Transplant Patients Face Risk of ‘Possession’ Part 1
World Teacher's Message No. 303
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You have stated that organ transplants cause spiritual issues, but it is generally accepted as “good” in Western nations since it saves people’s lives. Can you talk about the spiritual background of people who undergo organ transplants knowing the spiritual truth?
Excerpt from Q & A session during the lecture, “How I View Things, How I Think About Things” (available only in Japanese).
August 27, 2017, at Happy Science Special Lecture Hall.
In general, our lives in this world cannot be extended by the will of doctors. They will 100% lose in this battle. Everyone must die. In terms of dying, there are few who die of accidents, but in general, people die of some named disease. Even things that were considered natural deaths in the past probably have some disease names now.
It is possible to prolong a life for a few minutes or restore a person’s physical strengths. However, we must understand that this is a battle that people will eventually lose.
In addition, the idea that healing the body is absolutely good only makes sense under certain conditions if people believe that our lives to be limited to this world alone. People can argue that a person may “not have achieved their life goals,” or that “it is better for them to die after they fulfill their social obligations.”
In general, there are many people who die from ill-fated accidents and diseases before achieving their life goals, however. Some may wonder, “If God exists, how can a parent leave their small child behind and pass away? How can such injustice occur?” Nonetheless, these events happen.
The child may experience various fates afterwards: there might be someone to take care of them, or they may be sent to an orphanage. Some of these children may become delinquents or criminals, while others become respectable people despite their harsh environments. We cannot blame everything about a person on external factors, since there are people with both parents alive who become delinquents or criminals, while others without any parents may lead proper lives.
I would like to distinguish this world and the other world, and with the assumption that time in this world is limited, I will unfold my thoughts.
Transplants May Not Cause Issues if Loving Relationship Exists
There are people who do good in this world, and others would want these people to live, even just for slightly longer; they may face difficulties if they pass right away. I understand that for these people, any method to prolong their life, in whatever form they can, may be sought out. Thus, organ transplants among others are options to save their lives if conditions are met.
I cannot conclude that it is a complete evil. It depends on circumstances.
For instance, I believe Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono (at the time of lecture) gave one of his kidneys to his father, Yohei Kono. He looked slightly pale after giving it to his sick father because the single kidney may diminish its effectiveness. Still, it was fortunate that he was able to prolong his father’s life.
There is the opposing side where people believe that the early death of Yohei Kono would have been more benefitable for the nation. There are people who think that Japan would not have suffered a terrible fate if he didn’t serve as the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan. This makes it difficult to make a call on which decision was better. However, with regards to a relationship between a parent and a child, the desire for the child to save their parent, even with their organs, can be considered a good.
We can’t tell whether the citizens desired this action because there was no national vote. It may have been good for South Korea or China, but it’s hard to tell for Japan.
I have also heard of a recent story where a wife gave up one of her kidneys to her husband Musashimaru, a former Yokozuna sumo wrestler. He apparently caught some kidney disease, and he recovered due to this.
In an interview, his wife stated, “There is no replacement for my husband. It was the obvious thing to do.” They were husband and wife in this case, and she wanted him to live even if she lost half her kidneys. I don’t think this feeling itself is evil, especially in these cases where both parties understand each other. I believe a possession will not occur in these cases, so there are no issues.
Transplants From Condemned Criminals Cause Problems
However, there is also news of mothers trying to save the lives of their small children who are suffering from something like heart muscle atrophy. They try to collect one to two million dollars to go to the U.S. because they are told that a heart transplant there is the only thing that can save their child. In the instance of one mother, while she desperately asked for donations around the nation, the child passed away.
I completely understand a parent’s love to keep their children alive. However, there is some subtle touch to this, and it is difficult to say that this would have been just. Their worldly attachment to keep their child alive no matter the sacrifice may have been too much.
I am especially worried about transplants that use organs of condemned criminals; this is done often in China. For criminals who are given death sentences, it is only a matter of time until they die. Thus, some people reason that removing their organs and selling them for profit is better.
Not all condemned criminals are bad, such as some political criminals. However, if most of these people have the belief that the physical world is everything, then removing their organs while they are still alive and transplanting them could cause possessions. Even if the physical body dies, if the organ lives on in someone else’s body, the spirit can claim that “the body is theirs,” and possess and control that person. This is especially true the more vital the organ gets, because the donor would tend to be more attached to it.
People’s lives can change if they are ignorant of this fact. There are many reported cases of hobbies, taste and tones changing after transplant surgery.
Those who did not smoke may start smoking, and those who did not drink may start drinking. Perhaps they may make remarks that would suggest that their gender has flipped. When people undergo spiritual change in such obvious ways, they are likely possessed.
Transplant Possessions Are Difficult to Ward Off—Since They Are in the ‘Right’
In these situations, if adequate exorcism is performed, the spirit may be warded off. However, these exorcisms are typically unsuccessful as long as the organ is within the patient’s body. This inhabitance puts the donor in the “right.”
Particularly for crucial organs, the spirit technically has partial claim to that portion of the body if they so desire. “You’re using my heart. That makes it my body!” “You’ll die without your heart, so as long as you took mine, the body’s mine too.” If a spirit possessing a body makes these claims, I think it would be difficult to ward them off. This is a risk you must understand.
It can work out well if the two parties have a loving relationship where one is willing to give up their organ, like previously stated. Otherwise, it may work out if the donor is an extremely benevolent person who thinks: “I want to save anyone I can,” or “When I die, I can only stay in this world for a few days, perhaps 2, 3 weeks. I need to go to the other world, so I would rather hand my body part on.” The person receiving it must accept it with gratitude as well.
This is very uncommon, however. Often, organs are taken from criminals sentenced to death, as well as those who passed away from sudden accidents. “It’s a fresh heart from an emergency transport patient who just died from a motorcycle accident,” “It’s a fresh lung,” they may say, and hand you a refrigerated organ. These cases often lead to full possessions, so you must be aware of this.
Each Organ Has Its Own Conscience
Therefore, I think you should only become an organ donor if you still want to save that person knowing this truth, if the others around you support the decision and if the feeling doesn’t stem from pure greed. Post-surgery “spiritual maintenance” would still be necessary. When a part of someone else’s organ is in your body, possessions can get difficult to fight.
Western spiritualists often don’t realize that a human spirit is not a single thing; instead, it is composed of multiple layers and organs that each have their own conscience. In other words, human-sized spirits exist, but inside that, there are smaller spiritual parts in different areas. In reality, a spirit is composed of two or three layers. Not many people are aware of this fact.
Doctors operate believing that organs are mere parts in a machine. This is unfortunate and premature of them.
If abnormalities occur post-surgery or misfortune falls upon a household, a proper priest or spiritualist may be needed to perform an exorcism. Even then, the spirit may not go away.
A patient should be prepared to some extent that the donor’s bad habits, tastes and qualities will inhabit your body in return for the patient’s extended lifetime. This might not occur if you have a good donor, but the patient must recognize this as an existing risk.