Tenrikyo Dynamic Mission DISSATISFACTION (Fusoku)

In all walks of life, in all times and places there may be a time when we experience dissatisfaction either with the state of the world or with the state of our own personal situation in  life. Dissatisfaction with the state of the world is often grounded in frustrated large scale economic, political or religious views; while dissatisfaction with our own personal situation is often grounded in illness, grief, family troubles, troubled relationships, personal finances and circumstances arising as a result of our employment or unemployment.  Whatever the circumstances may be, when we are dissatisfied  something is not going the way we would like and in some cases the dissatisfaction with one aspect of our life spreads until we find that we are dissatisfied with our life in general.  

 It doesn't matter whether the above instruction is meant for dealing with our own dissatisfaction or to inform our efforts in attempting to help someone else with their dissatisfaction, the instruction is the same. Further:

Ok, so the instruction quoted above requires some careful thought or pondering. I would not be comfortable with repeating the above instruction as it was given, however that does not mean that the instruction is of no practical use. The  instruction  merits a much closer look and should be understood in the plain language that we use daily so that we can grasp its meaning ourselves and be able to impart its meaning to others.

 I think that we can all agree that when we are dissatisfied, no matter what the cause, our dissatisfaction is experienced by us as a thought or stream of  thoughts. There are let's say, "triggers" that cause those thoughts of dissatisfaction to rise up in our mind. Those triggers of dissatisfaction are of two kinds: Things that happen, or don't happen in the world; as well as thoughts of dissatisfaction and complaints that we entertain as truths created in our own mind. Such thoughts or thought streams are often revisited and  practiced to the extent that they influence all of our other thoughts and experiences. Either kind of thought can trigger an ongoing cascade of dissatisfaction, which is what the first quotation is referring to.

For example every morning I turn on my computer and go online to look at the "News" of the world and every morning I am disappointed and dissatisfied with what I read. Some mornings I have to get up and walk away as it becomes obvious that  my dissatisfaction is beginning to color the state of my mind, spreading to other areas and affecting the way that I perceive the world in other unrelated circumstances. Fortunately, at such times when I feel the tug of dissatisfaction coming up in my imagination I can remember who I am and where I come from and in so doing purposely cut it off thoughs of dissatisfaction and resettle my imagination back into its origin. When I consciously chose to do that my original mind returns an immediate sense of freedom and well being. That sense of freedom and well being is not associated with any thought stream, ideas or concepts; it is the joy of being, the joy of life.

The second quotation above refers, I think, to our long human history of developing and accumulating certain ideas and concepts to use as true knowledge concerning the causes and effects that past lives have on our present life. As well as truths concerning the effect that our current life will have on our future lives. All human societies have ways of explaining the arising or non-arising of things experienced or things expected and not realized. In this Osashizu Izo Iburi, the Honseki, is making it clear that he is not and has no intention of entering into that discussion. Instead he is hastening the knowledge and understanding of the one truth, the one truth that comes from returning to, knowing and understanding the original parental heart as it exists at the core of our mind.

To perhaps get a clearer view of this let's turn again to the model story of Miki Nakayama. Prior to her awakening as the Shrine of God, Miki expected that the ills that were troubling her and her family would be cured by the intervention of Ichibei Nakano's magical arts and incantations. Her expectation in that regard was based on her knowledge and understanding of a large body of knowledge that had been created by powerful human imaginations that had accumulated over time. That accumulated knowledge giving birth to a wide variety of common truths of the world. Common truths of the world that reasonably flowed from the principles and ideas at the resting on the foundation of that knowledge. Miki shared in the sincere belief in those worldly common truths with her family and neighbors; so much  so, the Life of Oyasama, Manuscript Edition portrays Miki as being something of a pious, model citizen prior to her awakening. It is understandable then that the Miki's family and neighbors would try to fit Her teaching into the established familiar framework of the "truth of arising and the truth of non-arising" as those truths related to their fundamentally shallow worldly common expectations, truths, ideas and concepts.

Perhaps contrary to ordinary expectations, after Her awakening, Her son Shuji's leg remained sore, her husband's eyes remained troubled and Miki's back pain persisted. Of the three immediate family members only one was satisfied with the outcome and that was Miki; who then as the Shrine of God was, with the exception of two things, apparently now finding satisfaction and delight in everything. The two things that She was not satisfied with and which were causing Her increasing regret were and continue to be, the unintended suffering of human beings and the well meaning efforts of Her children  to mix up and fit Her teaching into variations on the familiar, shallow and worldly common teachings that had been taught  in an earlier stage of  human development and which She was now intending to replace with the previously unknown and actual fundamental truth of the origin of the human mind. Her teaching being solely about the true Heart of the Parent of origin that exists at the core of all human minds and the ways to expose and reveal that true Heart, and not about anything else.

So that we do not get carried away with our expectations  Miki Nakayama's life story models and demonstrates the kinds of  real human issues and challenges that we face in our lives. Though we may be unaware of it our original parent is in it with us and wants us to open our minds to the protection that constantly flows from the original parental heart. The power of the origin is ours to use, if we only we clear a space and allow it rush out and provide the protection, care and joy we seek.

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