Tenrikyo Dynamic Mission - TROUBLESHOOTING

TROUBLESHOOTING THE CLEAN INSTALL OF A NEW FOUNDATION FOR THE MIND

The following list includes things to check on when looking to find the reason why the replacement of the old foundation of the mind with a new foundation for the mind isn't happening as expected:

1.) Check expectations. Am I interested in quickly receiving God's free and unlimited workings through single-heartedness or do I have something else in mind? If there is some expectation other than the truth of origin as given to the totally settled and pure mind like clear water then see if your mind can be totally settled and made pure by sincerely pursuing that other intention to the exclusion of all else.

2.)  Recall that the "New Foundation" is not actually new nor is it  somewhere else to be found or obtained. The "new" foundation is called "new" because we have never heard of it before though in reality it is and has always been already permanently installed at the core of our mind. So ask yourself if you are looking for it somewhere else. Again, if you can focus your mind on that someplace else to the exclusion of all other thoughts so that it settles completely, what remains is the "new foundation". In every case the truth of the origin of the mind and free and unlimited workings are given to the mind, so the state of the mind ("clear" or "muddy" is crucial to the successful replacement of its foundation.

3.) Recall that the task is to quickly remove the accumulated thoughts,  ideas and truths of the self-centered imagination and truths of the world that have accumulated and are depressing the original foundation of our mind (the mind of a three year old child) and in so doing draining the intended joy from its workings. It is very important to keep in mind that the clean install is about removal of what has been accumulated, revelation of the core and replacement and not about accumulating some new thoughts, concepts or ideas. 

4.) Recall that when properly understood the instructions for replacing the foundation of the mind deal only with what we think of as our mind, our self-centered imagination and not with the body. To a degree, depending upon our sincerity, we have total control over our mind but that is not the case with the body, which is not ours but God's, the workings of which we have only very limited control.

5.) Check the timing and intention of the effort. It is meant to be done quickly. If the replacement is slow re-check the instructions. It is intended to be completed quickly as a first and totally sincere priority.  These two, speed and intention of replacement cause lots of problems and most often stem from a either a misunderstanding or a lack of understanding of the step by step instructions as they can be easily tangled up with existing truths of the world.

6.) Check each step of the replacement progress with the test of the reasoning that is the mind like clear water. This way of reasoning in all matters will quickly settle as the actual "mind like clear water". In that event make pondering the implications of that mind the "new" foundation for all of your reasoning and thinking.

7.) If the replacement is going slow or isn't happening at all it is advisable to recall in and ponder in every matter that this universe is the body of God. This way of reasoning will quickly settle the "mind like clear water" and will reveal the heart and core of the mind, the original conscious cause of all things in detail.  Pondering and understanding that original conscious cause is an opportunity to realize the quick replacement of the foundation of our thinking.

Of course we can also look at the details of the Model Path to get a better idea of the kinds of problems associated with the way in which both the Nakayama family and the villagers tried to understand the intention and instructions given by Oyasama's original parental mind hastening the replacement of the foundation of the mind. It was natural that they tried to use their limited self centered imaginations to either understand or misunderstand that intention by giving it worldly common meanings that conformed to the existing truths of their world.  The awakening and replacement of mind just wasn't happening, bound as our self centered imaginations are to the numerous truths of the world that it is guided by. Because of that, the swap and installation of a new foundation that must be done quickly in a totally clean and fresh mind was delayed.

This propensity to try and understand the new by mixing in the old is not new. To bring this forward into my own childhood education I was taught that one doesn't sew new material onto old cloth as the new cloth will shrink and cause the old material to tear. This of course refers to the fact that a New Testament was intended to replace and not get mixed in with the old. In the same vein our original parent is teaching a new and marvelous path that has nothing to do with the old self centered truths of the world.

When looking to the Model Path for troubleshooting  instructions to be used for the replacement of the foundation of the mind by exposing, knowing and understanding its original foundation it is important to remember that our original parent used the metaphor of water and the terms "clear" and "muddy" to describe the state of the two possible fundamental states of the human mind. Further, out of parental love our original parent promised to enter into the mud of our minds and make them clear whatever state our minds might be in.

When using the original instructions for replacing the foundation of the mind as those instructions appear in the poems collected as "The Tip Of The Writing Brush" it is important to keep in mind that the poems are a conversation between the mind and intention of our original parent and the various misunderstandings and intentions that were current truths of the world that occupied the muddy waters of the minds of those that She was trying to teach and save. I have included a small picture of the god Kashima subduing Namazu-e as an example of the kinds of truths that were current at the time that the poems were written and which in various forms are still current depending upon the time, place and spiritual maturity of the minds involved. The cure for confusion and misunderstanding of the instructions of course flows through the reasoning of the mind like clear water as the ability to distinguish between "Nihon" (the original conscious mind of God existing at the core of the human self centered imagination) and "Kara" (the self centered imagination that can't tell the difference between things as they naturally are and things as they are imagined to be.)

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