The Ideal and Reality

Tenrikyo Pearl Church Monthly Service ‘ 2007 November Monthly Service

Good morning. I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to attend the November 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!     

     Due to our recent fumigation and roof repair a dedication service was conducted yesterday in the presence of our upper church, Tengen Bunkyokai head minister, who will be giving today’s sermon. Please welcome Rev. Motohiro Nakao.

THE IDEAL AND REALITY
Tenrikyo teaches how we can live a happy and joyous life. This is the final teaching to live the joyous life. No matter how much we want to live a happy life and even though the omnipotent God wants us to live a joyous life, in reality happiness is not always there. This is because our minds are not in accord with God’s intention.

     What is happiness? Everyone wants to pursue a happy life. Most of us think that money and good health are the basic things to live a happy life. However, we cannot live alone by our self. No matter how healthy you are there is no joy if you live by yourself. Even if you are wealthy and full of material things and live in large mansion, you cannot enjoy your life if you live by yourself. There is only loneliness.

     Through keeping company with others and interacting with people, the money becomes alive; meaning that our lives become enriched by giving and sharing with others. The interaction between parent and child, husband and wife, coworkers and bosses, make our life fulfilling.

Encounters
     What is the key word for a happy life? Who we meet in life makes a big difference. In our life, there are things we can choose and things we cannot. When we think about it, the thing we cannot choose plays a big part in determining our destiny. The things we cannot choose are our biological parents and our brothers and sisters. In school: our class homeroom teacher, our friends and at work: our coworkers and our boss. Furthermore we cannot choose our neighbors.

     There are turning points in our life. For instance when our child starts preschool, we can choose which preschool; however, we cannot choose the teacher. The teacher can make a big difference in the child’s development. Some teachers can greatly influence the students’ and their future and some teachers may cause students to refuse to go to school.

     In some circumstances, we cannot control who we will meet. Also when we become adults our relationship with our boss and coworkers or customers, we meet makes a big difference regarding success. Also the neighbors we encounter may determine our happy life.

     Meeting good people makes a big difference and influences your life.

     Kunisazuchi-no-Mikoto is the third of ten divine providences. In the human body it is the providence of the female organ, of skin and joining and in the world the providence of joining in general. The working of Kunisazuchi-no-Mikoto is joining or connecting with good life, encounters, fate or destiny. As well as money and materialistic things; which deals with our life. These are all related to Kunisazuchi-no-Mikoto.

     I would like to talk about how we can receive the blessing of joining. The first of the ten divine providences is Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto and the second is Omotari-no-Mikoto. If we can practice these two workings of God, then we can receive the blessing of joining.

Kunitokotachi and Omotari
The working of the first providence Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto is the role model of the father. Which are: consistency, strictness and reason. This is the use of mind of water which is humble, obedient and purified mind; to practice joyous acceptance which is "tanno."

     The working of Omotari-no-Mikoto is the 2nd providence. It is being warmhearted. This is the role model of mother, who is always generous and gives love to others.

     Hinokishin is also the attitude of giving and doing one’s best and without expecting a reward.
In order to have a good joint and receive a blessing of joining, always try to keep our mind in a mode of joyous acceptance and hinokishin spirit.

     Idea, practice and reward.

     When I talk about truth of Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto for a business; there is a guiding principle or mission statement for the company. Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto refers to this guiding principle. The guiding principle provides for consistency, strictness, and reason or purpose.

     Omotari-no-Mikoto, which is the second providence, is warm-heartedness and working hard without expecting any reward. With these two providences of God, we will receive the blessing of the third providence, Kunisazuchi-no-Mikoto, which give us good encounters and be able to have a good business, a good job, good income and good profits.

     The mission statement is based on how we can gain customer satisfaction. This is the basic idea of the company. Based on this principle, we work hard and do our best to make people happy. The result should be good without fail and at the same time there will be a big reward. This is Tenri. (Divine Principle or Nature of Heaven).

     I don’t know about Hawaii but in Japan, there is a tendency among companies to think only about profits. Without addressing the first two providences and not working hard, naturally the business will go down. This is also Tenri (Divine Principle). The sad and deplorable thing is that they deceive the public in order to increase profit. In spite of the 2nd divine providence they try to earn money without working hard. As a result, almost everyday we see or hear TV news reports in which managers of those companies apologize to the public for their wrong doing.
Instead of giving satisfaction to the consumer, they are giving deception and in the end they cannot sustain their business.

     On the other hand some of the top ranking companies are successful because they practice business management and work hard according to their guiding principles or mission statement. However, we see and hear some of the big companies experiencing problems. This is because they forget their basic fundamental principles.

     Those companies which have been prosperous for many generations are always humble minded and practice the idea of their guiding principles or mission statement. This gives good customer satisfaction and they always appreciate the efforts of others.

     Number one providence is the father’s role which provides structure for the family in a strict way. Number two is tenderness and warm-heartedness which is the mother’s role. When number one and two are perfect then this leads to number three, which provides a "good connection." The family experiencing good relationships, between husband and wife, parent and child and brothers and sisters will be in harmony.

     When we accept everything with appreciation and dedicate our hard work with a sincere mind, this is Hinokishin. When we practice the providence of #1 and #2 which will to lead to #3 and we can receive a good joining or a connection to the people. We will encounter good people who lift up our life. This is good fate which will lead to the fourth providence of God.

#4 is Tsukiyomi no Mikoto. In the human body the providence of the male organ, of bones and support; in the world the providence of support in general.

     When you receive this working of God, your social status will rise and you will be promoted at work. Your home will be built and you will become prosperous. This is Tenri: the Divine Truth or Nature’s Law.

The Two types of Virtue
There are two types of virtue. One is the virtue one has at birth which is a genetic talent or gifted ability and the other is the virtue accumulated in this life. For example those with athletic talent and academic ability are those born with this virtue at birth.

     On the other hand, there are some people who have so much ability and talent that they look down on other people. In this case they are just reducing their virtue.

     The other virtue is people who have integrity and have a natural goodness in their heart. These people with a big heart not necessarily means that this person has outstanding ability or talent, but they have some kind of power to attract or fascinate others. For instance when this person wants to do something which he cannot do it by himself, he finds someone who will help him. Because this person possesses a mind with a big vessel, other people want to help him because they are somehow attracted to him.

     When we think about these two virtues, the first one is more like one’s ability and tends to depend on their own strength and talent. These abilities are given at birth, but there is a limit to what they can do. The other side of virtue there are those who accumulate it little by little and there is no limit. As you accumulate it, it becomes big and you can accumulate as much as you can. It is unlimited depending your mind. The more you accumulate the better and you can meet with good people. So let us accumulate virtue.


Announcements:
1.     Three people including myself returned to Jiba for the October Grand Service and to receive divine sanction to fumigate the church. The fumigation was completed on October 31 and the roof repair was completed on November 7. I would like to thank all of you who came to do hinokishin. Thank you very much. Also, I would like to thank all of you for participating in today’s service and special thanks to those who participated in yesterday’s dedication service and those who came for the symbols of worship reinstallation service on Friday night. Three days of services was probably exhausting for you as it was for me.

2.     Also, please welcome back our man in Japan, the famous Mr. Tadaaki Deguchi who came especially for the three services we held these past three days!

3.     Last month was UNICEF month and although we haven’t received all the collection boxes, I would like to thank all of you for participating and for your contributions to this worthy cause.

4.     On Saturday November 4th, 10 kids and 3 adults participated in the Annual Palolo Cleanup Day by painting over graffiti.

5.     This Saturday, November 17, is the YWC Convention from 9:30am at Mission HQ. We also have yard work at Tenri Cultural Center from Pearl Church for those not attending the YWC Convention. Meet at Pearl Church at 8:45am.

6.     This Sunday is Mission HQ monthly service from 9am and the following Monday is Nioigake Day from 9am.

7.     On Tuesday, (the 1st Tuesday), December 4th, we have the monthly Mission HQ Community Hinokishin Day. Meet at Dendocho at 9am.
8.     Dec. 8 Saturday is Pearl Church general cleaning day. Please come by 9am or 1pm. We have hinokishin all day. If this is too much to remember, refer to the orange End of Year Schedule available in the clear file near the entrance.

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