At the end of the spring term, my high school age son was feeling agitated about his approaching “kimatsu test”.  He was a “jukensei”, attending 6 evenings a week a special juku to prepare him to get into college.  He had no time to prepare for the kimatsu test at his regular high school.  He knew that if he didn’t do well on these tests, it might prevent him from graduating high school.  I shared with him an idea that came to me: why not try doing Shinsokan with me on the morning of the tests and we’ll pray together for great results. 

I explained that under normal circumstances, one’s mind is often distracted and it can be hard to concentrate.  So even if you’ve studied in depth, you may not be able to access all the information stored in your brain.  But if you do Shinsokan, you’ll create the ideal conditions so that you can most effectively access the information already  stored in your brain.  I was careful not to suggest that this was a trick he could use to get out of studying, but rather something he could do to help him make the best of his circumstances.

Normally he wouldn’t be interested in doing Shinsokan with me early morning on a school day, but I think he was somewhat desperate so he agreed to give it a try.  On the first morning of the tests, I reminded him of our agreement and then he joined me for a short Shinsokan.  We did the invocation, entered the Jisso world, and then prayed that he had already achieved the best possible results on his tests.  I said a short prayer out loud for him, stating that he had already passed the tests with flying colors and that he instinctively knew the right answers and had full access to his excellent memory.  I then asked him to say his own prayer silently in his own words.  He did, and then headed off for school.  The meditation lasted only 5 minutes at most.  For the next four days he took his kimatsu tests.  I asked him soon after they finished if he felt that he did well, but he said he wasn’t sure.

Some two weeks passed, and then one day he came back from school with a glowing face and told his Mom and me that he had something amazing to tell us: he had scored exceptionally well on his tests.  Better, in fact, than many of his classmates who had spent many hours staying up late and studying for the tests.  I asked him if he thought the Shinsokan we did together might have helped, and he said, “yeah I think maybe so, now I’m starting to believe in that stuff!” 

I think hearing that he was able to witness for himself that Shinsokan really works was the most gratifying thing for me.