Good morning. I would like to thank all of you for making the time to attend today’s monthly service 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!
THE PATH TO PURIFYING YOUR MIND
We are taught that this teaching is the path to purify our mind.
In the Mikagura-uta it says,
‘When your mind is completely purified, then comes paradise.’ Song 10:4
Also it says, ‘This time, my innermost heart has become completely pure. How grateful I am!’ (Song 4:10)
When we go to the monthly service each month and listen to the teachings of God, we can remind ourselves about the way we should live our lives and become positive about our various situations.
This is where we can be grateful and appreciative of the smallest of blessings.
To meet Oyasama’s expectations, we should always endeavor to cleanse our mind and make efforts to return to Jiba. This is the purpose of going to church and receive boundless blessings.
Then how can we tell if our mind is purified or not?
God taught us that, ‘when our mind is purified, we don’t get mad easily no matter what.’
For instance when you meet a neighbor on a street and say ‘Hi, how are you?’ and if he just ignores you, doesn’t say anything and just passes by; how would you feel? Most of us would feel angry. But God tells us that anger is dust.
In order to sweep away the dust or a negative thought in our mind, we do the service. When we earnestly perform the Service, God, acting as a broom, sweeps away our dust.
In the Ofudesaki it reads’.
If only the dusts are cleanly swept away,
Then I shall work marvelous salvation. Part III: 98
When we devotedly do the service everyday, God tells us that we will be protected from all kinds of disasters and problems and escape from danger.
Our son Lucas just completed the 3-month Spiritual Development Course. He went to the classes by bicycle everyday. One day he collided with a car and his body flew up into the air and fell to the ground. He was unconscious for a while, but he got up and again got on his bicycle and went on to his Shuyoka classes without any injury. Lucas was performing the seated service six times a day and in the evening after the evening service, he practiced the 12 Songs Hand Dance by himself. He was earnest and single-minded in his efforts to practice the teachings.
This is definitely God’s protection received through the repeated and single-hearted performance of the service.
In the Ofudesaki, we read.
Day by day, hasten to begin the Service.
You will escape any danger whatever. X: 19
In our faith, those dusts which we accumulate, we can easily sweep away and polish our minds. This is important. In this way, we can change our bad causation into a good one.
Oyasama taught us how to cleanse and purify our minds in various ways. That is through the Service, Hinokishin, making contributions, nioigake, and tanno. Tanno as you recall is to accept everything joyously knowing and being thankful that whatever happens is due to the grace of God the Parent.
By changing the direction of our thinking, in other words by making a slight adjustment to our behavior, we can change our destiny.
In the monthly service we sing and dance the Mikagura-uta and perform the instruments together and in this way we use God as a broom to sweep and purify our minds and receive blessings.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Announcements
1. This summer we will have a total of 10 persons participating in the various activities of Oyasama’s 120th Anniversary: including the Tenri Forum 2006 from July 15-17 at Jiba, the YMA International Hinokishin Corps and Children’s Pilgrimage.
2. The Shinbashira has allowed us to observe the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama throughout the year and I encourage all of you to participate by returning to Jiba in 2006. The next scheduled Jiba Pilgrimage after the summer will be in October. If anyone wishes to join us on this trip or anytime during the year, please let me know.
3. The annual bazaar will be held on August 27, the last Sunday of the month from 8:30am-3pm. As always we kindly ask for your continued support with scrip sales and hinokishin help.