Tenrikyo /The Path of Joy

Posted on March 7, 2017 by heaventruth

In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God tells us that every person has a unique and different mind.

Ponder over this talk, all of you in the world.

There is no mind the same as another. 5-7

Even between parent and child, husband and wife, and siblings,

their minds all differ from one another. 5-8

What does this mean that our minds all differ? We all have different proportions of evil in our minds. These evils are the thoughts of arrogance, greed, self-love, miserliness, and covetousness. God tells us that it is these evils that make our minds depressed, and our future bleak. When our minds are void of these evils, we come closer to the mind of God, and our minds become spirited.

How do we remove these evil thoughts from our minds? Does God want us to praise him? Does God want us to have blind faith? Does God want our commitment? Does God want monetary donations? The answer to all these questions is no. God wants us to eliminate these thoughts from our minds. But God tells us that it is not an easy task to eliminate our evil thoughts. For some who have much evil in their minds, God or karma places repeated temptation, sufferings, and inconveniences in their paths. It is the gradual elimination of evil that occurs when one does not act upon evil thoughts. Eventually evil thoughts will not emerge from our minds. It is not surprising on this path of evil elimination that we sometimes regress and act upon our thoughts; but God reminds us to calm our minds, and ponder.

It is this difficult path that must be followed if we are to become happy and spirited. Yet most of the world seeks to gain happiness by looking outside instead of within us. God also tells us that true happiness is shared joy. God has given us a special prayer (Joyous Service) that brings people to our churches when our minds are pure. The following is from the Book of Prophecy telling how difficult the path may be, but rewarding at the end.

Over steep mountains, through tangles of thorns, along narrow ledges and

through brandished swords, if you come (process of purification of mind if we do not act on our thoughts of arrogance, greed, etc). 1-47

 

Yet a head a sea of flames, and a deep abyss  (causality or guidance purifying the mind if we concentrate on not acting on our evil),

 

you will arrive at a narrow path (path of prayer with a sincere mind). 1-48

 

After following the narrow path step by step, you will come to a path.

This is the trustworthy main path (path of joy). 1-49

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Tenrikyo /How Do We Eliminate Evil?

Posted on March 4, 2017 by heaventruth

How do we eliminate evil? No matter how we try to remove evil, evil always comes back. Look at Hitler, Jack the Ripper, Mussolini, Tojo, ISIS, and the list goes on and on. The world and civilized society have attempted to eliminate or incarcerate these evils, but evil continues to emerge. But before we can eliminate evil, we must define what evil is. We must know our enemy. Webster defines evil as: morally reprehensible:  sinful, wicked an evil impulse.

Most of us believe that a person who has these characteristics is evil; and some of us will believe that killing the person that has these characteristics will eliminate evil. The execution in our penal institution, and the current targeted bombings in Syria and Iraq are examples. There are others who believe that retribution does not eliminate evil. In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki) is the following:

Among all mankind, there is no one who is evil.

It is only a bit of dust stuck on. 1-53

What are these dusts? These are the evil thoughts of greed, arrogance, self-love, covetousness and miserliness. These thoughts cause man to be evil. If evil is a thought, can we eliminate thoughts by destroying or incarcerating the physical body? Some will say that thoughts are like bacteria that spread from one mind to another, and are not restricted to any one mind. We cannot destroy the temporal thought by eliminating the hosts. How does mankind eliminate evil thoughts? Or is it God that helps eliminate evil thoughts from the mind? More on this subject on how theses evils can be removed from the mind; and the consequences of the accumulation of these evil dusts on our physical bodies. Hint: In the world, we see suffering and joy and we see evil and good; yet we do not understand.

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Tenrikyo /To Be Spirited

Posted on February 26, 2017 by heaventruth

How do I become happy? The bills keep mounting, my yard is embarrassing, college tuition for my kids, need to keep up with the Jones, need to change my oil, wondering if I can wait a little longer, coffee is not kicking in today, car is tailgating me too close, blood pressure going up, co-worker rude at work, anger arising, family problems I cannot understand, bouts of self pity, temper outburst and arguments, frequent indigestion and heartburn, self doubts… How do I become happy?

In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God tells us to remove evil from our minds to become spirited. These evils are greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self love. These are thoughts that frequent our minds. But how do we remove these evils especially when we encounter inconveniences and sufferings mentioned above? It appears that these inconvenient incidents exacerbate our evil thoughts, and make us more despondent.

In the Book of Prophecy is the following:

When you calm your mind step by step and ponder,

it will change into clear water (pure mind). 2-26

God is telling us to acknowledge our bad thoughts; and not take action on these thoughts when these inconveniences occur in our daily lives. He is also telling us that it will take time and effort to eliminate these evil thoughts. For some, it may take many inconveniences in their lives to eliminate these thoughts. In reality, these inconveniences or sufferings may be God’s guidance or aide in helping us remove evil thoughts from our minds. But we often miss our chances of improving our minds by not realizing God’s messages through these inconveniences. More often we tend to kill the messenger, instead of self-reflection; and this action will continue the cycle of producing more evil thoughts.

It is not through drugs or alcohol that we become happy. It is not through power or material wealth that we become happy. History has proved that happiness often does not come through religion or faith. In the Book of Prophecy, God tells us by removing greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self love from our mind, we will be spirited. He also tells us that it may be a protracted and difficult task. Are you willing to take this difficult path to true happiness?

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Tenrikyo /Illness as God’s Guidance

Posted on February 25, 2017 by heaventruth

People sometimes criticize me because I believe that God guides us by placing illness upon us. In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki) is the following:

Whatever happens, illness and pain do not exist.

They are God’s hastening and guidance. 2-7

There is nothing at all which should called illness.

It is because there are paths of the mistaken mind. 3-95

These paths are miserliness, covetousness, self love,

greed, and arrogance. These are the dusts (called evils also). 9-96

God helps us remove these dusts or thoughts from our minds. In the Book of Prophecy is the following:

There is nothing in this world that should be called illness .

Whenever there is a disorder of the body, everyone ponder. 2-23

People often refute my belief by telling me that I am associating illness with someone who is bad. They often question me why if my belief is correct why bad people do not get ill by God’s guidance. Why does the criminal not get ill after his or her crime? I would answer that it is the people seeking God who is guided first.

Throughout history of religion, it is the healing of the sick that has brought people into religion. Who made the people sick or inflicted with disease that Jesus healed. Was it God who worked before his arrival? What better way to have someone ponders his or her mind then with illness? Sometimes when illness comes upon a person, material wealth and power become secondary.

What does God want us to ponder when he places illness upon us. Does he want to prove how powerful he is? Some religions would want you to believe this, as they want you to fear and praise God for his blessings. But God places illness to have you ponder what thoughts you have in your minds. God tells us to remove evil from our minds. These evils are the thoughts of greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self-love. God tells us when we remove these dusts from our minds that we will become spirited and happy forever. So the next time you get ill, it may be God guiding you!

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Tenrikyo /Thoughts to Ponder

Posted on February 24, 2017 by heaventruth

Everything is energy. God created the universe. God created man. God is energy. God is all positive energy. Man was once all positive energy. Energy is never created or destroyed. Our soul is made up of positive energy. The soul never extinguishes, as it is a source of energy. Evil is energy. Evil is in our minds. Our souls are made of positive energy source that can attract and eliminate our negative energies of our thoughts.  Energy can be converted to mechanical energy. For every action, there is a reaction. The Universe is God, and we are part of God. Natural disasters can be negative energy that has accumulated from our negative thoughts. God releases these negative energies, as natural disasters like hurricanes, tornados, and earthquakes. There is no global warming, only negative energies from our thoughts. Evil is in the mind of the beholder. There is no devil or Satan. If you persist to believe, then they are negative thoughts named Satan and the devil. There is nothing unknown. There is a cause and effect. God is mainly a spectator. God is the Universe. We create our own future. We have lived many lives. The body is lent from God. Man tries to find the purpose of life, but fails to be spirited or happy. Happiness is the purpose of life. Illness can be God’s guidance. God is not spirited, as man is not spirited. The soul is a library of our negative thoughts. We control the size of our library. Some of us carry a large volume of books, while others have no books. Illness and suffering should not exist. They are from negative energies that have come back to us. What goes up must come down. Cause and effect is the same. God is not spirited, as man is not spirited.   God does not want praise. God wants us to be happy. God wants to be happy. When we hurt others, we hurt God. God’s messengers sometime deliver inconveniences. Don’t kill the messengers. Instead, calm the mind to purify the mind. A pure mind is a spirited mind now. A pure mind also settles and lightens the soul. The positive energy of the soul, void of the negative energies, creates only a joyful future. There is no one essential that is evil, only dust has accumulated in the mind. There should also be nothing called illness, only dust has accumulated in the mind. When all mankind is purified, there will be Heaven on earth.

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Tenrikyo /Are You Happy/continued

Posted on February 24, 2017 by heaventruth

In today’s world, drugs to reduce depression and anxiety are the most prescribed medications. We all want to be spirited, that feeling that everything is all right. The pharmaceutical companies knowing this predicament, spends millions of dollars on advertisement in distributing anti-anxiety drugs; but these companies usually do not tell the consumer about the many side effects of these medications. How can we become spirited without succumbing to drugs or alcohol and their side effects?

In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God tells us to remove evil from our minds to become spirited. What are these evils that prevent us from becoming spirited? These evils are greed, arrogance, self-love, miserliness, and covetousness. These evil thoughts are sometime called dusts. Like the dusts that are on our furniture, they can be easily swept away. But if these evil thoughts are plentiful in our minds, they will be difficult to sweep away, like the dusts ingrained on the surfaces of mirrors. How do we eliminate these evil thoughts from our minds so we can become spirited?

First we must admit that we have these thoughts in our minds and must be determined to eliminate these dusts from our minds. How do we remove these dusts? God tells us to calm our minds and not take action on these thoughts when we are tempted, or inconvenienced. When we continue to resist these evil thoughts, they will eventually be eliminated from our minds; and our minds will become purified. This will make us spirited! For some people, this process of purification and becoming spirited will be very difficult and prolonged because of the amount of evil in their minds. On the path of becoming spirited, there will be relapses, and accumulation of more dusts; we often want to blame others, instead of calming our own minds when inconveniences, suffering or temptation arises. With persistence and faith in God, one can eventually remove evil from the mind and become spirited. We have two choices, one is the easy path of consuming medication, which has nebulous results; the other is a difficult path which God guarantees. Which path do you want to take?

It is said that on the path of purification, anger should not arise. Anger arises from arrogance. If we have the evil thought of arrogance in our minds, we tend to act on it when we are inconvenienced. It becomes difficult to calm our minds, and suppress our arrogance. We want to show our disapproval, or want to teach the other person a lesson. When this happens, the thoughts of arrogance continue to emerge from our minds, causing depression and sufferings. To prevent this we must believe that the inconvenience, or enemy is God’s messenger. We must not “kill the messenger”! Instead, we must calm our minds, and not act on the inconvenience. Sometimes God continues to send his messengers to complete the purification of our minds. Sometimes I wonder, how much wrath can I take from someone; but I know it is God trying to make me whole again. It is this difficult process of purification that will make us spirited.

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Tenrikyo /Are You Happy?

Posted on February 23, 2017 by heaventruth

In today’s world, drugs to reduce depression and anxiety are the most prescribed medications. We all want to be spirited, that feeling that everything is all right. The pharmaceutical companies knowing this predicament, spends millions of dollars on advertisement in distributing anti-anxiety drugs; but these companies usually do not tell the consumer about the many side effects of these medications. How can we become spirited without succumbing to drugs or alcohol and their side effects?

In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God tells us to remove evil from our minds to become spirited. What are these evils that prevent us from becoming spirited? These evils are greed, arrogance, self-love, miserliness, and covetousness. These evil thoughts are sometime called dusts. Like the dusts that are on our furniture, they can be easily swept away. But if these evil thoughts are plentiful in our minds, they will be difficult to sweep away, like the dusts ingrained on the surfaces of mirrors. How do we eliminate these evil thoughts from our minds so we can become spirited?

First we must admit that we have these thoughts in our minds and must be determined to eliminate these dusts from our minds. How do we remove these dusts? God tells us to calm our minds and not take action on these thoughts when we are tempted, or inconvenienced. When we continue to resist these evil thoughts, they will eventually be eliminated from our minds; and our minds will become purified. This will make us spirited! For some people, this process of purification and becoming spirited will be very difficult and prolonged because of the amount of evil in their minds. On the path of becoming spirited, there will be relapses, and accumulation of more dusts; we often want to blame others, instead of calming our own minds. With persistence and faith in God, one can eventually remove evil from the mind and become spirited. We have two choices, one is the easy path of consuming medication, which has nebulous results; the other is a difficult path which God guarantees. Which path do you want to take?

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Tenrikyo /Happiness in a Bottle?

Posted on February 18, 2017 by heaventruth

How do we become happy, where everything feels good? There are “cloudy days” that whatever you do you feel gloomy, and depressed, while there are “sunny days” where one feels great no matter what is occurring around you. Some will try to find happiness in drugs or alcohol. But look what destruction drugs and alcohol consumption has done to the quality of family life. Some try to find happiness in the physical world, but all too often fall back to drugs and alcohol, and eventually depression. Some also try to find happiness in a religion and faith; but do I need to say any more. If someone could find the ingredients for happiness and bottle it, they can make a fortune!

But some say that everything valuable in our lives is free. Can we get happiness for free? In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God tells us that if we remove greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self-love from our minds, we can become spirited or happy. Let us go back in history. Was Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Oyasama, and Mother Teresa spirited? I would say definitely yes; they were always spirited and happy no matter what environment or situation they were in. They are prime example of God’s messengers, showing us how to be happy in life.

But how do we remove these evils from our minds to become happy? How do we remove the thought of arrogance, when you feel that you have been wronged? Arrogance often leads to actions of anger and retribution, which often reinforces the origin of arrogance in our minds. It is the same with greed, where the more we act on our greed the more we want. In the Book of Prophecy is the following verse:

When you calm your mind step by step and ponder

 

It will change into clear water (pure mind). 2-26

God is telling us to acknowledge the evils (arrogance, greed, covetousness, miserliness, and self love) in our minds. God then tells us to calm our minds. He is telling us not to act on these evil thoughts. When we continue to resist these evil thoughts when provoked or tempted by what is occurring around us, these thoughts eventually extinguish themselves, and our minds become more pure. God tells us that when this occurs our minds will become pure; and we will become spirited. But the positive change in mind is only the beginning, the beginning of a joyous future for eternity!

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How to become spirited (happy)

Posted on February 17, 2017 by heaventruth

People say money can’t buy happiness. Drugs and alcohol do not bring upon happiness; although sometimes a good cup of caffeinated coffee brings upon a transient feeling of euphoria to me. Throughout history, people have spent much of their time and resource in pursuit of permanent happiness. Can religion, or finding God bring upon this happiness? What does bring upon this elusive joy?

In the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), God promises us that if we remove evil from our minds, we will become spirited. I imagine spirited means happy. But what are these evils? God describes these evils as dusts of the mind. These dusts are the thoughts of greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self-love. Like the dusts that accumulate on our furniture, they can be swept away. But sometimes, if these dusts accumulate, they can become imbued on to the surface, and can be a challenge to remove.

You might be wondering where is he going on this topic of furniture. I am trying to convince you and myself that these evil thoughts are sometimes difficult to remove, especially if they have been in our minds for a long time. I imagine we can easily eliminate these dusts if lived in a monastery, or if we boarded our house and lived as a hermit. But we cannot, and life often brings upon unpleasant surprises. We cannot just promise God that we will remove these evil thoughts from our minds so that he can bless us with a spirited mind. In the Book of Prophecy are the following verses that I did not initially understand:

Over steep mountains, through tangles of thorns, along narrow ledges and

through brandished swords, yet if you come 1-47

Yet a head a sea of flames, and a deep abyss,

you will arrive at a narrow path (path of prayer with a sincere mind). 1-48

After following the narrow path step by step, you will come to a path.

This is the trustworthy main path (path of joy). 1-49

This talk is not about other concerns.

It is a matter of your own and your single-heartedness with God. 1-50

God is telling us how to purify our minds of evil. He is saying that life brings upon unpleasant experiences, which may bring upon thoughts of evil like arrogance; but if we acknowledge that we have these thought in our minds, and refuse to act upon them, we can gradually suppress and eliminate these thoughts from our minds. This is not a one-time process where we can sweep these dust easily: God tells us in the above verses, we must repeatedly go through these challenges and tribulations in order to eliminate these evils that are in our minds. With this process we finally become spirited; but the path does not end here.

God tells us that true happiness occurs when all mankind is spirited. True joy is shared joy. God then tells us to follow the “Narrow path” of prayer. God has given us a special prayer called the Joyous Service. With this service performed with a pure mind, God will guide others to us so we can teach them how to become spirited. This then becomes the path to a joyous world where everyone is helping each other. I will end this discussion with a verse from the the Book of Prophecy:

If the minds of the world are spirited in all matters,

the mind of God, also will be spirited (world will prosper). 4-21

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Heaven’s Truth Church (Tenrikyo)

Posted on February 11, 2017 by heaventruth

I wonder why religion makes finding God so difficult. One has to go through a plethora of ancient books, many times translated and interpreted many times before it reaches us. This is why an individual truly trying to find God will have a difficult time. Often we take the words of a trusted pastor or clergyman as the truth, and their faith in God, becomes ours. Many times, it is where we are born in the world, which determine our faith. This is why might or numbers do not determine which religion has more substance.

Religion should make life better for people. Which religion has more happy people? Which religion makes others happy? The following summary is a religion that I was fortunate to be born into, but like many people have not actively participated in. Few years ago, to understand my religion, I have extensively studied the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki), which is said to be directly from God. Ignoring the customs and ceremonies that most followers reluctantly accept, I have found a religion that is simple, and explains what the purpose of life is. All God’s truths are in the Book of Prophecy (Ofudesaki). It is a book that is composed of 17 chapters of simple verses on how to live a Joyous Life. The following is the welcome page of our website heaventruth.com. I hope it will give you another perspective on what the purpose of life is!

Any illness, suffering, and inconvenience you may have, it may be God guiding you!

God tells us to ponder over any sufferings, and remove greed, arrogance, miserliness, and self love from your mind.

                If you have true sincerity in your mind,

               God will assuredly  proceed to save you.  7-85

True sincerity is a mind that is determined to remove greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness and self love.

God can save you not only from illness and suffering; but more important, he promises that your mind will be spirited.

INTRODUCTION:

God descended from Heaven to save all mankind and has given us the Book of Prophecy (Fudesaki), which contains the following instructions to save all mankind.

The removal of greed, arrogance, miserliness, covetousness, and self-love from our minds will result in joy. The accumulation of these evils or dusts will result in future sufferings for the individual. Our thoughts and actions of today determine what happens to us in the future. We control our own future!

God wants us to share this truth with others; he tells us that true joy is shared joy. We cannot experience true joy ourselves while others suffer. For this reason, God has given us a special prayer that will allow us to share God’s truths with others.

OUR BELIEFS:

We believe in the law of causality and reincarnation. Good thoughts and actions result in joy.  Evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) thoughts and actions result in suffering and inconveniences in the future. Cause and effect have no time limitations. The effects of our actions may not develop until the next life.

With the acceptance of our special prayer (Joyous Service), God will begin to shorten the time lapse between the cause and effect, making the relationship easier to understand. That illness or suffering is God informing you of  evil (greed, arrogance, and self-love) in your mind today. God gives you a glimpse of the future by this guidance. By pondering the illness and responding positively, the illness subsides; but more importantly the future becomes joyous.

OUR PATH: (to share our religion)

  1. To spread God’s truth to others.
  2. To continue to eliminate greed, arrogance, and self-love from our own minds; thus making our special prayer receptive to God.
  3. To pray daily with our special prayer (Joyous Service), asking God to help sweep evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) from the world’s mind.
  4. To heal the people whose minds have been revealed when God guides them to us; and teach them about causality and true sincerity. True sincerity is a mind that ponders over suffering and obstacles, and accepts these inconveniences in a joyous manner. This will by the principle of causality bring forth joy in the future.

GOD’S PROMISE:

All mankind will live a joyous life with everyone helping each other.

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