Newpath Tenrikyo - Tenrikyo Dynamic - TESTING THE TEACHINGS FOR PROOF
There is nothing that I cannot teach,
but there is no one
who listens with a purified mind.
If your quickly purify your mind and listen,
I shall
give you all My teachings on everything.
I have put them to a test of certainty in this world.
Be convinced that there is no error.
If this test is quickly seen,
you will understand
that My words are always true.
I shall teach you on any and every matter.
Never take
it to be false, whatever I may say.
It may be difficult to understand
the saying and
working of God, whom you cannot see.
But My teachings can be seen quickly.
This will be
the proof that cannot be denied.
When you see this, be pleased with whatever you hear.
All of My teachings proceed in this way.
If you have borrowed something from another, you will
need
to pay interest. Return it quickly with a word of thanks.
These poems present the bold and somewhat astonishing claim that if we completely settle our mind so that no thought appears in it we will be presented with the evidence that quickly proves that the human body, what we commonly think of as being our body, is a thing borrowed from and lent by the original one and only.
There are three common responses to this claim: The first and easiest is that it is false or very doubtful at best and probably not worth bothering with. And at worst subversive to established societal norms, potentially dangerous or evil and perhaps something that should be suppressed. The second ignores the need for a totally purified mind and mixes the test in with commonly known and understood expectations concerning well established beliefs concerning gods, spirits and magical healing rituals of various kinds. The third common response flows from self sabotaging and frustrated efforts to completely stop thinking and calm the mind. This teaching leaves the first common response alone and focuses instead on the second and third responses by crafting various ways of working (services,"tsutome") to purify the mind. How quickly the evidence for this test for proof is seen is simply a matter of how sincere the person making the test is in preparing their mind for it.
What is perhaps most interesting is just how absolutely true this is. Everyone who takes the test finds the same single truth and it is because of that one truth that they know and recognize each other. The original one is at work in the minds of the world. Identify the self-centered imagination, the voice of the mind then identify its origin. Settle there.
This universe is the body of God.
Ponder this in all
matters.
So long as you remain unknowing that the body is a thing borrowed,
you can understand nothing at all.