We tend to identify ourselves with the body, thinking, "This body of mine is 'I'." As I explained above, however, the body is nothing but a thing borrowed from God the Parent and, therefore, the body we think is ours is in fact not the "I." So the question is: What is this "I"?

God the Parent illuminates this by teaching as follows:

With human beings: the body is a thing borrowed. The mind alone is yours. From just one mind, any kind of truth will appear daily.

Osashizu, February 14, 1889

The body is a thing lent by God. The mind is yours. Listen and understand the truth that the blessings provided to the thing lent are dependent on the mind.

Osashizu, February 15, 1888

Indeed, this "I" is nothing but the mind that is thinking about the question "What is 'I'?" We are taught that God the Parent made it possible for the mind to be used freely as ours and lent a body to it in creating us human beings. This is why we can use our mind freely and are capable of thinking and feeling. Our mind as "I" has total autonomy in making decisions and taking actions on its own initiative.

When a body is lent to the mind and the mind is provided with a field of action, the "I" comes into existence. As I pointed out in the previous section, however, unlike our mind, our body depends entirely upon God's blessings that are given according to the way we use Our mind. In fact, not only God's blessings for our body but also every situation in which we find ourselves are determined depending upon the way we use our mind. This is to say, for example, that our relationship with one another at home, in our neighborhood, or at our work place, is nothing but the projection of our mind's perception of that relationship.

People do perceive the same event in completely different ways. The birth of a baby in a family can mean different things for its grandparents, mother, and father. The way our eyes perceive reality determines the world in which we live. This world is only given to the "I" and can be seen only by the "I."

Looking into each of our minds, God the Parent provides each of us with a world that is appropriate to the individual's mind. In the Divine Directions, we are taught:

The world is a mirror. Everything is a thing borrowed. The mind is yours. The way you have used your mind is reflected in the mirror.

Osashizu, July 29, 1888

(The above is a translation--first published in the April 1995 issue of TENRIKYO--of an article excerpted from Omichi-no-kotoba by Yoshikazu Fukaya, published by Doyusha Publishing Company.)