Bill Roberts

Bill Roberts (born 1950) is an American writer, Japanologist, and Oomoto follower. Quotes World peace, disarmament and the folly of war were persistent themes in Onisaburo’s life-long spiritual mission. And they are as pertinent in today’s world as they were six decades ago. This is another reason the timing of my visit to Tottori is appropriate. For today my own country has become belligerent and a threat to world peace.I see some disturbing parallels between America today and Japan of Onisaburo’s time. For example, in the Yoshioka declaration, Onisaburo stated that Shinto had been misused for political goals. In America, certain politicians, including the current president, use their Christian faith to justify domestic policies that are really driven by greed, and foreign policies that are actually driven by fear and vengeance. Bill Roberts (Dec. 12, 2004). "A Speech in Tottori: A Beacon in a Darkening World". Whenever I visited Mount Takakuma I found myself thinking about Plato’s allegory of the cave in The Republic. He tells of men imprisoned in a cave where all they see are shadows on the wall from outside activity, and all they hear are echoes from outside noise. His point is that all humans are like these prisoners in the cave: ignorant, trapped in the depths, looking and listening to illusions they believe are real, unaware of the limits of their perceptions. On rare occasion one individual escapes and through a long painful journey discovers true reality, which according to Plato is that goodness is the great origin of everything that exists. In Plato’s view it is not kings through birth or dictators through strength or presidents through election who are best equipped to govern society but this rare individual who has left the cave and gained knowledge of what is ultimately real. The problem is this person is almost always misunderstood because the humans in the cave have not had his experience or gained his insight.As I write these words it feels like I am telling Onisaburo’s story. He went into the cave and then had his out-of-body experiences; when he left the cave he understood the world of humans and the world of spirits. Onisaburo spent the rest of his life trying to teach the Japanese to see their illusions for what they were and to embrace the spiritual world. In the world of humans, since Onisaburo moved to his burial mound, most of us are still stuck in the cave, buried in illusions: the illusion of material wealth; the illusion of military might; the illusion of controlling destiny. The list goes on. Our illusions exclude ritual, nature, the arts, the spiritual world and other ancient ways explored in this book. A Portrait of Oomoto: The Way of Art, Spirit and Peace in the 21st Century Bill Roberts Oomoto Foundation 2006 9784887560697 328 Category:Oomoto Category:Authors from California Category:1950 births