I would like to talk about the Osazuke, a prayer that God has granted us to save people. Most Tenrikyo people will disagree with me, but the Osazuke does not cure existing illness that is present. Why do I say this? It is from my own experience. My mother often went to administer the Osazuke, but I do not remember any miraculous recovery from illness. When both my parents were ill in the hospital, even the Bishop’s administration of the Osazuke did not cure them. Both died sadly.

If the Ofudesaki does not work on existing illness, when does it work? When Oyasama was physically present, people came to the Residence to ask for healing after they were first introduced to God’s teachings of the soul. I do not believe that Oyasama or her followers went out to cure existing illness. So what are the illnesses that we can cure. It is the illness that God places as guidance that the Osazuke cures. Let me explain further.

How do we spread God’s teachings to other,to the world? God has granted us two precious Services or prayers to do this. The first is the Youki-tsutome. This is a prayer asking God to place illness as guidance to the people we have introduced the soul, and pure mind. The second is the Osazuke which is a prayer asking God to cure the illness that God had placed. This gives us the opportunity to convince the people we have first introduced the teachings about the soul and pure mind. These two prayers are vital in the spreading of the teachings to the world. Presently these two prayers are not understood by church leaders, and this is why God’s teachings are not spreading to the world.

Today is the special anniversary that we celebrate Oyasama. Hopefully Church leaders will understand the instructions in the Ofudesaki to spread the teachings that will save the world. We have two special prayers!

How does God guide people? First we must go out to spread the teachings of the pure mind, soul, and God’s guidance to others. Then we must perform the Youki-tsutome asking God to help us convince these people of the teachings.When God accepts our prayer of the Youki-tsutome, God enters the person, and evaluates the negative thoughts in them, and places illness as guidance depending on the amount and kind of negative thoughts in their minds. It is these thoughts that we will act upon, and create the fate that their soul collects and eventually manifest as suffering. In short, God is showing them their future if they do not remove their negative thoughts.

When these people understand the guidance that appears, they come to our places of worship to be healed by the Osazuke. The Osazuke appears to only cure illness that God places as guidance. It does not cure existing illnesses. God’s teachings are further instructed to the people who come to our places of worship, and they will be able to purify their own minds by themselves. When the mind is pure, only health and happiness will appear from the soul. This is how our teachings are spread to the world.

In summary:

1. we spread God’s teaching to others
2. we pray with the Youki-tsutome
3. God places illness as guidance to these people
4. they come to our places of worship to be healed
5. we perform the Osazuke to heal them and give further instructions.
6. they are able to purify their own minds by themselves
7. when their minds are pure, they are saved.
8. only health and happiness will appear from their soul

神はどのように人々を導くのでしょうか。
まず私たちは、清らかな心と魂、そして神の導きの教えを人々に広めていかなければなりません。
次に、人々がその教えを理解し受け入れられるよう、神にお力添えを願い、陽気づとめを行います。

神が私たちの陽気づとめの祈りをお受け取りになると、神はその人の中に入り、その人の心にある否定的な思いを見極めます。そして、その思いの量や種類に応じて、導きとして病をお与えになります。 人はその思いに基づいて行動し、魂が積み重ねる因縁をつくり、やがてそれが苦しみとして現れます。 つまり神は、否定的な思いを取り除かなければ将来どうなるのかを、その人に示しておられるのです。

この導きを理解した人々は、癒やしを求めて私たちの礼拝所に来られ、おさづけによるお救けを受けます。 おさづけは、神が導きとしてお与えになった病のみを癒やすものであり、もともとある病を治すものではありません。 礼拝所に来た人々には、さらに神の教えが伝えられ、やがて自らの力で心を澄ませることができるようになります。 心が澄めば、魂から現れるのは健康と幸福だけです。 このようにして、私たちの教えは世界へと広がっていきます。

まとめ：

• 私たちは神の教えを広める
• 陽気づとめをもって祈る
• 神は人々に導きとして病をお与えになる
• 人々は癒やしを求めて礼拝所に来る
• 私たちはおさづけを行い、癒やしとさらなる教えを授ける
• 人々は自ら心を澄ませることができるようになる
• 心が澄めば、人は救われる
• 魂から現れるのは、健康と幸福のみである’s Guidance

Spreading the truth:

Thinking about our religion Tenrikyo, it appears that church leaders are encouraging people to visit their churches, and eventually returning to Tenri to thank God. I think it should be in the opposite direction. We should be going out to spread the teachings to the world. It is the same with the Yorozuyo and 12 dances. We are dancing in front of God, and the people who already should know God’s truth. Again we should be going out to spread the teachings that we are dancing about. Your thoughts?

Short version:

What truth if spread to the world will change the world? In the Ofudesaki God tells us we do not understand the soul (mune). It is understanding the soul that will create a prosperous and happy world. Unfortunately our religion is placing more emphasis on ancient traditions and ritual of 19 century Japan. This includes the clothing, shrines, and even the language of Japan. Pilgrimages and worhipping of God take more importance than spreading God’s truths.

Long version:

What truth if spread to the world will change the world? In the Ofudesaki God tells us we do not understand the soul (mune). It is understanding the soul that will create a prosperous and happy world. What is the soul? Many people believe that because of the soul, we exist for eternity. Our bodies may die, but the soul continues to heaven, and eventually reincarnates to begin a new life. But what does the soul do when it is present in our physical bodies? This is what most people do not know, and what God tells us to understand, and share will the world.

While in our bodies, our soul monitors our behavior. We reap what we sowed because of our own soul. It collects our demerits and merits from acting on our thoughts. It stores them, and eventually manifest the demerits(negative energy) or merits(positive energy) when the right opportunity arises. Many times the right opportunity may not arise in this lifetime, and manifest in future lifetimes. Therefore it is not God that punishes or rewards us for our actions. Our prayers to ask forgiveness, will not usually be accepted by God for this reason.

What happens when our physical bodies die? It is the soul that takes the fates and their associated thoughts to our next destination. The associated thoughts are the thoughts that we acted upon that created the fate. Our memories will be erased but the thoughts and associated thoughts are carried by the soul to our next destination. Therefore, we do not get a fresh start when we are reborn.

So for those who have negative fates in the soul, do we just suffer in our next lives? It does not seem fair because we cannot even remember what we had done in our previous lives. But remember our negative thought(s) associated with the suffering appearing is still present in our minds, as it was carried by the soul. So do we deserve to suffer? What can we do?

We cannot go back in time to change what we have done. God tells us that if we can remove our negative thought(s) associated with the suffering(s), one can reduce the sufferings or eliminate them entirely. How do we do this? God tells us when suffering appears from the soul, not to blame God or others, but to ponder one’s own mind associated with the suffering; and not act upon them. This is how one gradually purifies the mind. When the mind is pure, only joy and health will appear from the soul.

It is this information we must spread to the world. God tells us that we are not alone to spread this truth. God has granted us the Youki-tsutome, a simple prayer asking God to help us spread God’s teachings to others. I will not go further on this topic as it has been discussed previously. But it is vital as people have difficulties in understanding the soul, pure mind, and God’s guidance to help understand the teachings.

I believe we as a church are depending on God to help us save the world. What do I mean? We are performing the Yorozuyo and 12 songs, hoping God to save us and the world. We are offering food in front of God to ask for blessings. We are emphacizing the return to Ojiba to thank God for many blessings. I can go on, but what does God want us to do. God tells us in the Ofudesaki, that we must spread the teachings that are in the Ofudesaki to others. What truths must we spread? It is the truth about the soul (mune), pure mind (shinjitsu), and God’s guidance (juuyou, and you) that we must spread to the world. These truth, the world does not know, and understand.

In the Ofudesaki, God tells us that if we spread the teachings first, God with our performance of the Youki-tsutome will help us save the people that we have spread the teachings to.

Again, we must make the efforts of spreading the teachings before God will help us save the world.

私は、教会として私たちは神様に頼って世界を救おうとしているのだと感じています。では、私が言いたいことは何でしょうか。私たちは、陽気づとめや十二つの歌を勤め、神様に私たち自身と世界を救っていただけるよう願っています。神様の前でお供えをして祝福を願い、また多くの祝福に感謝するためにおぢばへお戻りすることを大切にしています。挙げればきりがありません。

しかし、神様は私たちに何をしてほしいのでしょうか。神様は『おふでさき』の中で、私たちはまず『おふでさき』の教えを他の人々に広めなければならないと教えてくださっています。では、どのような真理を広めなければならないのでしょうか。それは、心（むね）についての真理、清い心（しんじつ）、そして神様の導き（じゅうよう・よう）の真理です。これらの真理は、世界の人々には知られておらず、理解されていません。

『おふでさき』には、まず教えを広めるならば、神様は私たちが陽気づとめを勤めることを通して、教えを広めた人々を救ってくださる、とも書かれています。

改めて言うと、世界を救っていただくためには、まず教えを広める努力を私たちがすることが必要なのです。

This is an interesting verse. God is not talking about an harvest of crops. God is talking about an harvest of new members to save. The fertilizer refers to the Youki-tsutome. When we perform the Youki-tsutome, God helps us bring new members to save by placing illness as guidance to the people we have spread the teaching to. If they understand God’s guidance, they come to our places of worship to heal their illness. The osazuke is performed and they are healed. By understanding God’s teachings, they will then be able to purify their own minds. when the mind is pure, only health and happiness will appear from their own souls. This is the path to world salvation.

この歌はとても興味深いものです。ここで神様が語っておられる「収穫」とは、作物の収穫のことではありません。救われるべき新しい人々、すなわち信仰へ導かれる人々の「収穫」のことをお示しになっているのだと思います。
また、「肥やし」とは、陽気づとめを指しているのだと考えます。

私たちが陽気づとめを勤めることによって、神様は、私たちが教えを伝えた人々に病を「お導き」としてお与えになり、新たに救われる人々をお連れくださいます。そのお導きを神様の働きとして受け取ることができた人は、病を治していただくために教会へ参拝します。そこでおさづけのお取次ぎを受け、病が癒されます。

そして神様の教えを理解することによって、自分自身のkokoro (mind) を清めることができるようになります。kokoro (mind) が澄めば、その人自身の魂から現れてくるのは、健康と幸福だけです。これこそが、世界たすけへの道であると思います。

The teachings in the Ofudesaki are simple. God tells us when we are “Good”, we are saved. Only joy and health will appear in our lives. Let me explain. Usually it is our thoughts that we act upon, especially negative thoughts in our minds. God tells us these thoughts or dusts are regret, covetousness, self-love, greed, and arrogance. When we act upon these thoughts, we create our own negative fates of suffering. God tells us to sweep these dusts away, and only joy and health will appear from our own soul. This is the message God wants us to spread to the world. This is the purpose of our religion. It is to spread this important truth. How do we spread the message to the world?

God has given two simple prayers to help us spread the teachings to others. First we must spread the truth of how to be saved. Then we must perform a simple prayer called the Youki-tsutome asking God to help sweep the negative thoughts of the people we have spread the teachings to. God then places illness as guidance to help them purify their minds. If they understand God’s guidance, they come to our places to be healed by the second special prayer called the Osazuke. They are healed, and given further instructions to purify their minds. This is how God’s teachings are spread to the world. 

When our religion was began, the Honseki (carpenter) asked Oyasama about constructing a place for prayer. To his surprise Oyasama requested only a small place for Service. Our religion should be simple. It does not require large cathedrals, and places of worship. We have the Kanrodai (Central Pillar) that we all pray toward. We do not require ceremonies, food offering, donations and rituals to please God. God only wants us to have joy. But unfortunately our religion now is like other religions. What must we do? We must understamd the simple instructions in the Ofudesaki!

There was a person who was performing the Yorozuyo and 12 dances on Facebook. This is what I told him:

I commend you for your efforts. My mother who passed away recently performed the 12 dances on a regular basis, especially when anyone had illness or sufferings. I still remember the Bishop telling us that one must perform the dances without error for God’s blessings. But is this what God wants for us to perform a Service that will take over one hour of our time? How difficult would it be for a non Japanese person to perform? Why are we dancing in front of God, and repeating what God has told us? Why are we not spreading God’s teachings that are in the Ofudesaki?

There are many people who are selfish, greedy, and arrogant. They believe they can do anything they want as long as they are not caught, and punished. They do not know that their own souls monitor their behavior while living on earth. If they do believe in God, or justice, they believe that they can ask forgiveness from a forgiving God before death. But it is not God that punishes or rewards us, it is our own soul. We will reap what we have sowed. Why is it so difficult to convey the message of the soul?