In the Ofudesaki, the words nihon and kara are used. The meaning of these two Japanese words has always been confusing to me. From my study of the Ofudesaki, I interpret nihon to be people who have settled or purified their minds. Therefore, kara would be people without a settled or purified mind.  

In the Ofudesaki, God tells us that God will distinguish between nihon and kara. How does God do this. Interesting, in finding the location of the Kanrodai, God told the earlier followers that God will place illness upon them, in relationship to the dusts or evil thoughts in their minds. God then tells them if the illness is the same, they should begin to sweep their minds of these dusts. God tells them after they had purified their minds to walk around the residence, and they will come to a stop where the origin of human beings started. This is where the Kanrodai, or Central Pillar will be erected when all human beings have purified their minds. Oyasama first walked the ground and came to a stop at a particular location. Of all the participants, only one person did not stop at this location. But when this one person carried an innocent child, she and the child stopped at this location. My guess would be this person who did not stop would be kara, and the others who stopped were nihon.  

In the Ofudesaki, the same location where human beings were created, is where God descended from heaven to. It is the same location, that the soul of Oyasama returned to after her physical body ceased to function. It is my interpretation, that God compares our minds to the mind of Oyasama at this location when we perform the Joyous Service. Like the early followers who stopped at this location as God compared their minds to Oyasama’s pure mind, God compares our mind to the everlasting Oyasama at the Kanrodai. If our mind is pure, God accepts our prayer, and helps us share God’s truth to the world. My question to everyone is, are we kara or nihon when we perform our Service? If we are not nihon, what do we have to do to become nihon? The answer is in the first verse of the Ofudesaki.