Tenrikyo Spirituality: Tenri Forum 2006
SOLUTIONS: STAYING ORIENTED ON THE PATH
With such a diversity of services possible it seems likely that the path will not be clearly defined. With so many choices how can we be sure that we are going the right way? The poems collected as "The Tip of the Writing Brush" provide a sure guide in verse. They invite us to compare the workings of our worldly common self-centered reasoning with the Reason of Heaven, enlightening ourselves in the process.
This universe is the body of God. Ponder this in all matters.
I do not discriminate among any of my children ever.
All human beings have an equal affinity for the origin.
Realize the truth by the words clear or muddy.
Ponder over any and everything from your innermost heart.
I began this work because I desire to teach marvelous salvation by all means.
If you wish to know and will come to Me, I will teach you the original cause of all things.
It is because I desire to make the truth of this world known by all means to the entire world.
I think there are two possible way to explain that "this universe is the body of God" and "all human bodies are things lent by god." One of them is to explain it by placing God the Parent at the center of our thought, that is, to put the Sun and the Moon at the center and human lives at the periphery and see how the former affects the latter. The other way to explain this is to place human beings at the center of our thought, that is, to see how divine providence in human lives is extended to finally reach the providence of the Sun and the Moon. The first way of explaining this might be better for fourth to sixth graders while the latter will be better for the first to third graders. In either case, however, only when we gear our explanation for the listener will that person be satisfied with our explanation. The 3rd Shinbashira