Film Director
Takayuki Okutsu

 
What kind of mindset did the director have in creating “Living in the Age of Miracles”?

(Okutsu:) In creating a movie with the theme “miracle,” we researched 1,200 cases of reported miracles in Happy Science from the past 10 years and interviewed 120 people from them.

I have known that miracles are occurring, but as I actually talked to many people about their miracles, I realized that things beyond the times described in the Bible is occurring right now. It is truly a time of miracles.

I felt that I need to convey this to the world: that these events are occurring as a kind of “incident,” not just in Japan but all around the world as well.

The Structure of Life Completely Explained

When we think about miracles, we encounter the question of what human beings are and what life is. Miracles accompany religions such as Christianity and Buddhism, but it is difficult to understand why it is important to believe in miracles.

Even if it is not a religion, research has been done on how positive attitudes improve the immune system and cure cancer, but it is hard to understand the why. We can understand it emotionally, but we cannot explain the rationale.

If human beings are the same as machines, then it would not be strange if everyone were healthy as long as they led a healthy lifestyle, regardless of the conditions of their mind.

When we confront the strangeness of humans, we must think about something that exceeds the materialistic views, which has spread so much in current medicine and common sense.

Happy Science explains this structure of life in a logical manner.

Human beings are spiritual beings, and as human beings living in this world, we are in a situation where our human souls possess the vehicles that we call the physical bodies. Deep inside our souls is our mind, and deep inside our mind is a part that can connect to God and Buddha. This is why illnesses cure when we change our mind.

These things are lectured as theories and members know about it. I think this is a huge factor.

People Who Are Unaffected by Their Expected Time of Life

As I filmed this movie, I was surprised that people who were told that they might die tomorrow weren’t moved by it at all.

Not only were they not moved, but they thought about what the illnesses were trying to teach them. And they would pray as follows: “If it is my density to die here, then that is fine. However, if I still have a mission, please let me live.” I was simply surprised that there were so many people who overcame the pain of illnesses and the pain of death in the Four Pains (the four pains are that of birth, old age, sickness and death).

Faith is something that can’t be observed by our eyes, right? Therefore, it is difficult for someone who doesn’t have faith to understand what it means to believe.

But in the movie, I think this one person’s (who stars in the movie),way of life itself shows what faith is and why faith is so important.

I Wanted to Illustrate the Soul’s Journey

One thing that I always had in mind while making this movie was to create something without lies.

Every person who experienced a miracle has their own name, their own faith and their own life. How these people confronted their illnesses and how these people felt when they prayed; what kind of feelings they had when they overcame their illnesses—I wanted to illustrate the journey that each person’s soul took.

The rest, I want to put up to the audience. If there are people that are moved after watching the movie, that is because they are great. I created this work with the desire to deliver these wonderful occurrences, without contamination, to the people.

Miracles are something that does not occur to some special person; it is something that can occur to anyone. I hope that as many people as possible watch this film.

(Photo: one scene of “Living in the Age of Miracles”)