Life is Like a Calculus Problem

Posted on April 28, 2013 by heaventruth

I was surprised that I have written over 200 blogs already! I would like to occasionally revisit some of these blogs to improve their  contents.

Life is like calculus problem. Knowing about the final destination (afterlife) may not get you there. If you go back to calculus in high school or college, remember when you had the answer to the problem from the back of the book. You knew the answer, but you had to write down the steps to how you got the answer. In life, the truths are given to you by your religion, like the formulas and theorems that were given to you to solve the calculus problems. You have to apply these truths to get you to your final destination (afterlife).

But some people may never reach their destination of heaven or heaven on earth. Some may never receive God’s truth. Others may have God’s truth, but may not be able to utilize these truths because of the evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) in their minds.

I believe this is why, some followers and religious leaders fall from grace. They know God’s truths like the theorems and formulas of math. But because they have evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) in their hearts, they are not able to apply God’s truth when circumstances and challenges appear before them. They espouse God’s truth in public, but take the short path of greed, arrogance and self-love.

It is the person who goes through his or her life applying God’s truth that finally gets to experience salvation, or joyous life. It is the selfish person that will have difficulty attaining this salvation. Like the calculus problem, both know the answer, but only one gets there.

Heaven’s Truth Church/Tenrikyo Church

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Rawhide

Posted on April 27, 2013 by heaventruth

I saw an old episode of the classic show Rawhide. A preacher was telling the story of the gold calf that the people were worshiping when Moses came down from the mountain.  To the cowhands, he took out a large gold rock from his pocket. You could see the lust in the eyes of the cowhands when the gold appeared from his pocket. The preacher compared the gold rock to the gold calf that the Israelites prayed to.  The gold symbolized greed in the minds of man. He stated that we should not seek out material wealth, but we should seek God’s truth of helping each other. Greed and selfishness only lead to suffering. The preacher stated that the difference between God’s gold and the devil’s gold. Hard work and understanding was required to obtain God’s gold (salvation) while the path to the devil’s gold was easy.

But the irony of the story was when the preacher turned out to be greedy himself tempted by financial gains of deceiving the cowhands. This is only a fictitious story, but looking at the real world, greed and selfishness sometimes over powers even the most pious person. It takes much effort, and time to sweep the evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) from our minds. It is with this difficulty that we sometimes need God’s assistance to lead us in the right path of helping others. Watch for God’s guidance.

For those seeking a good ending to the story. The preacher eventually saw the wrong he had committed, and helped the cowhands that he had deceived. This is only a story, but it has a good lesson about suffering that greed and selfishness cause.

Heaven’s Truth Church/Tenrikyo Church

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Become Spirited

Posted on April 27, 2013 by heaventruth

Have you noticed that there are some people who are always happy or spirited? How does one become this type of person? In my case, sometimes a cup of my favorite coffee gets me to a state of euphoria. But sometimes, thinking about the future, or stressful occurrences makes me less spirited.

Could it be that the happy ones are often thinking about helping others instead of thinking of ways to make their lives better?  Why does it seem that the rich people are the unhappiest. From their drug addictions, to their children committing suicide, to their high divorce rates, wealth may not produce happiness.  People like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have donated much of their wealth to charity.  They seem to understand this concept of how one becomes spirited.

In the Tip of the Writing Brush it is stated that God will teach you how to become spirited.

As God is revealed and teaches the truth of all things in detail,

in the world, everyone’s mind will be spirited. 1-7

If all the world comes to help one another,

God will accept all your minds. 13-38

God wants everyone to help each other. But it is sometimes difficult to think about others when one worries about the future. Where can I find a job, how can I pay for my children’s college, will have enough money to pay for my mortgage?  This is where I believe faith is important. If you truly believe that helping others is a priority and are committed to this goal, no matter how ominous your situation may appear you will be spirited and happy. I believe this is the state of mind that the world should have. When this happens, the world will be joyous with everyone helping each

Heaven’s Truth Church/Tenrikyo Church

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The Difference Between Pleasure and Happiness

Posted on April 27, 2013 by heaventruth

A blogger asked his viewers if they agreed with this statement:

If all Christians acted like Christ, the whole world would be Christian. – Mahatma Gandhi.

Another question one can ask is, what prevents people from acting like Christ, or any of the religious figures in the past? In the Tip of the Writing Brush, it is written that evil (greed and arrogance) prevents people from living the joyous life of everyone helping each other.

Pleasure is what many people succumb to. Pleasure by itself is not evil, but it is the selfish pursuit of pleasure that may cause one to suffer. How about that fast food hamburger, or the juicy steak? We know that daily consumption of these foods is bad for our health, causing diabetes, and heart problem. But the pleasure that these foods induce, may cause us to pursue these unhealthy lifestyle of food consumption. Again it is from our selfish desire to please ourselves that causes these health problems.

Going further, many people believe that money, physical possessions, and power brings upon happiness. These are all selfish pursuits of gaining pleasure for oneself. Money, and financial gains are not evil by itself, but the pursuit of these possessions to gain pleasure goes against the natural flow of heaven. We see this avarice in all of society, from the drug trade to corruption in business and government.

Pleasure results from seeking personal gains, while happiness results from helping others.  It is the evils of greed and arrogance that is associated with pleasure that we must eliminate to gain true happiness. It may be these evils in our minds that prevent us from acting like Christ, Buddha, Oyasama and the other prophets that have been sent by God.

If all people eliminated greed and arrogance from their minds, the whole world would be happy with everyone helping each other.

Heaven’s Truth Church/Tenrikyo Church

Posted in Christianity, God, guidance, Heaven's Truth, Hinduism, Islam, Jehoval Witness, prayer, Religion, Scientology, Shinto, Tenrikyo, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Grass in Greener on the Other Side

Posted on April 26, 2013 by heaventruth

The “grass is greener on the other side” is a familiar quote. In religion, many people prepare their lives for an afterlife which is depicted and understood  as a paradise. For some, this concept may give them the impetus to lead a exemplary life style to prove their worthiness to enter this paradise. While others may ignore their present lives, only preparing themselves selfishly for the afterlife.

In our daily lives we often think that another job may bring us happiness. We covet that new car that our neighbor just bought. If my spouse was like the imaginary spouse on a television show, how life would be better. The grass appears to be greener on the other side. But is it really?  The new job, is it better?, The new car becomes old, and you eye another one. Your second marriage becomes like your first. Maybe the grass is not greener.

Maybe it is better to fertilize your present grass. What does this mean? It may not be the fault of others, or the lack of material wealth that is making you unhappy. It may be that evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) thoughts have pervaded your mind. Sweep these thoughts from you mind. Fertilize your mind with good thoughts. When this happens, the grass may become greener on your side.

What ever goals you have (enter heaven, or new job), find joy in what you have now. Cultivate your mind and eliminate the evils (greed and arrogance). When this happens, the grass becomes greener wherever you go.

 

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Our thoughts as a source of suffering

Posted on April 26, 2013 by heaventruth

How powerful are our minds? Fear can cause our bodies to produce energy, preparing the body for fight or flight. Anger and stress causes our hearts to work harder.  Some consider our thoughts as energy. This energy is converted to another form of energy, affecting other parts of our bodies, like the heart and our muscles.

It is this reasoning, that some consider our thoughts as a source of energy. Can evil thoughts be a source of energy that causes suffering to a healthy body? Let us propose that evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) thoughts generated in the mind are converted to negative energy. This negative energy may travel to other parts of the body converting to chemical energy like toxins that affect our healthy tissues. Can disease and illness originate from our minds?

If these negative energies from our thoughts are released from our bodies, can they bring upon natural disasters? Are destruction from hurricanes and earthquakes a result of the negative thoughts produced by the world?  Can negative thoughts bring upon individual sufferings like accidents and tragedies?

Where does God play a part in this scheme of energy transfer from our minds? In the Tip of the Writing Brush it is foretold that God will work to teach the world that our thought have an affect on our future. It is with this plan that the prophets and messengers have been sent to teach the world about the consequences of our negative thoughts.

Tenrikyo Church/Heaven’s Truth Church

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True Joy

Posted on April 25, 2013 by heaventruth

What happened to honesty, and trust? We are becoming a society lacking trust in everyone. Today we presume that one is lying unless absolute proof is given.  We cannot leave our doors unlocked, or our windows open, for fear of being burglarized. We cannot let our children outside without supervision. We have so much security in place, costing millions of dollars. The time devoted to this prevention is enormous.  We lose many of our freedoms to protect ourselves from evil. Imagine what the world would be like if we could spend this money on improving our lives, and how much extra time we would have to enjoy this precious earth.

How do we begin to make a community where we can leave our cars unlocked without it being stolen, where violence is unheard of?  Does it start with our religions? How often have religions expounded on the elimination of greed or arrogance now, instead of teaching about our personal salvation in the afterlife? How often have you heard that true joy only comes from helping others on this earth? The pursuit of happiness for the individual often results in disappointment, and sorrow. It is only when we help others that true joy is attainable.

Let us begin to make this world better by helping others, and let God take care of what happens to us in the afterlife. Remove greed and arrogance from your hearts!

Tenrikyo Church/Heaven’s Truth Church

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How important is trust today?

Posted on April 24, 2013 by heaventruth

What happen to honesty, and trusting people that they are telling the truth. Becoming a society of no trust. Today we presume that someone is lying unless they can prove that they are not. We cannot leave our doors unlocked, or our windows open, for fear of being burglarized. We cannot let our children outside without supervision. We have so much security in place, costing millions of dollars, and  time consumption. We lose many of our freedoms to protect ourselves from evil.

What was once easy becomes time consuming, and costly. For example, today I had some business with one of the government agency. I took time off from work. I arrived one hour and a half early to avoid the long lines that are normal at these facilities. Upon entering the facility, I was body searched. I was prepared by having copies of my birth certificate and other documents that were necessary to obtain what I wanted from this government agency. But to my disdain, these documents were not accepted because they were copies. They wanted the originals!  I am sure that the clerk was following office manual policies. But what happen to trust? A trust that I was telling the truth.

What are the consequences to what  happened? I will spend time finding the originals, or will have to  pay over $300.00  for the government to provide me another original if they are not found. I would have to take time off of work, and return to the already crowded office again. Would it not have been better, if the clerk was able to trust me given the sufficient evidence since they  were clear copies of the original? Won’t their lines become shorter?

What if evil like selfishness and arrogance did not exist? Certainly life would be much more joyous for everyone with everyone supporting and helping each other. With this I question you, is any of our religions  emphasizing the elimination of greed and arrogance in mankind in their sermons? A world without arrogance and greed, is it possible?

Tenrikyo Church/Heaven’s Truth Church

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What is the Purpose of Suffering?

Posted on April 23, 2013 by heaventruth

One of the viewers astutely observed:

“With respect to suffering, people always assume that suffering is bad and therefore question why won’t God intervene.”

I presume that without knowing suffering, one would not know how true joy feels like.  Without failing, one would not know how success feels like.  Without experiencing what others go thru, we cannot empathize with them.  From this perspective, suffering completes our humanity.

Since God created this world, I would presume he could intervene at any time. But is this intervention good for us. Like a parent that tries to protect the child, sometime they hinder the progress of their child by overly protecting them. Possibly there is a purpose for suffering?

Now that we have agreed that God can prevent sufferings if he wanted to, but usually lets suffering occur; but what causes suffering? Does God cause the sufferings, or do people cause the sufferings in the world?

In the Tip of the Writing Brush, it is said that God created mankind to live the joyous life.  If we believe this statement, then we may come to the conclusion that people cause the sufferings in the world by their selfish thoughts and actions.

Tenrikyo Church/Heaven’s Truth Church

 

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Where are God’s Messengers Today?

Posted on April 23, 2013 by heaventruth

Do you wonder why God does not send messengers like Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus today? Why was it that they were sent thousands of years ago, when people were more naïve, and where knowledge about the world was very limited? Where people depended on deities instead of science to explain the unexplainable. Where sacrifices of animals, and even human beings were not uncommon to appease the Gods. Due to the uncertainties of life, more people were receptive to the prophets of God.

But in today’s world, where the sciences can explain most of the occurrences in life, religion often takes a back seat. Unless illness, or disaster occurs, religion is often ignored. Only in developing countries, where people are not educated, and where poverty exists, are people more receptive to religions that promise to enlighten them. This condition may be dangerous. The people may accept teachings that may be evil. If this happens, religion begins to control the individual, and Individual free will is lost. In summary, reception to religion has been based on the need to perceive the unknown.

Some may say that God is not needed in our modern world to explain our existence. Science and knowledge can explain everything. Others would say that their God must be forced upon people at any cost to appease their God from the unknown. And of course there is the middle ground.

But whatever side you are on concerning the existence of God, one cannot deny that there is suffering in this world. What causes this suffering? Did the messengers of God answer this question in the past? Can the new messengers when they appear explain the purpose of this suffering? Does God have anything to do with this suffering, or is it caused by our actions and thoughts?

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