Japanese history is not short of examples of attempts to "change the world to prosperity." Such attempts, however, often ended in failure or resulted in new problems. Take the last years of the Tokugawa shogunate, for instance. That period alone saw many uprisings by impoverished peasants and rebellions by those in governing classes such as Heihachiro Oshio. In the next several decades, too, there were various campaigns to bring about political and economic reform.

In the Mikagura-uta, we read: "The world will change to prosperity" (II:4). This verse is declaring that God the Parent's providence will reconstruct the world--which many see as full of suffering--into the world of the Joyous Life by having humankind and the world reborn anew. Oyasama's method of reform is more fundamental than the previous attempts to change political, economic, or legal systems in that She teaches a path that changes human beings, who themselves produce and use such systems. This path comprises the Service and the Sazuke, the Divine Grant, as well as the "replacement of our minds," which should go hand in hand with the preceding two components. This process involves becoming aware of the original and true Parent of all human beings, realizing that we are all enabled to be alive by God the Parent's providence as indicated by the teaching of "a thing lent, a thing borrowed," and having all of us throughout the world respect and help one another as brothers and sisters, grounded in true sincerity, which lies in the deepest recesses of the mind. This done, the world filled with joy will be actualized upon receiving the truth of the Salvation Service.

This process is totally different from changing the world by relying on humman knowledge and power alone, which typically involves some people taking control of others' lives or even some sections of society being excluded from the benefit of the reform. The completion of the Service and replacement of the mind will enable the world to reconstruct itself spontaneously by fully tapping God the Parent's providence.