Interpretation:
Many of you are having difficulty understanding what the mune or heart is. Even in the first verse of the most sacred book, God tells us that there is no one who understands the heart. From the information gleaned from the Ofudesaki, it appears to be the soul or spirit that continues after our physical bodies stop functioning, or contained within the soul.
When we talk about the soul, there is no physical evidence that it exist. But contained within our bodies, there is much energy that has been confirmed. Suppose our soul is composed of energy. Suppose within this energy bundle, information is contained. What information may the soul contain? I have created a diagram of the heart (soul), which suggest what information our souls may contain. Again this information is gleaned from the Ofudesaki and the Mikagura-uta. Some of you may say where in the sacred scriptures do you get this information. I will give you the verses if you ask.
But let us suppose that there is no soul. We all know that our physical bodies decompose, including our minds. Does this mean that we cease to exist when our physical bodies stop? This is something that is difficult to accept. This also will mean that we did not exist before our conception. Then for people that believe in an afterlife, what is the conveyance to the afterlife if our physical bodies are not there to carry us? The only explanation will be an energy source within our bodies. The reconstruction and resurrection of our decayed bodies have been suggested by religon, but it goes against the laws of science. Yes, listen to the science is a popular quote today, but in this case, it appears impractical that a zombie occurrence will materialize from decayed bodies or ashes.
For those who are in the Tenrikyo religion, we are on the right path. Our prayers and our teachings will bring upon universal salvation to the world. But I believe we are missing one important belief that will make our prayers effective. This is the information of the mune or heart that God tells us we do not understand. For God to tell us in this in the first verse of the Ofudesaki, should give us notice of the importance of understanding the heart. I have attached a diagram depicting the function of our hearts. I have numbered them in order of occurrence. I hope this helps a little in understanding our own hearts!
In the Ofudesaki, the words shinjitsu, makoto shinjitsu, isamu, sumashite, osamaru, sadamete, and sunda are all words signifying the purification of the mind. The purification of mind is foremost in attaining the joyous life. People often ask me how do we reach the stage of purification. The answer is in the Ofudesaki. The picture below shows how to do this.
How to purify our minds.
When these emotions arise, we must calm our minds and ponder. What must we ponder? God tells us that these obstacles or temptations arise due to dusts in our own minds. We must ponder the dust or evil thought that may have initiated the inconvenience or temptations before us. We must not blame the angry coworker or spouse that initiated the confrontation, but we must ponder the dusts in our mind. When we are able to do this, we will be able to calm our minds, and not act upon our emotions. This is how we purify our
In the Ofudesaki, God tells us that there are paths of the mistaken mind (verse 3-95). These paths are regret, covetousness, self-love, greed, and arrogance (3-96). These path all lead to suffering of one. God does not tell us that these evil thoughts in our minds cause suffering by themselves; but it is the action on these thoughts that completes the path of suffering.
If we are able to resist acting on these evil thoughts when obstacles arise in our lives, we will be able to complete the path of joy. We reap what we have sowed, as depicted by the picture.
But what is the other benefit of not acting on our evil thoughts. Like any neural pathway, if we do not act upon the path, the pathway becomes weaker, and the impetus, evil thoughts in this case, is eliminated. We can purify our minds if we continue to resist our evil thoughts. This will result in only joy coming from our hearts!
A real page-turner.
There is one question that is often asked. Why do good people suffer? Most religious people will say that, it is God that punishes or rewards us for our behavior. But in the Ofudesaki, God tells us that God has been on the sidelines, only watching us since the creation of human beings. Then you may ask, why do we suffer or have joy in our lives? In the first verse of the Ofudesaki, God tells us we do not understand the mune or heart. What is the mune or heart that each of us has? I believe that the heart is the soul, or is contained in the soul, which is eternal. It is our own heart that collects our debits or credits from our actions, and then eventually releases them as fate. We reap what we have sowed because of our mune or soul. We do not understand why and what we reap today, because memories of our past lives have been erased. It is like beginning to read a book from a middle chapter. We will not be able to understand, because we have not read the previous chapters. By asking this question of why Good people suffer, is like one only looking at what they have done in this lifetime. You do not know what they have done in their previous lives. This explanation may appear to be fatalistic, but God tells us that everyone in the world will eventually be saved. Yes, in this story, the last chapter of every book ends with “ they all lived happily forever after.”
How does everyone in this world get saved? You need to read the Ofudesaki. Please do not read the English translated version by church headquarters. It contains a few errors in translation, which may hinder our understanding of God’s truths. I have attempted to translate into English word for word. You can view it by going to heaventruth.com on wordpress, or view each verse daily in the Tenrikyo Ofudesaki Study Group on Facebook.
OFUDESAKI-GOD'S TEACHINGS 