Now, think of yourselves first. As your bodies are material ones, you know they can be resolved into atoms, and molecules, and further into electrons. Conversely, if the physical bodies were molded with all the electrons without scattering any, could they speak? If they could speak, why can not the dead speak?

It is said that the earth is growing colder and colder. Conversely, if intense heat is given to the earth, it will be a mass of intensely heated gases. Why is it that all the living things whose bodies can be reduced to ashes with fire, now live on this earth which was intensely heated some hundred thousand million years ago? As mere matters themselves do not have their own minds, they can not move by themselves. If the earth were smoothly turning by itself on its own axis to the east, it must be blowing constantly in a fixed direction at a uniform rate from the east to the west, and at the foot of mountains a uniform whirl-wind must be blowing. It seems that the surface of the earth does not make any sudden changes like that of one mountain breaking loose here, another breaking loose elsewhere. The sun is such a large luminous body. I think the sun is constantly shining everywhere on the sea as well as on the land. Yet, why do the sudden and considerable changes in atmospheric temperatures come about on the earth every hour? Or, why does a gush of wind or a wind-spout suddenly occur, or why does a storm-center emerge from a violent wind?

If the sun gave specially high or low heat only to a given part of the earth, such phenomena might naturally happen. why is it that a chicken is not hatched from a boiled egg, or a parched seed does not put forth a shoot? Who on earth ruled that, when the value of both X and Y are graphed in case of quadratic equations in algebra, some of them show a circle, ellipse, straight-line, wavy line, and parabola? who would be sick by choice? If people dare to say that their diseases are due to their carelessness or mistakes, they ought to be able to cure by themselves. There are some of people who say they can not swallow their food even when hungry. Why does not it go down their throats? If they did it by themselves, they could swallow it by themselves. I do not think anyone likes wars in the world. why is it that the wars break out so often against their own will?

There are only two causes as to whether what they think will come true or not. It is no wonder that success and failure repeat themselves almost by turns. However, some are always successful, while others are unsuccessful and out of luck. And, there are some cases where one shop is flourishing, but the other is not, though the two shops are dealing with the same kind of goods, and are side by side. Why is this? Do you know that you move things through your words? You move even others' physical bodies and other souls. Can what you want be transmitted without any expression? Even a medicine compounded by a doctor, if he does not tell you anything about it, you won't take it. Can you get anything without expressing your desire when shopping? Thus, all things can be moved with words and will. However, matter does not have its own will and words, and therefore, it cannot give them out.

Here, you are aware, I believe, of a great many lives, besides matter, that give out will and words. I call these lives 'spirits' as a general term for souls, spirit souls, and spirit original souls.

 We ordinarily use 'existence or nothingness' only to material existence, and on the other hand, we use 'livingness or no-livingness' to the objects into which spirits have gotten. In other words, to a living person, we say, for instance, "Mr. So and so lives there." and on the other hand, to a dead person ,"His body is there." Or, we say, to fish swimming in the water, "Many fish live in this river.", and on the other hand, to fish caught and laid out for sale, "Good fish are at that shop today." That is, we never use 'live' , but 'exist' or 'be' to each body which the soul has left. In the same way, we never use live' to clothes, desks, food, and other matter where souls do not live.
All the bodies, if souls are gone from them, are insensible though they have living brain cells.
Therefore, dead bodies, even if you hurt them, do not say "Ouch, how it hurts me !" And, these bodies do not move by themselves. Also, the word 'That fellow' is only used for the body where a soul lives.

I hear that some people believe that all the souls are the same because they have originated from one soul. If so, every soul could think of the same things at the same time, and all would have the same manners. Why is it that your manners are different from mine, and that we think of different things? You will see that you (soul) are different from me (soul).

Thus, many souls live in this grand natural nature. There are many ranks that have been set up according to the steps of discipline. Into the world of human, souls ranked as human are destined to be born, and into the world of ox and horse, souls ranked as ox and horse are destined to be born for their own disciplines.

I call I 'Hotokes' the souls who have left their human bodies. 'Hotokes' is a term used only for the souls who were once born into the human world, and therefore, oxen and horses are still called 'oxen and horses' even after their death.

'Hotoke' is different from ' Buddhism', which is Buddha's teachings which was introduced from India. I wish you do not identify Hotoke with Buddhism. I call 'Kamis' or 'gods' all the spirits ranking higher than the human souls or Hotokes. There live a great many gods with great might, whose origins are unknown, or can not be known.

 Some people say that all the gods are the same, or there lives only one god in the universe, and some scholars say that the extent of the universe is contained within two thousand million lights years. The latter opinion is right, but not complete. If what the scholars say is true, I should like them to answer what the outside is. Grand natural nature must be infinite, so that we ought to know of the existence of many other universes. Is it true that only one god can guide anything and every thing of such a grand natural nature, and all the various phenomena there?
Even With faces, finger-prints, leaves, and so forth, none is the same. If you insist on your opinion of only-one god, the god you believe in must be not alive but a dead one in your imagination.

Kamis or gods are, what we call, the souls, the spirit souls, and the spirit original souls who are all alive, and sometimes create existence out of nothing, sometimes create original ions, Shohs, atoms, molecules, and matter by the waves of their out-will at their own will, and do all the phenomena at their own will. You can believe easier in gods and other spirits by using our various Hohs (Heavenly rules with which you can escape from disasters) chanting our Kyohtens (a kind of canon where names of many Kamis and gods, and prayers are written). Your study of our teachings will lead you to recognize that you can be free from every disease and every bitterness in your family, and that any misfortune will quickly cease. Almost all the misfortunes are due to Heavenly punishment, godly punishment, Hotokes not having gotten to Johbutsu (arriving at the blissful and peaceful state in the spirit world after death-Chapt. 23), gods prone to evil, and so forth. You must be aware of yourselves so fragile that your lives can be cut short even by mere amoeba however highly you put on airs. Let's make a study of the relation between you and the spirit world.

If you dare to say, "Jinjas (god's houses) aren't the places to worship gods, but to worship the persons of exceptional merits" just as certain persons brought pressure upon me to the utmost in the past saying "what ! There're no such things as gods. It's heretic religion to let people believe in the gods made up in your own imagination." I'll let you say this and I'll watch in silence to see who will win, the gods or the people. I think the former is likely to win through my observation of the world-movement, which has interestedly been led by all the gods on my side till now.

 Bitterness will be given to the latter, one after another, so that in time cries and shrieks will be uttered by the latter. I would like those who have studied chemistry to open the page of the perodic table, and to think about whoever arranged those atoms on such a regular system. Atoms do not have their own will. If some of you tell me to show you gods or to take you in their presence [though in the past many people in Nippon would say this to me, and some of them told me to bring a Ryuhjin (one of the titles of gods-a Dragon god) even into court], I want to say "Haven't you seen 'kami' (paper her - in Nipponese, 'god' , 'hair' , 'paper', 'top or head' , and etc. are all pronounced 'kami' though they are quite different from each other in their spelling.)?

 It's indeed a surprise for people of today. Don't you know there are many kinds of 'kami' such as 'kami' of head (hair), Nihon-game (hair dressed in Nipponese old style. 'Gami' is a pronounciation of the euphonic change of 'kami'. ) , Yoh-gami (foreign paper), Shinbun-gami (newspaper), Kara-kami (bamboo paper for Kara-kami), Bohrugami (paper board), Chiri-gami (paper handkerchief), Irogami (colored paper), and etc. Moreover, even in Kami (as paper) there is difference between good and bad quality, right and left sides, upper and lower sides, and one side and the other. One side or the other of paper applies to positive and negative. Gods are classified into good and evil ones, and male and female ones." Let sophists alone. You have no choice but to believe in true and righteous gods through your true learning and experiences. Even the worst sophists must undoubtedly be afraid of the gods in their bosoms. For, none of them could reply when I asked them to swear that they could live by themselves without any Heavenly protection from that day forth. They would say that they could not swear to that. That there's no Kamis (Do they mean gods do not live?), and in the same breath that they were afraid of suffering punishment. If they were sure that no gods lived, they would not need to be afraid of gods.

I teach you there live Kamis or gods. If they did not live, you would not fear any punishment.