御教え『結核と精神面』

「文明の創造、科学篇」昭和27(1952)年

結核について、割合関心を持たれていないものに精神面がある。ところが事実これ程重要なものはない。誰も知るごとく一度結核の宣告を受けるや、いかなる者でも精神的に一大衝撃を受け、前途の希望を失い、世の中が真っ暗になってしまう。言わば執行日を定めない死刑の宣告を受けたようなものである。ところがおかしな事にはそれを防ごうとするためか、近来結核は養生次第、手当次第で必ず治るという説を、医局も医師もさかんに宣伝しているが、これをまともに受取るものはほとんどあるまい。なぜなれば実際療養所などに入れられた者で、本当に治って退院する者は幾人もあるまいからである。しかしたまには全治退院する者もないではないが、大部分は退院後再発して再び病院の御厄介になるか、自宅療法かで結局死んでしまうのである。だから何程治ると宣伝しても信じないのは当然であろう。

そのような訳で、結核と聞いただけで、たちまち失望、落胆、食欲は不振となり、元気は喪失する。いずれは死ぬという予感がコビリついて離れないからで実に哀れなものである。私も十七、八才の頃当時有名な入沢博士から結核と断定された事があるのでその心境はよく判る。そういう次第で結核と宣告するのもよくないが、そうかと言って現在の結核療法では、安静やその他の特殊療法の関係上知らさない訳にもゆかないという、ジレンマに陥るのである。そうして近来ツベルクリン注射や、レントゲン写真などによって、健康診断を行う事を万全の策としているが、これは果たして可いか悪いかは疑問である。私はやらない方がいいと思う。なぜなれば現在何らの自覚症状がなく、健康と信じていた者が、一度潜伏結核があると聞かされるや、晴天の霹靂(へきれき)のごとき精神的ショックを受けると共に、それからの安静も手伝い、メキメキ衰弱し、数か月後には吃驚(びっくり)する程憔悴(しょうすい)してしまう。以前剣道四段という筋骨隆々たる猛者(もさ)が健康診断の結果潜伏結核があると言い渡され、しかも安静と来たので、フウフウ言って臥床している状(さま)は、馬鹿馬鹿しくて見ていられない程だ。何しろ少しも自覚症状がないのでじっと寝ている辛さは察して呉れと言うのである。ところが半年くらい経た頃は、頬はゲッソリ落ち、顔色蒼白、一見結核面となってしまった。それから翌年死んだという事を聞いたが、これなどは実に問題であろう。もちろん健康診断など受けなかったら、まだまだピンピンしていたに違いないと思って、私は心が暗くなったのである。

右のような例は今日随分多いであろう。ところがこれについて面白いのは、医学の統計によれば、百人中九十人くらいは一度結核に罹って治った痕跡があるというのである。この事も解剖によって判ったという話で、医家は知っているはずである。してみればむしろ健康診断など行わない方が、結核患者はどのくらい減るか判らないとさえ私は常に思っている事である。しかし医家はいうであろう。結核は伝染しない病気ならとにかく、伝染病だから結核菌をもっている以上、はなはだ危険だから、それを防ぐために早く発見しなければならないし、また早期発見が治療上効果があるからと言うであろうが、後者については詳しく説いたから略すが、前者の伝染について書いてみるが、これがまた大変な誤りで、結核菌は絶対感染しないことを保証する。私がこれを唱えると当局はよく目を光らせるが、これは結核の根本がまだ判っていないからである。以前こういう事があった、戦時中私は海軍省から頼まれて、飛行隊に結核患者が多いから、解決して貰いたいと申し込んで来たので、まず部下を霞ヶ浦の航空隊へ差遣した。そこで結核は感染しないと言ったところ、これを聞いた軍医はカンカンに怒って、そんなものを軍へ入れたら今に軍全体に結核が蔓延すると言って、たちまち御払箱になってしまった事がある。

私がこういう説を唱えるのは、絶対的確信があるからである。何よりも私の信者数万中に結核感染者など、何年経っても一人も出ないという事実と、今一つは実験のため、以前私の家庭には結核患者の一人や二人は、いつも必ず宿泊させていた。その頃私の子供男女合わせて五、六才から二十才くらいまで六人おり、十数年続けてみたが、一人も感染するどころか、今もって六人共に希に見る健康体である。もちろんその間結核患者と起居を共にし、消毒その他の方法も全然行わず、普通人と同様に扱ったのである。今一つの例を挙げてみるが、数年前これは四十才くらいの未亡人、夫の死後結核のため、親戚知人も感染を恐れて寄せつけないので、進退きわまっているのを知った私は、可愛想と思い引取って、今も私の家で働かせているが、もちろん一人の感染者がないばかりか、この頃はほとんど普通人と同様の健康体になってよく働いている。もっともたとえ感染しても簡単に治るから、私の家庭にいる者は、何ら結核などに関心を持たないのである。

以上のごとくであるから、吾々の方では結核は伝染しないものと安心しているので、この点だけでも一般人に比べて、いかに幸福であるが判るであろう。ところが世の中ではこの感染を恐れるため、到るところ悲劇を生み、常に戦々兢々としている。夫婦、親子、兄弟でも近寄って話も出来ず、食器も寝具も別扱いで、除け者同様である。しかし医学を信ずるとしたら、そうするより外致し方ないであろう。以前こういう面白い事があった。某農村の事であるがある農家に十六、七の娘がいた。彼女は結核と宣告されたので、一軒の離れ家を作って貰い、一人ボッチで住んでいたが、その離れ家は往来に面しているため、その前を通る村人等は、口を覆うて駈足で通るという話を、私は本人から直接聞いて大笑いした事がある。なるほど空気伝染といわれれば、それも無理はないが、実に悲喜劇である。だから私の部下や信者は数十万あるからその中の一万でも二万でも纏(まと)めて一度に試験してみたら面白いと思うのである。

右についてなお詳しく説明してみるが、まず家庭内に結核患者がある場合、他の者はいつ感染するか判らないという心配が、コビリついて離れない。だからたまたま風邪など引くと、さてはいよいよ自分にもうつったんじゃないかと思うし、また常に風邪を引かないようにと用心に用心をするが、運悪くちょっと風邪でも引くと、慌てて医者に走り薬に頼るというわけで、精神的恐怖感に加えて薬毒や浄化停止によって、結核を作る事になるという訳で、今もって伝染説が持続されているのである。今一つは霊的原因でもあるが、これは親子兄弟等の近親者や、親しい友人、男女関係者などある場合、右の死者の霊が憑依してその通りの症状を呈する事がある。これがちょうど感染したように見えるのである。憑霊問題については後に詳説するから、それを充分読めば良く判るはずである。また近来小学児童に集団結核が出たといってしばしば報ぜられるが、この場合教師を検診すると、一人や二人の開放性結核患者が必ずいる。するとこの患者が感染の元であるといって大騒ぎをするが、これなども実をいえば現在どこの学校の教師でも、厳密に検診すれば、二人や三人の結核患者のない学校はまずあるまい。それらをよく考え合してみる時、感染説というものが、いかに確実性の乏しい事を知るであろう。

 


Tuberculosis and Mental Aspect

Creation of Civilization, written by Mokichi Okada in 1952

 

As for tuberculosis, its mental aspect is not comparably concerned. However, nothing is more important than this. As everyone knows, once diagnosed with tuberculosis, whoever is mentally shocked very much and loses hope in the future so the whole world becomes dark. It is as if someone is sentenced to death, an execution date of which is not fixed. However, authorities and doctors highly promote the theory, which is the complete cure of tuberculosis depends on medical care or treatment in recent years. That is strange. They might try not to make a patient feel shocked but almost no one would seriously believe this theory. It is because that not many patients, who actually enter a sanatorium or so, would truly recover from tuberculosis and leave there. In rare cases, the patient might recover completely and leave the sanatorium but most of the patients enter the hospital again or have home treatment after leaving it and die after all. Therefore, it is natural that people don’t believe it, no matter how much they promote the complete cure of tuberculosis.

 

For that reason, just hearing tuberculosis, a person immediately feels disappointed and discouraged and loses appetite and energy. It is because he cannot stop feeling that he eventually dies. That is miserable. I do understand his state of mind as I have been diagnosed with tuberculosis by Dr Irisawa who was famous at that time when I was seventeen or eighteen years old. Therefore, it is not good to inform a patient of tuberculosis but it is inevitable due to its present treatments such as a rest method or other special ones. That is faced with a dilemma.

 

In these days, a medical examination such as a tuberculin injection or x-ray photography is conducted as a safe plan. I wonder if it is good or not. I think it would not better do so. It is because once a person, who doesn’t have any symptoms and believes he is healthy at present, is diagnosed with latent tuberculosis, he is shocked as a bolt from the blue. In addition to this, a rest also makes him weaker and weaker and surprisingly exhausted in a few months.

 

There was a muscle-bound tough fighter before, who had fourth dan grade in kendo. He was diagnosed with latent tuberculosis as the results of a medical examination. Worse still, he had to have a rest so he lied down with gasps. That was too ridiculous to bear to see him. He had no symptoms after all. He wanted to understand his miserable feeling that he was patiently in bed. After half a year or so, however, he became hollow-cheeked and ghastly pale. He looked as if he was suffered from tuberculosis at glance. Then, I heard that he died in the following year. It would be a serious problem. He must have been very much alive if he had not taken the medical examination. I thought so and that made me feel dark and gloomy.

 

There would be quite a few such cases as above today. Regarding this, however, medical statics shows there is evidence that about ninety out of one hundred persons were once suffered and then recovered from tuberculosis. That is interesting. Since it was found by the dissection, doctors must know it. Therefore, I always think that a medical examination would be rather not conducted. If it were not, I don’t know how many numbers of tuberculosis patients would decrease.

 

However, doctors would say that, aside from non-infectious disease, tuberculosis is infectious and contains tubercle bacillus so it is highly dangerous. Therefore, it should be detected early for its prevention and the early detection is also effective for its treatment. I already explained the latter in detail so I omit it. Then I explain the former of its infection. It is also a terrible fault. I guarantee that tubercle bacillus isn’t infectious. When I advocate this, authorities keep an eye on me very much. However, they have not yet understood the cause of tuberculosis.

 

I came up to the following thing before. During wartime, I had a request from the Navy Department. They asked me to solve the problem that many members of a flying corps were suffered from tuberculosis. I first sent my subordinate to the flying corps in Kasumigaura. Then he told that tuberculosis wasn’t infectious. Hearing it, a military doctor got steamed up and said that tuberculosis spread over the whole army soon if such a person was permitted to enter. Afterwards, he was immediately fired.

 

However, I am sure of the theory I advocate. It is the evidence, no matter how many years pass, there is no tuberculosis patient found in hundreds of thousands of my believers. The other is that I always accommodated a few tuberculosis patients at home before for an experiment. I continued to do so for about ten years. At that time, I had six children who were the five or six to about twenty-year-old boys and girls. However, none of them was infected and they still looked perfectly healthy. While the patients were staying, they, of course, lived under the same roof, no disinfection nor other methods were done at all and they were treated as if they were normal people.

 

I show another example, which happened a few years ago. An around forty-year-old widow was suffered from tuberculosis after her husband died. Since her relatives and acquaintances were so afraid of the infection that they kept away from her, she was at a loss. When I heard of her, I felt sorry for her so I decided to take in her and let her work at my house. She is still working but none of the other members of my house is suffered from tuberculosis. Moreover, she recently becomes as healthy as normal people and works hard. Even if someone is infected, he is recovered soon. Therefore, no one is concerned about such tuberculosis in my house.

 

For the above reasons, we are relieved that tuberculosis is not infected. Compared to others at even only this point, you would see how happy we are. On the other hand, however, people in the society are so afraid of the infection that it causes tragedies everywhere and they are always in great fear. Even a spouse, a parent or child, a brother or sister cannot go near to talk with a patient and his tableware and bedding are prepared separately. He is like an outcast. If even so, it can’t be helped when people believe in medical science.

 

There was an interesting story before as following. In a certain farm village, there was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old farmer’s daughter. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis and then lived alone at the cottage which was newly built for her. Since the cottage faced the main street, villagers and so forth quickly passed by it while they are covering their mouths. When I heard this from the horse’s mouse, I broke up laughing. No wonder why they did so if tuberculosis is said to be infectious but it is a real tragicomedy. Therefore, it would be interesting if ten or twenty thousand out of hundreds of thousands of my subordinates and believers are tested altogether at once.

 

I explain it as above more in detail. First of all, when one of the family members is diagnosed with tuberculosis, others are worried as they never know when they are infected by him and they can’t get such anxiety out of their heads. Therefore, they think they are finally infected even when they occasionally catch a cold, or they are really careful not to catch a cold. However, when they, unfortunately, have a little bit cold, they are in a hurry to see a doctor and rely on medicine. For these reasons, in addition to their mental feelings of fear, toxic substances and suspended purification cause tuberculosis. Therefore, the theory that tuberculosis is infectious is still carried on.

 

Another cause is a spiritual matter. A person is sometimes possessed by the spirit of the dead who was his close relative such as a parent or child, close friend or lover. Then he shows the symptom which the dead used to have. It looks as if he is infected with tuberculosis. I will explain the matter of spiritual possessing in detail later and you could understand it when you thoroughly read it.

 

Recently, the mass infection of tuberculosis among elementary school students is often reported. In that case, when their teachers take a medical examination, a few of them must be diagnosed with open tuberculosis. It causes turmoil that they must be the cause of the infection. To tell the truth, there is no school where few tuberculosis patients are found in teachers when they are strictly examined. Taking those facts into deep consideration, you would find how unreliable the infectious theory is.

 

Translated by N.H.

 

You can read the other teachings in English on Johrei.