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Adjudication is not a shortcut: The nullity of an appraisal without due process and the limits of judicial expropriation.
The assessment is an integral part of the due legal process for enforcement, and its execution without prior notification to the parties cannot be remedied by simply providing the report later.
Hector Luiz Borecki Carrillo
Source : Migalhas
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Updated on August 17, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Adjudication is one of the most efficient ways to satisfy a debt in the enforcement process. Through it, the creditor can receive the seized asset itself, with its value being applied to the payment of the obligation.
This efficiency, however, does not transform the awarding process into a procedural shortcut.
Between the seizure of assets and the definitive transfer of property, there is a procedural sequence that cannot be artificially compressed: attachment, valuation, and expropriation .
The importance of this order was recently reaffirmed by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). In REsp 2.200.180/SP, the 4th panel ruled that attachment constitutes a prior and necessary procedural act for adjudication, precisely because the legally established sequence concretizes due process and protects not only the debtor, but also third parties who may be affected by the expropriation.
The conclusion raises an even more interesting question: if the lien cannot be lifted before the adjudication, could the valuation be produced without adversarial proceedings or even replaced by a disputed unilateral estimate?
The answer must be negative.
Valuation is not a mere accounting formality.
Judicial appraisal occupies a central position in the expropriation system.
It is this that establishes the economic parameter from which the assets will be subject to the mechanisms for satisfying the debt.
In the specific case of adjudication, its relevance is even more evident. Article 876 of the CPC allows the plaintiff to request adjudication provided that they offer a price no lower than the appraised value .
Therefore, the value assigned to the asset is not a peripheral element of the procedure.
He interferes directly:
The amount of the debt that will be considered satisfied;
In preserving the assets of the debtor;
In the economic position of the other creditors;
In the event that there is a balance;
And in the very possibility of awarding the contract.
The lower the valuation, the lower the economic value that can be attributed to the expropriation.
For this reason, an appraisal carried out without due process is not simply a formal irregularity. It can have a direct impact on millions of reais worth of assets.
Article 474 of the CPC and the adversarial principle in the formation of evidence.
The CPC contains a particularly important rule that is sometimes underestimated in legal practice.
Article 474 states:
"The parties will be notified of the date and location designated by the judge or indicated by the expert for the commencement of the production of evidence."
The rule does not exist to provide mere procedural courtesy.
Prior knowledge allows the parties to participate in the formation of evidence , and not just discuss its outcome later.
In a real estate appraisal, for example, monitoring the due diligence allows for the participation of a technical assistant, the presentation of documents, the indication of improvements, the clarification of the property's characteristics, the monitoring of comparative elements used, and the identification of circumstances that may influence the expert's conclusion.
Therefore, there is a substantial difference between the two situations:
- to be summoned to participate in the expert examination ;
- to be subsequently summoned to challenge a report that has already been completed .
These are distinct manifestations of contradiction.
In the first case, there is participatory adversarial proceedings , exercised during the production of evidence. In the second, there is subsequent adversarial proceedings , exercised on evidence that has already been gathered. Confusing these two moments can produce a particularly serious consequence: considering a nullity arising precisely from the impossibility of participating in the act that produced the evidence to be precluded.
The subsequent opening of a period for comments on the report does not restore to the party the opportunity to accompany an inspection that has already taken place.
In this case, the procedural time is irreversible.
Preclusion cannot transform the absence of a right to a hearing into a right to a hearing.
This point deserves special attention.
It is common that, in the absence of an immediate challenge to a particular assessment, preclusion is invoked.
The conclusion may be correct when the party participated regularly in the procedure, was notified of the relevant actions, and remained inactive.
The problem arises when the evaluation process itself occurred without proper notification.
In this scenario, preclusion cannot be used to produce a kind of automatic validation of a non-existent adversarial process.
Before asking when the party challenged the expert report , it is necessary to answer the logically preceding question: was the party properly invited to participate in the production of evidence?
If the answer is negative, the procedural analysis changes substantially.
Due process is not satisfied merely by the possibility of submitting petitions after the act has been completed. In certain types of evidence, especially those dependent on in-person inspection that cannot be reproduced under the same conditions, contemporary participation has its own legal value.
Even worse: when there isn't even a judicial assessment.
There is an even more sensitive hypothesis.
Imagine that a certain judicial valuation is ordered but not carried out. Instead, one of the parties submits a private valuation. The opposing party expressly challenges the document. Even so, the value is subsequently used as a parameter for expropriation. In this scenario, we are no longer simply dealing with the discussion about the adversarial process in the production of expert evidence.
The question then becomes another:
Is it possible to transform a disputed unilateral assessment into a judicial assessment simply by having it ratified?
Article 871, I, of the CPC allows for dispensing with the appraisal when one of the parties accepts the estimate made by the other.
The very structure of the rule reveals the opposite solution: if there is significant controversy regarding the estimate, the basis for waiving the assessment disappears .
Acceptance and rejection cannot be equated.
And even less so to construct an adjudication based on unilateral value when the system itself conditions expropriation on the existence of a legally sound economic parameter.
Seizure, appraisal and expropriation: a constitutionally relevant sequence
The recent judgment in REsp 2.200.180/SP provides an additional element for this reflection. When examining an adjudication carried out without prior seizure, the 4th panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) did not treat the order of executive acts as a simple organizational preference of the legislator. The Court expressly linked the seizure-appraisal-expropriation sequence to due process of law. According to the STJ, prior seizure ensures publicity, allows for appraisal, guarantees the right to a fair hearing, and protects third parties; its suppression compromises the legitimacy of the expropriation.
The premise has consequences that go beyond the specific situation of that trial.
If the enforcement process contains a sequence constitutionally intended to legitimize the deprivation of assets, it is not enough that the steps exist nominally.
It is necessary that they be validly performed .
It would make no sense to consider the assessment indispensable within the procedural sequence and, simultaneously, allow it to be produced without observing the guarantees established by the CPC itself.
The valuation is not a number placed between the seizure and the adjudication.
It is a qualified procedural act , upon which the economic effects of the expropriation depend.
When the market contradicts the judicial assessment.
The issue becomes even more relevant when objective evidence emerges demonstrating a possible discrepancy between the value assigned judicially and the value actually recognized by the market.
The CPC (Code of Civil Procedure) anticipated this possibility. Article 873 allows for a new appraisal when there is an error or fraud, when a subsequent increase or decrease in the value of the asset is verified, or when there is reasonable doubt about the value previously assigned.
The expression "reasonable doubt" deserves to be taken seriously.
Consider a hypothetical situation: two properties are jointly valued at approximately R$ 5.5 million, and before the adjudication is finalized, a third party submits a formal offer of R$ 8.5 million, payable in cash. The difference would be close to R$ 3 million, more than 50%.
A concrete offer of this nature does not, in itself, mean that the property is necessarily worth exactly the amount offered. But it could hardly be considered legally irrelevant. At the very least, it constitutes an objective element capable of generating reasonable doubt about the previously made valuation . And this distinction is important.
This is not about replacing the judicial assessment with a third party's proposal. It is about recognizing that the market has presented new data that is sufficiently significant to justify revising the parameter used in the expropriation.
Monetary adjustment is not a new valuation.
Another relevant distinction is that between updating an appraisal and re-appraising a property .
These are completely different operations.
Monetary correction aims to restore the nominal value of a given amount over time. Real estate appraisal seeks to determine how much a property is actually worth on the market at a given moment .
Rural and urban properties, as well as business assets, do not necessarily track general inflation rates.
Regional appreciation, urban expansion, agricultural productivity, water availability, infrastructure, environmental changes, zoning changes, and countless other circumstances can substantially modify its price.
Consequently, an outdated valuation does not automatically become a contemporary valuation simply by applying a monetary index.
And a procedurally invalid assessment, evidently, does not become valid simply because its numbers have been corrected.
The award and competing creditors
There is yet another dimension that is often forgotten.
The seized property may be liable simultaneously to several creditors. In this case, the adjudication ceases to have effects only in the bilateral relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant.
Article 876, § 5, of the CPC grants standing to request adjudication also to competing creditors who have seized the same asset.
If there is more than one applicant, paragraph 6 provides for a bidding process among them.
The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) specifically addressed the distinction between this dispute over adjudication and the subsequent creditors' meeting in REsp 2.098.109/PR.
The 3rd panel clarified that the bidding process among those vying for the award , governed by articles 876 and 877, is not the same as the competition for preferences regarding the economic proceeds of expropriation , governed by articles 908 and 909. It also established that, in order to compete for the award, a request from the interested party is necessary.
The distinction is fundamental.
First, the discussion focuses on who intends to be awarded the asset . Then, when an economic product subject to competition exists, the discussion turns to who has preference in receiving it .
The award cannot erase material preferences.
The problem becomes especially delicate when, in addition to multiple liens, there are credits with material preference.
Article 908 of the CPC establishes that, when there are multiple creditors or plaintiffs, the money will be distributed according to the order of their respective preferences. Only in the absence of a legal title of preference does the seniority of the attachments become decisively relevant.
The jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) has long differentiated between these two situations.
In REsp 1.454.257/PR, the 3rd panel reaffirmed the impossibility of a merely procedural preference – arising from the prior nature of the attachment – prevailing over a preference established by substantive law. This aspect reveals an important practical consequence of adjudication.
When a creditor adjudicates using their own credit, there is not necessarily a physical inflow of money equivalent to the price of the asset. However, the existence of other preferential creditors prevents this technique from being used to economically deplete the rights of those who should precede them in satisfaction.
The awarding of a contract cannot function as an indirect mechanism for the disappearance of the economic product to which preferences would apply.
Effective enforcement does not mean maximizing the exclusive interest of the plaintiff.
It is understandable that the enforcement process seeks to satisfy the creditor. That is its function. But effective enforcement does not mean maximizing the economic interest of a single creditor at any cost.
The system also protects:
- the defendant against excessive expropriation;
- the other creditors against the depletion of the asset guarantee;
- third parties holding rights over the property;
- and the very institutional legitimacy of the forced transfer of property.
Therefore, when it exists simultaneously:
- questionable assessment;
- absence of opposing viewpoints;
- Substantially superior offer and multiple creditors.
The appropriate procedural response should not be to expedite the adjudication. It should be to verify whether the conditions that legitimize the expropriation are actually present.
Assessment as a guarantee, not as an obstacle.
There is an understandable tendency to view procedural requirements of execution as obstacles to effectiveness. This perception needs to be put into perspective. A correct assessment also protects the creditor. It reduces the risk of future annulment of the adjudication, increases the stability of the transfer, allows for the correct sizing of debt satisfaction, and avoids subsequent litigation involving third parties and competing creditors.
Contradictory arguments are not the enemy of execution. Contradictory arguments are what legitimize execution. And the more serious the state action—especially when it involves the compulsory transfer of property—the greater the concern should be for the integrity of the procedure that precedes it.
Conclusion
Adjudication is a powerful instrument for debt satisfaction, but precisely because of its patrimonial significance, it must remain linked to the assumptions that legitimize it.
The sequence of seizure, appraisal, and expropriation is not mere ritualism. It represents due process of law applied to execution. From this, several important conclusions follow.
An assessment carried out without the scientific rigor stipulated in Article 474 of the Code of Civil Procedure may compromise the adversarial process in the very formation of evidence.
A subsequent summons to comment on the expert report does not necessarily make up for the lost opportunity to monitor its production.
A unilaterally challenged estimate should not be artificially converted into a consensual judicial assessment.
A specific offer that is substantially higher may constitute sufficient reasonable doubt to justify a new evaluation, pursuant to Article 873 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
And the existence of competing creditors – especially when material titles of preference are involved – requires that the adjudication be examined also from the perspective of those who will dispute the economic outcome of the expropriation.
The pursuit of effectiveness does not justify reversing this logic.
First, the validity of the seizure is ensured. Then, the validity of the valuation. Only then is the expropriation legitimized.
Because, in the execution process, speed is desirable.
Claro. Abaixo está a mesma tradução, mas em formato mais compacto, sem aquelas quebras excessivas de linha.
BRAZILIAN SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE — STJ
SPECIAL APPEAL No. 2,200,180 — SÃO PAULO (2022/0231505-2)
COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE OFFICIAL JUDGMENT — WITH LEGAL TRANSLATION NOTES AND ORIGINAL STJ PAGE NUMBERING
Reporting Justice: Justice Antonio Carlos Ferreira
Fourth Panel — Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ)
Decision rendered: August 5, 2025
Judgment electronically signed: August 11, 2025
Published in DJEN/CNJ: August 18, 2025
Original document: 11 pages.
PRELIMINARY LEGAL TRANSLATION NOTES
This translation is intended to remain as literal as possible while preserving the correct legal meaning of Brazilian procedural terminology. Several concepts in this judgment do not have exact one-word equivalents in United States law, and mechanical translation may materially distort the decision.
1. “Adjudicação.” In ordinary English legal usage, adjudication generally means the judicial determination of a controversy. That is not what the Brazilian procedural institution means here. Under the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure, adjudicação is a form of judicial expropriation through which property subjected to enforcement is judicially transferred to the creditor toward satisfaction of the debt. The first-instance decision reproduced by the STJ expressly states that the debtor’s share of the property was transferred to the creditor, who thereby became the owner of the entire property. Accordingly, throughout this translation, adjudicação is rendered as “judicial transfer of the property to the creditor (Brazilian adjudicação)”, and subsequently as “judicial transfer to the creditor.”
2. “Penhora.” Penhora is not accurately translated simply as lien. Under Brazilian enforcement procedure, it is the formal judicial act by which a specific asset is subjected to enforcement. The STJ explains that it individualizes the asset, preserves it by removing it from the debtor’s free disposition, establishes preference for the creditor, gives publicity to the restraint, permits adversarial participation, and initiates the official appraisal procedure. Accordingly, penhora is translated as “judicial seizure (Brazilian penhora)”, and thereafter as “judicial seizure.”
3. “Avaliação.” In this judgment, avaliação means determination of the economic value of the asset for purposes of judicial expropriation. It is translated as “appraisal” and “official appraisal of the property.” It should not be mechanically rendered as assessment, which has other legal meanings in English.
4. “Expropriação.” Expropriação refers to the compulsory disposition or appropriation of assets within enforcement proceedings in order to satisfy the enforceable obligation. It is translated as “expropriation.” The judgment expressly identifies Brazilian adjudicação as one of the forms of expropriation provided for by Article 825 of the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure.
5. “Cumprimento de sentença.” This is the procedural phase through which an enforceable judicial judgment is implemented and is translated as “enforcement of judgment.”
6. “Exequente” and “executado.” These are translated as “enforcement creditor” and “enforcement debtor.” When the translation reproduces a lower-court ruling using autor and ré, the terms “plaintiff” and “defendant” are retained.
7. “Contraditório.” The Brazilian constitutional and procedural concept of contraditório is broader than merely having a hearing. It encompasses notice, effective participation, the opportunity to challenge procedural acts and evidence, and the ability to influence the proceeding. Depending on syntax, it is rendered as “adversarial participation” or “the right to adversarial proceedings.”
8. “Direito de defesa.” This is translated as “right of defense.”
9. “Devido processo legal.” The established English constitutional expression is “due process of law”, not due legal process. This is particularly important because the STJ expressly places the enforcement sequence within the constitutional dimension of due process of law.
10. “Carta de adjudicação.” This is the formal instrument documenting the judicial transfer resulting from Brazilian adjudicação. It is translated as “instrument formalizing the judicial transfer of the property.”
PAGE 1 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
SPECIAL APPEAL No. 2,200,180 — SP (2022/0231505-2)
REPORTING JUSTICE: JUSTICE ANTONIO CARLOS FERREIRA
APPELLANT: GRACIELE DOS REIS ANDRADE
COUNSEL: FÁBIO ZAFIRO FILHO — SP136259
APPELLEE: MARCELO PAULO MIRANDA DO PRADO
COUNSEL: JANA DANTE LEITE — SP185255; DANIEL SILVA CORTES — SP278724
HEADNOTE
CIVIL PROCEDURAL LAW. SPECIAL APPEAL. ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENT. JUDICIAL TRANSFER OF THE PROPERTY TO THE CREDITOR (BRAZILIAN ADJUDICAÇÃO). PRIOR JUDICIAL SEIZURE. ABSENCE. IMPOSSIBILITY. ABSOLUTE NULLITY. VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS OF LAW. SPECIAL APPEAL GRANTED.
I. Case Under Review. 1. Special Appeal filed against a judgment of the Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo that upheld a first-instance decision which granted the judicial transfer to the enforcement creditor of real property co-owned by the enforcement creditor and the enforcement debtor, without prior judicial seizure of the property.
II. Issue Under Discussion. 2. To determine whether prior judicial seizure is necessary as a procedural prerequisite for the judicial transfer of property to the creditor in enforcement proceedings.
III. Grounds for Decision. 3. Judicial seizure constitutes a prior procedural act indispensable to the judicial transfer of property to the creditor in enforcement proceedings, as expressly provided in Articles 523, § 3, 825, and 876 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which establish an unavoidable procedural sequence: JUDICIAL SEIZURE — APPRAISAL — EXPROPRIATION.
4. The requirement of prior judicial seizure as a prerequisite for judicial transfer to the creditor does not represent a mere procedural formality, but gives concrete effect to the fundamental guarantee of due process of law provided for in Article 5, LIV, of the Federal Constitution.
4.1. The absence of judicial seizure constitutes absolute nullity, which does not require proof of prejudice because it affects the very structure of the enforcement procedure.
Electronic document VDA49359841 electronically signed pursuant to Article 1, § 2, item III, of Law No. 11,419/2006. Signatory: Antonio Carlos Ferreira. Signed on August 11, 2025, at 3:59:02 p.m. Published in DJEN/CNJ on August 18, 2025. Document Control Code: 07726462-053d-4594-a1a3-df089de22a37.
PAGE 2 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
4.2. The principles of procedural expedition and procedural economy cannot be used to set aside a mandatory procedural rule expressly provided for by law. The effectiveness of judicial protection cannot be achieved at the expense of legal certainty and due process of law.
IV. Holding and Rule of Decision. 5. Special Appeal granted in order to recognize the nullity of the judicial transfer of the property to the creditor carried out without prior judicial seizure and to order the return of the case to the court of origin so that the procedure established by law may be observed.
Rule of Decision: “1. Judicial seizure is a prior procedural act necessary for the judicial transfer of property to the creditor.”
Relevant precedent cited: STJ, REsp 2,041,861/SP, Reporting Justice Nancy Andrighi, Third Panel, decided on June 13, 2023.
JUDGMENT
Having reviewed and reported these proceedings, in which the parties are those identified above, the Justices of the FOURTH PANEL, unanimously, agree to grant the appeal, in accordance with the vote of the Reporting Justice. Justices João Otávio de Noronha, Raul Araújo, and Marco Buzzi voted with the Reporting Justice. Justice João Otávio de Noronha presided over the judgment. Justice Maria Isabel Gallotti was absent for justified reasons.
Brasília, August 11, 2025. Justice Antonio Carlos Ferreira, Reporting Justice.
Electronic document VDA49359841 electronically signed pursuant to Article 1, § 2, item III, of Law No. 11,419/2006. Signatory: Antonio Carlos Ferreira. Signed on August 11, 2025, at 3:59:02 p.m. Published in DJEN/CNJ on August 18, 2025.
Scheduled: June 17, 2025. Considered: June 17, 2025. Reporting Justice: Antonio Carlos Ferreira. President of the Session: Maria Isabel Gallotti. Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic: Renato Brill de Goes. Clerk: Teresa Helena da Rocha Basevi.
Case Registration: Appellant: Graciele dos Reis Andrade. Counsel: Fábio Zafiro Filho — SP136259. Appellee: Marcelo Paulo Miranda do Prado. Counsel: Jana Dante Leite — SP185255; Daniel Silva Cortes — SP278724. Subject Matter: Civil Law — Property — Ownership — Co-ownership.
Certificate: I certify that the distinguished Fourth Panel, upon considering the above-referenced proceeding at the session held on this date, rendered the following decision: “The judgment was postponed at the request of the Reporting Justice.”
Electronic document VDA48293065. Signatory: Teresa Helena da Rocha Basevi, Fourth Panel. Signed on June 17, 2025, at 6:06:18 p.m.
PAGE 4 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
SPECIAL APPEAL No. 2,200,180 — SP (2022/0231505-2)
REPORTING JUSTICE: JUSTICE ANTONIO CARLOS FERREIRA
APPELLANT: GRACIELE DOS REIS ANDRADE
COUNSEL: FÁBIO ZAFIRO FILHO — SP136259
APPELLEE: MARCELO PAULO MIRANDA DO PRADO
COUNSEL: JANA DANTE LEITE — SP185255; DANIEL SILVA CORTES — SP278724
HEADNOTE
CIVIL PROCEDURAL LAW. SPECIAL APPEAL. ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENT. JUDICIAL TRANSFER OF THE PROPERTY TO THE CREDITOR (BRAZILIAN ADJUDICAÇÃO). PRIOR JUDICIAL SEIZURE. ABSENCE. IMPOSSIBILITY. ABSOLUTE NULLITY. VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS OF LAW. SPECIAL APPEAL GRANTED.
I. Case Under Review. 1. Special Appeal filed against a judgment of the Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo that upheld a first-instance decision which granted the judicial transfer to the enforcement creditor of real property co-owned by the enforcement creditor and the enforcement debtor, without prior judicial seizure of the property.
II. Issue Under Discussion. 2. To determine whether prior judicial seizure is necessary as a procedural prerequisite for the judicial transfer of property to the creditor in enforcement proceedings.
III. Grounds for Decision. 3. Judicial seizure constitutes a prior procedural act indispensable to the judicial transfer of property to the creditor in enforcement proceedings, as expressly provided in Articles 523, § 3, 825, and 876 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which establish an unavoidable procedural sequence: JUDICIAL SEIZURE — APPRAISAL — EXPROPRIATION.
4. The requirement of prior judicial seizure as a prerequisite for judicial transfer to the creditor does not represent a mere procedural formality, but gives concrete effect to the fundamental guarantee of due process of law provided for in Article 5, LIV, of the Federal Constitution.
4.1. The absence of judicial seizure constitutes absolute nullity, which does not require proof of prejudice because it affects the very structure of the enforcement procedure.
PAGE 5 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
4.2. The principles of procedural expedition and procedural economy cannot be used to set aside a mandatory procedural rule expressly established by law. The effectiveness of judicial protection cannot be achieved at the expense of legal certainty and due process of law.
IV. Holding and Rule of Decision. 5. Special Appeal granted in order to recognize the nullity of the judicial transfer of the property to the creditor carried out without prior judicial seizure and to order the return of the case to the court of origin so that the legally established procedure may be observed.
Rule of Decision: “1. Judicial seizure is a prior procedural act necessary for the judicial transfer of property to the creditor.”
Relevant provisions cited: CPC/2015, Articles 523, § 3; 825, I; 876; Federal Constitution, Article 5, LIV. Relevant precedent cited: STJ, REsp 2,041,861/SP, Reporting Justice Nancy Andrighi, Third Panel, decided on June 13, 2023.
REPORT
This is a Special Appeal based on Article 105, III, “a,” of the Federal Constitution, filed against a judgment whose headnote reads as follows (p. 9):
> INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL — ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENT — CHALLENGE TO DECISION THAT GRANTED THE JUDICIAL TRANSFER TO THE APPELLEE OF THE APPELLANT'S SHARE OF THE PROPERTY, WITHOUT PRIOR JUDICIAL SEIZURE — ADMISSIBILITY — JUDICIAL TRANSFER TO THE CREDITOR AS A FORM OF EXPROPRIATION — INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 825, ITEM I, OF THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE — COMMONLY OWNED PROPERTY — APPELLEE'S RIGHT OF PREFERENCE — DECISION AFFIRMED — APPEAL DENIED.
In her grounds for appeal (pp. 13–24), the appellant alleges violation of Articles 523, § 3, 825, I, and 876 of the CPC, arguing:
> “At the court of first instance, the judicial transfer of real property to the creditor was ordered without prior judicial seizure, and the state court of origin upheld the judicial transfer of the property under those circumstances. Judicial seizure is an essential act of the proceeding, and its absence results in absolute nullity, which cannot be cured by the supposed absence of prejudice to the party, as stated by the distinguished adjudicating Panel” (p. 16).
She argues that there is:
> “no legal or even logical justification whatsoever for dispensing with judicial seizure and directly transferring real property to the creditor. This measure runs counter not only to the legislation in force but also to the entire Brazilian procedural tradition.”
PAGE 6 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
The appellant continues:
> “Under the procedural law currently in force, the judicial transfer of property to the creditor is an institution of procedural law that must always be preceded by judicial seizure of the property. There is no other means of judicially transferring property to the creditor in Brazilian civil proceedings except in this manner” (p. 21).
She further argues:
> “the statutory provision that specifically governs the judicial transfer to the creditor (Article 876, caput, CPC/2015, already transcribed above) expressly refers to judicial seizure (‘request that the seized property be judicially transferred to the creditor’). Therefore, procedural law presupposes that prior judicial seizure must occur before the real property may subsequently be judicially transferred to the creditor. [...]. Even if it were said that prejudice must be demonstrated (which we admit only ad argumentandum), it is evident that the enforcement debtor, now the appellant, would have the right to challenge the judicial seizure (Article 525, § 11, CPC/2015), alleging, for example, that the property is exempt from seizure because it constitutes a protected family home (Law No. 8,009/90), thereby preventing the property from being expropriated (whether through sale at public auction or through judicial transfer to the creditor)” (p. 22).
She adds:
> “the prejudice, therefore, is evident and does not even need to be alleged because it arises from the statutory text itself, which permits, in theory, the assertion that real property is exempt from judicial seizure because it constitutes a protected family home” (p. 23).
No response to the Special Appeal was filed (p. 26). The interlocutory appeal was ordered converted into a Special Appeal for a more thorough analysis of the controversy (p. 90). This is the report.
VOTE
At the court of origin, MARCELO PAULO MIRANDO DO PRAZO [name reproduced as it appears in this portion of the official source] filed an action for enforcement of judgment against GRAZIELE DOS REIS ANDRADE. After having been duly served, the enforcement debtor neither made payment nor filed an objection, which led the enforcement creditor to request the judicial transfer of the real property to him, attaching a calculation worksheet and adding the penalty and attorney's fees provided for in Article 523, § 1, of the CPC.
The enforcement debtor challenged the request for judicial transfer because of the absence of prior judicial seizure. The Court of the 3rd Civil Court of the Judicial District of Guarujá granted the judicial transfer of the real property, in accordance with the decision transcribed below (p. 18 — emphasis added):
> “Seen. The debt relating to the rent due having been liquidated, the worksheet initially submitted having been recalculated, with attorney's fees excluded because the defendant is a beneficiary of legal aid, and the period for the defendant to make voluntary payment of the amount due having elapsed, the present enforcement proceeding must continue in the amount of R$102,388.64 (p. 276). Without prejudice to the foregoing, considering that this involves a forced transfer resulting from the termination of co-ownership of the property, the plaintiff has a preferential right to acquire the share belonging to the defendant. That is, in fact, what he seeks in his submissions. Under these circumstances, considering that the amount of the debt exceeds one-half of the value of the property (to which the defendant is entitled), I GRANT the judicial transfer to the plaintiff of the share belonging to the defendant, whereby the plaintiff becomes the owner of the entire property that is the subject matter of this litigation.”
PAGE 7 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
The first-instance decision continues:
> “This circumstance eliminates any discussion concerning judicial seizure of the property. At the appropriate time, after expiration of the period for filing an appeal against this decision, the corresponding instrument formalizing the judicial transfer of the property to the plaintiff shall be issued.”
Against that decision, the party filed an interlocutory appeal. The Court of Justice of the State of São Paulo denied the appeal on the ground that:
> “Article 825, item I, of the Code of Civil Procedure establishes judicial transfer to the creditor as one of the forms of expropriation, such that, in the present case, prior judicial seizure is unnecessary. It must also be taken into consideration that, in the case under review, the property is commonly owned by the parties, one-half of which already belongs to the appellee, who therefore possesses a preferential right. Moreover, the appellant presented no argument to the effect that the judicial transfer to the creditor, without prior judicial seizure, caused her any prejudice that would warrant modification of the appealed decision, such that the decision complied with the principles of procedural expedition and procedural economy” (p. 10 — emphasis added).
The legal controversy concerns whether the judicial transfer of property to the creditor may be granted in enforcement proceedings without its prior and formal judicial seizure. The Code of Civil Procedure establishes, clearly and unequivocally, that judicial seizure is a prior procedural act necessary for the judicial transfer of property to the creditor. This logical and chronological sequence arises from the very nature of compulsory enforcement and from the system of expropriation established therein.
In the case of enforcement of judgment, Article 523, § 3, of the CPC expressly provides:
> “If voluntary payment is not timely made, a writ of judicial seizure and appraisal shall immediately be issued, followed by the acts of expropriation.”
The statutory text establishes an unavoidable chronological order: first, judicial seizure and appraisal; thereafter, the acts of expropriation.
Article 825, I, of the CPC, which establishes judicial transfer to the creditor as one of the forms of expropriation, must in turn be interpreted together with Article 876 of the same Code, which clearly provides:
> “The enforcement creditor may, by offering a price not lower than the appraised value, request that the seized property be judicially transferred to him or her.”
The express reference to “seized property” demonstrates that judicial seizure is an indispensable procedural prerequisite for judicial transfer to the creditor.
In this regard, the Third Panel of the STJ expressly recognized the procedural sequence applicable to expropriation of property, stating:
> “once the judicial seizure and appraisal of the property have been carried out, the possibility arises to request its judicial transfer to the creditor (Article 875 of the CPC/2015)”
(REsp No. 2,041,861/SP, Reporting Justice Nancy Andrighi, Third Panel, decided on June 13, 2023, DJe June 22, 2023).
PAGE 8 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
THE CONSTITUTIONAL DIMENSION OF DUE PROCESS OF LAW IN ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS
The requirement of prior judicial seizure as a prerequisite for the judicial transfer of property to the creditor does not represent a mere procedural formality, but gives concrete effect to the fundamental guarantee of due process of law established in Article 5, LIV, of the Federal Constitution, according to which:
> “No one shall be deprived of liberty or of his or her property without due process of law.”
The procedural sequence established by the procedural legislature—JUDICIAL SEIZURE — APPRAISAL — EXPROPRIATION—reinforces the constitutional command by structuring an enforcement proceeding that balances the effectiveness of judicial protection with the guarantees afforded to the enforcement debtor.
From this constitutional perspective, judicial seizure represents a qualified procedural stage that cannot be eliminated by judicial decision without thereby violating the guarantee of due process of law itself.
The elimination of judicial seizure therefore violates not only the statutory provisions governing enforcement procedure but also the essential core of the constitutional guarantee of due process of law, insofar as it permits the deprivation of the enforcement debtor's property without observance of the procedure established by law.
Far from constituting a mere procedural formality, judicial seizure performs an essential role in the legitimacy and security of enforcement proceedings. As may be inferred from the normative framework contained in Articles 797 through 875 of the CPC, the act of judicial restraint performs multiple functions: (i) it individualizes the property upon which enforcement will fall (Article 831); (ii) it preserves the property, removing it from the enforcement debtor's free disposition (Article 839); (iii) it grants the enforcement creditor a preferential right (Article 797); (iv) it guarantees publicity of the enforcement act, permitting third parties to become aware of it and to present any challenges (Article 844); (v) it enables the enforcement debtor to exercise adversarial participation, including the right to request substitution of the seized property (Articles 847 through 853); and (vi) it gives rise to the procedure for the official appraisal of the property (Article 870).
It must further be emphasized that direct expropriation prevents the enforcement debtor from fully exercising the right of defense with respect to a claim that the property may be exempt from judicial seizure, as in cases protected by Law No. 8,009/1990.
Accordingly, judicial seizure transcends mere formality and constitutes an essential legal requirement for the judicial transfer of the property to the creditor. Failure to observe this procedural prerequisite constitutes absolute nullity, without any need to prove actual harm. Such irregularity compromises the foundation of the enforcement procedure, affecting both its formal and substantive validity. In this context, prejudice is presumed ex lege, because the irregularity violates fundamental principles such as legal certainty and due process of law.
The absence of the formal act of judicial seizure prevents the regular development of the expropriation phase in multiple respects: it prevents the official appraisal of the property (Article 870 of the CPC)—
PAGE 9 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
—the official appraisal of the property (Article 870 of the CPC); obstructs the necessary publicity of the judicial restraint (Article 844); and restricts the enforcement debtor's prerogative to request substitution of the seized property (Article 847), thereby compromising procedural guarantees.
Moreover, the principles of procedural expedition and procedural economy invoked by the court below cannot be used to set aside a mandatory procedural rule expressly provided for by law. Those principles guide interpretation of the procedural system, but they do not authorize the judge to create procedures not provided for by law or to dispense with stages legally established as mandatory.
The effectiveness of judicial protection, which certainly is a value to be pursued, cannot be achieved at the expense of legal certainty and due process of law. Judicial seizure, as a complex procedural act, has specific purposes that extend beyond mere formality and constitutes a fundamental guarantee both for the enforcement debtor and for potentially interested third parties.
The procedural system itself provides mechanisms for simplifying and accelerating enforcement proceedings, but always within the limits established by the legislature. Judicial dispensation with express statutory requirements, under the pretext of making the proceeding more expeditious, constitutes undue interference by the Judiciary in the sphere of competence of the Legislative Branch.
THE INDISPENSABILITY OF JUDICIAL SEIZURE IN ALL FORMS OF EXPROPRIATION
It is relevant to observe that the requirement of prior judicial seizure is not restricted to the judicial transfer of property to the creditor, but constitutes an unavoidable requirement for every form of expropriation provided for in Article 825 of the CPC, whether judicial transfer to the creditor (Brazilian adjudicação) — item I; alienation — item II; or appropriation of fruits and income — item III.
With respect to alienation, whether conducted by private initiative or through judicial auction (Article 880), the Code of Civil Procedure is equally explicit in requiring prior judicial seizure. Article 881 regulates the “electronic or in-person judicial auction” as a form of alienation of “the seized property.” Thus, procedural law makes clear that judicial seizure constitutes a prior and indispensable stage.
The same applies to the appropriation of fruits and income, governed by Articles 867 through 869 of the CPC. Article 867 provides:
> “the judge may order the judicial seizure of fruits and income from movable or immovable property,”
demonstrating once again the necessity of formalizing the judicial seizure before expropriation.
This normative uniformity concerning the requirement of prior judicial seizure in all forms of expropriation reinforces the conclusion that it constitutes an unavoidable procedural prerequisite forming part of the very structure of the enforcement procedure established by the legislature.
PAGE 10 OF 11 — OFFICIAL STJ JUDGMENT
Judicial seizure therefore cannot be dispensed with for purposes of judicial transfer of property to the creditor when such dispensation would not be permissible for any other form of expropriation provided for under procedural law.
Recognizing the possibility of judicial transfer of property to the creditor without prior judicial seizure would create a systemic inconsistency within the procedural legal order, establishing different treatment for forms of expropriation that the law regulates equivalently and subjects to the same procedural requirements.
A contrary interpretation would amount to authorizing judges to create procedures not provided for by law, which, in addition to violating the principle of legality and the separation of powers, would generate legal uncertainty and unequal treatment among persons subject to the jurisdiction of the courts who are situated in identical circumstances.
Accordingly, by dispensing with judicial seizure and ordering the direct judicial transfer of the real property to the creditor, the judgment under appeal violated Articles 523, § 3, 825, I, and 876 of the CPC.
For the foregoing reasons:
> I GRANT THE SPECIAL APPEAL and, recognizing the nullity of the judicial transfer of the property to the creditor carried out without prior judicial seizure, order the case returned to the court of origin so that the procedure established by law may be observed, with judicial seizure being carried out before any eventual judicial transfer of the property to the creditor.
Scheduled: June 17, 2025. Decided: August 5, 2025. Reporting Justice: Antonio Carlos Ferreira. President of the Session: João Otávio de Noronha. Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic: Renato Brill de Goes. Clerk: Taynah Rode da Silva Petini.
Case Registration: Appellant: Graciele dos Reis Andrade. Counsel: Fábio Zafiro Filho — SP136259. Appellee: Marcelo Paulo Miranda do Prado. Counsel: Jana Dante Leite — SP185255; Daniel Silva Cortes — SP278724. Subject Matter: Civil Law — Property — Ownership — Co-ownership.
Certificate: I certify that the distinguished Fourth Panel, upon considering the above-referenced proceeding at the session held on this date, rendered the following decision:
> “THE FOURTH PANEL, unanimously, granted the appeal, in accordance with the vote of the Reporting Justice.”
Justices João Otávio de Noronha, Raul Araújo, and Marco Buzzi voted with the Reporting Justice. Justice João Otávio de Noronha presided over the judgment. Justice Maria Isabel Gallotti was absent for justified reasons.
Electronic document VDA49245299. Signatory: Taynah Rode da Silva Petini, Fourth Panel. Signed on August 5, 2025, at 6:16:45 p.m. Document Control Code: 05C48436-7BFD-4C78-9D77-9CDF5AD59617.
FINAL TRANSLATOR'S LEGAL NOTE
The central meaning of this judgment must not be obscured by the English word adjudication. The case concerns the compulsory transfer of ownership of real property to a creditor. The first-instance court expressly ordered the debtor's share transferred to the creditor and stated that, as a result, the creditor became the owner of the entire property. That statement appears in the original STJ judgment at pages 6–7.
The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice held that this judicial transfer was absolutely null because it occurred without the prior judicial seizure required by law. The STJ further held, at page 8, that eliminating the prior judicial seizure violated not merely an ordinary procedural rule, but “the essential core of the constitutional guarantee of due process of law”, because it permitted deprivation of the debtor's property without observance of the procedure established by law.
Accordingly, the mandatory sequence identified by the Court is:
> JUDICIAL SEIZURE → APPRAISAL → EXPROPRIATION
and, where the chosen form of expropriation is Brazilian adjudicação:
> JUDICIAL SEIZURE → APPRAISAL → JUDICIAL TRANSFER OF THE PROPERTY TO THE CREDITOR
The dispositive portion at page 10 nullified the judicial transfer already made and ordered the case returned to the trial court so that the legally prescribed procedure could be followed.
DEVIDO PROCESSO LEGAL, PROCESSO JUSTO E DIGNIDADE DA PESSOA HUMANA
ESTUDO DE DIREITO CONSTITUCIONAL E INTERNACIONAL COMPARADO SOBRE AS GARANTIAS MATERIAIS E PROCESSUAIS CONTRA O EXERCÍCIO ARBITRÁRIO DO PODER ESTATAL
Due Process of Law, Fair Trial and Human Dignity
A Comparative Constitutional and International Human Rights Study on the Substantive and Procedural Guarantees Against Arbitrary State Power
I — OBJETO, FINALIDADE E DELIMITAÇÃO METODOLÓGICA DO ESTUDO
1. O objeto do presente estudo
O presente trabalho constitui estudo de Direito Constitucional e de Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos Comparado, destinado a examinar o conteúdo substancial do devido processo legal — due process of law — e do direito ao julgamento justo — right to a fair trial, compreendidos não como fórmulas processuais abstratas ou como simples cumprimento aparente de atos procedimentais, mas como um sistema integrado de garantias destinado a proteger a pessoa humana contra o exercício arbitrário do poder estatal.
O estudo parte de uma premissa fundamental:
o devido processo legal não constitui mera técnica de organização do procedimento. Ele representa uma garantia fundamental contra a privação arbitrária da liberdade, da propriedade, dos direitos civis, profissionais e demais posições jurídicas protegidas pelo ordenamento.
A investigação busca demonstrar que notice, opportunity to be heard, timely access to evidence, adversarial participation, full defense, equality of arms, competent jurisdiction, independence and impartiality of the adjudicator, meaningful judicial review, effective remedy e proteção contra arbitrariedade estatal não constituem garantias isoladas.
São elementos funcionalmente interdependentes de um mesmo sistema de proteção jurídica da pessoa.
A violação de uma dessas garantias pode comprometer as demais e, dependendo da natureza e da gravidade do vício, atingir a própria legitimidade constitucional do procedimento e do ato estatal dele resultante.
2. A dignidade da pessoa humana e o princípio do devido processo legal
Os precedentes brasileiros são utilizados como contraponto constitucional comparado — comparative constitutional counterpoint.
Busca-se identificar como tribunais superiores de uma democracia constitucional estruturada sobre a dignidade da pessoa humana, e os direitos humanos indisponíveis, à garantia de acesso à justiça, e o direito ao juizo e ao tribunal competente, imparcial e justo, devido processo legal, ao contraditório e à ampla defesa interpretam concretamente situações nas quais:
uma pessoa é privada de propriedade;
uma oportunidade processual é concedida somente depois de perdido o momento em que poderia ser útil;
prova relevante permanece inacessível durante fases essenciais do processo;
uma oposição efetivamente manifestada é tratada como se inexistisse;
formalidades processuais são utilizadas para produzir artificialmente aquiescência, waiver, default ou preclusão;
etapas destinadas a proteger o jurisdicionado são eliminadas ou esvaziadas de sua função;
ou um procedimento formalmente existente deixa de proporcionar uma oportunidade real de defesa.
A comparação, portanto, não é normativa por transplante, mas funcional, constitucional e garantista.
Pergunta-se quais funções aquelas garantias desempenham no Estado de Direito e se proteções equivalentes encontram fundamento na Constituição dos Estados Unidos, na jurisprudência constitucional norte-americana e no Direito Internacional dos Direitos Humanos.
II — A MATRIZ CONSTITUCIONAL BRASILEIRA: DIGNIDADE HUMANA, ACESSO À JUSTIÇA, DEVIDO PROCESSO LEGAL, CONTRADITÓRIO E AMPLA DEFESA
A Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988 coloca a dignidade da pessoa humana no próprio fundamento do Estado Democrático de Direito.
Dispõe o artigo 1º, inciso III:
“III - a dignidade da pessoa humana;”
A Constituição estabelece ainda, entre os princípios que orientam o Brasil em suas relações internacionais, a:
“II - prevalência dos direitos humanos;”
A ordem constitucional brasileira associa, portanto, o funcionamento do Estado à proteção da pessoa humana e à prevalência dos direitos humanos.
No campo especificamente processual, o artigo 5º estabelece garantias que devem ser compreendidas conjuntamente.
Artigo 5º, XXXV — acesso à jurisdição
“XXXV - a lei não excluirá da apreciação do Poder Judiciário lesão ou ameaça a direito;”
Artigo 5º, LIV — devido processo legal
“LIV - ninguém será privado da liberdade ou de seus bens sem o devido processo legal;”
Artigo 5º, LV — contraditório e ampla defesa
“LV - aos litigantes [...] são assegurados o contraditório e ampla defesa, com os meios e recursos a ela inerentes;”
A Constituição não limita essas garantias ao processo penal. O próprio inciso LV alcança expressamente processos judiciais e administrativos, enquanto o inciso LIV protege tanto a liberdade quanto os bens.
Essa estrutura constitucional é central para o presente estudo.
O devido processo legal não se esgota, portanto, na existência de um processo nominalmente instituído. Ele exige que os mecanismos essenciais de proteção nele previstos possam ser exercidos de forma real, tempestiva e efetiva.
III — A MATRIZ CONSTITUCIONAL NORTE-AMERICANA: DUE PROCESS OF LAW
A Constituição dos Estados Unidos contém formulação textual inequívoca na Fifth Amendment, aplicável ao exercício do poder federal:
“nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”
A própria publicação oficial Constitution Annotated, do Congresso dos Estados Unidos, registra que as garantias de due process funcionam como limitação ao exercício do poder governamental e que o procedural due process frequentemente exige notice and a hearing before deprivation of a protected interest.
A Fourteenth Amendment, por sua vez, estabelece em relação aos Estados:
“nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”
e acrescenta a garantia da equal protection of the laws.
A documentação constitucional oficial do Congresso norte-americano distingue expressamente as duas esferas:
Fifth Amendment → federal government;
Fourteenth Amendment → state governments.
Essa distinção será observada rigorosamente no estudo, especialmente porque os fatos examinados podem envolver, de um lado, atuação de tribunal federal e, de outro, órgãos ou entidades vinculados ao Estado de Washington.
IV — O PROCESSO JUSTO COMO GARANTIA INTERNACIONAL DE DIREITOS HUMANOS
O estudo não se limita às Constituições brasileira e norte-americana.
O direito ao processo justo integra a arquitetura internacional de proteção dos direitos humanos.
1. Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos
A Declaração Universal estabelece já em seu artigo 1º a igualdade em dignidade e direitos.
O artigo 8º reconhece o direito a effective remedy perante tribunais nacionais competentes contra violações de direitos fundamentais.
O artigo 10 assegura a toda pessoa, em plena igualdade, julgamento justo por tribunal independente e imparcial.
Essas disposições demonstram que acesso à justiça, recurso efetivo, igualdade, independência judicial e imparcialidade são componentes de uma mesma estrutura protetiva.
2. Declaração Americana dos Direitos e Deveres do Homem
Para o estudo norte-americano, a American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, adotada no âmbito interamericano, possui especial relevância.
Seu preâmbulo reconhece expressamente a dignidade do indivíduo e declara que as instituições jurídicas e políticas têm como finalidade principal proteger os direitos essenciais da pessoa.
O artigo XVIII estabelece:
“Every person may resort to the courts to ensure respect for his legal rights.”
E exige procedimento judicial destinado a proteger a pessoa contra atos de autoridade violadores de direitos fundamentais.
O artigo XXIII associa, de maneira particularmente significativa, propriedade e dignidade:
“Every person has a right to own such private property...”
e relaciona a propriedade às necessidades de vida digna e à dignidade da pessoa e do lar.
Essa conexão é particularmente relevante quando o poder jurisdicional do Estado culmina em foreclosure, judicial sale, Sheriff's sale ou outra forma de privação compulsória de propriedade.
3. Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Civis e Políticos — ICCPR
O artigo 14, § 1º, do International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — ICCPR contém uma das formulações internacionais mais importantes sobre processo justo.
Estabelece a igualdade perante cortes e tribunais e assegura que a determinação de direitos e obrigações civis seja realizada perante:
“a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.”
O texto promulgado no Brasil registra igualmente o direito de ser ouvido com as devidas garantias por tribunal competente, independente e imparcial.
O Comitê de Direitos Humanos das Nações Unidas, no General Comment No. 32, descreve o direito à igualdade perante tribunais e ao fair trial como elemento essencial da proteção internacional dos direitos humanos e instrumento de salvaguarda do rule of law.
Assim, o direito ao processo justo não é uma peculiaridade brasileira nem norte-americana.
Trata-se de um princípio estrutural do Estado de Direito contemporâneo.
V — OS PRECEDENTES DO STJ COMO CONTRAPONTO CONSTITUCIONAL COMPARADO
Neste estudo, três precedentes distintos devem permanecer rigorosamente separados quanto aos fatos, à matéria, ao órgão julgador e à ratio decidendi.
Eles não são apresentados como casos equivalentes entre si.
O que se examina é a contribuição específica de cada julgamento para a compreensão das diferentes dimensões do devido processo legal.
1. REsp 2.200.180/SP — privação de propriedade e validade das etapas que precedem a expropriação
No REsp 2.200.180/SP, Relator Ministro Antonio Carlos Ferreira, Quarta Turma, julgado por unanimidade em 5 de agosto de 2025, o STJ examinou a possibilidade de adjudicação de bem sem penhora prévia.
O destaque oficial foi:
“A penhora é ato processual prévio e necessário à adjudicação de bens.”
Mais importante para este estudo é o fundamento constitucional adotado.
O STJ declarou que a exigência da penhora prévia não constitui mera formalidade, mas concretização da garantia fundamental do devido processo legal.
O Informativo n. 857 registra que a sequência:
“penhora-avaliação-expropriação”
estrutura o processo executivo e equilibra a efetividade da tutela jurisdicional com as garantias do executado.
O Tribunal chegou a afirmar que a supressão da penhora vulnera o núcleo essencial do devido processo legal, por permitir privação de bens sem observância do procedimento legalmente estabelecido.
A importância comparativa desse precedente não reside em aplicar as regras brasileiras de penhora ou adjudicação a um foreclosure norte-americano.
Sua importância reside numa proposição constitucional mais profunda:
quanto mais grave e irreversível for a interferência estatal sobre a propriedade, maior é a necessidade de que as garantias processuais destinadas a legitimá-la sejam efetivamente observadas.
2. AREsp 3.028.845/PR — acesso integral e tempestivo à prova e irreversibilidade da oportunidade processual perdida
O AREsp 3.028.845/PR, Relator Ministro Ribeiro Dantas, Quinta Turma, julgado em 16 de junho de 2026, pertence a contexto completamente distinto: processo penal e direito da defesa de acesso ao conjunto probatório mantido sob custódia estatal.
O resultado foi de agravo conhecido e recurso especial parcialmente provido.
Esse precedente interessa ao estudo por enfrentar a diferença entre:
ter acesso à prova no momento em que ela ainda pode orientar a defesa
e
receber posteriormente oportunidade formal de manifestação depois de já perdidas fases processuais nas quais aquela prova poderia ter sido utilizada.
Seu valor comparativo está na dimensão temporal e material do contraditório:
uma oportunidade concedida posteriormente não necessariamente restitui as oportunidades defensivas irreversivelmente perdidas.
Não se trata, portanto, do REsp 2.200.180/SP.
São processos diferentes, matérias diferentes, Turmas diferentes e problemas processuais diferentes.
Sua aproximação ocorre exclusivamente no plano da efetividade do due process.
3. REsp 1.760.966/SP — oposição efetiva não pode ser artificialmente convertida em aquiescência
No REsp 1.760.966/SP, Relator Ministro Marco Aurélio Bellizze, Terceira Turma, julgado em 4 de dezembro de 2018, o STJ examinou a estabilização da tutela antecipada antecedente.
O artigo 304 do CPC dispõe:
“A tutela antecipada [...] torna-se estável se da decisão que a conceder não for interposto o respectivo recurso.”
Apesar da literalidade da regra, a parte havia apresentado contestação e manifestado oposição à tutela.
O STJ realizou interpretação sistemática e teleológica e concluiu:
“a estabilização somente ocorrerá se não houver qualquer tipo de impugnação pela parte contrária.”
A importância constitucional comparativa dessa decisão reside em princípio distinto:
o formalismo procedimental não deve ser utilizado para fabricar aquiescência quando o próprio registro processual demonstra oposição efetiva.
Esse precedente apresenta, portanto, especial utilidade analítica para procedimentos nos quais se discutam default, waiver, acquiescence, failure to respond ou alegada ausência de defesa, quando o próprio record possa demonstrar manifestações efetivas e inequívocas de oposição.
VI — A QUESTÃO CENTRAL DO ESTUDO: PROCEDIMENTO REAL OU FICÇÃO PROCESSUAL?
A partir dessas bases, o objetivo central deste trabalho pode ser formulado de maneira precisa.
Não se pretende provar que todo erro processual constitui automaticamente violação constitucional ou internacional.
Pretende-se investigar, mediante análise documental e comparativa, quando a acumulação, a natureza ou os efeitos de determinados vícios retiram do procedimento as características substanciais que permitem qualificá-lo como due process of law e fair trial.
A questão fundamental não é simplesmente saber se existiram:
notice;
hearing;
motion;
order;
appraisal;
judgment;
appeal;
ou review.
A investigação constitucional exige perguntas mais profundas:
O notice foi adequado e tempestivo?
A pessoa compreendeu precisamente o ato contra o qual precisava se defender?
Teve acesso ao material necessário à preparação da defesa?
A oportunidade de manifestação ocorreu antes de se perder o momento processual útil?
As manifestações efetivamente apresentadas foram consideradas?
Uma oposição expressa foi artificialmente transformada em silêncio, aquiescência, waiver ou default?
A pessoa pôde participar da formação da prova relevante?
Houve paridade mínima entre as possibilidades processuais das partes?
O adjudicador era legalmente competente, independente e imparcial?
A decisão foi efetivamente submetida a controle judicial adequado?
Havia recurso ou remédio efetivo antes da produção de dano irreversível?
Quando houve privação de propriedade, o objeto da privação estava juridicamente identificado, validamente avaliado e submetido a procedimento constitucionalmente adequado?
Essas perguntas não pertencem exclusivamente ao Direito brasileiro.
Elas se situam no núcleo da investigação contemporânea sobre due process, fair trial, rule of law e effective judicial protection.
VII — DIGNIDADE DA PESSOA HUMANA COMO FUNDAMENTO MATERIAL DO PROCESSO JUSTO
O ponto de convergência mais profundo deste estudo é a dignidade humana.
O processo justo não existe para proteger o procedimento por si mesmo.
O procedimento existe para proteger pessoas contra o exercício arbitrário do poder.
Dessa perspectiva, due process of law constitui uma das formas institucionais pelas quais o Estado transforma sua força coercitiva em poder juridicamente limitado.
Sem processo efetivamente justo, a decisão estatal corre o risco de converter-se em simples exercício de autoridade revestido de aparência procedimental.
Por isso, a tese que orienta este estudo pode ser sintetizada da seguinte maneira:
O DEVIDO PROCESSO LEGAL NÃO É MERA FORMALIDADE PROCESSUAL. É A ARQUITETURA JURÍDICA POR MEIO DA QUAL A DIGNIDADE DA PESSOA HUMANA, A LIBERDADE, A PROPRIEDADE E OS DEMAIS DIREITOS FUNDAMENTAIS SÃO PROTEGIDOS CONTRA O EXERCÍCIO ARBITRÁRIO DO PODER ESTATAL.
VIII — ENGLISH VERSION — PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
1. Purpose of the study
This is a comparative constitutional and international human rights study concerning the substantive content of due process of law and the right to a fair trial.
Due process is examined not as an abstract procedural formula or as the mere formal existence of procedural acts, but as an integrated system of guarantees designed to protect the human person against arbitrary exercises of State power.
The central premise is:
Due process of law is not merely a method for organizing proceedings. It is a fundamental safeguard against arbitrary deprivation of liberty, property, civil and professional rights, and other legally protected interests.
The study examines notice, a meaningful opportunity to be heard, timely access to evidence, adversarial participation, full defense, equality of arms, jurisdiction by a competent tribunal, judicial independence and impartiality, meaningful judicial review, effective remedies, and protection against arbitrary State action as functionally interconnected guarantees.
2. Brazilian law is not being applied to the United States
This study does not contend that Brazilian procedural statutes govern proceedings in the United States.
Nor does it contend that decisions of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court — STF — or the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice — STJ — constitute binding precedent for American courts.
Brazilian jurisprudence is used as a comparative constitutional counterpoint.
The inquiry is functional:
What constitutional purpose does a particular procedural guarantee serve?
What individual interest does it protect?
At what procedural moment must it operate to be effective?
What happens when its exercise is postponed until the meaningful opportunity has already disappeared?
Can procedural form be used to manufacture waiver, acquiescence, silence or default contrary to the actual record?
Can the State constitutionally deprive a person of liberty or property where the procedural protections designed to legitimize that deprivation have been eliminated, neutralized or rendered ineffective?
The corresponding American questions must be answered under the United States Constitution, applicable federal and state law, controlling United States precedent, and applicable international human-rights standards.
IX — THE COMMON CONSTITUTIONAL ARCHITECTURE
The comparative authorities examined in this study reveal several recurring principles:
Late notice does not retroactively become timely notice.
A subsequent opportunity to object does not necessarily restore an earlier opportunity to participate.
The absence of a particular procedural vehicle does not necessarily establish the absence of opposition where the record demonstrates actual and unequivocal resistance.
Procedural preclusion cannot legitimately arise from the denial of the notice required to exercise the allegedly precluded right.
A procedure cannot be regarded as constitutionally fair solely because procedural acts exist in name. Those acts must be capable of performing the protective function for which due process requires them.
The ultimate comparative question is therefore:
WHEN DOES A FORMALLY EXISTING JUDICIAL OR DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE CEASE TO PROVIDE MEANINGFUL DUE PROCESS AND BECOME A PROCEDURAL FICTION INCAPABLE OF LEGITIMIZING THE EXERCISE OF STATE COERCIVE POWER?
That question must be answered not rhetorically, but through document-by-document reconstruction of the proceedings, applicable rules, constitutional guarantees, judicial decisions, objections actually made, opportunities actually afforded, and consequences actually imposed.
BRASIL. Decreto nº 592, de 6 de julho de 1992. Atos Internacionais. Pacto Internacional sobre Direitos Civis e Políticos. Promulgação. Brasília, DF: Presidência da República, 1992. Disponível em: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/decreto/1990-1994/d0592.htm. Acesso em: 20 ago. 2026.
ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES. American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. Washington, D.C.: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Disponível em: https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/mandate/Basics/declaration.asp. Acesso em: 20 ago. 2026.
UNITED NATIONS. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE. General Comment No. 32: Article 14 — Right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial. CCPR/C/GC/32, 23 Aug. 2007. Geneva: United Nations Human Rights Committee.
SEICHO-NO-IE 2026 — INTERNATIONAL EVENTS IN JAPAN AND BRAZIL: LOVE, FAITH, GRATITUDE AND INFINITE PROGRESS
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:” — Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV
From the Divine Word to a New Generation —
September 20–22, 2026
September 21 : On line Forum in Japan
August 21 : Seminar for Seniors in Brazil
A MESSAGE OF LOVE, FAITH AND GRATITUDE
“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
— 1 John 3:11, KJV
And:
“Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”
— Luke 8:48, KJV
Seicho-No-Ie, Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi — What is karma? How is karma formed? How can karma be changed in order to manifest prosperity? To begin improving our destiny, we need to understand what karma is, which is the memory that remains recorded in your subconscious. The point is that there is a mechanism, a logic, governing how everything manifests in your life.
Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi, Seicho-No-Ie, teaches that approximately half of our destiny is governed by karma. Is this good or bad? It is good—in fact, excellent—if you have accumulated more positive karma, virtues, than negative karma. Following this logic, the secret of prosperity is to eliminate negative karma and accumulate positive karma, so that prosperity may manifest in the home and in professional life.
If you correctly understand this mechanism, you will be able to consciously think and act in the direction of changing your destiny for the better and manifesting prosperity in every aspect of life. The teachings of Seicho-No-Ie and Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi help us understand how destiny is formed and how to improve your destiny. For this, you need to participate in the Seicho-No-Ie study of prosperity.
The videos in this series, “Opening the Channel of Prosperity,” study the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie and Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi, focusing on the Horizontal Truth, concerning the phenomenal world manifested by the mind. For this reason, the series studies the mental laws and the laws of prosperity, in order to learn how to use the laws of prosperity in personal, family, and professional life.
The video is in Portuguese and includes English audio and English subtitles.
This video, presented by the Prosperity Channel, explains the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie (Dr. Masaharu Taniguchi) on the concept of karma and how it influences our destiny. Here are the main points:
What Karma Is: Karma is defined as “cause and effect” that does not manifest immediately. It remains stored in the subconscious (like a memory kept inside a chest), waiting for an opportunity or condition to become real in the person’s life (01:22–03:07).
The Logic of Destiny: Approximately 50% of our destiny is governed by this mechanism. If we accumulate positive karma (virtues, good thoughts, and good actions), we will have a prosperous life; otherwise, we will reap negative consequences (00:11–01:00).
The Cloud Analogy: The speaker uses the analogy of moisture (daily thoughts and actions) accumulating to form a cloud (karma). When it encounters a “condition” (such as a cold front), that cloud precipitates—that is, the karma manifests (03:57–05:07).
How to Change Destiny: The key to change is true repentance and a change in mental habits. By understanding that the “past self” (who generated the wrong cause) no longer exists in the present moment, the person disintegrates the burden of negative karma (14:45–18:09).
Daily Practice: The secret to a prosperous life is to constantly cultivate gratitude, practice virtues, and maintain elevated thoughts, thereby preventing negative karma from having an opportunity to manifest (08:27–09:14).
SEICHO-NO-IE INVITES ONLINE PARTICIPATION IN THE FIRST TRAINING SESSION TO OPEN THE FUTURE TOGETHER WITH OUR PEERS
Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum (Training Version) — An Opportunity to Participate Online from Around the World
September 21, 2026 | Online via Zoom | Participation Free of Charge
Seicho-No-Ie in Japan will hold the First Training Session to Open the Future Together with Our Peers (第1回 仲間とともに未来を拓く練成会) from September 20 to 22, 2026, at the Seicho-No-Ie Main Training Center in Tobitakyu, Chofu, Tokyo.
As part of the program, on Monday, September 21, 2026, Seicho-No-Ie will hold a Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum (Training Version), allowing people who cannot attend the training session in person to participate in its teachings through the Internet.
According to the official Seicho-No-Ie event page:
«“Those who have difficulty participating at the venue can participate online (advance registration required).”»
The official information further explains that those unable to attend the training session at the venue can participate in its learning through the Internet. Registered participants will receive the Zoom URL necessary to join the Net Forum.
1. SEICHO-NO-IE NET FORUM — SEPTEMBER 21, 2026
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026
Time: Approximately
7:00 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. — Japan time
07:00 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. in Brazil
Format: Online via Zoom
Participation fee: Free
Advance registration: Required
The text announced for the Net Forum is:
“What Is the Sundial Way of Life?”
by Masanobu Taniguchi (谷口雅宣), President of Seicho-No-Ie.
The organizers state that the program is primarily intended for young people between 12 and 39 years of age, while expressly welcoming people outside that age range as well.
Participants may enter or leave the Zoom meeting at any time. During the lecture, microphones should remain muted.
After completing the registration form, participants will receive the Zoom link and password for the event.
Those already attending the full training session in person do not need to register separately for the Net Forum.
2. AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION
The official page expressly provides an online alternative for people who cannot attend the training session at the venue.
Seicho-No-Ie is an international religious movement with a substantial community outside Japan. According to its official Japanese website, Seicho-No-Ie reports 843,611 adherents worldwide, including 555,195 outside Japan.
The Internet therefore provides an extraordinary opportunity to shorten geographical distances and enable people separated by thousands of kilometers to encounter the teachings, study together and participate in a community united by a search for spiritual growth, gratitude, peace and harmony.
For participants outside Japan, however, an important practical question remains.
The currently published information for this particular Net Forum does not specify whether simultaneous English interpretation, English-language audio or English subtitles will be available.
International participants who require English-language assistance should therefore ask the organizers about language accessibility when completing the registration form.
3. THE THREE-DAY TRAINING SESSION
The complete First Training Session to Open the Future Together with Our Peers will take place from:
September 20–22, 2026
at:
Seicho-No-Ie Main Training Center (Tobitakyu)
Chofu, Tokyo, Japan.
The official program includes the study of Seicho-No-Ie doctrine, religious practices and opportunities for participants to learn and interact with one another.
Among the announced activities are lectures and practices addressing themes such as:
“Reality and Phenomena — On the Practice of Purification of the Mind”
“Living God's Love”
testimonies,
activities involving contribution to global society,
discussion sessions,
the Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum (Training Version),
“Shinsokan Is Wonderful,”
mutual prayer through Shinsokan Meditation,
and the concluding lecture:
“The First Step Toward the Future We Will Open.”
4. WITH GRATITUDE TO MASTER MASAHARU TANIGUCHI
In sharing these events, I also wish to express my profound personal gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi (谷口雅春), founder of Seicho-No-Ie.
There are teachings that we encounter as information, and there are teachings that illuminate our path through life.
For me, the teachings transmitted by Master Masaharu Taniguchi belong to the latter.
I am deeply grateful for the spiritual legacy he left to humanity and for the Divine Words transmitted through the Sacred Sutras and through the books in which he shared teachings centered on God, the divine nature of human beings, gratitude, love, forgiveness and the recognition of the spiritual Reality that transcends the limitations we perceive in the phenomenal world.
Through the Sacred Sutras and his writings, generations of people have been invited to turn their consciousness toward God, to recognize the good, to cultivate gratitude and to walk toward the Light.
Books can cross oceans.
Sacred words can cross generations.
A teaching transmitted in one country and in one language can reach a human being thousands of kilometers away, many decades later, and illuminate that person's life.
This is one of the extraordinary dimensions of the spiritual legacy left by Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
My gratitude is therefore not merely intellectual.
It is personal.
Thank you, Master Masaharu Taniguchi, for transmitting these teachings and for helping so many people learn to walk toward the Light through the Divine Words of the Sacred Sutras and through the books inspired by the Infinite Wisdom of God.
May these teachings continue crossing languages, countries, cultures and generations, bringing people closer to God and awakening in every human being the consciousness of love, gratitude, peace and our divine nature.
5. FROM JAPAN TO THE WORLD
The Net Forum demonstrates something particularly meaningful in our time: spiritual teaching need not be confined by geographical boundaries.
A person in Japan and a person in Brazil may be separated by thousands of kilometers and nevertheless meet in the same spiritual space of study and prayer.
Technology, when placed at the service of good, can become a bridge.
A bridge between countries.
A bridge between generations.
A bridge between languages.
And, above all, a bridge between human beings searching for Truth, Love, Peace and God.
The September 2026 Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum offers another opportunity to build that bridge.
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OFFICIAL INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION
First Training Session to Open the Future Together with Our Peers
September 20–22, 2026
Seicho-No-Ie Main Training Center — Tobitakyu, Tokyo, Japan
Global Social Contribution Department — Central Youth Association
Official event page:
https://www.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/lp/future/
Official Seicho-No-Ie website:
https://www.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/
International participants who need English-language assistance are advised to ask the organizers whether English interpretation, audio or subtitles will be available for this Net Forum.
I begin this article with these words of Jesus Christ because love, faith, peace, and the recognition of the divine dignity of every human being are values that humanity urgently needs.
Before announcing and sharing these opportunities to participate in Seicho-No-Ie events in Japan and Brazil, I wish to express my profound personal gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi (谷口雅春), founder of Seicho-No-Ie, and to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who have dedicated themselves to transmitting words of Truth, faith, gratitude, and love from generation to generation.
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SEICHO-NO-IE — THE HOME OF INFINITE PROGRESS
Seicho-No-Ie — 生長の家 — is the Home of Infinite Progress.
Founded in Japan in 1930 by Master Masaharu Taniguchi (1893–1985), Seicho-No-Ie teaches the divine nature of the human being and the fundamental Truth that:
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.
At the center of spiritual life are the recognition of God, gratitude, prayer, love, good and bright words, and the recognition of the True Image — Jissō.
Seicho-No-Ie teaches the importance of directing our thoughts, words, and actions toward Truth, love, gratitude, harmony, and good.
This is why the expression:
THE HOME OF INFINITE PROGRESS
carries such a beautiful spiritual meaning.
Spiritual life is not stagnation.
It is awakening.
It is learning.
It is gratitude.
It is prayer.
It is love expressed through action.
It is the continuous manifestation of the Divine Life already present within us.
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5. GRATITUDE TO THE APOSTLES OF THE SACRED MISSION
My gratitude also extends to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who, generation after generation, have dedicated their lives, work, faith and service to preserving, transmitting and expanding the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie.
They are the men and women who accepted the responsibility of carrying forward a sacred mission: to share words of Truth, to comfort those who suffer, to awaken gratitude, to strengthen faith, to teach prayer, to encourage spiritual transformation and to help others recognize the divine nature present within every human being.
Through their dedication, the teachings did not remain confined to books, temples or a single country.
They traveled across cities, nations, cultures and languages.
They reached homes, families, communities, hospitals, places of suffering, moments of despair and people searching for meaning, healing, hope and God.
To every Apostle of the Sacred Mission who has devoted time, effort, sacrifice and love so that these teachings could reach others, I offer my profound respect and gratitude.
May God bless all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who continue to serve as instruments of Divine Wisdom, Divine Love and Divine Light.
May their work continue to illuminate paths, strengthen faith and bring peace to human hearts.
May their dedication inspire new generations to carry forward this sacred mission with humility, courage, love and gratitude.
And may the Divine Words transmitted through the Sacred Sutras and through the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie continue to spread throughout the world, helping humanity walk toward the Light, toward Truth and toward God.
To Master Masaharu Taniguchi, to those who faithfully carried forward his spiritual legacy, and to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission:
my profound gratitude, respect and praise.
GRATITUDE AND PRAISE TO THE ALL THE APOSTLES OF THE SACRED MISSION FROM ALL THE RELIGIONS
My gratitude also extends to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission.
To the men and women who carried JESUS CHRIST's teachings across cities, nations, languages, and generations.
To those who taught.
To those who prayed.
To those who translated.
To those who published.
To those who distributed books.
To those who welcomed people who were suffering or searching for spiritual direction.
To those who dedicated years of their lives to serving others.
Through their work, teachings born in other nations
They reached USA, they reached Brazil.
They reached our families.
They reached our homes.
They reached our hearts.
And today, through the Internet, they can reach people throughout the world almost instantaneously.
May God bless all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who dedicate themselves to spreading Divine Wisdom, Divine Love, Truth, gratitude, and peace.
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THE SACRED SUTRAS — DIVINE WORDS TO ILLUMINATE LIFE
The Brazilian edition of the Sacred Sutras of Master Masaharu Taniguchi includes:
Praise to the Apostles of the Sacred Mission
The Nectarean Shower of Truth
Words of the Angel
and
Sacred Sutra for Spiritual Healing — Continuous Nectarean Shower of Truth
Former Seicho-No-Ie President Master Seicho Taniguchi taught that the Truth of Seicho-No-Ie is expressed in beautiful poetic form through the Sacred Sutras.
He described them as Words of God transmitted through Master Masaharu Taniguchi and emphasized the spiritual importance of actually reading and reciting them.
The Sacred Words are not merely objects of intellectual study.
They are read.
They are recited.
They are received by the heart.
Reading becomes prayer.
Prayer becomes spiritual experience.
And the Divine Word speaks not only to the intellect, but to the soul.
OFFICIAL SEICHO-NO-IE YOUTH ASSOCIATION — SACRED SUTRAS AND THE POWER OF THE WORD
https://seinenkai.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/holy-sutras
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SHINSOKAN MEDITATION — COMMUNION WITH GOD
Shinsokan Meditation is one of the fundamental spiritual practices of Seicho-No-Ie.
It is a practice of prayer, contemplation, and communion with God directed toward recognition of the True Image — Jissō.
The practice begins with the Evocative Chant of God — Kami Yobi Uta, through which consciousness is directed toward God, the source of all Life.
Its opening words are:
“O God the Father, who givest life to all living beings...”
Shinsokan is therefore much more than relaxation or concentration.
It is communion with God.
It is the turning of consciousness toward Divine Reality.
It is contemplation of the True Image — Jissō.
It is recognition of Divine Life.
It is recognition that the human being is a child of God.
A MESSAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE — AND TO PEOPLE OF EVERY AGE
Would you like to make your life better?
Begin with the words you cultivate.
Cultivate bright thoughts.
Speak words that encourage rather than humiliate.
Praise rather than condemn.
Create rather than destroy.
Smile.
Help another human being.
Pray.
Love.
Give thanks.
Words matter.
The words we receive matter.
The words we repeat matter.
The words we write matter.
The words we publish matter.
And the words we give to another human being matter.
There is no age limit for learning.
No age limit for gratitude.
No age limit for prayer.
No age limit for forgiveness.
No age limit for spiritual growth.
No age limit for Infinite Progress.
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LET US WALK TOWARD THE LIGHT
I write these words in gratitude.
Gratitude to God.
Gratitude to Jesus Christ.
Gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
Gratitude to Master Seicho Taniguchi.
Gratitude to the all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission.
Gratitude to those who carried these teachings from Japan to Brazil and throughout the world.
And gratitude to every human being who chooses to use words not to destroy another person, but to:
heal;
encourage;
illuminate;
and
love.
May we polish our hearts with good and bright words.
May we recognize Divine Life within ourselves and within others.
May we love one another.
May we have faith.
May we go in peace.
And may we continue walking toward the Light in:
SEICHO-NO-IE — THE HOME OF INFINITE PROGRESS
SEICHO-NO-IE — THE HOME OF INFINITE PROGRESS
Seicho-No-Ie — the Home of Infinite Progress — is, for me, a path of gratitude, faith, Divine Wisdom and continuous spiritual growth toward God and the Light.
The name Seicho-No-Ie (生長の家) carries a profound spiritual meaning.
Seicho-No-Ie — the Home of Infinite Progress — is, for me, a path of gratitude, faith, Divine Wisdom and continuous spiritual growth toward God and the Light.
But its spiritual meaning goes considerably deeper than the literal translation of its words.
According to the official teachings of Seicho-No-Ie, “Seicho-No-Ie” is another name for the Great Universe.
The ultimate Reality behind that Universe is the one and only Absolute God.
The spiritual foundation transmitted by Master Masaharu Taniguchi (谷口雅春), founder of Seicho-No-Ie, begins with the fundamental Truth that:
Human beings are children of God.
God is the source of Life.
God is Infinite Wisdom.
God is Infinite Love.
And the True Image — Jissō (實相) — is the perfect spiritual Reality created by God, in which God, Nature and human beings exist in Grand Harmony.
Seen in this light, Seicho-No-Ie — the Home of Infinite Life, Wisdom and Abundance — is much more than the name of a religious organization.
It points toward the Divine Reality of the Great Universe and toward the recognition that human beings live within the infinite Life of God.
This is why the teachings transmitted by Master Masaharu Taniguchi have reached people across nations, languages and generations.
They invite human beings to turn their consciousness toward God; to recognize their divine nature as children of God; to discover gratitude even in the midst of life's difficulties; and to walk toward the Light by recognizing the Divine Reality that lies beyond the limitations of the phenomenal world.
And it is precisely in this meaning that the name Seicho-No-Ie becomes so beautiful:
The Home of Infinite Life.
The Home of Infinite Wisdom.
The Home of Infinite Love.
The Home of Infinite Abundance.
A Home whose ultimate source is God.
A Home in which humanity is called to recognize its divine origin and live in harmony with God, Nature and one another.
SHINSOKAN MEDITATION — CONTEMPLATING GOD
Shinsokan Meditation is one of the fundamental spiritual practices of Seicho-No-Ie.
It is a practice of prayer, contemplation and communion with God, directed toward the recognition of the True Image — Jissō, the perfect spiritual Reality created by God.
The practice begins with the Evocative Chant of God — Kami Yobi Uta, through which the practitioner turns consciousness toward God, the source of all Life.
The opening words are:
“O God the Father, who givest life to all living beings...”
The spiritual movement of Shinsokan is therefore much more than relaxation or concentration.
It is communion with God.
It is the conscious turning of the mind away from the turbulence and limitations of appearances and toward Divine Reality.
It is contemplation of the Jissō — True Image.
It is recognition of Divine Life.
It is recognition that the human being is a child of God.
In the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie, Shinsokan is one of the principal religious practices, together with the reverent reading and recitation of the Sacred Sutras and the practice of deeds of love.
Through silence, prayer, breathing, visualization and contemplation, the practitioner seeks to recognize and express the Divine Life already present within.
THE DIVINE REVELATIONS OF THE “LIGHTER OF THE SEVEN CANDLESTICKS”
Another important spiritual text in the history and teachings of Seicho-No-Ie is known in Portuguese as:
Revelações Divinas do “Acendedor dos Sete Candeeiros”
— the Divine Revelations of the “Lighter of the Seven Candlesticks.”
These Revelations occupy an important place in the history of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil.
The Historical Museum of Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil recounts the experience of the Japanese immigrant Miyoshi Matsuda, who encountered the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil during the 1930s.
After reading The Truth of Life and the Divine Revelations of the “Lighter of the Seven Candlesticks,” he was deeply moved by the teaching concerning gratitude toward one's parents.
One of the central principles emphasized in these Revelations is that gratitude to God cannot be separated from gratitude toward those through whom our life was transmitted.
The teaching invites the human being to recognize a profound spiritual continuity:
God — Life — Parents — Children — Humanity.
Gratitude, therefore, is not merely an emotion.
It becomes a spiritual attitude toward Life itself.
The Revelations also express an important non-sectarian dimension of Seicho-No-Ie: wherever Divine Life manifests itself, there is a Way and a Law, and this Divine Principle does not exist in opposition to the authentic spiritual truths found in other religions.
This teaching helps explain why Seicho-No-Ie has historically presented itself as a movement that transcends religious sectarianism and recognizes that the light of salvation may be expressed through different religious traditions.
THE SACRED SUTRAS — DIVINE WORDS TO ILLUMINATE LIFE
The Brazilian edition of the Sacred Sutras by Master Masaharu Taniguchi brings together sacred texts including:
Praise to the Apostles of the Sacred Mission
The Nectarean Shower of Truth
Words of the Angel
and
Sacred Sutra for Spiritual Healing — Continuous Nectarean Shower of Truth
These texts occupy a special place in the religious practice of Seicho-No-Ie.
Former Seicho-No-Ie President Master Seicho Taniguchi taught that the Truth of Seicho-No-Ie is expressed in beautiful poetry through these Sacred Sutras.
He explained that these are Words of God transmitted through Master Masaharu Taniguchi, and that their meaning is not limited to intellectual analysis.
The rhythm of the Sacred Words reaches the human being differently when the text is actually recited.
Reading becomes prayer.
Prayer becomes vibration.
The Divine Word enters not only the intellect, but the heart.
This is why the Sacred Sutras are not simply texts to be studied.
They are also texts to be reverently read, recited and received spiritually.
The official Seicho-No-Ie Youth Association in Japan teaches that the power of the Word encompasses:
thought,
spoken words,
and
action.
What we think matters.
What we say matters.
What we do matters.
And when these three dimensions are directed toward good, gratitude, love and truth, they become instruments for transforming life.
OFFICIAL SEICHO-NO-IE YOUTH ASSOCIATION — HOLY SUTRAS
https://seinenkai.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/holy-sutras
A MESSAGE OF WISDOM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE — AND FOR PEOPLE OF EVERY AGE
The Seicho-No-Ie Youth Association asks a simple but profound question:
Would you like to make your life better?
The answer begins with the words we cultivate.
The teachings invite us to fill our consciousness with bright, constructive and positive words, to praise rather than condemn, to encourage rather than humiliate, to create rather than destroy.
This teaching is especially relevant for young people living in an age dominated by social networks, instant communication, algorithms, anxiety and constant comparison.
Every day, millions of words enter our minds through screens.
And every day, we choose which words we will give back to the world.
Will they be words of hatred?
Or words of love?
Words of humiliation?
Or words of encouragement?
Words of despair?
Or words of faith?
Words that wound?
Or words that heal?
The Word has consequences.
Therefore, one of the most important disciplines of spiritual life is learning to choose what we allow to inhabit our hearts.
And this message is not limited to young people.
It is for every human being, at every age.
There is no age limit for learning.
No age limit for gratitude.
No age limit for prayer.
No age limit for forgiveness.
No age limit for spiritual growth.
No age limit for Infinite Progress.
FROM JAPAN TO BRAZIL — A TEACHING THAT CROSSED THE OCEAN
The history of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil is deeply connected with Japanese immigration.
The official Historical Museum of Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil records the story of brothers Daijiro and Miyoshi Matsuda, who encountered the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil during the 1930s.
The written Word crossed an ocean.
Books published in Japan reached Japanese immigrants thousands of kilometers away.
Those people read them.
Their lives were transformed.
And they began transmitting those teachings to others.
The movement grew.
Translations were produced.
Books and magazines circulated.
Sacred Sutras were published in Portuguese.
The teachings reached Brazilian families of many different origins.
Almost a century later, something extraordinary has happened.
The same journey that once required ships, printed books and months of travel can now occur through a computer or a mobile phone.
A person in Brazil can participate in an event taking place in Japan in real time.
The teaching crossed the ocean through books.
Now human beings themselves can meet across that ocean through the Internet.
OFFICIAL EVENT IN JAPAN — SEICHO-NO-IE NET FORUM
THE FIRST TRAINING SESSION TO OPEN THE FUTURE TOGETHER WITH OUR PEERS
Seicho-No-Ie in Japan will hold the:
SEICHO-NO-IE NET FORUM — TRAINING VERSION
Monday, September 21, 2026
Approximately 7:00 p.m. to 7:40 p.m. — Japan Standard Time
For participants in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, Brazil: approximately 7:00 a.m. to 7:40 a.m.
Online via Zoom
Participation is free
Advance registration is required
The announced study text is:
“What Is the Sundial Way of Life?”
by
Masanobu Taniguchi (谷口雅宣)
President of Seicho-No-Ie.
The event is intended mainly for people between the ages of 12 and 39, but the organizers expressly state that people outside this age range are also welcome to participate.
The official Japanese page explains that people who cannot attend the training session in person may participate through the Internet.
After completing the registration form, participants receive the Zoom link and password.
For international participants, an important practical question remains: the available information does not clearly state whether this particular Net Forum will provide English interpretation, English-language audio or English subtitles.
International participants who require English support should ask the organizers when completing the registration form.
OFFICIAL EVENT PAGE — JAPAN
https://www.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/lp/future/
EVENT IN BRAZIL — SEMINAR FOR SENIORS 2026
SEMINAR FOR SENIORS 2026 — THE JOY OF LIVING
The message of Infinite Progress is not restricted to youth.
Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil will also hold a special event for older adults:
Saturday, August 22, 2026
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
South American Spiritual Training Academy of Seicho-No-Ie
Ibiúna — São Paulo — Brazil
The official theme is:
THE JOY OF LIVING
The program offers an opportunity for spirituality, fellowship, gratitude, reflection, activities and renewed joy in life.
Its message is particularly beautiful:
Spiritual progress does not end with age.
As long as there is Life, there is still an opportunity to:
Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil describes itself as a Movement for the Illumination of Humankind — International Peace by Faith Movement, founded in Japan in 1930 by Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
It presents its teachings as an extensive door of mercy and love open to those who wish to study the spiritual laws governing human life.
One of its fundamental teachings is:
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.
The True Image — Jissō is the perfect Divine Reality created by God.
Within this spiritual Reality, human beings possess a divine nature that transcends the apparent limitations encountered in the phenomenal world.
Seicho-No-Ie also emphasizes religious non-sectarianism.
It teaches that authentic religions ultimately emanate from the one Divine Source and that no person needs to abandon his or her religious tradition in order to study Seicho-No-Ie.
This principle has allowed Christians, Buddhists, Spiritists and people from many other religious backgrounds to encounter and study its teachings.
The goal is not division.
It is harmony.
Not hatred.
Love.
Not fear.
Faith.
Not darkness.
Light.
JESUS CHRIST — LOVE, FAITH AND PEACE
That is also why I began this article with the words of Jesus Christ:
“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
— 1 John 3:11
And:
“Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”
— Luke 8:48
Love one another.
Have faith.
Go in peace.
These are not merely ancient words.
They are instructions for human life.
And perhaps humanity needs them today more than ever.
14. MY PROFOUND GRATITUDE TO MASTER MASAHARU TANIGUCHI
I write this article with profound personal gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
Thank you for transmitting teachings that have helped generations of people direct their consciousness toward God.
Thank you for teaching the transforming power of good and bright words.
Thank you for transmitting the Divine Words contained in the Sacred Sutras.
Thank you for leaving books through which the Infinite Wisdom of God continues to reach human beings across generations.
Thank you for helping people understand that the human being is not merely what appears in moments of suffering, weakness or limitation.
Thank you for teaching people to look toward the True Image.
To look toward God.
To look toward Life.
To look toward the Light.
Books cross oceans.
Sacred Words cross centuries.
Truth crosses languages.
A teaching written in Japan can reach a person in Brazil many decades later and become part of that person's spiritual life.
That is an extraordinary legacy.
15. PRAISE AND GRATITUDE TO THE APOSTLES OF THE SACRED MISSION
My gratitude also extends to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission.
To those who carried these teachings when communication was difficult.
To those who translated.
To those who published.
To those who taught.
To those who prayed.
To those who welcomed people in suffering.
To those who distributed books.
To those who organized meetings.
To those who crossed borders.
To those whose names became known.
And to the countless people whose names history may never record.
Every generation receives a light from those who came before it.
And every generation has the responsibility to transmit that light to those who will come after.
May God bless all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission.
May their dedication continue to inspire people to serve with love, humility, gratitude and faith.
16. FROM THE DIVINE WORD TO THE DIGITAL WORLD
Master Masaharu Taniguchi began his mission through the written Word.
Books.
Magazines.
SEICHO-NO-IE 2026 — INTERNATIONAL EVENTS IN JAPAN AND BRAZIL: LOVE, FAITH, GRATITUDE AND INFINITE PROGRESS
FROM THE DIVINE WORD TO A NEW GENERATION
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”
— Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV
September 20–22, 2026 — First Training Session in Japan
September 21, 2026 — Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum Online from Japan
August 22, 2026 — Seminar for Seniors in Brazil
A MESSAGE OF LOVE, FAITH AND GRATITUDE
“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
— 1 John 3:11, KJV
And:
“Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”
— Luke 8:48, KJV
I begin this article with these words of Jesus Christ because love, faith, peace, and the recognition of the divine dignity of every human being are values that humanity urgently needs.
Before announcing and sharing these opportunities to participate in Seicho-No-Ie events in Japan and Brazil, I wish to express my profound personal gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi (谷口雅春), founder of Seicho-No-Ie, and to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who have dedicated themselves to transmitting words of Truth, faith, gratitude, and love from generation to generation.
1. SEICHO-NO-IE — THE HOME OF INFINITE PROGRESS
Seicho-No-Ie — 生長の家 — is the Home of Infinite Progress.
Founded in Japan in 1930 by Master Masaharu Taniguchi (1893–1985), Seicho-No-Ie teaches the divine nature of the human being and the fundamental Truth that:
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CHILDREN OF GOD
At the center of spiritual life are the recognition of God, gratitude, prayer, love, good and bright words, and the recognition of the True Image — Jissō.
Seicho-No-Ie teaches the importance of directing our thoughts, words, and actions toward Truth, love, gratitude, harmony, and good.
The name Seicho-No-Ie carries a profound spiritual meaning.
According to the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie, the ultimate Reality behind the Great Universe is the one and only Absolute God.
The spiritual foundation transmitted by Master Masaharu Taniguchi begins with the fundamental Truth that:
Human beings are children of God.
God is the source of Life.
God is Infinite Wisdom.
God is Infinite Love.
And the True Image — Jissō (實相) — is the perfect spiritual Reality created by God, in which God, Nature, and human beings exist in Grand Harmony.
Seen in this light, Seicho-No-Ie is much more than the name of a religious organization.
It points toward the Divine Reality of the Great Universe and toward the recognition that human beings live within the infinite Life of God.
This is why “The Home of Infinite Progress” carries such a beautiful spiritual meaning.
Spiritual life is not stagnation.
It is awakening.
It is learning.
It is gratitude.
It is prayer.
It is love expressed through action.
It is the continuous manifestation of the Divine Life already present within us.
2. WITH GRATITUDE TO MASTER MASAHARU TANIGUCHI
In sharing these events, I wish to express my profound personal gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi (谷口雅春), founder of Seicho-No-Ie.
There are teachings that we encounter as information, and there are teachings that illuminate our path through life.
For me, the teachings transmitted by Master Masaharu Taniguchi belong to the latter.
I am deeply grateful for the spiritual legacy he left to humanity and for the Divine Words transmitted through the Sacred Sutras and through the books in which he shared teachings centered on God, the divine nature of human beings, gratitude, love, forgiveness, and the recognition of the spiritual Reality that transcends the limitations we perceive in the phenomenal world.
Through the Sacred Sutras and his writings, generations of people have been invited to turn their consciousness toward God, to recognize the good, to cultivate gratitude, and to walk toward the Light.
Thank you for transmitting teachings that have helped generations of people direct their consciousness toward God.
Thank you for teaching the transforming power of good and bright words.
Thank you for transmitting the Divine Words contained in the Sacred Sutras.
Thank you for leaving books through which the Infinite Wisdom of God continues to reach human beings across generations.
Thank you for helping people understand that the human being is not merely what appears in moments of suffering, weakness, or limitation.
Thank you for teaching people to look toward the True Image.
To look toward God.
To look toward Life.
To look toward the Light.
Books can cross oceans.
Sacred Words can cross generations.
Truth crosses languages.
A teaching transmitted in one country and in one language can reach a human being thousands of kilometers away, many decades later, and illuminate that person's life.
This is one of the extraordinary dimensions of the spiritual legacy left by Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
My gratitude is therefore not merely intellectual.
It is personal.
Thank you, Master Masaharu Taniguchi, for transmitting these teachings and for helping so many people learn to walk toward the Light through the Divine Words of the Sacred Sutras and through the books inspired by the Infinite Wisdom of God.
May these teachings continue crossing languages, countries, cultures, and generations, bringing people closer to God and awakening in every human being the consciousness of love, gratitude, peace, and our divine nature.
3. GRATITUDE AND PRAISE TO THE APOSTLES OF THE SACRED MISSION
My gratitude also extends to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who, generation after generation, have dedicated their lives, work, faith, and service to preserving, transmitting, and expanding the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie.
They are the men and women who accepted the responsibility of carrying forward a sacred mission:
to share words of Truth;
to comfort those who suffer;
to awaken gratitude;
to strengthen faith;
to teach prayer;
to encourage spiritual transformation;
and to help others recognize the divine nature present within every human being.
Through their dedication, the teachings did not remain confined to books, temples, or a single country.
They traveled across cities, nations, cultures, and languages.
They reached homes.
They reached families.
They reached communities.
They reached people suffering, searching for meaning, healing, hope, and God.
To every Apostle of the Sacred Mission who has devoted time, effort, sacrifice, and love so that these teachings could reach others, I offer my profound respect and gratitude.
May God bless all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission who continue to serve as instruments of Divine Wisdom, Divine Love, and Divine Light.
May their work continue to illuminate paths, strengthen faith, and bring peace to human hearts.
May their dedication inspire new generations to carry forward this sacred mission with humility, courage, love, and gratitude.
And may the Divine Words transmitted through the Sacred Sutras and through the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie continue to spread throughout the world, helping humanity walk toward the Light, toward Truth, and toward God.
To Master Masaharu Taniguchi, to those who faithfully carried forward his spiritual legacy, and to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission:
my profound gratitude, respect, and praise.
4. GRATITUDE TO THE APOSTLES OF SACRED MISSIONS ACROSS RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
My gratitude also extends, in a broader spiritual sense, to men and women of faith throughout history who have carried teachings of love, mercy, justice, compassion, faith, and service across cities, nations, languages, and generations.
To those who carried the teachings of Jesus Christ.
To those who taught.
To those who prayed.
To those who translated.
To those who published.
To those who distributed sacred books.
To those who welcomed people who were suffering or searching for spiritual direction.
To those who dedicated years of their lives to serving others.
Through their work, teachings born in distant lands reached the United States, Brazil, and countless other nations.
They reached our families.
They reached our homes.
They reached our hearts.
And today, through the Internet, they can reach people throughout the world almost instantaneously.
May God bless all those who dedicate themselves to spreading Divine Wisdom, Divine Love, Truth, gratitude, compassion, and peace.
5. THE SACRED SUTRAS — DIVINE WORDS TO ILLUMINATE LIFE
The Brazilian edition of the Sacred Sutras of Master Masaharu Taniguchi includes:
Praise to the Apostles of the Sacred Mission
The Nectarean Shower of Truth
Words of the Angel
and
Sacred Sutra for Spiritual Healing — Continuous Nectarean Shower of Truth
Former Seicho-No-Ie President Master Seicho Taniguchi taught that the Truth of Seicho-No-Ie is expressed in beautiful poetic form through the Sacred Sutras.
He described them as Words of God transmitted through Master Masaharu Taniguchi and emphasized the spiritual importance of actually reading and reciting them.
The Sacred Words are not merely objects of intellectual study.
They are read.
They are recited.
They are received by the heart.
Reading becomes prayer.
Prayer becomes spiritual experience.
The Divine Word enters not only the intellect, but the heart.
This is why the Sacred Sutras are not simply texts to be studied.
They are also texts to be reverently read, recited, and received spiritually.
The official Seicho-No-Ie Youth Association in Japan teaches that the power of the Word encompasses:
thought;
spoken words;
and
action.
What we think matters.
What we say matters.
What we do matters.
And when these three dimensions are directed toward good, gratitude, love, and Truth, they become instruments for transforming life.
OFFICIAL SEICHO-NO-IE YOUTH ASSOCIATION — SACRED SUTRAS AND THE POWER OF THE WORD
https://seinenkai.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/holy-sutras
6. SHINSOKAN MEDITATION — COMMUNION WITH GOD
Shinsokan Meditation is one of the fundamental spiritual practices of Seicho-No-Ie.
It is a practice of prayer, contemplation, and communion with God directed toward recognition of the True Image — Jissō, the perfect spiritual Reality created by God.
The practice begins with the Evocative Chant of God — Kami Yobi Uta, through which the practitioner turns consciousness toward God, the source of all Life.
Its opening words are:
“O God the Father, who givest life to all living beings...”
Shinsokan is therefore much more than relaxation or concentration.
It is communion with God.
It is the conscious turning of the mind away from the turbulence and limitations of appearances and toward Divine Reality.
It is contemplation of the True Image — Jissō.
It is recognition of Divine Life.
It is recognition that the human being is a child of God.
In the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie, Shinsokan is one of the principal religious practices, together with the reverent reading and recitation of the Sacred Sutras and the practice of deeds of love.
Through silence, prayer, breathing, visualization, and contemplation, the practitioner seeks to recognize and express the Divine Life already present within.
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ABOUT SHINSOKAN MEDITATION — SEICHO-NO-IE OF BRAZIL
7. THE DIVINE REVELATIONS OF THE “LIGHTER OF THE SEVEN CANDLESTICKS”
Another important spiritual text in the history and teachings of Seicho-No-Ie is known in Portuguese as:
Revelações Divinas do “Acendedor dos Sete Candeeiros”
— the Divine Revelations of the “Lighter of the Seven Candlesticks.”
These Revelations occupy an important place in the history of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil.
The Historical Museum of Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil recounts the experience of the Japanese immigrant Miyoshi Matsuda, who encountered the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil during the 1930s.
After reading The Truth of Life and the Divine Revelations of the “Lighter of the Seven Candlesticks,” he was deeply moved by the teaching concerning gratitude toward one's parents.
One of the central principles emphasized in these Revelations is that gratitude to God cannot be separated from gratitude toward those through whom our life was transmitted.
The teaching invites the human being to recognize a profound spiritual continuity:
God — Life — Parents — Children — Humanity.
Gratitude, therefore, is not merely an emotion.
It becomes a spiritual attitude toward Life itself.
The Revelations also express an important non-sectarian dimension of Seicho-No-Ie: wherever Divine Life manifests itself, there is a Way and a Law, and this Divine Principle does not exist in opposition to authentic spiritual truths found in other religions.
This teaching helps explain why Seicho-No-Ie has historically presented itself as a movement that transcends religious sectarianism and recognizes that the light of salvation may be expressed through different religious traditions.
8. A MESSAGE OF WISDOM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE — AND FOR PEOPLE OF EVERY AGE
The Seicho-No-Ie Youth Association asks a simple but profound question:
WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER?
The answer begins with the words we cultivate.
Cultivate bright thoughts.
Speak words that encourage rather than humiliate.
Praise rather than condemn.
Create rather than destroy.
Smile.
Help another human being.
Pray.
Love.
Give thanks.
Words matter.
The words we receive matter.
The words we repeat matter.
The words we write matter.
The words we publish matter.
And the words we give to another human being matter.
This teaching is especially relevant for young people living in an age dominated by social networks, instant communication, algorithms, anxiety, and constant comparison.
Every day, millions of words enter our minds through screens.
And every day, we choose which words we will give back to the world.
Will they be words of hatred?
Or words of love?
Words of humiliation?
Or words of encouragement?
Words of despair?
Or words of faith?
Words that wound?
Or words that heal?
The Word has consequences.
Therefore, one of the most important disciplines of spiritual life is learning to choose what we allow to inhabit our hearts.
And this message is not limited to young people.
It is for every human being, at every age.
There is no age limit for learning.
No age limit for gratitude.
No age limit for prayer.
No age limit for forgiveness.
No age limit for spiritual growth.
No age limit for Infinite Progress.
9. FROM JAPAN TO BRAZIL — A TEACHING THAT CROSSED THE OCEAN
The history of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil is deeply connected with Japanese immigration.
The official Historical Museum of Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil records the story of brothers Daijiro and Miyoshi Matsuda, who encountered the teachings of Seicho-No-Ie in Brazil during the 1930s.
The written Word crossed an ocean.
Books published in Japan reached Japanese immigrants thousands of kilometers away.
Those people read them.
Their lives were transformed.
And they began transmitting those teachings to others.
The movement grew.
Translations were produced.
Books and magazines circulated.
Sacred Sutras were published in Portuguese.
The teachings reached Brazilian families of many different origins.
Almost a century later, something extraordinary has happened.
The same journey that once required ships, printed books, and months of travel can now occur through a computer or a mobile phone.
A person in Brazil can participate in an event taking place in Japan in real time.
The teaching crossed the ocean through books.
Now human beings themselves can meet across that ocean through the Internet.
10. JAPAN — FIRST TRAINING SESSION TO OPEN THE FUTURE TOGETHER WITH OUR PEERS
SEPTEMBER 20–22, 2026
Seicho-No-Ie in Japan will hold the First Training Session to Open the Future Together with Our Peers
(第1回 仲間とともに未来を拓く練成会)
from September 20 to 22, 2026, at the:
Seicho-No-Ie Main Training Center — Tobitakyu
Chofu, Tokyo, Japan.
The official program includes the study of Seicho-No-Ie doctrine, religious practices, and opportunities for participants to learn and interact with one another.
Among the announced activities are lectures and practices addressing themes such as:
“Reality and Phenomena — On the Practice of Purification of the Mind”
“Living God's Love”
testimonies;
activities involving contribution to global society;
discussion sessions;
the Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum — Training Version;
“Shinsokan Is Wonderful”;
mutual prayer through Shinsokan Meditation;
and the concluding lecture:
“The First Step Toward the Future We Will Open.”
OFFICIAL EVENT PAGE
https://www.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/lp/future/
11. JAPAN — SEICHO-NO-IE NET FORUM — SEPTEMBER 21, 2026
SEICHO-NO-IE NET FORUM — TRAINING VERSION
AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE ONLINE FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026
Time in Japan: approximately 7:00 p.m.–7:40 p.m.
Time in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: approximately 7:00 a.m.–7:40 a.m.
Format: Online via Zoom
Participation: Free
Advance Registration: Required
The announced study text is:
“WHAT IS THE SUNDIAL WAY OF LIFE?”
by
Masanobu Taniguchi (谷口雅宣)
President of Seicho-No-Ie
The organizers state that the program is primarily intended for young people between 12 and 39 years of age, while expressly welcoming people outside that age range as well.
Participants may enter or leave the Zoom meeting at any time.
During the lecture, microphones should remain muted.
After completing the registration form, participants will receive the Zoom link and password for the event.
Those already attending the full training session in person do not need to register separately for the Net Forum.
According to the official Seicho-No-Ie event information:
Those who have difficulty participating at the venue may participate online, with advance registration.
The official information further explains that those unable to attend the training session at the venue can participate in its learning through the Internet.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION
The Internet provides an extraordinary opportunity to shorten geographical distances and enable people separated by thousands of kilometers to encounter the teachings, study together, and participate in a community united by a search for spiritual growth, gratitude, peace, and harmony.
For participants outside Japan, however, an important practical question remains.
The currently published information for this particular Net Forum does not specify whether simultaneous English interpretation, English-language audio, or English subtitles will be available.
International participants who require English-language assistance should therefore ask the organizers about language accessibility when completing the registration form.
OFFICIAL EVENT PAGE — JAPAN
https://www.jp.seicho-no-ie.org/lp/future/
12. BRAZIL — SEMINAR FOR SENIORS 2026: “THE JOY OF LIVING”
And this message of Infinite Progress is not restricted to youth.
Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil is also holding an event specifically dedicated to older adults:
SEMINAR FOR SENIORS 2026 — “THE JOY OF LIVING”
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2026
Time: 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location: South American Spiritual Training Academy of Seicho-No-Ie
Ibiúna, São Paulo, Brazil
Participation Fee: R$75.00
The program is intended to promote inspiration, spirituality, fellowship, gratitude, and renewed joy in living through lectures, experiences, activities, music, and spiritual practices.
Its message is particularly beautiful:
Spiritual progress does not end with age.
Youth is a time for progress.
Maturity is a time for progress.
Old age is a time for progress.
As long as there is Life, there remains an opportunity to:
Seicho-No-Ie of Brazil describes itself as a Movement for the Illumination of Humankind — International Peace by Faith Movement, founded in Japan in 1930 by Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
It presents its teachings as an extensive door of mercy and love open to those who wish to study the spiritual laws governing human life.
One of its fundamental teachings is:
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CHILDREN OF GOD
The True Image — Jissō is the perfect Divine Reality created by God.
Within this spiritual Reality, human beings possess a divine nature that transcends the apparent limitations encountered in the phenomenal world.
Seicho-No-Ie also emphasizes religious non-sectarianism.
It teaches that authentic religions ultimately emanate from the one Divine Source.
The goal is not division.
It is harmony.
Not hatred.
Love.
Not fear.
Faith.
Not darkness.
Light.
14. JESUS CHRIST — LOVE, FAITH, AND PEACE
That is also why I began this article with the words of Jesus Christ:
“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
— 1 John 3:11, KJV
And:
“Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”
— Luke 8:48, KJV
Love one another.
Have faith.
Go in peace.
These are not merely ancient words.
They are instructions for human life.
And perhaps humanity needs them today more than ever.
15. FROM THE DIVINE WORD TO THE DIGITAL WORLD
Master Masaharu Taniguchi began his mission through the written Word.
Books.
Magazines.
Sacred texts.
Lectures.
Personal encounters.
Today, the same principle operates through entirely new means.
Websites.
Digital books.
Videos.
Online meetings.
Social networks.
Zoom.
A spiritual teaching can now travel from Japan to Brazil in seconds.
This creates both an extraordinary opportunity and an extraordinary responsibility.
Technology can spread hatred.
But technology can also spread love.
It can spread lies.
But it can also spread Truth.
It can humiliate.
But it can also encourage.
It can divide.
But it can also unite.
Therefore:
Let us use technology to transmit good words.
Let us use it to teach.
Let us use it to console.
Let us use it to pray.
Let us use it to bring nations closer together.
Let us use it to build peace.
Technology, when placed at the service of good, can become a bridge.
A bridge between countries.
A bridge between generations.
A bridge between languages.
And, above all, a bridge between human beings searching for Truth, Love, Peace, and God.
The September 2026 Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum offers another opportunity to build that bridge.
16. TO YOUNG PEOPLE
To every young person reading this:
The world will constantly try to tell you who you are.
Do not allow hatred to define you.
Do not allow fear to define you.
Do not allow failure to define you.
Do not allow social media to determine your worth.
Seek Truth.
Study.
Pray.
Think.
Create.
Serve.
Love.
Be grateful.
Use words that strengthen other people.
And remember:
Infinite Progress means that your present circumstances do not have the final word over your life.
17. TO PEOPLE OF EVERY AGE
And to everyone who has already traveled a longer road:
Your spiritual journey has not ended.
There is still something to learn.
There is still something to give.
There is still someone to encourage.
There is still someone to forgive.
There is still someone to love.
There is still something for which to give thanks.
There is still Light to share.
The Home of Infinite Progress has no age limit.
18. LET US WALK TOWARD THE LIGHT
I close this article with gratitude.
Gratitude to God.
Gratitude to Jesus Christ.
Gratitude to Master Masaharu Taniguchi.
Gratitude to Master Seicho Taniguchi.
Gratitude to all the Apostles of the Sacred Mission.
Gratitude to those Japanese pioneers who carried the teachings across the ocean.
Gratitude to the people who translated them into Portuguese.
Gratitude to those who continue teaching them today.
And gratitude to every human being who chooses to use words not to destroy another person, but to bring:
Love.
Faith.
Hope.
Gratitude.
Peace.
Truth.
Light.
May we polish our hearts with good and bright words.
May we recognize Divine Life within ourselves and within others.
May we love one another.
May we have faith.
May we go in peace.
And may we continue walking toward the Light in:
SEICHO-NO-IE — THE HOME OF INFINITE PROGRESS
OFFICIAL SOURCES AND LINKS
SEICHO-NO-IE — JAPAN
First Training Session to Open the Future Together with Our Peers — Seicho-No-Ie Net Forum
The complete texts of the Sacred Sutras, the Shinsokan prayers, and the Divine Revelations of the “Lighter of the Seven Candlesticks” should be read in authorized Seicho-No-Ie publications or through official Seicho-No-Ie sources. Only brief passages and doctrinal explanations are reproduced here.
