Tenrikyo Pearl Church

TENRIKYO PEARL CHURCH SERMON ‘ 2005 July

Good morning! I would like to thank you all for your kind support and sincere offerings. I am sure that God the Parent and Oyasama is pleased to see you today to participate in this July Monthly Service 2005.

     They say, if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. How true. Well, if you don’t have your health, basically you’re dead and if you’re sick in bed, you can hardly do anything no matter how much you have, except perhaps your faith. And those of us, who are healthy, don’t think too much about it. We’re so busy; we kind of take it for granted. Then when we become sick, we wonder why. Today’s sermon will explore the root causes of illness and its solutions.

The Root Cause of Illness
Last month we talked about science proving the effectiveness of prayer.      Today let’s talk about the root causes of illness.

     Good health is such a precious commodity. If it could be bought, I would suppose it could command a very high price. Perhaps that’s why health care costs keep rising. They keep coming up with new machines and new medication.

     But when we’re healthy, we hardly think about how precious this health is. We just go about in our daily lives, doing the things that normal people do, working and playing. We tend to lose the sense of gratitude, the sense of amazement about our ‘borrowed’ bodies and then basically take our health for granted. It’s only when we get sick for a long time, that we have a chance to realize, ‘Hey, isn’t it great to be healthy.’

     Everybody, take a deep breath, through your nose. Doesn’t that feel great? Remember, when you have a running nose and it’s stuck with mucus and you have a hard time breathing? Especially when you have this condition for a long time, don’t you wish, you could breathe easy again? Now breathe deep again and say thank you God!
In that sense, I think it’s good to be sick once in a while. It reminds us to be thankful. But how about those who have chronic conditions or terminal illness such as kidney disease, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and so on? They are suffering a great deal.

In the Service we have just completed: in Song 10, Verses 7-10. Let’s read together:

          Seventh,     Suffering comes from your own mind.
                              So you must reproach yourself.

          Eighth,          Though illness is so trying,
                              No one has ever known its origin.

          Ninth,           Until this time all of you equally     
                              Have been ignorant of the origin of illness.

          Finally,          This time, it has been revealed.
                              The origin of illness lies in your own mind.

From this we can say that the root cause of illness comes from our mind. Then if we get rid of our mind then there will be no illness. True, but we would be just like vegetables. So what is it in our mind that causes illness?

     Yes! Mental dust! In the Ofudesaki we read:

There is nothing at all which should be called illness.
It is only because there are paths of the mistaken mind.          III: 95

These paths are miserliness, covetousness,
self-love, greed, and arrogance. They are the dusts.                    III: 96

Whatever pains, sufferings, tumors, fevers,
or looseness of the bowels: all are from dust.                              IV: 110

Indicating no one in the world in particular, I say to you:
dust in the mind causes disorders of the body.                              V: 9

I was searching the internet the other day on the subject of prayer and healing. I found one sponsored by an individual named Bryan Farnum an ‘intuitive scientist’ under the website ‘onlygodheals.com’ who claims to be a prophet delivering messages from God to empower human beings with ‘information and understanding about the spiritual side to our lives in order to bring about health, harmony and peace.’
     At first I was skeptical, but the more I read, the more it seemed to be very similar to Tenrikyo but was saying it in different words. Bryan Farnum claims to be Christian but the message is more like Tenrikyo.

In his 12 step healing prayer for chronic illnesses he mentions: that the prayer will ‘help remove ancestral ‘ill gene memory’ behavior programs which contribute to ancestral blood line diseases, which are passed to future generations through human genes.’ This is similar to Tenrikyo’s how to cut one’s bad causality.
He also instructs: ‘Ask God to remove all anger and ask God to remove all gene memory of you feeling unworthy.’ This is similar to asking God to sweep away your mental dust and to cut one’s negative causality.

In Step One, he also mentions to ‘sincerely believe that God is the ultimate power over all Creation.’ This goes to our teaching of a thing lent, a thing borrowed and that we are kept alive by God’s grace.

Next he says that ‘there is a bigger picture and it’s best to show unconditional respect to all, regardless of their religious beliefs. God carefully matches a religion to one’s spiritual journey, of one’s Soul/inner personality, prior to coming into human existence. God loves all of His creation, regardless of one’s faith; therefore, it is wise for mankind to love all, regardless of one’s faith. This matches Tenrikyo. We are all brothers and sisters, there is no one who is an utter stranger. He says, ‘Anger/ revenge is the leading cause of most cancers worldwide.’ This again, is similar Tenrikyo’s teaching: ‘dust of the mind causes disorders of the body.’

In Step Two, he says, ‘Do not believe for a second that God may not heal you. You must be sincere, you must believe, you must make a real strong effort; you must know that you are worthy.’ In the Mikagura-uta, Song Six

          First,               Human minds are so deeply doubtful.

          Seventh,     However eagerly you may believe,
                              Never entertain wrong thoughts!

          Eighth,          After all you must continue to believe,
                              If you entertain wrong thoughts, you are to start anew!

          Ninth,          Having believed thus far until now,
                              You should be shown your merit.

These verses tell us that we must believe and never entertain wrong thoughts of doubt and skepticism. This sounds so familiar to Bryan Farnum’s ‘Do not believe for a second that God may not heal you. ‘You must be sincere, you must believe.’ The ninth verse will erase any unworthiness you may feel.

In Step Four Mr. Farnum says to ‘acknowledge all pain and suffering we have caused others.’ He says to make a list of events in our life, going back to childhood, where we may have hurt someone through our actions, spoken words and or thoughts: negative incidents surrounding events such as birth, marriage, divorce, abortion, killing animals for sport, death of a family members, adoption, sexual abuse, adultery, leaving home, moving away from parents, etc. When we are able to write down these incidents, this in a way is realizing what our bad causality is.

In Step Five he says that ‘we must show remorse and walk the very narrow pathway to God’s truth. Do not look for excuses. Simply admit you did wrong and move on. Man must learn to settle differences other than through revenge.’

In Step Seven he says to ‘understand why. Why do the good die young sometimes? Why do bad things happen to good people? In most cases, this is settling the bloodline spiritual debts. This is similar to the Ofudesaki verse:

If you let your debts pile up,
a path of oxen and horses will finally appear.                         VIII: 54

This is why it is wise not to hurt anyone, in any way: through ill actions, ill spoken words and ill thoughts. You unknowingly, may have created a spiritual debt, which usually has to be paid in the fourth generation or further ahead in your bloodline; meaning some people come into this world who are already scripted by God to be the instrument to settle a bloodline debt. Not one of us will ‘get away’ with hurting another.

The good news, we can stop the hurt and we can stop the accumulation of the spiritual debt. The real key is not to break any of the commandments of God. We have free will to say no. So if we have a thought that is saying to us, ‘Hurt the person’. By understanding God’s classroom, by understand-ing that we are students in God’s classroom, by understanding if we follow through with hurt towards another. We have created a spiritual debt. Even if you came into the world to balance the bloodline score of one who hurt your ancestors: you still blew it, because you could have said ‘No’, you could have forgiven the person who hurt you.

So those negative thoughts that you get from time to time, is more than likely a spiritual debt, you being the instrument, to carry out the balancing of the bloodlines. Instead, when you get that desire to hurt someone; quickly reverse it, saying to yourself, ‘Father, I will not hurt this person, I will forgive this person and the person’s bloodline for any pain suffering they have caused my bloodlines.’ This is important. Now, when you do this, you are getting double points in your student class records.’

In Tenrikyo, this is how we cut our bad causality from our previous lives.

In Step Twelve, the last step, he says, ‘Make a commitment to help others. When we make a commitment to help others, we are helping to balance out our own ill acts, ill spoken words and our own ill thoughts. Everyday of your remaining life, commit to God, to God’s math equation, that you will think of others first and that you will spend the rest of your life doing good for others.

There are many, that receiving a healing only for the healing to be taken away. Do not go back to your ill ways and do not take your healing for granted. Do not blame anyone for your suffering; not even your ancestors. There is still so much to share to all of you. It must be done on God’s time. May God bless you and heal you. May you feel God’s warmth of love going through your body.

When we receive the Truth of Sazuke to be able to administer the Sazuke to those suffering from illness, we make a promise (a commitment) to help others. And this is the reason why it is so important to make and keep your resolutions. The resolutions are your commitment to help others.

In the Ofudesaki Part VIII: 4
     To Tsukihi, all of you throughout the world are my children,
     My only desire is to save you.

     Any salvation whatever, is all through the Service.
     If only you do just as Tsukihi says.                                             VII: 83

     If only the dust are cleanly swept away,
     then I shall work marvelous salvation.                                        III: 98

Through the service we purify our mind and through the Sazuke we can save others. And by saving others we shall be saved. And I believe, I believe in God’s great working.
Thank you for your kind attention.

Announcements:
1.     I would like to thank those who came to help out at the annual picnic on July 4th. Thank you very much!
2.     We are in the last year before the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama and I would like to ask all of you to participate by returning to Jiba in 2006. We hope to form a pilgrimage group for the children’s summer pilgrimage and hope that many of you can join us. However, you can return anytime during the year and I or Mrs. Nakao will accompany you. We are continuing our Jiba Pilgrimage fundraising by offering yard services, so if you know of anyone who needs yard cleaning, please let us know.
3.     This year’s Hawaii Shuyokai (Spiritual Development Course) will end on Saturday, July 16th. Lewis is presently attending the course.
4.     The 2005 Children’s Pilgrimage will depart from July 19 and return on July 30. I will be going as chairman of the Hawaii Boy’s and Girl’s Association.

TENRIKYO PEARL CHURCH SERMON ‘ 2005 June

Good morning! I would like to thank you all for your kind support and sincere offerings. I am sure that God the Parent and Oyasama is pleased to see you today to participate in this June Monthly Service 2005. Next Sunday is Father’s Day so I would like to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all fathers.


Science is Proving the Effectiveness of Prayer

There is a revolution starting to break out among those in the medical field. In the Michino tomo, a Tenrikyo publication, February 2005 issue, doctor Murakami Kazuo, a scientist and a devout Tenrikyo member wrote: ‘One factor in this revolution is that the effectiveness of western medicine is less than 50% and the influence of eastern medicine such as traditional Chinese medicine such as acupuncture and moxibustion (burning herbs), meditation, music therapy, and faith is increasing. The U.S. government encourages the research and study of alternative medicine and has allocated a budget of $200 million for a three-year study from 2004.’

Until the 20th century, western medicine has made great progress and gave marvelous results in treatment. However, there is an urgent need for Eastern medicine. One of out 25 in-patients died from illness which was unrelated to the illness they came to be treated for. This is because the patients’ mental state affects their physical condition. Their negative stresses such as anxiety and worry weakens their immune system. It is in this flow of events, Dr. Murakami says, that the effectiveness of prayer is studied. The authorities at Harvard and Columbia Universities are competing to embark on the study and research on prayer and initiating contacts with faith-based organizations. This is a new field at the forefront of science and technology.

Those of us who have faith in God and believers of the Tenrikyo faith, I would think should be administering more and more prayers. We should have more religious people in the hospital to give prayers to the patients. However, there is controversy especially from skeptics and critics regarding this form of ‘treatment.’ They say that it just a waste of taxpayers’ money to put into research and simply nonsense. The religious groups say that we shouldn’t doubt and test God’s power. Originally in the east and west in all ages and civilizations, when someone in the family got terribly sick, the whole family got involved by praying for that person’s recovery. However, when progress advanced in medicine people began to forget about prayers. Many doctors do not believe in the effectiveness of prayers. Some think that as long as the patient is comfortable with prayers it is ‘ok’ and it probably aids in and supports their emotional stability. In a sense they think that this is a form of placebo treatment that eases and comforts one’s emotional state.

Placebo is a fake medicine. In other words, it’s like a doctor administering sugar candy as the most effective medicine for a particular condition. Study shows that one out of three persons has a positive effective through placebo treatment. What is happening in their brain when people take the placebo? Because the doctor said that this is an effective medication and because the patient believes the doctor and because the patient has developed a high expectation, the brain produces endorphins which aids in the healing process. This results in reduced pain, activates the immune system and patients feel more relaxed. The patient then feels that the medication works.

It’s amazing how our use of mind affects our bodies. However, this is nothing new. In the olden days they use to say that illness comes from our mind.

In another experiment the patients had no knowledge that they were being prayed for, but still they experienced a positive effect. This is what a recent study by Dr. Randolph Byrd of San Francisco General Hospital showed. Dr. Byrd is a cardiologist. In this study involving 393 patients in the ICU (intensive care unit) with heart conditions, some of them were prayed for by a Christian group and some were not. The results showed that those who were prayed for needed less use of the respirator, dialysis treatment, and less doses of antibiotics. Moreover, these patients did not know that someone was praying for them. So we can say that prayer is not a placebo.

Through his research, Dr. Murakami found the obvious fact of the effectiveness of prayer. However he cannot say why or how the prayer works. We believe in God the Parent, we pray for those people who are suffering from illness and problems and we pray for their recovery. The effectiveness is proven by science.



In the Ofudesaki Part VIII: 4

To Tsukihi, all of you throughout the world are my children,

My only desire is to save you.



Part VII: 83

Any salvation whatever, is all through the Service.

If only you do just as Tsukihi says.



Part III: 98

If only the dust are cleanly swept away,

then I shall work marvelous salvation.



Through the service we purify our mind and through Sazuke, we want people to be cured. And I believe in God’s great working.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Announcements:

1. Everyone please welcome Kentaro Inoue, who will be staying at Pearl Church for about one year to do missionary work.

2. I would like to thank those who participated in the BGA Hinokishin Day on May 28th at Stadium. Thank you very much. The next Hinokishin will be on Saturday, June 26 after the Yohaishiki Service at Dendocho. We plan to clean the Nuuanu Park across from Dendocho.

3. We are in the last year before the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama and I would like to ask all of you to participate by returning to Jiba in 2006. We hope to form a pilgrimage group for the children’s summer pilgrimage and hope that many of you can join us. However, you can return anytime during the year and I or Mrs. Nakao will accompany you. We are continuing our Jiba Pilgrimage fundraising by offering yard services, so if you know of anyone who needs yard cleaning, please let us know.

4. This year’s Hawaii Shuyokai (Spiritual Development Course) will start this Sunday on June 19th, right after Dendocho’s month service and end on Saturday, July 16th. Please encourage anyone who is searching for answers about their life situation or to learn more about Tenrikyo and the way to the Joyous Life, to please attend this course.

5. The 2005 Children’s Pilgrimage will depart from July 19 and return on July 30. I will be going as chairman of the Hawaii Boy’s and Girl’s Association and I encourage you to recommend this very worthwhile activity to friends and family for their children to attend.

TENRIKYO PEARL CHURCH SERMON ‘ 2005 May

Good morning! I would like to thank you all for your kind support and sincere offerings. I am sure that God the Parent and Oyasama is pleased to see you today to participate in this May Monthly Service 2005. Today is Mother’s Day so I would like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers here today and to thank them for bearing and nurturing children.

I would like to thank you all for your support and the opportunity for me and my wife Taeko to be able to attend the activities in Jiba. Which were for her: the Oyasama Birthday Celebration Service, on April 18, the Women’s Association Convention on April 19th, and Tengen’s April Monthly Service, on April 23rd. For me: the Church Headquarters April Monthly Service on April 26th and Tengen 80th Anniversary as a church and 130th Anniversary as a Fraternity Service on May 1st. I was also able to attend the Tenri Forum Steering Committee meeting on May 2nd for which I will explain later.
My father who went on April 21, on business for Dendocho will be returning on Tuesday.

     The big event, of course was Tengen’s 80th Anniversary as a church and 130th Anniversary since it was established as a fraternity in 1875. The highlight was having the honor of attending the event in the presence of the Shinbashira, his wife Harue and the former Shinbashira. It was a surprise to me since he just came three years ago to attend the present Tengen Kaicho’s installation service. In addition he came to Hawaii for Dendocho’s 50th Anniversary Service for which I served as his driver. After service, I was able to thank him for allowing me to drive for him and he thanked me in return. One of the things that made the event meaningful for me was that seven people from Pearl Church was able to attend this event, including my father, my son Moses, my brother Elmer, his son Alex, Mr. Deguchi and also Mr. Arakawa, who started attending the Besseki lectures through meeting Mr. Deguchi at Ikoi no ie hospital in Jiba.

     Some of you may know Mr. Deguchi. He is really a member of Tengen Bunkyokai, but he considers himself to be a Pearl Church member because of the kindness extended to him on a visit to Hawaii many years ago. He cannot forget that kindness.

Mr. Arakawa has tongue cancer and had to have half of his tongue removed through surgery so his speech is impaired somewhat. He is still undergoing treatment at Ikoi no ie hospital everyday for the past week or so. During my stay at Tengen, I was able to administer the Sazuke to him several times and conveyed the teachings to him. On one such occasion, I mentioned to him that Tenrikyo is not just a teaching to understand with your brain, but to understand with your heart by practicing it. It is a religion of putting the teachings into practice. He said he understands that completely and that that is what attracted him to the church. He went on to explain that there was an eighty-year-old Tenrikyo woman in his neighborhood who always cleaned the streets and sidewalk. He said that she led a very simple life. He once told her that since she is old, she doesn’t have to do this cleaning. But she kept on cleaning. When she passed away, he went to her funeral and noticed that the funeral was very simple. Normally in Japan, the funerals are very elaborate costing tens of thousands of dollars, some lasting over several days. But this woman’s funeral was very simple he said. So he was very impressed with her and that attract him to Tenrikyo and during his stay at Ikoi no Ie Hospital in Tenri he was able to meet Mr. Deguchi and expressed an interest in joining the church. Mr. Deguchi suggested that he start attending the Besseki Lectures and so he started attending from about two months ago. Of course if you live in Japan, you can go to the Besseki Lecture just once a month for nine months. If you’re from abroad like us, you can attend twice a day and receive the Truth of Sazuke within a week or so.

     From this story, we can see that people may not necessarily be attracted to the words of the teachings, but rather on how we practice it in our daily lives. The old Tenrikyo lady who lived in Mr. Arakawa’s neighborhood led a simple life, without doing or buying anything extravagant. She just cleaned the streets and sidewalk, practicing the teaching of Hinokishin, giving thanks to God for our borrowed bodies. Without knowing it she was doing nioigake and led someone to the teachings and to Jiba.

Thank you for your kind attention.


Announcements:

1.     I would like to thank those who participated in the All Tenrikyo Hinokishin Day on April 30th at Honolulu Zoo. It was estimated that about 150 people helped to clean the zoo. Thank you very much.
2.     We are in the last year before the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama and I would like to ask all of you to participate by returning to Jiba in 2006. We hope to form a pilgrimage group for the children’s summer pilgrimage and hope that many of you can join us. However, you can return anytime during the year and I or Mrs. Nakao will accompany you. We are continuing our Jiba Pilgrimage fundraising by offering yard services, so if you know of anyone who needs yard cleaning, please let us know.
3.     This year’s Hawaii Shuyokai (Spiritual Development Course) will start next month on June 19th through July 16th. Please encourage anyone who is searching for answers about their life situation or to learn more about Tenrikyo to please attend this course. Masumi audited the course last year and she can tell you how she benefited. We are also hoping that both or at least one of our twin sons will be attending this year.
4.     The 2005 Children’s Pilgrimage will depart from July 19 and return on July 30. I will be going as chairman of the Hawaii Boy’s and Girl’s Association and I encourage you to recommend this very worthwhile activity to friends and family for their children to attend.