God’s Wrath

In the past, people have commented on the tragedies that occur daily, and wonder why God permits these occurrences. In the Tip of the Writing Brush are the following verses:

Thunder, earthquakes, great winds, and floods,

these are regret and anger of God. 8-58

In this world, landslides, thunder, earthquakes,

And great winds are all from the anger of God. 6-91

I have always questioned the veracity of these verses, because innocent people have suffered from these incidents. But in other sacred books, God’s wrath is noted.

In Genesis, God annihilated a whole planet with 40 days of rain, and flooding, killing all forms of life, except for the Noah, his family, and the animals in the arc. This was due to the evils that pervaded mankind.

In Exodus, God’s wrath is shown to the people of Egypt. Punishment beginning with the flow of blood in the Nile, proliferation of frogs, infestation of gnats, flies, and locusts, boils, hail, darkness, and death of the first born were all manifested to the people of Egypt.

Also in Exodus, God punished the people who Moses helped flee Egypt. When Moses came down from the Mountains, he found that his people idolizing a false God. Three thousand people were killed due to God’s wrath.

But whether one thinks these occurrences are due to God’s wrath will depend on the faith of each individual. Some will believe that God punishes the bad, and rewards the Good. Others believe that God favors a certain group. Some believe that God does not punish, but guides us with setbacks and wants to save all mankind. God’s wrath comes from love. In the Tip of the Writing Brush, it is written:

You human beings must all love your children.

From this, please think of the regret of God. 13-27

Think of humans admonishing your children,

the anger comes from love. 5-23

 

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How do we become happy?

The path to the joyous life is to remove greed, arrogance, and self-love from our minds. It is not only important to remove these evils from our own minds, but from the minds of everyone in the world.  Without the joy of others, our happiness cannot be considered to be true joy. Therefore it is imperative that we share this message of removing greed, arrogance and self-love with others.  But how do we begin this process?

We must first begin to pray to God to help us remove these evils from the minds of the world. We must tell as many people as possible.  They will begin to see the relationship between the purity of the mind, and their happiness. Like a trail that has been traveled much, the path to the joyous life will be easier to follow as more people complete this path of eliminating evil from their minds. Eventually the path will shine like a beacon of light, leading to a joyous world.

When greed, arrogance, and self-love are removed from the minds of all mankind, peace and happiness will reign over the world.

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Be Spirited

Have you ever woken up full of energy, with your mind spirited, and with a feeling that everything is all right with the world; or after a cup of coffee, where the mood changes from complacent to hopeful? Whether it may be the caffeine or chemical makeup of our bodies, we feel spirited. On the opposite pole, we all have been in the depressed mood where the world is not all right. This occurs especially when we are in a negative environment like activities we do not enjoy.

Webster defines spirited as full of energy, animation, or courage. Won’t it be great if we can all be spirited at all times? But how do we become spirited all the time? From the Tip of the Writing Brush are the following verses.

Making the mind spirited day by day,

God will work to make the world be filled with joy. 11-56

God wants mankind to be spirited at all times. God will work to make the minds of the world spirited. But how do we become spirited?  Eliminating the evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) from our minds may make us spirited.  With our prayers, God will help us eliminate these evils. When this happens our minds will be as pure as God’s mind.

When the minds of all the world are spirited,

God and human beings will be of one mind 7-111

As the world becomes spirited, God promises us prosperity.

Gradually as your mind becomes spirited,

in the world there will be prosperity everywhere. 1-9

In summary, become spirited naturally by leaning on God, and removing the evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) from your hearts.

 

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Lessen your anxiety

Have you ever called your children, but they did not answer your call. You continue to call but still no answer. You begin to worry because they always have their cell phone. You wait a while, but still no answer. Your imagination begins to take effect. Maybe they were in a car accident, maybe they slipped taking a shower and are unconscious on the bathroom floor? You begin to call every minute, but still the darn answering machine comes on. You begin to call their acquaintances, to find out if they know anything. Just when you start to head out the door, the phone rings.  Guess who its from. It’s your child calling apologizing for taking a nap and leaving the phone on silent. How your kids could sometime be so careless. Initially worry occupied your mind, then relief, and then anger. But anger is another subject for a future date.

It is this fear of the unknown that triggers so much anxiety and worry. Is it possible to be without worry? In the Tip of the Writing Brush are the following

Whatever may happen, there will be nothing to fear,

depending on your mind of sincerity. 14-49

What is sincerity? Webster defines sincerity as: honesty of mind: freedom from hypocrisy. Can this mean a pure mind?  A mind that is free of greed, arrogance and self-love, like God’s mind.

God promises us any kind of protection when our minds are purified. With the purification, worry and anxiety will disappear from our minds. From my standpoint, I have definitely not reached this stage of maturity. I worry daily!

But even if we have not reached this stage of purity of mind, we can gauge our maturity by the amount of worry and anxiety we develop with every negative incident. How do we lessen our worry when negative events occur? In the Tip of the writing Brush the following:

In whatever matters, if the innermost heart of each of you

is purified, there will be no danger. 18-83

We must purify our innermost heart of greed, arrogance, and self-love.  How do we do this?  This is accomplished by praying to God to sweep these evils from our hearts.

“Evil sweeping, save us please, Universal Saving God”

As our minds become purified from greed, arrogance, and self-love, worries and anxiety will lessen;  and the joyous world will arrive one day sooner.

 

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Mind and Body

We hope that God has control of everything that occurs, including our minds and bodies. Then we would have God to blame when bad things happen. But God may not have control of  both mind and body.

Does God have control of our minds? Does he have control over the mind of the murderer, the rapist, or the minds that only care of themselves?  God has no control over the mind!  From the Tip of the Writing Brush:

There can be no help for what you have done self-centeredly.

I can only look on caringly. 16-32

Does God have control of the body? In the Tip of the writing Brush comes the following verse:

So long as you remain unknowing that the body is

a thing borrowed from God, you can understanding nothing at all 3-137

This verse states that God lends us the body we have now, and it is implied that God has control over the body. Yes we must take care of what is given to us, but the daily function of our bodies is under God’s supervision.  For example, when disease or illness comes upon our bodies, even with medicine and doctors, we have no control of what happens. We cannot stop the aging process.  Yes, even with all the plastic surgeries and reconstructions, our bodies eventually succumb to age; and we will eventually have to return our bodies to God.

How does God help us? Since God has no control over our minds, the logical solution would be to work on our bodies. If we can remember from high school psychology of BF Skinners’ operant conditioning; he used punishment in stopping inappropriate behavior or thought. This is like a relationship between mind and body! Imagine God placing illness and disease on the body as punishment ( guidance) in changing the mind?

I shall make everything in the mind of each of you

clearly manifest on your body. 121-171

God  using operant conditioning to eliminate evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) from our minds?  The following verse is from the Tip of the Writing Brush concerning the relationship of the mind and the body:

When the relationship between the body and the mind  in society is made,

 joyousness will settle of its own accord. 9-5

In summary, when mankind realizes God’s guidance (the relationship between mind and body), he or she will remove these evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) without God’s punishment (guidance). Illness and disorders will not be needed, and will finally disappear. When this occurs, mankind will live a joyous life with everyone helping each other.

 

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Praise God

Lets play devil’s advocate. If heaven is above, why do we all look down when we pray?

Seriously, we bow to show respect to God. Bowing is also a sign to show that someone or entity is more powerful than us. For example, throughout history people have bowed to kings, emperors and rulers. But does God want respect and allegiance from us? Does God want sacrifices offered to him?

From the Tip of the Writing Brush:

To God, everyone is my child whoever you may be.

Though I have been watching over you with nothing but love. 12-88

For all of you children in the world,

there is only love in the thoughts of God. 17-49

Do we, as parents want our children to worship us? Do we think that we are more important? I think we sometimes want their respect, but we only wish happiness for them. I believe it is the same with God. God only wishes our happiness.

To God, each of you, one and all, is a child of mine.

I am filled with love for you.  8-61

What brings happiness to God?  If it is not worshiping God, what is it?  From the Tip of the Writing Brush:

If all the world comes to help one another,

God will accept all your minds. 13-38

In summary, by helping each other, we are praising God!

 

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God’s Punishment or Guidance

I remember when I was young my mother will say I would get bachi if I did any thing bad. Bachi to me was God’s punishment for bad behavior. Any time I hurt myself, my mother would say it was God’s punishment. I went through childhood trying to avoid bachi. To this day, when my conscious raises a red flag, I wait for bachi. I am sure every religion has a special term for God’s displeasure.

But does God punish us for bad behavior? If he did, would we need prisons to house God’s rebels?  Would it be necessary to lock our doors from intruders? Would we need to worry about our children playing outside? The answer is no, God will take care of the “bad guys”.

But won’t it be nice if God did punish us for bad behavior. Suppose every bad action or thought elicited a shock? I am sure that eventually our creative and diabolic minds would create an application to negate or avoid this shock. Is this type of punishment conducive to behavior change? Won’t God be forcing us to change our minds and action? How long will the good behavior last after the shocks disappear? Doesn’t God have more important things to do then continue to press the shock button?  Am I being too silly here?

How about if instead of punishment we use the word guidance. Sounds a little bit more acceptable? But instead of using the shock of electricity, God places disorders or illness on our bodies depending on how we act or use our minds. That headache, soreness of the eye, diarrhea, or other discomforts may be God’s guidance.

What is God telling us with this guidance? Could he be convincing us to remove the evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) from our minds? By removing these evils from our minds, what will be the consequences?  Will suffering in the future be eliminated?  Am I insinuating that evil(greed, arrogance, and self love) in our minds cause future suffering in the world?  Is God showing us our future suffering with these inconveniences? Can we change our fate by changing our behavior?

The bachi I thought was God’s punishment when I was young may have been God’s guidance. It is ironic that we pray to receive illness (guidance) on our bodies. But from these illnesses, we can ponder, remove evil from our minds and have a joyous future.

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Returning to the Origin

Why is knowing the origin important? From a traveling perspective, it gives us a reference to where we are going and returning. From a genealogical standpoint it gives of a history of our beginnings. This may also give us vital information on our medical history concerning genetic diseases, life expectancy, and disease risks.  Knowing the origin can be very important!

In the Tip of the Writing Brush, the following verses are about the origin:

If you clearly know this origin,

you will always be assured, wherever you may go. 10-48

If only I have taught you the origin clearly,

you will understand everything I say. 10-54

What is this origin that God is talking about? It is the origin of mankind. Why does God want us to know the origin of mankind? Let us recount the story of the genesis of mankind that is written in the Tip of the Writing Brush. In the beginning, there was just God and the muddy oceans. God was lonely and wanted to be spirited. So he created mankind from the pure instruments (organisms) in the muddy oceans. God wants us to go back to these conditions (origin) where the minds were pure and innocent, like the mind of God. Some believe this story to be factual; but even if you don’t believe it, one gets the message that God wants you to have a pure mind. This is a mind without greed, arrogance, and self-love. When the minds of all mankind are purified, the joyous world envisioned at the beginning of mankind will be realized.

 In summary, find the origin to begin your path to the joyous life!

 

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The Purpose of Life

If some one were to ask you what is the best part of your religion, would you be able to answer confidently. I remember once a member of our church brought his mother in law to church. She asked me what made my religion different from the others. I managed to stutter out some words, but I felt embarrassed for my lack of knowledge. What makes your religion different from all other religions? Does your religion make sense, or is it too difficult to understand? Are you in the religion because your parents were members? Is attending church like going to school? Do you feel all religions are about the same? Why all these questions? I will try to answer this question, but maybe some more questions before my answer.

What is the purpose of religion? What is the purpose of church? Is it to explain the unknown? The unknown is what happens after we die. Is it to place an idyllic picture of the afterlife? As we get closer to the end of our lives, we tend to think more of our final fate. For many, it is only when we are seriously infirmed, or when we become old that we ponder death. It is not surprising that many of the elderly become religious. Possibly religion exists to explain our after life. If this is the case, does religion relegate and lessen our present life?

I remember in the movie the Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise; the emperor asked Tom Cruise how the last Samurai died in battle. Tom Cruise answered, ” I will tell you how he lived”. Should religion or church teach us how to live on this earth?  Does religion help us find the purpose of life? This elusive question has been pondered since the beginning of mankind.

What was God’s purpose in creating mankind? If we could read God’s mind; but may be the answer lies buried in the sacred books of our religions?  In the Tip of the Writing Brush, it is written:

The reason God began human beings

was the desire to see you lead a joyous life. 14-25

So the next time some one asks me what makes my religion different from other, I can confidently state that we believe that all mankind was created by God to live a joyous life. With this mindset, we can help each other attain this joyous world, or heaven on earth.  The purpose of life is to live a joyous life with everyone helping each other.

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Heaven or heaven on earth revised

Have you ever wondered what heaven is like?  Would it be like your best days everyday? Will there be ups and downs in emotion? Will there be stress and worries? Sometimes without stress or the unknown, life becomes complacent, and mundane. It may become like purgatory. The best days of our lives sometimes occur when we overcome obstacles. Will heaven give us these satisfactions?

How about the people that believes in “heaven on earth”? What will this earth be like? Everyone has his or her vision of the perfect planet. In the Tip of the Writing Brush these verses describe heaven on earth

By this salvation given with the mind of sincerity,

you shall be freed from illness, death, and weakening. 3-99

After that, you may stay as long as you wish,

without illness, death, or weakening. 4-37

Further, after the passage of long years,

there will be no aging at all. 4-38

What do you think this salvation is?

It is to be free from illness, death, and weakening. 17-53

These verses only guarantee freedom from death, illness and suffering; conditions similar to heaven where we do not have to worry about the physical body. Nothing is said about the elimination of stress or obstacles. The perfect world will be a world where every one helps each other from the obstacles that occur in our daily lives.  Heaven on earth is not where everyone has the comforts of life, like big screen TVs, buffets everyday, or unemployment benefits.  It is world, where everyone still is challenged and where every one helps each other to overcome daily obstacles.

Whether one believes in heaven or heaven on earth, the perfect place is not a place where we can gain material possessions, or self-pleasures; but it is a place where we can bring joy to others by helping each other.  It is a world without suffering, death, or illness. Without these worries, we can concentrate on helping each other. This is heaven or heaven on earth.

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