On the 10th of October, two shops close to the Gunma Center belonging to fellow practitioners were opened at the same time. It happened that that day was designated to be a national holiday in Japan to promote the health of body and mind. Coincidentally, the theme for the two shops complimented the holiday theme. One shop is called 'Forest Of The Agile Spirits' and sells mainly vegetarian food products. The other one, called 'Angels' Cookies,' is a tea-room serving eggless vegetarian fruit cakes.

Fellow initiate Yamazaki was initiated in May of this year. In preparing for the opening of 'Angels' Cookies,' he would like to share his experiences with everyone.

Yamazaki has always been interested in making cakes and cookies. For many years, he dreamed of owning a small shop. After graduation, he worked for a famous cake company in Tokyo in order to learn how to make cakes. However, during that time he became ill. A fellow initiate came to know that he fell sick when he was working in a place where a lot of eggs were being used. Maybe it was God's will. He, therefore, mentioned to Yamazaki, Master's teachings regarding vegetarianism. Yamazaki decided to try to be a vegetarian and make vegetarian cakes. Although he failed again and again, he never stopped trying.

After a short period of time, he received initiation. Soon after that, he began to create a greater and greater variety of vegetarian cakes. The dream of many years was coming to fruition, and he finally reached the stage of preparing to open his own shop. Theoretically speaking, as your dream day is on the verge of materializing, you should be happy, spirited and full of self-confidence. However, what occurred was that the cake recipes began to fail; Yamazaki's family didn't give him any of the support or approval that he needed; and the glass cabinet that was to be used for displaying the cakes broke and could not be fixed. To have it reinstall, it would have taken another twenty days to finished! With his hands tied at that moment, Yamazaki decided to give up his original plan of opening his shop together with the neighboring shop, 'Forest Of Agile Spirits'.

The second morning after he had decided to give up, the fellow practitioner who had introduced him to Master's teachings and had led him onto the path of spiritual practice phoned him: "If you are determined to open the shop, there will be a solution. You should not give up easily. The problem now is not the broken cabinet glass, it's your loss of self-confidence. The only way is to meditate well, remember Master's teachings, and put them into practice. This is the most important thing."

From that day onwards, he meditated for three hours with fellow practitioners at the Gunma Center. The first day he entered the Center, Master's teachings came to him loud and clear; he couldn't help but cry. He was crying and meditating at the same time. Later, fellow practitioners volunteered to take on the whole job of decorating the tea room. This way, he could concentrate on perfecting the vegetarian fruit cakes.

He worked late everyday. Early every morning he went to the Center to meditate. After five days, he not only had great results with the vegetarian fruit cake recipes, but all the interior decorating of 'Angels' Cookies' was also miraculously accomplished. All this without the help of professionals and even before the scheduled opening day.

"Making vegetarian fruit cakes in Master's shop" -- when fellow practitioners first said this, Yamazaki truly did not understand what it meant. Later, he deeply realized that he was only an instrument. If he surrendered everything to the Master Power, then he could easily and smoothly get the best results. Master's boundless love, through fellow practitioners, helped him find the best solutions.

Yamazaki said, "I just want to extend my most sincere thanks. Before, I only cared for myself and thought that only I was hard working. I never remembered to be concerned about or love other people. Now, in Master's shop, with the blessing of wholeheartedly being able to make vegetarian fruit cakes, I promise to prepare the best fruit cakes for every customer that Master arranges to come to the shop."

Ever since the shop has opened, the number of customers has been increasing. Among these have been some cake making professionals. All have praised Yamazaki's cakes, saying they are really delicious. Yamazaki's continues to work with great enthusiasm. His family have also changed their attitude and have taken the initiative to come to give a helping hand whenever they are free