs. For instance, as for the animals called Ryuhjin (here I mean the Ryuhjins who are not still in any rank of gods but of animal), they first achieve recognition from upper ranking gods, they are appointed to achieve some mission as their servants, and they are raised two grades when they carry it out thoroughly both ways.  During the mission their conduct is subject to strict supervision by several million gods whom they can not see or know. Their Gyohs start from the time the Ryuhjins are ordered to discharge some mission by a god. As one of the rules for their Gyohs (disciplines), when their features (their bodies for Gyoh) are seen by some human on the way to their missions, they are considered failures of the Gyohs, and they are not only shorn, at a time, of the ranks they had difficulty in getting, but also they lose their Heavenly power gifted from upper ranking gods, and are reduced to be ordinary animals.  However, if they can get the humans to acknowledge they are Ryuhjins who are on the way to discharge their mission as gods' servants, and if they can be recognized and revered as what they were, their former rank and Heavenly power will be given back to them at once. This is owing to their meritorious deed of letting humans believe in gods. Hence, once they are appointed to a mission as gods' servants, by using their Heavenly power they make their features as small as possible, and do their best to keep humans at a distance so as not to be seen, and to pass through the interval while they are taking every possible care not to be fascinated by anything. They can not relax their attention on the course of their missions.  They let humans make way around them with their own Heavenly power just as tangled thread comes unravelled, while humans naturally leave right and left. This is a really mysterious phenomenon. I think no one knows about this. However, when they are so absorbed in trying not to fail in their Gyohs, they often forget the contents of the mission they were ordered to do, and they are ordered to make a fresh start. On the other hand, when they try not to forget the contents of mission, they may be distracted by something and are apt to be seen by humans, and in the end they tend to fail in their mission.  Thus, their Gyohs are really difficult. Once their Gyohs start, they can not afford to get either food or water until they get to their destinations, and similarly on the way back after carrying out their missions. Until the time when they finish their final reports to the gods who gave the orders, it is strictly tabooed for them to relax their attention, to be distracted by anything or even to rest.  Such being the case, the places where there are fine buildings, ponds in the parks, springwater, plants with strange and beautiful flowers, fruit or something giving out sweet smell, and campuses where little children are innocently playing are the ones where they are most liable to fail in their missions. These places seem to be for them the most difficult paths in their doing Gyohs. In such a respect that they, who are just above of human ranking, are given Heavenly power by upper ranking gods, and are ordered to preside over and protect the human world, and to let humans create culture, they also form such an attachment for fine buildings and other things and they are liable to be fascinated by them, just as you humans look fondly at some thing you wrote or made yourselves.  As you know the saying 'lt is easy going there, but be careful on your back way', many of them seldom fail in their missions on the way going, but often fail on the way back when they feel so much relieved that their minds are liable to relax, and they suddenly feel so thirsty or hungry and are tempted by some thing with good smell vapor or beautiful flowers and music. The beautiful tints and good sweet smell of fruit seem to be so fascinating to them that they forget they are on a mission. Nay, this is in no way peculiar only to Ryuhjin's Gyohs.  So with your Gyohs as humans. Because of this, I think you must be more careful. A physical body for Gyohs of Ryuhjin or Ryuh-Oh looks like a usual snake. Yet, strictly speaking, the former is different from the latter. There is something pretty about the former, that is to say, in the case of the small types, their skins are silky smooth, and puffy like a heart in their cheeks, while in the case of large types, they are covered with large scales like big snakes, and have stumpy tails, which look as if they were snapped off and rounded at the end, some of them have tails divided into two or three.  There are various patterns and colorings. As their ranks advance, the Gyohs become all the more difficult and they hold themselves all the more responsible for any failure. In case that they fail in their Gyohs for the highest rank of Ryuh-Oh (Dragon King) class, they will be placed in such a sad plight that not only they but their clans, from their wives and children down to all their dependants or followers, are deprived of their Heavenly power and are all exiled. Perhaps, it must be beyond all human's imagination that they must carry out such hard Gyohs, called 'the Gyoh of Abysm' among them, as the ones in the Arctic zone, in the Antarctic zone, or in the craters by the aid of the Heavenly power, where the physical bodies will freeze or melt in the fire on the spot if they relax their attention. The Gyoh in winter is the bitterest one.  There is really no end to the list of the Ryuhjins having become unable to move their own bodies freely on the spot with the excuse that they were enchanted with beautiful flowers out of season in the frost, of the ones having disclosed their bodies in the persimmon-tree because they were enchanted with persimmons, and on the play grounds because they were enchanted by little children playing there, and so on.  They are so unmindful of their own faults, as humans often are, they hold grudges against the very persons who took a look, even a glimpse, at their figures (the bodies for Gyoh). Of course, once they fail in their Gyohs, there will be no other way for them to be saved than to be recognized as the disciplinarians in some rank of god by humans. So, they usually let the person, who took a look at their own bodies for Gyoh, destroy the bodies, and at the time when they were killed, they take possession of the persons who took a look at, or killed them, giving trials to the persons periodically. Though quite embarrassing to humans, this is an inevitable consequence of a Heavenly law. This is also one of the methods which let humans believe in gods, and if humans are aware of this, and save them, they won't fail to return their kindness, sometimes for a lifetime.  Wmen they fail in their missions, and are left unrecognized as the disciplinarians in some rank of god by humans, they often come into existence as human in the degraded rank. In this case, they are born at large as a member of the family, some one of whom killed or took a look at them, and they keep their grudges against the family. However, once they come into existence as humans, they must do the bitter Gyoh in the human world, when they are shut off from all memory of their past. This must be a really burdensome rule. Yet, this is inevitable as it is one of the Heavenly rules. In any case, when they take offense or hold a grudge, they are bound to be tried according to the Heavenly laws. In whatever shape they may be born, they are under the same Heavenly laws.  Therefore, whether they are Ryuhjins or not, they must obey the laws, and must suffer from Heavenly punishment if they get angry or have a grudge against others. If such a spirit is born as a human in a family, all the members of the family, to say nothing of the said spirit, will be on bad terms with each other. They will never be free from sufferings, until he offers his sincere apology to gods for the failure and his having given out will-waves of grudges against others at that time through the Nenryoh Zange Kuyoh-Hoh (the Kuyoh-Hoh for apology), and he has the will-waves of his lingering desire removed which were retained to some extent in his previous life as a Ryuhjin with the Ryuhjin Kuyoh-Hoh. The person who has such a fate tends to be very fastidious, because he comes into existence as a human with such a fastidious nature, more or less, as a Ryuhjin usually has in its nature.  A rank of god rated as Myohjin, which is classified into 88 grades and to which the gods named Inari, Shohden, and other gods belong, is just above a rank of human. To gain the highest rank of god rated as Myohjin, they must pass the Gyohs (disciplines) of 88 steps. They can promote their rank two grades as long as they discharge their missions of going both ways. In this case, too, they charge themselves with the Heavenly power they have and with possession of some figure invisible to humans, but many of them are often placed in such a sad plight that their Heavenly power goes off, and at the same time, the bodies turn to the physical bodies visible to humans. They are caught sight of and killed by humans because they relax their attention from a sense of relief on their way back.  You must not shoot the foxes, raccoon-dogs, or others when they are in such a posture with their hands pressed together that looks like praying for their lives. If you are so careless as to shoot them, future trouble will go down to posterity; and your family, in succession, will often turn insane, or sometimes all your family will be ruined. However, you can escape from these disasters by apologizing to them and saving them with the Myohjin Kuyoh-Hoh (the Heavenly rule for saving Myohjins). In case they have already come into existence as humans, you ought to take steps similarly in the case of Ryuhjins. Of course, you need the Myohjin Kuyoh.  The knuckles of their tails come off with a snap one by one every time they rise in rank in the course of their mission of both ways, and on all such occasions, the color of fur turns white little by little, and in the end their physical bodies become transparent. This is one of the knuckles which some Nipponese people worship usually calling it 'Kedama same'. Yet, they themselves are not aware when and where the knuckles have come off and the bodies have become transparent. You had better not enshrine or worship the knuckles, nor the skins that Ryuhjins and such cast off, because there are many instances where you are cursed by them.  You must not make statues or likenesses of foxes, raccoon-dogs, or others to enshrine or worship, because they have already finished their Gyohs (disciplines) as foxes, reccoon-dogs or others and now are not foxes, raccoon-dogs or others. Therefore, if you do this, it will be considered that you make light of the gods, and you will be punished for it by a serious trail. I do not mean that you must not enshrine or worship Inaris, Shohdens, or Ryuhjins. I do not want you to misunderstand this point. I am rather persuading you to worship them as the gods who are servants of higher ranking gods, and to pray to them for their protection without making unreasonable demands. Although they have a rank of god, not all of them have attained complete enlightenment, for even they are in process of their own Gyohs as gods.  Many of Ryuhjins are liable to be stubborn, obstinate, or vengeful. Many of Inaris are waggish, and many of Shohdens are arrogant. If they do not try to attain enlightenment and to discard their own wild natures that they had in their previous life, they will be visited with retribution and their Heavenly power will be taken away from them little by little never again to exhibit itself through them. They come to feel inadequate in everything, and they are liable to sink into vice. When protected by such spirits, you usually show an exact likeness to their own nature.  Humans are often troubled by such spirits, though they are not aware of it. On the contrary, if protected by the spirits who have come to their senses as gods, and have attained enlightenment, and have already discarded their own wild natures, you will be lucky enough to succeed in any of the things that you do. It can safely be said that whether you will be fortunate or not really depends on this. First you must reform yourselves, while you must insist they reflect and discard their wild natures, praying 'Namu Chuh Koh Miyoh Hoh Ten' (May I be an exemplary person with the best of balance in all respects, full of affection and spirit of co-operation, and in accordance with truth, reason, and law.).

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