by Yoshinori Onishi

INTRODUCTION

It is an honor to be here to deliver the Joyous Life Lecture.

Tenrikyo was begun by Miki Nakayama, a woman whom the followers call Oyasama, or "our beloved Parent." Oyasama taught that the basic purpose of human existence is to live the Joyous Life, and that the path to the Joyous Life is a journey of understanding the mind, the body, and our lives—it is a journey of inquiring into the true nature of human experience, which , according to Her, unfolds in the very bosom of God. Oyasama originally taught this path in19th-century Japan, but it is not a Japanese path; it is a path by which anyone can develop the joyous perception of all things which is at the heart of this spiritual practice.

Many of us share the common belief that happiness is gained through the satisfaction of individual desires. Oyasama offers Her teachings in response to the complaints of our human mind either because the realization of our individual desires is blocked or, worse still, because we cannot find happiness even in the fulfillment of our desires. Oyasama's teachings are intended to guide us towards true satisfaction and joy by helping us free our minds from misunderstanding, conditioning, and separateness which are the source of human problems, whether global or personal. Once freed and unbound, our minds can allow a life of joy and harmony to be lived, for all of us have the innate capacity to lead the Joyous Life—the purpose for which humankind was created.

Oyasama traces our misunderstanding, conditioning, and separateness to our attachment to a certain identity of ourselves—or our attachment to our self-image, so to speak. Both the attachment and the self-image have a lotto do with our mind and, consequently, Oyasama's teachings encourage us to look at the role that the mind plays in our life.

ATTACHMENT

Permit me to begin by examining whether or not we see things and hear things as accurately as we normally assume we do. We sometimes imagine that our eyes do our seeing for us, but it doesn't really work like that. The eye is only an instrument through which our mind sees. That is why we can all look at the same object or situation and perceive it quite differently. In fact, the world we perceive differs from one person to another. The same can be said about our ears. We can all listen to the same talk and, depending on the content of our minds, hear quite different things. The world depends on our mind alone. No matter what we see or hear or what situation or problem we encounter—the world we perceive is analyzed and interpreted through the mind.

Since everything we see and hear is processed through the mind, our evaluations of what we perceive and our conclusions about it depend entirely on the mind. We normally accept these products of our mind as being right, but is this really wise?

We can comprehend only as much as our mind can comprehend. If our minds are very limited, so will be our understanding of the world. If our minds are not limited, neither will be our perception of the world nor our understanding of it. Thus, Oyasama says," The state of our mind becomes the state of our world. "So, if my self-image has become distorted and twisted, or wounded and torn with despair, that will be the mind through which I see and hear the world.

In Oyasama's teachings, what limits the mind is metaphorically spoken of as "dust," which works just like the dust on the lens through which we see an object. The dust on the lens distorts the image we get and reduces the accuracy of our perception, thus preventing us from seeing things as they are.

Therefore, the path Oyasama taught lays emphasis on actually working with the mind rather than on outward, tangible forms. This path involves sweeping away the dust of the mind. We are taught: "If only the mind is purified completely, there will be nothing but delight in everything." (Ofudesaki XIV:50) Once we have understood this teaching—not just theoretically or intellectually, but really understood it—then, depending solely on the shape of our mind, any activity can be done in a way that is conducive to the realization of the Joyous Life.

But let's take a closer look at the teaching "The state of our mind becomes the state of our world." Let's say, for example, that something someone said has upset me, and I've become angry. I might take it out on others. If I am angry at many people, I shall be creating a climate of anger and hate. People may start getting angry at me in return. But, on the other hand, if I cultivate and nurture loving care within me, it will return to me as well.

This is part of what we call "causality." Causality, incidentally, is not about something esoteric like our past lives in Japan, which might be rather difficult to verify anyway. Causality here refers to the simple law of cause and effect. Part of what this means is that what we do and how we act now create our future experiences. For instance, if we want to be fluent in French, we have to sow the causal seeds by studying that language in such a way as to make that happen. In more general terms, how we act, how we relate to ourselves, to the people around us, and to our work, creates the kind of world we live in. It creates our joyous life or suffering. Therefore, within this law of cause and effect, there are possibilities to change the direction of our lives. We can shape our destiny ourselves.

Since all our experience is processed through our mind, we can actually transform the climate in which we live by working with the mind. We can see this for ourselves. For instance, we can practice being more loving, more open, more accepting, or whatever we want. If we practice forgiveness, we begin to see more and more forgiveness from people around us. And if we completely sweep away the dust that limits the mind, we can even savor total freedom, according to Oyasama.

Life is full of ups and downs. To use the metaphor of weather, there are rainy days and sunny days, windy days and cloudy days. But, as we are taught, on any kind of day, we can maintain the "mind like clear skies." Just because something irritating has happened, we don't have to react to it by becoming angry. We are taught that we have the "freedom of the mind." Circumstances do not have to determine the state of our mind. Unpleasant situations do not have to give rise to harmful states of mind within us.

But many of us often fail to exercise the freedom of the mind. Sometimes we are less than free. All too often, in fact, our mind only seems to mechanically follow its conditioned, automatic, reaction patterns. Our mind seems to have lost some of its freedom and become limited. This is because our mind has been subjected to intense conditioning over the years, practically being the composite of our individual experience, environment, memories, pleasures, and sufferings.

Now, if we want to disentangle ourselves and become free, we need to train our attention. We need to notice how we get caught up in things that happen in our lives. This means paying attention to what our body and mind are doing as we proceed through each day. There is a teaching that says, "One day, a lifetime," which encourages us to live each day fully as though this day were our entire lifetime. It is possible to learn to live fully in the moment, rather than being lost in the dreams, memories, plans, and commentaries of the discursive mind. There is a big difference between taking a walk at the beach and really being there and taking a walk and spending the whole time wondering which wine is good for today's dinner. We can become more proficient at paying attention to our mind states, moment to moment.

Providing that we pay close attention, we can choose skillfully how to respond to situations, instead of reacting to them on automatic pilot, as it were. This is possible because of the freedom of mind that God gave us. This freedom, if skillfully used, allows us to be in any situation without automatically judging it to be disagreeable, unpleasant, or whatever. When something happens, we can choose whether to allow the mind to get agitated and caught up in it, or to respond to it in a more wise and sensible manner.

With close attention, we can see whether a particular response we are about to make is motivated by the sincere desire to understand, to love, to help or by the desire to defend our little ego, the refusal to see another's point of view, or a lack of patience and loving care. In the Songs for the Service, Oyasama says to forget your cruel thoughts and uncover your loving heart.

Please pay special attention to potentially harmful states of mind—these are the dust of the mind that Oyasama is talking about. You may wonder what mind states are harmful. Well, you can investigate whether a particular mind state is harmful or not by activating it and experiencing its consequences in your own lives, perhaps, in your relationships. But for those of us who want to take a short cut, Oyasama has provided a list of harmful states of mind, which She says we would do well to watch for, and these include hatred, grudge-bearing, anger, greed, and arrogance.

Now, if anger (or any other dust of mind) arises within us, are we in big trouble? Well, we don't have to think such a thought. If anger arises in the mind, we can still choose not to get caught up in that emotion, and it'll go away after a while. Providing that we pay attention, we can use the freedom of the mind to prevent ourselves from getting caught up in whatever emotion or feeling has arisen. There is a difference between being lost in an emotion and being mindful and aware of an emotion. If we are not skillful and get lost in anger, we might act on it and do something we might regret later. On the other hand, if we are more conscious or aware of our mind state, we can handle it more sensibly. The skill required here is simply remembering to pay attention and exercise our freedom of the mind so that we can calm the mind, thereby making it more open and spacious.

Oyasama once taught: "How vast is the open space between earth and heaven. Yet how narrow it becomes when covered by clouds. The mind of a human being is also vast but becomes ever so narrow when covered by clouds." We can restore the spaciousness of our mind. And the mores spacious the mind becomes, the more we are able to let go, whatever emotions and feelings may have arisen. The mind can indeed be like the skies, where clouds come and go. Emotions and mind states arise, but they disappear after a while unless we cling to them. Let us take full advantage of the freedom of the mind to maintain the mind like clear skies.

One simple way of reminding ourselves to exercise this freedom of the mind may be to ask ourselves such simple questions as "Am I getting caught up in my ideas, my emotions, etc.?" and "Can't I see another person's point of view? Am I getting lost in my own?"

THE SELF IMAGE

As we fine-tune our attention and become proficient at exercising our freedom of the mind, we come to see more and more clearly that all potentially harmful states of the mind have one thing in common—namely, self-centeredness. If we want to be free from harmful mind states, therefore, it is beneficial to ask ourselves where our self-centeredness comes from. And one way to do that may be to inquire deeply into the nature of the mind-body process which we normally call "I."

Apparently, what we are is a changing process. All the cells of our bodies are continually getting renewed. All we experience is in a process of continual change, but our concepts about our experience are static.

Normally, the contents of our mind lead us to feel and conceive ourselves as separate organisms, giving us the sensation that "I myself" is an isolated center of feeling, thinking, and action—a center which is located in and bounded by the physical body and is separate from God and from the rest of the universe. Such is our normal sensation of individual existence and identity. But this idea that we are lonely beings temporarily visiting the universe runs counter to everything that is known in science concerning humankind. The subatomic particles that make up the universe are the same particles that have been in existence since the beginning of time. Over an unimaginably long period of time, those particles have combined and become functional instruments of creation. Some of those functional instruments are the instruments that makeup our human existence. It is not as if we had come to the universe from somewhere else; rather, we grew out of it in the same way that blossoms come out of a tree. Every person is an action of the universe, a unique expression of nature.

From this viewpoint, the sensation of ourselves as isolated egos inside bags of skin is an illusion or an imagination. And this is what is referred to as "the self-centered imagination" in Oyasama's teachings. The self-centered imagination, typically, manifests itself as that little voice in our heads when we say something to ourselves in mind.

At any rate, the way Oyasama explained the mind-body process, the human body is not our own possession but belongs to God. It is a thing borrowed from God, a thing lent by God. In fact Oyasama says that the entire universe is the body of God, and that we exist by borrowing the human body, which is part of God's body.

Despite all appearances to the contrary, then, there is only one Being in the universe, and we are all part of It. But why do we exist? Well, Oyasama says that originally there was this single, formless, and immortal Being(whom we often call God). But finding that condition to be tasteless, the Original One fashioned out of Itself instruments through which It can experience Itself as a wonderful variety of things and beings. The intention in creating this appearance of variety and change is so that the creation may be experienced as something like a "joyous play" or the Joyous Life.

We are, therefore, expressions of God or unique actions of God. God's life and consciousness are flowing through us. And as such, we are participating in the joyous creation, the joyous play. In other words, we human beings are here to lead the Joyous Life. The only thing is that our true identity as God's actions is, normally, not all that obvious because we have acquired our own identities as particular human individuals in somewhat the same way that actors and actresses become those characters that they are pretending to be. Our identity as a particular individual is something we need in order to live in the world, to perform the "joyous play," but the catch is that we can get lost in that identity. As long as we are having fun, that is fine. But if acting and living based on the self-limiting identity becomes a nightmare, the best thing to do is to take a break from that self-centered imagination—from the thought that "I am this isolated ego inside the bag of skin and separate from God."

Please imagine that we are watching a scary film on TV. At first it is fun, which is what a film is meant to be. But if it becomes so scary that we can't stand it any more, we can just turn off the TV set. Then it becomes apparent to us that we were simply staring at a box, and we don't feel scared any more because we have stopped imagining things. Our life can be like that, too. Sometimes it seems like a nightmare. If we can't stand it any more, one good way to get out of that may be to turn off the self-centered imagination and stop imagining that we are separate from God. Then we can see our original and eternal unity with God.

Mind you, we don't need to shut down the self-centered imagination forever. It is only necessary for the image of oneself as an isolated ego to be turned off long enough to make the distinction between the self image and what remains when it is quiet. Having made that distinction, one is then free to revive the imagination as a tool of joy rather than as one's only identity.

The following passage illustrates how we always live in the embrace of God:

Let us say, for example, that we have boarded an airplane and are about to take off. It is a rainy day and the skies are heavily overcast. . . . By all appearances the day is just about as gloomy as it could possibly be. Yet, once the plane soars up and bursts through the layer of clouds, there is the Sun, shining as radiantly as ever, as it had been all along, and in that instant we become aware of a world that is perpetually illuminated at maximum effulgence. In the world below, it may be a gloomy day of rain, but never is it a world apart from, or devoid of, the Sun. The clouds and mist are merely blocking the Sun. The clouds and mist in this analogy correspond to the dust in the mind.(Joyousness Day after Day, 45–46)

God is like the Sun, always shining on all beings and things impartially at its maximum intensity. God never stops loving us or caring for us. The appearance of separateness between God and us is only due to our cloudy mind.

Another way in which we might speak of our inseparableness from God is to say that, if God is like the Sun, we are like the Moon. Although we talk about "moonlight," it is really sunlight reflected. This metaphor is meant to suggest that there is a fundamental oneness between God and us because our true identity is, so to speak, God in disguise. We are a reflection of God. Our life and consciousness area reflection of God's life and consciousness. The moon is subject to change, depending on the causes and conditions that affect the way sunlight is reflected. But whether it's the full moon, half moon, or crescent moon, its real identity is sunlight reflected, the origin of its light being constant and unchangeable. Likewise, though we undergo all sorts of experiences—the causes and conditions coloring or shaping our experiences being our mind states—we can always return to our original identity by quieting the mind .Moreover, whatever state of mind we may have now, God's love for us remains impartial, unchanging, and boundless. In fact, Oyasama said that God's love for us is so boundless that the relationship between God and human beings is like the relationship between Parent and children. So the followers often refer to God as God the Parent.

Incidentally, it was only for the sake of convenience that I said that God is like the Sun and that we are like the Moon. In fact, Oyasama says that God is Moon-Sun, not just the Sun. We are part of God.

Now, Oyasama taught us certain exercises that can help to reinforce our sense of inseparableness from God. One of these exercises is based on the basic teaching that the whole universe is the body of God and uses a list of ten blessings of God that we might profitably ponder over. These ten blessings are taught as pervading the human body as well as the rest of the universe. In terms of the human body, these blessings provide for the eyes, warmth, skin and joining, bones and support, eating and elimination, breathing and speaking, and so on and so forth. All those things and functions—which in effect cover everything our body and mind do—are seen as manifestations of God's workings. So this teaching of ten blessings can be used to help us remember how inseparable we are from God, wherever we may be, whatever we may be doing. For instance, every time we eat, we can remember that eating is possible at all because God is working within us, and whenever we see something with our eyes, God is enabling us to see (or God is seeing through us, as the case may be). Further, God is constantly breathing through us, so to speak, as long as we are alive. All we need to do is to remember to notice it, and it can help us put things in proper perspective. Paying attention to our breathing as an action of God can be done anytime, anywhere, to help us remember our essential oneness with God, and this can bring a sense of well-being and security, which in turn will help us change the orientation of our mind, see whatever is happening from a different point of view, and calm the mind. And this will help us use our freedom of the mind more skillfully and wisely.

The second exercise I should like to talk about is "selfless and thankful action," or hinokishin in Japanese. This begins with a sense of gratitude for the gift of life. Oyasama explains that we are given life by God, who is showering us with all kinds of blessings which enable us to be alive. When a joyous feeling of gratitude for these blessings wells up within us, it finds spontaneous expression in actions that are beneficial to others, society, and the environment. Selfless and thankful action comes from a sense of well-being and gratitude for the gift of life. But selfless and thankful action can also work like an exercise to reinforce our joyous perception, for any kind of other-centered activity tends to weaken our self-limiting attachment to self-interest and self-pity and, thus, it can bring a sense of spaciousness and openness, which will help to nurture and cultivate a joyous perception of everything in life, which, after all, is pervaded by God. If we are feeling down, maybe we can try to do something unselfish for others or society, temporarily forgetting about our self-interest and self-pity, and see what happens. You never know. Maybe we begin to feel better.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Before I wind up, permit me to recapitulate the teaching "The state of our mind becomes the state of our world." We were created to lead the Joyous Life, and all the tools that we need to lead the Joyous Life have already been provided. Whether or not we can handle these tools skillfully and in a manner that is conducive to the Joyous Life depends on the state of the mind alone. And God is always there to help us, moment to moment, for we are never separate from God. Thank you for listening.