Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Shinsōkan
Through seated visualization and contemplation of God, perceive and identify with the perfect ‘True Image’ (jissō) of oneself, dissolving the belief in imperfection.
Sit quietly, contemplate God, vividly picture your perfect God-created True Image, accept it as your real nature now, release the appearance of imperfection, and carry that realisation into daily life.
What it is
Shinsōkan is the central meditation of Seicho-No-Ie, the large Japanese New Thought movement founded by Masaharu Taniguchi.
It is a seated practice of visualising and contemplating God while delving deeply into the perfect True Image (jissō) of the human being — the conviction that only God’s perfect creation truly exists and that apparent sickness or limitation is an unreal appearance to be seen through.
Taniguchi taught that “practising Shinsōkan is practice to see the True Image.” (This is a Japanese New Thought practice; the tradition tag remains New Thought, noting its Japanese Buddhist/Shinto-inflected context.)
The Method
Shinsōkan is performed seated, quiet, and inwardly focused:
- Sit and settle. Take a stable, upright seated posture, calm the body, and quiet the breath, withdrawing from outer distraction.
- Contemplate God. Turn the mind to God as the one absolute reality and source of all life, holding a reverent, receptive attention.
- Visualise the True Image. Picture and contemplate the perfect, God-created True Image of yourself (and of others) — whole, complete, filled with God’s virtues — rather than the appearance of sickness or lack.
- Identify with it. Realise and accept that this perfect True Image is your real nature now, letting the conviction settle as the only reality.
- Dissolve the false image. Release the belief in imperfection as a mere appearance of mind, resting in the perceived True Image.
- Carry it forward. Bring the realisation of the True Image into daily life and conduct. (Sourcing note: steps paraphrase Seicho-No-Ie’s published description of Shinsōkan as visualising/contemplating God and the True Image; the quoted line is attributed to the movement’s teaching.)
Source & Lineage
Masaharu Taniguchi (1893–1985) founded Seicho-No-Ie in 1930, drawing on Fenwicke Holmes and Science of Mind blended with Japanese Buddhist and Shinto thought.
Shinsōkan and the True Image doctrine are core to his Truth of Life teachings and remain central in Seicho-No-Ie practice today.,
Common refinements
Fighting the “false image.” The practice is to rest in the True Image, not to wrestle the symptom — struggle reinforces it.
- Visualising effortfully. Let the contemplation be calm and receptive, not strained.
- Treating it as a quick fix. Taniguchi taught it as sustained, regular practice and a way of life, not a one-off.
- Detaching from action. The realisation is meant to be carried into daily conduct.