Master Ryuho Okawa, founder and CEO of Happy Science, gave a lecture for Master Okawa’s birthday Goseitansai celebration. The lecture, “Starting from love”, was given at Happy Science’s Tokyo Shoshinkan, and was broadcast live around Japan via the Happy Science network.

A wide range of topics was covered, including love in the context of matters of state.

The Principle of Love at the Core of Happy Science

Master Okawa began his lecture this way: “Instinct tells us that love is the deciding factor in whether we are happy or unhappy, and that we are happy if we are given love and unhappy if we are not. We instinctively want to monopolize love, and oftentimes this creates suffering.”

This is something related to one of the principle teachings of Happy Science: the teaching of love. Love has different stages, the first being ‘love that loves’ – the love between lovers, or relatives. Next we have ‘love that nurtures’ – a leaders love that is needed to achieve progress in organizations and society. Then, there is ‘forgiving love’ – an attitude to trying to correct wrongs while never falling prey to hatred.

Master Okawa commented on human relationship problems that arise from the issue of love, saying, “There are many problems that can be resolved, but there are some that cannot be resolved. When this happens, there are times when you have to chose what to take and what to give up.”

What Is God’s Love?

Master Okawa also spoke about love in state relations. In North and South Korea, it is a norm to ‘hate Japan’ in the educational and political arenas. “If they do not stop the hatred soon, they won’t be able to achieve any more progress,” said Master Okawa.

“What is needed in the world now, is love. The antithesis of love is not only hatred, but also envy. The competition that arises out of envy and hatred must be put right,” he added.

Finally Master Okawa said, “there is no value in actions, deeds and words that do not have God’s love within them or in their outcome. Please note this fact.”

Master Okawa also covered the following topics in the lecture:

• The difficulties of loving a stranger
• Conflict between parents and children, and between husband and wife
• The pain of exchanging personnel for the advancement of an organization
• The principles of love as seen in religious groups such as Christianity and Buddhism
• How to come to terms with times when miracles do not occur
• Difficulties with practicing ‘forgiving love’ in the workplace
• How to deal with the unreasonable aspects of this world
• The difference between a totalitarian and a democratic state
• The politician’s love

The full lecture can be viewed at your nearest happy Science branch.