なぜ私たちの教えは世界にとってそれほど重要なのでしょうか。人の命を奪うことについて話しましょう。これは最近の政治的著名人の暗殺、政治家への暗殺未遂、あるいは戦争で失われた多くの命についてです。宗教の歴史を見てみましょう。主要な宗教はすべて、戦争と多くの命の損失を容認してきませんでした。彼らは自らの正義のため、あるいは宗教に反対する者への報復として殺戮を正当化します。自らの信念に反する者を排除すれば神が報いると信じているのかもしれません。  

おふでさきは教えています。私たちの肉体も、宇宙のあらゆるものも、神から借りているに過ぎないと。神は万物を所有しておられます。この視点からすれば、他者を傷つけたり命を奪ったりすることは、本質的に神を傷つける行為なのです。「もし自分の命や家族、友人が危険にさらされたら、他人の命を奪うだろうか？」と問う者もいるだろう。答えは「はい」かもしれない。しかし神は、純粋なkokoro (mind)を獲得すれば、自らの魂から喜びのみが現れると教えている。魂に関する神の教えを理解しkokoro (mind)を清めれば、危険に陥る状況は減るはずだ。

また、私たちが他人を傷つけ、嘘をつき、自己中心的な利己心のために他人を利用する際にも、自らの魂は私たちの行動を監視しており、やがて苦しみとして私たちに返ってくるのです。多くの人は、自分の行動が露見しなければ、自分に何の影響も及ばないと考えています。また、死ぬ前に神が自分の行いを許してくれると信じているかもしれません。しかし、自らの魂こそが、その行いによって苦しみをもたらすのです。蒔いた種は必ず刈り取られる。これは揺るぎない真理である。

この世の多くの人々は「なぜ私は苦しむのか」と問うだろう。しかし彼らは、過去の生における自らの行いが自らの苦しみを創り出したことを理解していない。神はこう告げる──本質的に悪なる者は存在しないと。ただ塵（悪しき思考）が彼らのkokoro (mind)に付着しているだけだと。彼らが行動に移すこれらの思考こそが、自覚せぬままに自らの運命を創り出すのだ。世界は自らの魂を理解せねばならない。繰り返すが、我々は蒔いたものを刈り取るのである。

我々の魂に潜むかもしれない負の運命を、どうすれば取り除けるのか？過去に戻って行動を変えることはできないが、今日存在するそれらに関連する思考を消し去ることはできる。だからこそ神は、魂から負の運命が現れた時、自らのkokoro (mind) に潜む否定的な思考を省みよと告げる。運命の使者たる他者を責めるのではなく、同じ否定的な思考に基づいて行動してはならない。こうして私たちは次第に否定的な思考を消し去り、それが引き起こす運命をも取り除いていく。kokoro (mind) が清らかになれば、魂からは健康と喜びのみが現れるのだ。

Why are our teachings so important for the world. Lets talk about taking someone’s life. This can be about the recent assasination of a political celebrity, the attempted assassinations of politicians , or even the many lives lost in war. Lets look at the history of religion. All major religions have not condoned wars and the many lives lost. They justify these killing for their righteousness, or even for people opposing their religion. They may also believe that God will reward them for the elimination of those they oppose their beliefs?  

The Ofudesaki tells us that all our bodies are loaned to us by God, as well as everything in the universe. God owns everything. From this perspective, when we hurt others or take away someone’s life, we are essentially hurting God. Some would say suppose one’s own life, one’s family, or friends were endangered, would one take another’s life?  The answer would be yes, but God tells us that if we attain a pure mind, only joy will appear from our own soul. The scenario of danger would be less likely to occur if we understood God’s teachings of the soul to purify our minds. 

Also when we hurt others, lie, take advantage of others, for our own selfish concerns, our own soul is monitoring our behavior, and will eventually manifest suffering back to us. Many people think that their actions have no consequences upon themselves, if they are not caught. They may also  believe that God will forgive them for their actions before they die. But it is their own soul that will manifest suffering by what they have done. We reap what we have sowed. This is resolute.

Many in this lifetime will say, why am I suffering. But they do not understand that they have created their own suffering by their past actions in previous lives. God tells us there is no one who is essentially evil. Only dusts (bad thoughts) have attached to their minds. It is these thoughts they act upon which creates their fates that they are not aware of. The world must understand their own souls. Again we reap what we have sowed. 

How do we get rid of our negative fates that may exist in our own souls? We can not go back in time to change our behavior, but we can eliminate the thoughts that are associated with them that exist today. This is why God tells us when negative fate appears from the soul, to ponder our own minds for negative thoughts, and not blame others, who are the messengers of our fates; then not act upon the same negative thoughts. This is how we gradually remove our negative thoughts and the fates they cause when acted upon. When the mind is pure, only health and joy will appear from our soul. 

ほとんどの宗教において、祈りは重要な役割を果たしています。祈りの目的とは何でしょうか。神様の守りに対して賛美を捧げるために祈る人もいます。私たちは神様の祝福を求めて様々なことを祈ります。良い成績や良い仕事、素晴らしい伴侶、健康で幸せな子供たちなどです。そのほとんどは自分自身のための利己的な祈りで、他人のためということは稀です。願いが叶うか否かにかかわらず、私たちは神様が祈りに応えてくださると信じ続けたいのです。

天理教において、神様は「陽気つとめ」という祈りを授けてくださいました。おふでさきには、この祈りの行い方を守れば、千に一つも失敗がないと記されています。では、この特別な祈りの目的は何でしょうか。教会本部は、神様にkokoro (mind) の浄化を助けていただくためだと教えています。しかし神様はOfudesaki でさき』において、すでに私たち自身の魂を理解し、魂から生じる運命を知ることで、いかにして自らのkokoro (mind) を清めるかを教えておられます。この魂の教えこそが、神様が私たちに世界に広めてほしいと願っておられるメッセージなのです。しかし言葉だけでは、人々は魂の存在やkokoro (mind) を清めることの重要性を確信できないかもしれません。このお祈りによって、神様は人々に魂の存在と清らかなkokoro (mind) を確信させるよう、私たちを助けてくださるのです。

神はどのようにこれを行うのか？神は病を導きとして与え、人々が自らの魂の行いを自覚するよう促す。魂は行動を監視し、正義を下す。神が与える病を通じて、神は人々に示しているのだ――もし行動に移す可能性のある悪しき考えを改めなければ、どのような困難（悪しき運命）に遭遇するかを。もちろん、神の教えを広める際に説明される通り、神の導きが現れた時に理解する者もいれば、理解しない、あるいは理解を拒む者もいます。神の導きを理解する人々は、御手当てによって病を癒され、さらに救われるためにkokoro (mind) を清めるよう指示を受けるため、私たちの礼拝の場を訪れます。kokoro (mind) が清らかな時、人は救われるのです。 魂からは喜びのみが湧き出る。世界が平和と繁栄を得るためには、この歩みを踏まねばならない。

私たちの祈り

ashiki o haraute, tasuke tamae

Tenri-0-no-Mikoto

Evil thoughts sweeping, save them please.

Heaven’s truth Saving God.

繰り返すが、kokoro (mind) が悪しき思いから清められた時、人は救われる。自らの魂からは喜びと健康のみが湧き出るのである。

In most religions prayer plays an important part. What is the purpose of prayer? Some pray to praise God for God’s protection. We pray for many things for God’s blessing, like attaing good grades, good jobs, for a great companion, for healthy and happy children. Most are selfish prayers for ourselves, rarely for others. Whether our wishes are fulfilled or not, we continue to want to believe that God will answer our prayers. 

In the Tenrikyo religion, God has granted us a prayer called the Youki-tsutome. God tells us in the Ofudesaki that if the instructions to perform this prayer is followed, there will be no failure in this prayer, not one in a thousand.  First what is the purpose of this special prayer? Church headquarters tell us that it is to ask God to help us purify our minds. But God in the Ofudesaki already tells us how to purify our own minds by understanding our own souls, and what fates come from the soul. This of the soul is the message that God wants us to spread to the world. But just by words, people may not be convinced of the soul to purify the mind. By this prayer, God helps us convince people of the soul, and pure mind. 

How does God do this?  God places illness as guidance to help convince people of what their own souls do. Their souls monitor their behavior, and gives out justice. By the illness given by God, God is showing people what difficulties (negative fates) they may experience if they do not remove their negative thoughts which they are likely to act upon. Of course, some will understand God’s guidance when it appers, as it is explained when we spread God’s teachings, but others will not understand or refuse to understand God’s guidance. The people who understand God’s guidance will come to our places of worship to be healed of their illness by the Osazuke, and further given instructions to purify their minds to be saved. When the mind is pure, one is saved.  Only joy will come from the soul. These step must be followed for the world to attain peace and prosperity. 

Our prayer,

Evil thoughts sweeping, save them please.

Heaven’s Truth God.

Again, when the mind is pure of negative thoughts, one is saved. Only joy and health will come from one’s own soul.

In the first verse of the Ofudesaki, God tells us, ” We do not understand the mune”. Without understanding the mune, one will not be able to understand the Ofudesaki, our sacred scripture from God. What is the mune? Tenrikyo Headquarter translate the mune as God’s heart.  This kind of makes sense, we do not understand God. But is this the true meaning of mune?  Lets see how mune it is used in the Ofudesaki. 

God tells us ponder what comes from the mune. God tells us to sweep our mune, God tells us that God is observing the mune’s interior, we each depend on our mune, the mune’s sweeping by oneself can do, the mune’s interior what comes from hurry sweeping, the mune’s interior what comes from ponder to do, and the mune is settling the future is promising. The way mune is used,  mune appears to be our own soul, and it is our fates that come from our own souls. Because of the soul, we reap what we have sowed.  

Let me explain what the soul is. The soul resides in our physical bodies. While it resides in our bodies, it collects the negative energies resulting from our evil actions, stores them, and eventually releases the energy as our negative fates (suffering) back to us.  This suffering may not occur until our next lifetime, as circumstances may not present itself to be manifested in this lifetime.  When our physical bodies cease to function, the soul leaves our bodies carrying our fates (negative and positive), and their associated thoughts (thoughts they acted upon to create the fate)  to our next destination. This is why our memories of past lives are erased, but we do not begin with a clean slate when we are reborn again. This is why God encourages us to purify our minds now. God gives us instructions in the Ofudesaki how to do this. 

In summary, when our minds are pure, only positive fates will appear from one’s own soul. When the mind is pure, one is saved. This is God’s message to the world. Again without understanding the first verse, one will have difficulty following God’s instructions to purify the mind, and to spread God’s teachings to the world.

What do we do when illness occurs in our lives? First we must determine if it is from God’s guidance or is it from our own soul. In the Ofudesaki, the illness of cholera is mentioned.  God tells the early followers that the suffering is not illness, but it is God’s guidance to purify the mind. God told the early followers to purify their minds and not to be depressed to eliminate the sufferings of cholera.  Could God have also created the Covid pandemic to help purify the minds of the world?  But like other religions, the Tenrikyo religion followed, and advocated the isolation of people, wearing of masks, and the injection of controversial  covid vaccine. We did not follow God’s instructions of purifying our own mind to eliminate suffering of covid. This would of been a great opportune time for the religion to stand up to the world, to teach the world about the soul and the pure mind to eliminate illness.

On the same subject, how many of Tenrikyo followers depend on medicine to cure our illnesses? How many of us are on blood pressure, diabetic, or heart medications. Should we depend on physicians and medicine for our health, or should be rely on God’s teachings of the soul to be healthy and happy? Remember in the Ofudesaki, God tells us if we purify our minds, only joy and health will appear from our own souls. When this happens we are saved. Something we should all ponder when the next pandemic occurs in the world. 

In summary, God tells us to know the Origin of human beings. God created the perfect human body from the existing organisms in the ancient ocean, and God placed the pure mind (shinjitsu) of God into the first couple. This combination of the perfect body and the pure mind should result in only joy to each soul, but negative thoughts have infected our minds, resulting in suffering to our bodies. God tells us to remove these negative thoughts so only joy and health will come from one’s own soul, as intended by God when human beings were created. Our negative thoughts are not compatible with the perfect human body. This is why there is suffering and illness in the world. God tells us how to remove our negative thoughts in the Ofudesaki, and also how to spread the teachings to the world. 

Again the Ofudesaki can be be found on the Ofudesaki Study Group on Facebook, and also can be purchased at amazon. The book cover is read and titled Ofudesaki. Please do not obtain the e-book as it is not formatted correctly. Also a summary of the Ofudesaki, God’s Recipe for Health & Happiness also can be obtained at Amazon. Again do not purchase the e-book as it also is not correctly formatted.