Episode 1 | Flame of Hope Book

Chap 1

Enlightenment, for anyone. The time has come

Awakening to the Great Spirit of the Universe

“What a mysterious! That’s what I thought.

One day, I directly experienced the living presence of *Amithaba —the Great Spirit of the Universe—
and in that moment, I awakened spiritually.

Simply by bringing the image of Amithaba into my heart,
my body and mind became warm and soft,
and I felt myself melting into a Great Love.

Even without thinking anything—
I found that I was continuously wishing, moment after moment,
for the upliftment of all heavenly realms throughout the universe.

I decided to call the transformation that occurred in my mind and body
the “body sensation of enlightenment.”

Not because I thought, “I have attained enlightenment,”
but because the experience resonated so clearly
with the accounts of ancient practitioners and spiritual seekers.

*Amitābha Buddha is the superstar of the Buddhist world. He is taught about most frequently in the Mahāyāna sutras.

*Mahayana sutras are sacred Buddhist texts that focus on the ideal of saving all sentient beings. They began to appear around the 1st to 2nd centuries CE and later.

A Maze of Secret codes

The spiritual geniuses of the past
experienced Buddha or God directly—
not as ideas, but as living reality.

And that is why the teachings they left us
are astonishingly simple:

“Just sit.” — Zen Master *Dōgen
“Simply recite the Name.” —*Hōnen
“Love God.” — Jesus

Traditional religions are woven from words that feel almost like codes.

Dōgen Zenji (1200–1253), the Japanese Zen master who even influenced Steve Jobs,

Hōnen (1133–1212), the Buddhist monk who revealed the path of reciting the Name of Amitabha.

For those of us who are not geniuses—
for the ordinary seekers who follow long after them—
no matter how diligently we practice or how much knowledge we pile up,
we often end up at a dead end.

I feel truly fortunate
that I did not lose myself
in the labyrinth of tradition.

Enlightenment Is for Everyone

While writing this book,
I made two simple promises to myself:

First, basically to write only what I have truly experienced.
Second, not to write anything
that others could not also experience.

And now I want to say this clearly:
We are living in an age
when anyone can experience enlightenment.

A Path Found Through Guidance

I wished to share the body sensation of enlightenment with others

So I spent years —
what felt like lifetimes —
searching for a way.

Since this experience lies beyond language,
the path was full of trials and struggles.

Yet while trying to put
the depths of my own awareness into words,
something unexpected happened.

I discovered a way
for anyone to experience
the body sensation of enlightenment —
easily and directly.

It was a discovery
that felt guided,
as if touched by grace.