A. Purposes Why Oyasama Wrote the Ofudesaki

1.) Oyasama taught the origin, the root, the principle of everything in the Ofudesaki. That is, we can say that She lay the foundation of the Teachings in the Ofudesaki. Therefore, it is crucial for us, especially Yoboku, to explore not only God's intention contained therein, but also the methods for salvation activities, basing on and making use of the origin, the root, the principle contained in the Ofudesaki written by Oyasama.

2.) Throughout the entire Ofudesaki, the completion of the Service, especially assembling the Service performers, is encouraged. The completion of the Service means that it is the best and the most appropriate method through which we are able to know the beginnings of human origin, the fundamental principles of human life, and the very meanings of our lives. In addition, through this Service, Oyasama tries to teach the idea and practice of the single-hearted salvation as is also taught in the following: Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, Oyasama, and the Jiba are one in truth. That is, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto created humankind and the world for the first time; Oyasama taught the Teachings of Tenri-O-no-Mikoto to humankind for the first time; and the Jiba is the very place where humankind was conceived for the first time. Thus, all three are connected with the origin and the single-hearted salvation.

3.) Oyasama wrote God's intention with the brush and left it in the written form for us so that every one of us could directly touch upon the warm heart of the Parent by reading it at any place and at any time whenever we desire. Because the Ofudesaki was written by Oyasama Herself, it is the sure book that we can trust in most.

4.) The Ofudesaki was the book that Oyasama wrote, using all the methods and means, so that we would make spiritual maturity even a step closer to Her intention. "Spiritual maturity" means to "become closer to the mind of the Parent" who always wishes children to grow, and for this purpose the Parent endeavors to lead us to the path of Joyous Life. Thus, it is important for us as the children of the Path to make efforts for understanding the intention of the Parent and carrying it out in our daily lives at each given society and community with the mind of true sincerity—saving others. By doing this, others watch our actions and they also try to do the same action. There "the mind of respecting and helping each other" is born. Then the joyous play, which is the ultimate purpose of human creation by God the Parent, will be displayed in this world. How it is realized is in fact taught in the Ofudesaki. This is the true purpose that Oyasama wrote the Ofudesaki.

B. Some Contents of the Ofudesaki

1.) When we do the Service, the spiritual elements may be taught in the Ofudesaki as follows:

2.) Why is the Kagura Service the main theme throughout the Ofudesaki? Also, why does Oyasama always urge us to cleanse the heart in order to complete the Service? It is because to do the Service is the best and most effective method in order to understand God's intention as God desires. In order to do the Service as God wishes, it is indispensable for us to cleanse the heart; otherwise even though no matter how hard we think we try to understand God's words with the beclouded mind, the result is not what God intends.

3.) The importance and the method of how to get rid of "selfish thought" are taught in the Ofudesaki. This fact has a deep relation with the fact that the teaching of "a thing lent, a thing borrowed" is strongly taught in the Ofudesaki as well. That is, the idea that our bodies belong to us only leads to "the selfish thought,"which God dislikes most.

4.) "The mind of the Parent" is an extremely crucial theme in the entire Ofudesaki:

5.) Some points in order to understand the mind of the Parent:

C. Some Characteristics of the Ofudesaki

1.) The time, October 26, 1838, viewed from the time of original creation (900?099?999 years ago), and the present time viewed from the future cannot be perceived by humans. God clearly teaches this in the Ofudesaki.

* The time of original creation (900, 099, 999 years ago) -> October 26, 1838 (the time when Oyasama was settled as the Shrine of Moonsun) ->The present time (constantly changing) -> Future

2.) God the Parent always encourages humans to freely and unlimitedly use our minds for the purpose of salvation activities as in the verse: "The present path is covered with dust. Take up a broom and do the sweeping." (Part III, Verse 145) On the other hand, The One who saves is God the Parent as in the verse: "Throughout the world, God is the broom for the sweeping of the innermost heart. Watch carefully." (Part III, Verse 52) It can be said that the work of salvation is the co-work of both God and humans.

3.) Many terms concerning the time such as "quickly, hasten, prepare, step by step, until now, and this time" are used in the Ofudesaki. This fact is the presentation of the Parental mind for the purpose of having humans make further spiritual growth. In the process of nurturing children, human parents may be betrayed by children not just once, but twice, three times, and many times, and each time parents often say to children, "This is the last caution. If you do not keep this promise this time, we do not listen to you any more, whatever you ask us. All right?" Nonetheless, in reality, that time is not the last time, but parents again say the same thing again and again. In the case of Oyasama, each time children could not do what She said, She tried to teach and nurture them, using a different method, actually in all the possible ways until they could attain what She desired. These phrases appear numerous times in the Ofudesaki. This means that Oyasama tried to teach human parents as a model what we should do when we try to teach and nurture our children. In addition, this also teaches how we as Yoboku should apply this method of Parental mind for teaching and nurturing the suffering in the world. We can clearly understand this when we closely examine how Oyasama lived in Her actual social life.

4.) The phrases of "Calm your mind" and "Listen" or "Ponder" are used as a pair in the Ofudesaki. This suggests what our state of mind should be whenever we try to understand the words of God.

5.) The difference between "the heart" and "the mind" : The heart is something like a container of the mind, and the heart itself is something divine, clean and pure; and what makes the heart dirty and beclouded is the mind. That is why the Ofudesaki teaches that "the heart is something to be cleansed" and "the mind is something to be replaced." Refer mune (heart), mune-no-uchi (innermost heart), kokoro (mind), and shin-no-kokoro (mind's core).

6.) Oyasama never says or uses the word "believe." But, rather, She says and uses the words like "calm," "purify," "ponder," and "understand." She then encourages us to do these by teaching us the methods and means to realize them. She always shows us the proof in visible ways so that humans are able to clearly and easily understand and become convinced of what She truly intends to teach us. As the result of it, then, we humans come to be able to believe what She means. The spiritual order or our thinking process would be as follows: First, "ponder"; second, "understand"; third, "become convinced"; and finally fourth, "have total faith in God." The ultimate condition for this process is "to cleanse the heart" and "to replace the mind." As the means to do this, to do the Service and to be engaged in the task of salvation work are the examples. The condition and the means are interrelated to each other. In other words, it is extremely important for us as tools of God the Parent to connect our mind with the mind of the Parent, Oyasama and the Jiba, since these are indispensable for single-hearted salvation. And for this purpose, it is important for us to be engaged in world salvation. In order to attain our true faith, it is crucial for us not only to know and understand the Teachings but also to carry out the Teachings in our practical life. If we do not practice the Teachings in our daily lives--respecting and helping others, we are not people of faith any more.

In order to realize the above condition and means, it is necessary to settle the truth of "a thing lent and a thing borrowed." This truth is the most important teaching as is clearly taught in the Ofudesaki that "So long as you remain unknowing that the body is a thing borrowed, you can understand nothing at all." (Part III, Verse 137) The reason for this is that we would fall into the self-centered thinking unless we understand and settle the truth of "a thing lent and a thing borrowed."

7.) There is a difference between knowing the Teachings and understanding the Teachings. The fact that we can read and know the Teachings does not necessarily lead to the fact that we can understand the true meanings of God's intention. It is possible to understand it wrongly. That is why it is most important to understand the mind of God with the cleansed heart. In this state of replaced mind we may be able to understand what God teaches us as God wishes.

8.) The fact that Oyasama wrote the Ofudesaki in brush and that its original has been preserved under the protection of Tenrikyo Church Headquarters, religiously has an extremely important meaning. This fact is the very reason why the Ofudesaki is the most important scripture out of the three scriptures. Incidentally, because the Mikagura-uta (songs for the Service) has the similar writing style to that of the Ofudesaki, it is assumed that it was also written by Oyasama herself. But in the case of the Mikagura-uta scripture the original writings have not been found. Thus, the Mikagura-uta is placed second following the Ofudesaki. Because the Osashizu (Divine Directions) was not a scripture written by Oyasama, it is placed last out of the three scriptures, viewed from its correctness.

9.) Concerning "Nihon," "Kara," and "Tenjiku": By these terms God tries to show the spiritual degree of our understanding of God's intention on the horizontal level.

10.) Concerning "high mountains" and "low valleys": By these terms God tries to show the degree of our understanding of God's intention on the vertical level.

High mountains (Upper people)

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Tenjiku  ¬ ® Kara ¬ ®  Nihon                                                                                   Nihon ¬ ®  Kara  ¬ ® Tenjiku

 

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Low valleys

11.)  In the Ofudesaki, there are such terms as "upper people" or "high mountains" and "Kara" or "Tenjiku." There is a great difference in the use between the two. That is, Oyasama strongly urges "upper people" or "high mountains" to understand God's intention and carry it out, whereas She admonishes "Kara" or "Tenjiku." The reason for that is "the upper people" or "the people in the high mountains" are in an important position to lead the people concerned, to a happy and joyous living. They also have such responsibility and duty, whereas "Kara" or "Tenjiku" are the people who do not agree with what God says, do not try to understand it, or even are against it.

12.) Concerning "the free and unlimited workings":"Free workings" stands for "the vertical space" in divine workings, whereas "unlimited workings" stands for "the horizontal depth" in divine workings.

Unlimited workings

 

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                                Free workings ¬                              O                          ® Free workings

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Unlimited workings

The mark "O" may stand for "Tenri-O-no-Mikoto," "Oyasama," "the Parent," "the Jiba," "the Kanrodai," "the heart," "the core," "the origin of single-heartedness," "the Residence," "Nihon," etc.

13.) In the Ofudesaki, there are quite a few verbs which are used both as transitive verbs and intransitive verbs, such as "kokoro wo osamaru (to settle the mind)" (intransitive verb) and "kokoro ga osamaru (The mind settles.)" (transitive verb). Why is this important? It is because we can find that the transitive verb "osameru" suggests human efforts and the interstice verb "osamaru" suggests God's power as the result of human efforts.

D. The Methodology of Salvation Taught by Oyasama in the Ofudesaki

Using some particular topics, persons, places, and metaphors, Oyasama gives the Teachings to us. It may be categorized as follows:

For example:

             Looking all over the world and through all ages, I find no one who is evil.

Even more do I hasten to save the villagers. Please ponder quickly!

* We Yoboku should make use of this methodology as a model for the task of world salvation.

E. Some Notes When Reading the Ofudesaki

1.) In the Ofudesaki there are such terms as "I," "Kami (God)," "Moonsun (MoonSun)," and "Oya (Parent)." What is the relationship between these terms and Oyasama? They are the same and one.

2.) It is extremely important we ponder, understand, and explain what is taught in the Ofudesaki, regarding it as our own matter. The attitude, method, and consciousness when we read and understand the Ofudesaki are as follows:

* "Attitude": Stand under God. That is, we should be humble to God.

* "Method": We should bracket our mind or empty our mind, that is, cleanse our heart, whenever we read the Ofudesaki.

* "Consciousness": From particularity to universality and finally back to particularity. That is, phenomenally, the situations under which the Ofudesaki was written are quite particular and specific in the language used then, culture, society, and any other elements. We, the tools of God the Parent, try to employ the universal teachings given under the situation of these particularities. Then, finally we try to apply the employed universal Teachings to our given particular situation in our own communities.

3.) We should try to understand the Ofudesaki from the standpoint of the Parent, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, writer of the Ofudesaki. In order to do it, we need to make efforts for melting our mind into the mind of God. God is the Parent, the Creator, the Existence of Unlimitedness, whereas we humans are children, the created, the existence of limitedness. Thus, it is natural for us humans to melt our mind into that of God. For this purpose, it is absolutely necessary to cleanse our heart. Practically we do the service, salvation work, hinokishin, and so on. Doctrinally we need to dig up the root of the Teachings such as "a thing lent and a thing borrowed" and make efforts for settling the mind of tanno (joyous acceptance) while setting our mind to the mind of the Parent. Then we naturally come to express our joys and gratitude to God the Parent in the form of salvation work.

4.) In order to read and understand the Ofudesaki correctly and effectively, besides cleansing our heart first of all, we need to understand how metaphors such as "michi (path)", "mizu (water)", "doro (mud)," "hokori (dusts)," "takayama (high mountains)," "tanisoko (low valleys)," "ne (root)," and "eda (branches)" are used in the Ofudesaki.

5.) Oyasama uses quite a few homonyms, one of the characteristics of the Japanese language, especially in the Hiragana style. For example, the expression "ko-no-yo" could be interpreted as "the world of children" as well as "this world" and "shinjin" could be interpreted as "having faith," "believing in the mind," or "the divine mind". Oyasama used the Hiragana style so that every Japanese follower, even those who did not have any educational background in those days, could read the Ofudesaki. However, the reason why She used Hiragana has deeper meanings; otherwise, She could have used Chinese characters by which the meanings should be much clearer.

6.) It is strongly stressed in the entire Ofudesaki that Oyasama is not a human, but God, the Parent. This is the absolute condition or premise that we can understand the Ofudesaki correctly.

7.) The Ofudesaki is addressed to each of the following types of people:

  • each individual

  • people of groups

  • people of districts

  • people of countries

  • people of the entire world

8.) There are some elements that we should take into consideration when we read and understand the Ofudesaki. The Ofudesaki verses were written under the following conditions:

  • when

  • where

  • to whom

  • about whom

  • how

9.) The proper name for God in Tenrikyo is "Tenri-O-no-Mikoto." "Kami" (God), "Moonsun" (MoonSun), "Oya" (Parent) are common nouns. Incidentally, "Oyagami" (God the Parent) is also a combined expression of "Oya" and "Kami," and it does not appear in the three scriptures. The word "Oyagami" or "Oya Kami" appears in the Divine Record (Koki) written in 1883 by Isaburo Masui, popularly called Masui-Bon (Masui Book).

10.) Three standpoints when we read and understand the Ofudesaki:

  • Standpoint of children

  • Standpoint of the Parent (Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, Oyasama)

  • Standpoint of single-hearted salvation

Rf. -> When we seek an ideal for our own lives from the Divine Model of Oyasama, interpretations that we understand from it may differ depending on our individual situations: for instance, an interpretation from a child's point of view; an interpretation from a parent's point of view; an interpretation of someone who is following the path of single-hearted salvation; and so on. However, any such interpretation is not wrong. We can gain understanding of the ideals for which we search by the way we direct our thinking in each of our situations. It can be said that in each case, we are looking up to Oyasama in adoration with our arms spread wide to receive Her saving grace.(From CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF OYASAMA: Sermon on February 18, 1986)

F. Miscellaneous Comments

1.) Ofudesaki: Written model for the Joyous Play

    Hinagata: Actions for the Joyous Play

2.) The Ofudesaki and the Divine Model are indeed the front and back of the same coin. That is, in order to understand one, we need to understand the other; the reverse is also true. Thus, it is crucial to try to understand what Oyasama intends to teach us while comparing the two at the same time.

3.) The first English translation of the Ofudesaki by Church Headquarters was published in 1971. Then the present translation, which was started in 1986, the year of Oyasama's Centennial Anniversary, was published in September 26, 1993, taking seven years.

4.) The task of understanding, which is in the realm of human beings and is done and can be done by human efforts, is done by the human brain--thinking--and mind. On the other hand, the task of enlightenment or realization, which is in the realm of God, is done by the heart, and this is also given as the result of human sincere efforts for saving others by God the Parent..

5.) It is clearly taught in the Truth of Origin that there are no dropouts in the Teachings of Oyasama. That is, in the first, the second, and the third times of process of passing away, God restarted the work of human creation from five bu each time when humans passed away. What we learn from this fact is that when we Yoboku try to lead and nurture those who suffer from troubles, we should not say to them, "I told you before many times, didn't I? Don't you understand?" Instead, we tend to say the same thing as if we saying it for the first time. In other words, patience, the mind of the Parent, is needed.

G. The Purpose of this Study Session ~ the Study of the Ofudesaki

One of my main objectives in this study session is that I should give "a bag for thinking" to participants, and by the result of it, each participant tries to understand what Oyasama tries to teach as a powerful means for the work of world salvation.

Sincererly,

Susumu Mori