Tenrikyo /Purpose of Life

Posted on August 27, 2018 by heaventruth

Why do we have joy or suffering? Ever since mankind was created, people have wondered why we suffer or have joy. Why do” good “people suffer, and why do “bad” people sometime have joy? Religion tries to explain it. Some explain by saying it is God’s will, or only God knows. Sometimes we are told not to worry about what happens to us on earth; the “good” will be rewarded in heaven, while the “evil” will suffer in hell.

Our religion believes that it is our own soul that brings upon joy or suffering to us. In the first verse in our most sacred book, God tells us that the world does not understand the soul. Why does God want us to understand the soul? Some people call it the heart or spirit. We all agree that our physical bodies decompose and return to the earth. Most religious people will also agree that there exists a spark or soul in our bodies that is eternal. Scientist cannot confirm the existence of the soul, but many of us believe that it does exist. Some believe that the spirit or soul leaves our bodies at death and enters the afterlife. Others believe like myself that our souls will continue for eternity in both heaven and earth.

Let me further try to explain the soul. The soul is a positive bundle of energy from God. Each of us has the positive energies of God within us. These positive energies should only bring upon joy to us. But throughout past lives, we have committed evil acts or sins against each other. These negative acts or sins produce the negative energies that surround the pure soul. Sufferings, inconveniences, and temptations are a result of these negative energies. We reap what we have sowed; but it is not as simple as this.

When we understand the soul, we understand that inconveniences or sufferings we experience are the result of our own past evil actions. Do not become angered at the messengers of our souls. Do not blame your spouse, coworker, strangers, or even God. It is easy to act with retribution when you feel that you have been wronged. It is also easy to blame others, even God when suffering occurs. When we understand the soul, we must look within ourselves first. How do we do this? We must remove greed, arrogance, and self- love from our minds. These are the evil thoughts or dust that caused us to commit sins or evil acts against others (usually in past lives).

If we can calm the mind and not act upon the evil thoughts in our minds when the soul delivers these obstructions, we can gradually eliminate evil thoughts from our minds, and therefore eliminate the negative energies associated with our evil actions. Eventually we can purify our minds and have only joy delivered by our pure positive soul. This is God’s promise of our salvation. This is the purpose of life.

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Tenrikyo /Spreading God’s Truth

Posted on August 24, 2018 by heaventruth

When I was young, I wondered how I could explain my religion to others without embarrassment. Talking about reincarnation, karma, and performing a prayer in Japanese was something difficult to convey to others. Even as an adult, I pondered if I had the courage to talk to my coworkers and friends about God and my religion. Looking back, it didn’t matter since I did not understand the teachings until just recently. My goal now is to make our sacred book (Ofudesaki) easier to understand and to apply its teachings to our daily lives.

Why do we have joy or suffering? Ever since mankind was created, people have wondered why we suffer or have joy. Why do” good “people suffer, and why do “bad” people sometime have joy? Religion tries to explain it. Some explain by saying it is God’s will, or only God knows. Sometimes we are told not to worry about what happens to us on earth; the “good” will be rewarded in heaven, while the “evil” will suffer in hell.

Our religion believes that it is our own soul that brings upon joy or suffering to us. In the first verse in our most sacred book, God tells us that the world does not understand the soul. Why does God want us to understand the soul? Some people call it the heart or spirit. We all agree that our physical bodies decompose and return to the earth. Most religious people will also agree that there exists a spark or soul in our bodies that is eternal. Scientist cannot confirm the existence of the soul, but many of us do believe that it does exist. Many believe that the soul leaves our bodies at death and enters heaven or hell. Others believe like myself that our souls will continue for eternity in both heaven and earth.

Let me further explain the soul. The soul is a positive bundle of energy from God. Each of us has the positive energies of God within us. These positive energies only bring upon joy to us. But throughout past lives, we have committed evil acts or sins against each other. These negative acts or sins produce the negative energies that surround the pure soul. It is these negative energies that brings upon our future sufferings, temptations and inconveniences. But more important, it is our reactions to these sufferings that will determine our future. We have control of our future by how we respond to the soul! This is why we must understand the soul.

When we understand the soul, we understand that inconveniences or sufferings we experience are the result of our own past evil actions. Do not become angered at the messengers of these sufferings that our souls deliver. Do not blame your spouse, coworker, strangers, or even God. It is easy to act with retribution when you feel that you have been wronged. It is also easy to blame others, even God when suffering occurs. When we understand the soul, we must look within ourselves first. How do we do this? We must remove greed, arrogance, and self- love from our minds. These are the evil thoughts or dust that are in our minds.

If we can calm the mind and not act upon the evil thoughts in our minds when the soul delivers these obstructions, we can gradually eliminate evil thoughts from our minds, and therefore eliminate the negative energies that are produced by our evil actions. Eventually we can purify our minds and have only joy delivered by our pure positive soul. This is God’s promise of our salvation.

With so many people on earth, what is the best way for God to inform people about the soul? But more important how can they be convinced about the soul so they can begin to purify their own minds.

First God wants us member of the church to purify our own minds by understanding the soul. We must calm our minds when sufferings or inconveniences occur to purify our own minds. Sometimes God guides us with illness when we stray from God’s path of the heart/soul.

After purifying our own minds, we must begin to tell people about the soul, and how God is going to convince people about the soul. We must tell people that God will enter them, and place temporary illness according to the evil thoughts in their minds to have them understand the soul (this dissemination is called hinokishin).

God has given us a special prayer, the Joyous Service (fertilizer) asking God to help people understand the soul to purify their minds. This prayer is directed toward the Kanrodai, where Oyasama and God have descended.

When our sincere prayer is accepted by God, God begins to place temporary illness on those people we have spread the teachings. God will enter them, and places temporary illness according to the evil thoughts in their minds. God is showing them what suffering their soul may manifest in the future.

These people will come to our churches or places of prayer to be healed of their temporary illness. They will be told about the soul again; and we will pray for them (sazuke). They will be healed and begin to understand the soul, so they can purify their minds by themselves.

This process continues until all mankind is purified. When this happens, there will be paradise on earth.

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Tenrikyo /Spreading the Fertilizer

Posted on August 22, 2018 by heaventruth

Since I was a teenager, I always wondered how I could explain my religion to others without making a fool out of myself. Even as an adult, I always wondered if I could talk to my coworkers about God. I am sure many of you had the same doubts as I have had. I guess it didn’t really matter since I did not really understand the teachings until just recently. My goal now is how to make our sacred book (Ofudesaki) easier to understand and how to apply its teachings in our daily lives.

I would like to explain first why we have joy or suffering. Ever since mankind was created, people have wondered why we suffer or have joy. Why do” good “people suffer, and why do “bad” people have joy? Religion tries to explain it. Some explain by saying it is God’s will, or only God knows. Sometimes we are told not to worry about what happen on earth; the Good will be rewarded in heaven, while the evil will suffer in hell.

Our religion believes that it is the soul that brings upon joy or suffering. In the first verse in our most sacred book, God tells us that the world does not understand the soul. Some people call it the heart or spirit. We could all agree that our physical bodies decompose, and turn to dusts when we die. Most religious people will also agree that there exists a spark in our bodies that is eternal. As for the location of the soul in our bodies, we do not know. Some believe that this spark or soul leaves our bodies and enters heaven after our bodies cease to function. Others if they believe in reincarnation, believe that our souls will continue to exist in both earth and heaven for eternity; this is what we believe.

The soul is a positive source of energy created by God at the beginning of mankind. Each of us has the positive energies of God. These positive energies only bring upon joy to us. But throughout past lives, we have committed evil acts or sins against each other. These negative acts produce the negative energies that the individual soul collects and stores. It is these negative energies that surround the soul that brings upon our future sufferings, temptations and inconveniences that many of us encounter every day.

When we understand the soul, we understand that these inconveniences or sufferings we experience are the result of our own past evil actions. Do not become angered at the messengers of these sufferings that the soul delivers now or in the future. Do not blame your wife, coworker, or strangers. Definitely do not place blame on God. If one can calm the mind and not act upon the evil thoughts* in one’s minds when the soul delivers these inconveniences, one can eliminate these evil thoughts, and eliminate the negative energy that the soul collects. Eventually we can purify our minds and our souls; and have only joy delivered by our pure soul. This is God’s promise.

With so many people on earth, what is the best way for God to inform people about the soul? But more important how can they be convinced about the soul so they can begin to purify their own minds.

First God wants us member of the church to purify our own minds by understanding the soul. We must calm our minds when sufferings or inconveniences occur to purify our own minds. Sometimes God guides us with illness when we stray from God’s path of the heart/soul.

After purifying our own minds, we must begin to tell people about the soul, and how God is going to convince people about the soul. We must tell people that God will enter them, and place temporary illness according to the evil thoughts in their minds to have them understand the soul (this dissemination is called hinokishin).

God has given us a special prayer, the Joyous Service (fertilizer) asking God to begin sweeping evil thoughts from these people that we have spread the teachings. This prayer is directed toward the Kanrodai, where Oyasama and God are.

When our sincere prayer is accepted by God, God begins to place temporary illness on those people we have spread the teachings. God will enter them, and places temporary illness according to the evil thoughts in their minds. God is showing them what suffering their soul may manifest in the future.

These people will come to our churches or places of prayer to be healed of their temporary illness. They will be told about the soul again; and we will pray for them (sazuke). They will be healed and begin to understand the soul, so they can purify their minds by themselves.

This process continues until all mankind is purified. When this happens, there will be paradise on earth.

* Evil thoughts are greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self-love.

 

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Tenrikyo /How to Save Mankind

Posted on August 22, 2018 by heaventruth

I would like to explain first why we have joy or suffering. Ever since mankind was created, people have wondered why we suffer or have joy. Why do good people suffer, and why do bad people have joy? Religion tries to explain it. Some will even say that it is God’s will, or only God knows. Sometimes we hear that the Good will be rewarded in heaven, while the evil will suffer in hell.

We believe that it is the soul that brings upon joy or suffering. In the first verse in our most sacred book, God tells us that the world does not understand the soul. Let me further explain the soul. Some people call it the heart or spirit. We could all agree that our physical bodies decompose, and turn to dusts when we die. Most religious people will also agree that there is something in our bodies that continue forever. Some believe that the soul leaves our bodies and enter heaven after our bodies cease to function. Others if they believe in reincarnation, believe that our souls will continue to exist on both earth and heaven.

The soul I believe is a positive source of energy created by God at the beginning of mankind. Each of us has the positive energies of God. These positive energies only bring upon joy to us. But throughout time, mankind has committed evil acts or sins against each other. These acts produce the negative energies that the individual soul collects and stores. It is these negative energies that surround the soul that brings upon our sufferings, temptations and inconveniences that many of us encounter every day.

We believe that it is the negative thoughts in our minds that tempt us to commit our negative acts or sins that create these negative energies. The evil thoughts are greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self-love. By understanding the soul, we can eliminate these evil thoughts that are in our minds. How do we inform people about the soul?

When we understand the soul, we understand that these inconveniences or sufferings we experience are the result of our own evil actions. Do not become angered at the messengers of these sufferings that the soul delivers. Do not blame your wife, coworker, or strangers. Definitely do not place blame on God; these sufferings are the results of our own past actions. But from these inconveniences, one can purify his or her mind! If one can calm the mind and not act upon these inconveniences that the soul delivers, one can eliminate these evil thoughts, and eliminate the negative energy that the soul collects. Eventually we can purify our minds, and have only joy. This is God’s promise.

With so many people on earth, what is the best way to inform people about the soul? But more important how can they be convinced so they can begin to purify their minds.

First God wants us to purify our own minds by understanding the soul. We must calm our minds when sufferings or inconveniences occur. Sometimes God guides us with illness when we falter from God’s path.

After purifying our own minds by understanding the soul, we must begin to tell people about the soul, and how God is going to convince people about the soul (hinokishin). We must tell people that God will enter them, and place temporary illness according to the evil thoughts in their minds to have them understand the soul.

God has given us a prayer, the Joyous Service (fertilizer) asking God to begin sweeping evil thoughts from these people that we have spread the teachings. This prayer is directed toward the Kanrodai, where Oyasama and God are.

When our sincere prayer is accepted by God, God begins to place temporary illness on those people we have spread the teachings. God will enter them, and places temporary illness according to the evil thoughts in their minds. God is showing them their future, if they do not understand the soul as a process to purify their minds.

These people will come to our churches or places of prayer to be healed of their temporary illness. They will be told about the soul again; and we will pray for them (sazuke). They will be healed and begin to understand the soul, so they can purify their minds by themselves.

This process continues until all mankind is purified.

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Tenrikyo /Following the Recipe

Posted on August 19, 2018 by heaventruth

When I was a child I remember my mother making an applesauce cake, which I devoured every time she would make it. Two years ago looking at childhood pictures, a craving for the cake came upon me. I called my mother to find out if she still had the recipe; but upon endless hours of searching, she could not find it. Although she was almost 90 years old, she still had a very good memory, and she tried remembering the ingredients, and their proportions. From her instructions, I attempted to make the cake; but to my disappointment, the result was not as good as when I was a child. I attempted to experiment with the proportions, but the results were worse. I accepted that the fate that I would never be able to make the applesauce cake that I so cherished; but last year upon helping my mom clean some of her receipts and records from the past 50 years, I found an old wrinkled and faded parched paper. On it was the faded ingredients for the applesauce cake. I took out my smart phone and proceeded to take a picture of the recipe.

When I went home that day, I quickly purchased the ingredients, and made the applesauce cake. A good feeling had come back to me as I consumed the long waited delight from my childhood. It was as good as ever! I write this story not because I truly love my applesauce cake, but because the actual ingredients are important if we want the end results to be perfect. I believe that this is also important in following instructions to build things, or even in following instruction that are in our sacred books to live a good life.

Let me give you an example of my religion. You may also find it relevant in your religion. About 130 years ago, my religion spread like wild fire in Japan. It is said that people were fervent in spreading the truths of God. They had the ingredients to live the joyous life in a special book called the Ofudesaki (Tip of the Writing Brush). The words in the book were said to be from God. People who doctors had given up on, were said to have been saved from serious illnesses. But as time went on, the religion began to lose its fervor. The number of people attending services began to decline. What caused this decline? The authorities in the religion, although having good intentions began to become less interested in following the instructions in the sacred book, but became more interested in ceremonial protocol, and their interpretation of the sacred book. As followers, many of the members of our religion became dependent on the authorities to tell them how to live the joyous life and how to share God’s truth with others.

But our religion does not grow like our sacred book tells us it will. Many of our members do not understand the book. Many have not completely read the book. Like the ingredients in the cookbook, we must follow these instructions in our sacred book if we are to save the world and live the joyous life. To those in our religion, I believe the ingredients to save the world are clearly stated in our sacred book.To those in other religions, the same may apply to you to follow the recipe.

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Tenrikyo /Saying Sorry is Not Enough

Posted on August 18, 2018 by heaventruth

It’s easy to apologize to God for past sins or evil actions; and promise not to take part in these actions. Even promising not to be angry with others is often a goal that many of us have, but is often a difficult feat when inconveniences occur. In the Osashizu, God tells us that he does not want apologies or repentance for past sins, but he does want us to do one thing. The following is from the divine directions given on February 18, 1892:

You have already been through various situations. Repentance for the past need hardly be discussed. Repentance upon seeing something. Repentance when shown something. I am talking about things that lie ahead. Repentance is to resolve all situations that lie ahead for the rest of your life. You must make this resolve, first and foremost. Listen and understand well. I am not talking about repentance for the past. What you need to do is to resolve all situations that lie ahead. 

God accepts our apologies when we calm our minds, and do not act upon the evil thoughts that may exist in our minds when inconveniences and temptations occur in the future. This is often very difficult to do, but God promises that if we purify our minds, there will be a path of joy.

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Tenrikyo /The Soul Has No Color

Posted on August 15, 2018 by heaventruth

Many people will agree that life after death continues by the way of the soul. Our physical bodies decay, while our soul ascends to heaven or returns to earth if we believe in reincarnation. If we agree with what happens at the end of our lives here on earth, what determines the beginning of our lives. What or who determines the color of the body that the soul enters. Just because we are black or white, we assume that we are bonded by our skin color. We feel a connection to the history of our black or white ancestors. We feel guilt or anger about the past injustices. I am wondering if our souls have a proclivity for a certain skin color? Does the soul have color, like the body it enters at birth or shortly after?

What are the chances of a soul entering a black body? What is the chance of a soul entering a white body? I would place the chances on the percentage of black and white population on this earth. In today’s world, I see so much anger and hostility toward people of different races because of their color of their skin. But what one may not know, is that the color of skin may not have any factor in what skin color the soul enters at birth. If we believe that the soul continues for eternity on this earth, one may consider that the soul enters a body not on the skin factor, but by what the soul carries from previous lives. The soul is said to carry a record of our past sins or evils. It is said that the soul waits for an environment that will bring upon the same sufferings or joys that one has one committed in past lives. What one sows, one reaps. It is more likely that the soul picks or be placed in an environment that he or she will face others that have the same thoughts (evil thoughts like anger, greed, and self love). Color of the skin may be only a minor factor in the selection of a body to enter.

So to those who claim that a particular race should be subjected to hate or guilt based on their skin color, the soul has no color. The path of the soul brings together people who have the same minds. Evil thoughts (greed, arrogance, anger, hate, and self-love) will bring upon sufferings, while a pure mind will bring upon joy. What path are you on, regardless of what your skin color is?

 

 

 

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Tenrikyo /God’s Guidance

Posted on August 15, 2018 by heaventruth

When a parent who sees his or her child taking the wrong path, whether it be a temper tantrum, or a child experimenting with drugs or alcohol, the parent will obviously attempt to stop this behavior. Some may call this punishment, and others may call it guidance. No matter what it is called, it appears justified to save the child from future peril.

In our religion, we are told that God sometimes gives us guidance in the form of transient illness to help us remove evil thoughts (greed, arrogance, anger, and self love) from our minds. We believe that these evil thoughts placed into action are what cause suffering back to us. For those who believe in reincarnation, these sufferings may appear in future lives; and for those who believe in the afterlife, suffering will occur in hell. Will it not be justified if God could save us from these perils that he sees surrounding our souls/heart. This is why God gives us guidance in the form of illness or sufferings to prevent future sufferings; a little discomfort to prevent future sufferings. Please ponder any sufferings. It may be God guiding you to remove evil thoughts from your minds.

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Tenrikyo

Posted on August 11, 2018 by heaventruth

Arrogance is one of the evils that our religion tells us to remove from our minds. People often think that arrogant people are wrong in their opinions; but we can be right in our opinions or arguments and still be arrogant. Having arrogance often distorts or prevents other relevant facts from our minds.   Arrogance prevents us from assimilating all the information in order to make a correct decision. In the Ofudesaki is the following verse:

Though I have gathered many and varied trees (potential church members),

those that are like a distorted mirror will not do.  3-50

The distorted mirror does not reflect the true image, as one that is arrogant will not be able to truly interpret what he sees or hears. This is what is happening to people in this world. Whether it affects you personally like the road rages on our freeways or impersonally like the divisiveness in our political system, arrogance appears to be the factor that contaminates and distorts our minds.

How do we remove arrogance from our mind? In fact, how do we remove any evil thoughts from our minds? More to follow in my future blogs; stay tuned.

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Tenrikyo /What is Fate?

Posted on August 9, 2018 by heaventruth

What is fate? What are the chances of two people meeting each other or two cars colliding with each other? What are the chances of a plane full of strangers crashing to their deaths? What are the chances of two people both born in different countries marrying each other 25 years latter? Is this all by chance and coincidences? In my religion, God tells us that we are all on different paths that we choose. God calls this the path of the heart/soul. It is this individualized soul that brings us together on these paths that are sometimes cruel and full of sorrow; but it is this soul that also brings people together on a path of joy and hope. What path are you on?

It is this soul/heart that people do not understand.

Looking all over the world and through all ages,

I find no one who understands the heart/soul. Ofudesaki 1-1

Please visit heaventruth.com to understand the soul/heart.

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