In Oyasama's teachings, we find the expression "the mind of a three year old [sansai-gokoro]." The term "a three year old" is not meant to be a precise designation of age, which in any case would only be one or two according to the way we presently calculate ages. Instead, the image provided in this expression is the mind of a little child, which includes a child who has just been born. In fact, in using this metaphor, some of the Divine Directions specifically use the phrase "the mind of a newly born child [umarego-kokoro]."

To form this image is not really difficult, since we all know how fresh and innocent a newborn baby's mind is. Held gently in her mother's arms, she has no thought but of feeding from her mother's breast. If her mother gives her something to hold, she will take it and play with it. If her mother holds out her hand and says, "Give it to Mommy," the baby will return it without any hesitation or desire to keep it. The mind of a little child looks at everything with a sense of wonder and sees everything as if it were the first and the only moment in the universe. Incidents interest her only so long as they last, and she ceases to think of them after they have passed away.

Warmly embraced by her mother's love, the child is one with the universe. She is completely defenseless and yet lives in complete security. She accepts her condition of being alive without the slightest worry or doubt. She refuses nothing, yet is attached to nothing. There is no "other" for her to be suspicious of, yet no "self" for her to be protective of. This is the mind of a newly born child. And this is what is meant by "the mind of a three year old."

In Oyasama's own words, we are taught:

Let your mind be like that of a little child. You will have no need for anything. Just play in good spirits, and all is well, all is well. Replace your mind, and there will be no worries.

Osashizu, March 1887

Let your mind be like the mind of a newly born child. A newly born child grasps at nothing. This mind of a newly born child--a three year old--it may not be apparent what it is. If you give it something to hold, it will take it and hold it. If you give it nothing to hold, it will be content to hold nothing. Listen to this truth and understand it well.

Osashizu, January 20, 1907

A newly born child lives in complete security, warmly embraced by the love of her parents. In fact, we are all like newly born children in the sense that we all live in the protective embrace of God the Parent's perfect workings. To help us realize this, we are asked to make our minds like the mind of a newly born child. To do this, we need only--

Rely entirely on our Parent's love;
Lean solely on our Parent's heart;
Let go of our worries and fears;
Sweep out every vestige of grasping, attachment, and greed;
Make the mind so perfectly clear that not a speck of dust remains;
Have faith that the circumstances of life that are provided for us day after day are what is best for us;
And thus live each and every day with a mind that plays joyously with its experiences and accepts them with a sense of well-being and gratitude.

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