The dust of covetousness is to crave for money without making any effort to earn it; to desire good clothes or good food, forgetting one's lot; to covet a woman or man one just happens to see; to desire more clothing, knowing what you have is enough.

To desire things beyond what is proper to one's station, to desire what others have, to desire an illicit relationship, to desire others to do this or that for one's sake while doing nothing for others--these are covetousness. Basically, to be desirous of various things, forgetting tanno (true satisfaction) without considering one's virtues, is the dust of covetousness. Each individual has his own virtues within which he ought to live.

It is only human, in seeing that others have something better, to desire it. When we feel desirous of something, we should first give heed to our own station and to the contents of our wallets and ask if we deserve what we desire. If not, by pacifying the mind through tanno, we should throw away the desire without envying others. Then the dust does not remain in us. But, if we fail to throw away that desire, we will be inclined to bad conducts and, seeking one thing beyond our means after another, we will cause domestic discord as well as inflict loss upon others. When this mental attitude grows worse, we will not have the sense to regard it as wrong to cause someone a loss and will be indifferent to domestic complaint or persuasion. Further, we might deceive someone and even steal something. This worsened mental attitude, even if it does not give rise to such conduct, will turn into complaints in the mind which may, when accumulated, cause complaints in the body.

To satisfy covetousness temporarily is like picking beautiful flowers and arranging them in a vase. Having no roots, those flowers will, in the course of time, become discolored, wither, and die.

What is necessary to avoid covetousness--which is like flowers without roots
--is the spirit of tanno; this must not be forgotten.

There once lived a daughter of a seaweed dealer in Sakai, Osaka, who was inclined to steal. Her parents reverently asked Oyasama the reason why, and Her answer was: "That is the result of a previous life. Your daughter is not at fault. She only does what her parents did in a previous life."

The parents then sincerely repented for what they had done, and their daughter was marvelously healed of the bad habit.

(Anecdotes of Oyasama, the Foundress of Tenrikyo, p.138)

(The above is an excerpt from Dust and Innen, first published in September 1982. Quotations from the Ofudesaki and the Kakisage have been replaced by the revised, current translations.)