When you hear the word "universe," what do you imagine?
For all of us living on Earth, the most familiar celestial bodies are the sun and the moon.
First, just as we cannot live without water and air, we cannot live without the sun's light and heat.
We bow to the sun when we see it and cherish the rising sun as a sacred blessing.
And when it comes to the moon, we have myths—the rabbit pounding rice cakes, Princess Kaguya, and so on.
Earth is a planet in the solar system, and the moon is Earth's satellite.
The celestial spectacle of the sun, Earth, and moon is always broadcast.
The solar system is one nebula within the Milky Way galaxy, and it is said that countless galaxies exist throughout the universe.
Humanity has long held dreams and romantic visions about the sun, the moon, the stars—what we generally call the universe.
And today, these dreams have progressed beyond mere imagination.
Humans conduct experiments and research in outer space, applying the results to our lives and industries on Earth.
Observations of Earth and celestial bodies continue to advance with increasingly sophisticated technology.
News of objects hundreds of millions of light-years away reaches us.
In Japan too, the successes and failures of asteroid probes remain fresh in our memory.
Indeed, the vast expanse of space stretching far beyond our sight remains wrapped in mystery.
There is something within it that stirs dreams and wonder in the human heart.
The universe has no end—it is infinite.
Up to this point, everything I have said is conventional.
For now, please set aside this familiar notion of "the universe" or "outer space."
This is because the word that most accurately expresses the world I feel in my heart happens to be "universe" or "cosmic space."
The same word, yes—but its meaning here is quite different from the generally understood universe.
This is the first thing I would like you to know.
The universe I feel in my heart—this universe, this cosmic space—cannot be seen with the eyes, because it is something felt with the heart.
Unseen, yes, but it truly exists as vibration.
It exists as energy.
So please understand the universe as energy.
Earlier, I wrote that I am not the small physical form of flesh, but energy.
Yes—I am the energy called the universe.
And that same universal energy exists within you as well.
In other words, you too are, in truth, the universe.
Has it become confusing?
You may think this sounds incomprehensible, but please stay with me a little longer.
You believe the one physical body you have now is yourself.
But I write this book because I wish you to come to know, within your own heart, that this is not so.
If you look within your heart and continue practicing correct meditation, you will come to understand that you are not confined to this small physical body.
More than that—you will feel in your heart the exhilaration of setting yourself free, more and more.
When that begins to happen, you will also come to realize that even the word "heart," as you have understood it, was interpreted far too narrowly.
And then, quite naturally, you will feel: the universe is endless—the universe is infinite.
When you begin to sense within your heart that such a universe is your very self, the way you see the world around you will surely begin to change.
The everyday scenery you always look upon will appear somehow different—felt differently.
This may be a sign that the wind of the universe has begun, ever so softly, to stir within you.
And eventually, within you, something—something you cannot yet name—will begin to move, begin to change.
You may interpret this as touching a version of yourself so distant that your present self cannot even imagine it.
Yes—the universe truly exists within you.
That is the call I am making to you now.
Perhaps humanity's longing for the universe—its eternal dream and romance—is actually the voice of humanity itself beginning to awaken from a deep, deep sleep.
No—in the time to come, we will pass through that very process.
The universal energy within you will, through your physical form, awaken you to your true self.
Of course, this will not be easy.
To learn, through your physical body, the immense energy you have cultivated and accumulated—naturally, your journey, your incarnation, will be a powerful and intense one.
Even catching a glimpse of its beginning may be enough to bring your present life to its close.