The Mind that Doubts and the Mind that Believes!
Date of Sermon: August 2009Good morning! I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to attend the August Monthly Service here at Tenrikyo Pearl Church and thank you for your kind and sincere offerings. I am sure God the Parent and Oyasama is really happy to see you all here today and to have performed the service with joy and in high spirits!
THE MIND THAT DOUBTS AND THE MIND THAT BELIEVES!
Just last month I had the privilege of giving the sermon at our upper church, Tengen Bunkyokai. I was told it was a good sermon, may be out of courtesy, but I decided to give it again to our congregation so you will know what I said.
Do you all believe in God? Do you really believe in God? Of course you do! Otherwise you wouldn’t be here! But if you really believe in God, then you don’t have any worries and you don’t have any doubts, right? If you worry, then you have doubts. Well we’re all human, so I’m sure we all have some worries and some doubts.
So with this thought I would like to talk on “The Mind That Doubts and The Mind That Believes”:
It just so happens that the mind that doubts and the mind that believes is mentioned in the Mikagura-uta Song Six.
As a church minister and Tenrikyo follower, I perform the service everyday; I dance the 12 Songs everyday. But I until recently I didn’t really understand it. We sing it in Japanese, so more so, I can’t really feel the meaning. Well, there is the Mikagura-uta book in English, so I can understand the words, but still I didn’t really know the meaning. Well, I have been doing some studying so I’m learning more and more.
About five years ago, I served as the English instructor at the three-month Spiritual Development Course in Jiba. We had about 20 students in the English class. But for the men’s musical instruments class we were combined with all the other classes. In this big hall, called Go Kodo, which means 5th Wing Hall, we practice with other Spiritual Development Course students totaling about 400. The chief instructor was emphasizing that we should play together with a mind of unity. However, I noticed that some of the students were not listening. They just playing around and talking. I thought that this is not good. The students didn’t seem to know how important the service is.
Then at that moment the chief instructor asked if the other instructors have anything to say to the students. I raised my hand and he called my name. I went up on the stage and took the microphone and began to speak in English first to my English class. In front of a big audience, I was a little nervous, but all of a sudden everyone became very quiet. I became even more nervous. I guess they were surprised to hear an instructor speaking in English and perhaps wondered who would understand what I was saying. After that I spoke in Japanese. Still everyone listened very intently. Perhaps, they wanted to know what I had said in English. This is what I said:
“This service is really important. It is really, really important. Even us as instructors, we don’t know how important it is. But we know it’s really important. Why is it important? Well, first of all, God the Parent taught us this service. It is through this service that we are saved. One’s destiny can be changed.” They happened to be practicing Song Six of the Mikagura-uta. I continued:
“Everyone, please look at this Song Six:
‘First, Human minds are so deeply doubtful.’
All of us, even us instructors have doubts, but it is through this service that we are saved. Read the fourth verse:
‘Fourth, I am pleased that you have followed to join the Service
This Service is the fundamental way for salvation.’
This fourth verse, it says that God wants us to do the service and that the service is the basic way to be saved. God the Parent is happy when we do the Service; God wants us to do the Service. The basic way to salvation means that when we do the Service, we are laying the foundation of our faith. For example: to become an excellent baseball player we master the basic skills of throwing and catching the baseball, over and over, again. In the same way, to establish a firm foundation of faith, we must perform the Service repeatedly.
Now, let’s read eighth verse:
Eighth, After all you must continue to believe.
If you entertain wrong thoughts, you are to start anew.’
What do you think this phrase, ‘wrong thoughts’ mean? One meaning is those thoughts which are opposite to God’s teachings or perhaps the mind of the eight mental dusts. There’s one more meaning which I thought was more appropriate because, its mention at the start of this song. It’s the doubtful mind. If you remember the chief instructor said to play together with a mind of unity. But I saw some among you that was a little lacking in the mind of unity. I believe this is part of that doubting mind, the mind that does not firmly believes in God. If you really believed in God then you would be practicing diligently with a mind of unity.
Then it says, ‘If you entertain wrong thoughts, you are to start anew.’” In Japanese the word “denaoshi” is used for “start anew.”
“Denaoshi” in Tenrikyo usually means “departure for rebirth.” I asked the Shuyoka students, “What do you think the meaning of ‘denaoshi’ is, in this instance. (Pause), There are two meanings: one is to change your way of thinking and the other is to depart for rebirth. If you take both meanings, it would probably mean, that if you don’t change your thinking, then you will have to depart for rebirth.” (Pause) I then told the students, “I think perhaps now you have an idea how important the service is. Let’s practice the instruments with our minds in unity!
I may have scared the students, a little bit, because they all sat up straight and really practiced hard.
Let’s read the last verse:
Finally, This time, it has appeared.
The invocation of the fan,
How marvelous it is!
Before Oyasama withdrew from physical existence, She granted the Sazuke of the Fan to certain devout followers. Through the Sazuke of the Fan, the follower asked God a question and the answer was given through the movement of the fan: “yes” or “no”. But due to abuse, the Sazuke of the Fan was discontinued. Since we no longer have the Sazuke of the Fan, I take this verse to mean the Sazuke of Hand Dance which is the Sazuke we have now for healing. I mentioned this story before, but please allow me to share it again in this sermon.
On one of my Otasuke rounds, I went to a Mrs. A’s apartment to give thanks for her bringing nine people to the All Tenrikyo Hinokishin Day on May 2, a couple months ago. I brought some offered rice with me. I knocked on the door and a young woman answered the door. I asked if Mrs. A was in and the young spoke to someone by the door who I couldn’t see and then she told me that Mrs. A was busy. I could hear a baby crying. I said, “Okay, please tell Mrs. A thank you for coming out and helping at the Zoo the other day and please give this rice to her. Again she talked to someone near the door who I couldn’t see. I could still hear a baby crying. Then she said, “Can you pray for my baby? She’s been crying for a long time.”
I said, “Sure, of course!” When I entered the apartment, I saw that it was Mrs. A by the door. She was carrying the crying baby and trying to calm the baby down. I said, “Please turn off the TV and let’s all pray together. The baby was just two months old. Prior to administering the Sazuke, I settled my mind by forsaking all doubt and human thinking and totally relied on God the Parent. Then I began the Sazuke. Then in the middle of the second time saying Namu tasuke tamae Tenri-O no Mikoto, the baby suddenly stopped crying and started to sleep. After I completed the Sazuke, Mrs. A and the baby’s mother was so surprised. They were so surprised that they didn’t know what to say. They didn’t say anything, so I told the baby’s mother that everything is due to God’s blessing… don’t take anything for granted. Always pray to God and say thank you to God. They just nodded their heads meaning to say “yes.”
This was my first experience of receiving an instant blessing and I felt God’s power and benevolence with deep emotion.
Ofudesaki, we read:
If only the Service is done without error,
the Gift of Heaven, also, will be given without fail. X: 34
Daily, in the morning and evening services and then monthly services we pay our respects to God the Parent and gives thanks for being kept alive. Through the Truth of this Service that many people receive boundless blessings from God to be saved. It is not only that we ourselves are saved, but through having a mind of saving others, this mind of faith, that we can perform the services and have our family, parents, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors also be saved.
Let’s all continue to attend and participate in the monthly services without fail and together build the mind of believing.
Announcements
- I would like to thank all of you who participated and volunteered in the recent Children’s Pilgrimage to Jiba and the YMA International Hinokishin Corps. A total of nine people (Pastor, 2Elmer, 3Grace, 4Marika, 5Lewis, 6Stacey, 7Nicole, 8Noriko, 9Lewis Korean friend) in this year’s pilgrimage, including 3 of Lewis’ college friends who visited briefly.
- This month is the bazaar month and again we ask for everyone’s support in the scrips and chicken ticket sales and hinokishin help. The bazaar will be on the 5th Sunday, August 30th, 8:30 – 2:30 at Tenri Cultural Center. Please take extra copies of the bazaar flyer for friends and relatives.
- Also, we will be participating in the all Tenrikyo Nioigake Day on Labor Day, Monday September 7th at Stadium Park. People will be given a choice of doing park cleaning or door to door nioigake. We all meet at Stadium Park at 9am.
- Please welcome, new faces: Sandy Shinsato
