Tenrikyo Dynamic Mission - USE OF MIND   pg. 1

THE POWER OF OUR SELF CENTERED IMAGINATION

That we know of, the power of the human self-centered imagination is unique in the natural world. Among complex species it is also one of the most powerful survival instruments, providing us with the power to adapt to a wide variety circumstances and the ability to draw conclusions from our experiences and creatively modify our environment. The use of our self centered imagination has allowed our species to occupy and thrive in just about every habitat in the world. The free use of our self centered imagination has also allowed our species to become the current apex predator of this world. In short the human self centered imagination is a super adaptation and creative survival mechanism. When we ponder over the long journey of life we can see that over a very long time most of the survival problems that other large prototype species have faced have been worked out and overcome in the human form.

Please calm your mind and ponder this: In every case, the way in which we use our mind, all of the thoughts entertained by each human self-centered imagination are right, true and good until proven otherwise to the self-centered imagination that entertains and holds them. When a single fundamental change of mind happens - because of the great adaptability of the human imagination - some principle ideas supporting world views can also be changed and replaced without damage to self-image that has undergone the change.

In other words we are capable of fundamentally changing how we use our mind without injury to our self. Although we are capable of fundamental change, because of our conditioning to truths of the world, the potential of a fundamental change in either our self or in others can be viewed as something wonderful and uplifting and both frightening and evil at the same time.

The ability to use our self centered imaginations to create truths has been both an intended blessing and an unintended cause of suffering.

Looking to the various stories of creation that appear in some of the poems written from the point of view of the mind of our original parent, but by the human hand of Miki Nakayama, we see that for the long history and evolution of complex organisms like our own human species, survival was by no means guaranteed. In the evolution of life numerous prototypes have appeared and have passed away before the current human form made its appearance.

 To ensure our success as an organism it was necessary for our species to be physically robust, protected as we are by a very powerful immune system and also mentally robust allowing us to be capable of independently imagining and executing a wide variety of individual self directed survival strategies. As we occupy the planet today we are all the heirs and survivors of all of the evolved biology and events that have come before us since the appearance of life on this planet. Actually even longer as we now know that our bodies are made out of the same minerals that the earth is made out of and that those minerals are made out of elements that were forged by the enormous energy released by exploding suns. As life has evolved we are also inheritors of a set of powerful sensory instruments that allow us to overcome the challenges involved in living and which potentially allow our species to be capable of fully savoring the joy of being alive in the diverse and bountiful playground that is this planet Earth.

That said, we might wonder why our original parent is so set on instructing and hastening us to change the way in which we use the power of our self centered imagination.

Briefly stated, though the human self centered imagination is naturally and intentionally capable of creating truths about the world we live in, some of those imagined truths are unintentionally draining the joy from our experience of life. For that reason we find ourselves in the situation of asking for and needing help to escape and avoid unintended and unwanted suffering. Unfortunately in many cases because we only think true and right thoughts we are unable to clearly see the outcome of our current use of mind and are destined to continue to miss and long for the happiness, contentment and the joy of life. For that reason we are hastened to fundamentally change the way in which we use our self centered imagination. Clearing the dust off of the lens of the projector so to speak so that we can see things clearly.

It is important to recall that these Ofudesaki poems are a conversation between the free and unlimited mind of the original creator of all that exists and the limited and bound self centered misunderstandings of individual human minds. Human minds that were bound to the natural truth of being bound to a body and to the truths of the world that were common in a particular time and place. As a result of that natural limitation and bondage to a body the minds of the people modeled in the poems were suffering and looking for help. The specific kind of help that they were looking for was of course determined by the way in which they used their minds to attach to the expectations that flowed from the worldly common truths of their world.

It is really important to take this to heart as we might stumble into the good intentioned mistaken use of mind that attaches to the bound and limited truths of the world that are modeled in the poems as the misunderstandings of the Nakayama family and the villagers and teach them to our children as being the teachings of our parent of origin. For this reason we are taught that the teaching of our parent of origin is given to the totally purified mind. That is, to the mind like clear water. There are no worldly common truths of the world in the mind like clear water.

It is true of all human minds that the unintended potential experience of suffering will remain as long as our individual mind is limited and bound both to a body and to the worldly common truths that are accumulated from that point of view. To provide relief and help to all human beings equally the mind of our original parent, the creator of all things, desires to use all means to show all human minds the way to awaken to the free and unlimited workings and the experience of a joyous life through the quick replacement of the self centered foundation of a mind that is naturally limited and bound to a body with the free and unlimited workings of a mind that knows and understands the truth of its origin.

When we use our mind to ponder these poems it is important to remember that all of the poems are presented in poetic metaphor and none of the poems have a worldly common meaning. It is also important to remember that the change in the foundation of the mind is not intended to be a limitation of the self centered imagination. Instead it is intended to be a upgrade from a limited, bound and damaged self centered imagination to a self centered imagination that enjoys the free and unlimited workings and intention that flows from a stable foundation in the mind of our original parent.

This then is intended to be a quick change of the foundation of our thinking. After the replacement is made we are welcome to go about our self centered daily activities as we please.

Concerning the way in which we use our mind the Tenrikyo Dynamic teaching makes it clear that any human mind that truly and sincerely is quickly devoted to single heartedness with God will quickly receive single hearted salvation and the gift of the free and unlimited workings of the original parental mind. Of course because of the boundless parental love of the original parental mind, if we wish to do something else and remain as we are we can do so.

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