In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God tells us to remove evil from our hearts to have a “Joyous life”. These evils are greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self love. These evils in our minds are what he refers to as dusts. But these dusts are not as easy to eliminate as it may appear. It would be easy to sweep away evil if life brought upon only positive events; but we all know that there are negative occurrences or temptations in our lives. Whether it is God testing us, or our causality or karma catching up to us, we are confronted with obstacles that challenge our resolve. How do we confront these obstacles or temptations without accumulating more dusts?

It is extremely difficult not to blame others who hurt us, especially those who have once been very close to us. We often accumulate anger or even hate from what we feel is unjustified behavior toward us. Sometimes we curl up in our own self-pity, thinking about why we have been wronged. This type of thinking often causes us to accumulate more evil in our minds, especially when both parties frequently see each other (family or coworkers). In the Book of Prophecy, God tells us that we should not blame others for their actions; karmic law or God is showing us what we have previously done in our previous lives. This concept of Karma or causality is a difficult concept for many of us to accept, especially for those who believe in an everlasting heaven. But this concept of the afterlife explains why bad things sometimes happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. It is like reading a mystery book from the middle or at the end. We do not understand what is happening if we do not understand causality.

The concept of causality and reincarnation is not a frightening concept of man suffering. By understanding this concept, we can understand that God or natural law is showing us our temperament and disposition. God is showing us a mirror, which reflects where the problem originates. It is pointing back to us, more specifically our minds. This is why we must not become angry when inconveniences occur. We must not shoot the messenger; but we must seriously ponder the occurrence, and purify our minds. By this process of purification, we can have a joyous future. We will eventually eliminate the bad karma, and only the good karma will unfold. But this process is a difficult process since we continue to blame others for our problems. We will continue to be on the same path of suffering. Only when we look from within our minds, and purify our minds, will we begin to be on a path of joy. What path are you on?