April Monthly Service Sermon 2006

By Honbu-in Iwane Matsui  (2)

Permit me to quote a passage from an article entitled "Making Repayment for the Blessing of Salvation," which was published in 1930 in a Tenrikyo magazine called Michi no tomo and in which Rev. Komataro Komatsu reminisces about salvation work that he did when young:

At the bottom of the minds of those of us who were engaged in salvation work, there was the idea that, once we prayed to God for the salvation of someone, we had to do whatever it took to have it happen. Only when that person was saved, could we make repayment, however slight, to God for saving us. There was the burning conviction that helping others be saved was the only way to make repayment for the blessings that enabled us to live in good health.

Rev. Komatsu was reminiscing about the days when he was engaging in salvation work in Osaka. He also says:

I cannot remember what sort of things I said in my prayers. I suppose I just prayed as earnestly as I could in order to have this person be saved and that person be saved. It is probable that I didn't even know how to pray back then.

He goes on to say:

Our earnest attitude tended to call forth an earnest response from the people we were trying to help. In time, they and their family members became earnest in response to our earnestness. When both they and we thus became earnest and sincere, God's workings would begin to flow forth. When that happened, the people's illness would start to subside even before we conveyed any teachings. This would then remind us to explain the eight dusts of the mind and the ten aspects of God's providence. We'd tell them that if they noticed the presence of any dust of the mind in themselves, they should repent to God. Then we'd leave, after saying we'd be back again. Those of us engaged in salvation work were not the ministers saving the patients; rather, the patients were the ones to whom we were indebted.

These remarks are some of Rev. Komatsu's reminiscences. We may say that the way we conduct our salvation work these days is a far cry from those early followers' attitude and frame of mind. After reading Rev. Komatsu's reminiscences, I felt that I must never lose sight of making repayment for the blessings we receive. No matter how things change as time goes by, I believe that this is something that must always be firmly borne in mind.

In fact, I feel that expressing our gratitude for the gift of life is itself the service. Thanking God for the gift of life can also enable us to implement salvation work and to carry out contribution and dedication. I believe that expressing our thanks for this great gift from God every morning and evening is our most important task.

Worshiping God the Parent every morning can serve as the core of each day, and repeating it day after day can increase our joy of faith further and further. This is the way I see my practice of faith these days.

The morning and evening services take only 10 to 15 minutes, and one might wonder what can be achieved in such a short period of time. Yet I believe that performing the daily services establishes the pivotal core from which each day's life can proceed in a full manner. The Ofudesaki says:

If you truly desire to go out into the open, calm your mind and seek the core.

IV:84

This verse is interpreted in a commentary as saying: "If you truly want to step onto a bright path, you ought to calm down your mind and inquire into the core." The core is the innermost center of something, and the Scripture implies that it is essential to make a real effort to seek the heart of Oyasama and of God the Parent as well as the intention of the Shinbashira [literally, the "central pillar"].

Once we establish the core within ourselves, we can allow it to inform all aspects of our life. Our daily services, if performed properly, will enable us to grow spiritually so that we can perceive everything as an action of God the Parent and feel grateful for whatever happens. We can grow to the point where we can feel thankful not just when something that makes us happy happens but also when something sad is happening. Then, whatever is happening, we can say in our mind, "Namu, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto." Indeed, our daily services are extremely important for all of us and for Yoboku in particular.

Let me quote Naokichi Takai once again. He says:

When someone who does not attend the morning and evening services falls ill and comes to pray to God for help, God says: "I wonder who he is and where he is from. I have never seen him before." On the other hand, if someone who attends the daily service every morning and evening fails to come to the service, God becomes concerned and says: "I wonder what happened." When such a person falls ill and prays for help, a blessing of a cure is granted so promptly it is almost as if God has been waiting for the prayer.

Our faith begins with an earnest expression of gratitude for the providence that God the Parent is constantly giving us even by working within our bodies.

Even before God the Parent's revelation, what is termed "truth" was conveyed to human beings through various people at different times in history. However, we only came to know the origin of our life itself through Oyasama's teachings. Through Her teachings, we became aware, for the first time, how we are indebted to God the Parent and how even the human body is on loan from God the Parent. The Ofudesaki tells us:

Tsukihi will enter your bodies and show you free and unlimited workings in all things.

This is the first time that I tell you of the truth of such free and unlimited workings.

VII:37-38

Wherever you may seek to find the origin, there will be no one who knows.

So should it be, for this is the first time that Tsukihi has entered a body and speaks.

VIII:49-50

Thus, Oyasama clearly indicated the source and origin of our life. Human beings are unable to produce life, and spreading the teachings really means conveying the truth that life is a gift given by God.

Nonetheless, it does not take long to realize how lightly life is treated these days. Apparently, elementary school children sometimes ask their teachers why it is wrong to kill people. This gives a sense of how the preciousness of life is not understood. Another example is the fact that, in this country, as many as 34,000 people take their own lives every year. When someone told a foreign friend about it, this friend was astounded and said that it was almost as if Japan was at war. Indeed, although Japan is a secure society that is not waging a war and where no bullets are flying, more people die of suicide here in a period of two years than the soldiers the United States lost in 15 years of the Vietnam War. This situation casts a dark cloud over our entire society. How are we to deal with this state of affairs? I am reminded of the urgent need to convey the teachings to more and more people.

In the morning, when we wake up, let us notice that our legs work and that our hearts are beating. In fact, by the time we turn 60 years of age, our hearts will have beaten two billion times. An octogenarian's heart has already beaten three billion times. Let us notice that we are blessed to be able to live with our children, wives, and husbands. Let us be thankful that, during the night, no urgent phone call came to inform us of someone being in critical condition or getting involved in a traffic accident. Let us be thankful that we are in good health.

We can start our brand new day with such a sense of gratitude and joy. Our prayer begins with the feeling of gratitude and joy that we feel at realizing how blessed we are. Then we can impart this sense of gratitude and joy to our family members, friends, relatives, and others in society. We can spread the sense of thankfulness for the gift of life in wider and wider circles until a true settling comes to the entire world.

Yet, if we fail to perform the morning and evening services, we may not be able to receive God's providence in full. Therefore, I want to suggest that we make sure to thank God every morning and evening so that this practice becomes an integral part of our lives.

When I received permission to deliver the Besseki lectures, the former Shinbashira told me: "The important thing that will determine whether our audiences will listen earnestly is how we live each day, for it is really our daily living that comes across through our Besseki lectures." Even to this day, I clearly remember this instruction. Indeed, the most important thing is to make sincere and steady efforts in our daily lives.

Before I conclude, allow me to share some thoughts on the event scheduled for April 29, namely, Hinokishin Day for the year of the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama.

This year is also the 50th year following the 70th Anniversary of Oyasama. That anniversary marked a new and bold beginning in the endeavor to build the Joyous Life World. Shortly after that anniversary, the following new guiding principles were announced: namely, the spirit of single-heartedness with God, the attitude of hinokishin (or selfless and thankful action), and the unity of minds. We set out to work toward the Joyous Life by trying to live up to these three guiding principles.

We started fresh efforts to internalize the spirit of single-heartedness with God, to allow ourselves to be guided by the teaching of hinokishin in all matters, and to make sure to unite and work together as we began taking new strides toward the Joyous Life. Indeed, the three principles were intended to characterize our whole behavior.

Because this year is the year of the 120th Anniversary of Oyasama, I hope that all Yoboku and others, wherever they live, will proactively participate in Hinokishin Day, spiritedly performing acts of hinokishin to express the joy they feel at being enabled by God to be alive. Please remember that hinokishin has always been the hallmark of Tenrikyo.

The Mikagura-uta says:

[B]earing straw baskets in hinokishin.
Husband and wife working together in hinokishin.
A single word can be hinokishin.
Forgetting greed we work in hinokishin.

In particular, I want to suggest that we take to heart the line "Forgetting greed we work in hinokishin." Hinokishin will lead to the Joyous Life that God the Parent envisions, yet this verse indicates that our action can only be hinokishin when it is free of greed and is a sincere, proactive, and joyous effort to implement God the Parent's teachings. It is of paramount importance to make our sincere and selfless contribution to God the Parent, reflect on our minds, and sweep dust from the heart each day. Hinokishin entails dedicating our true sincerity to God the Parent each day. This done, we can find joy in being shown the blessings that accord with our state of mind. The term hinokishin literally means "daily contribution." If implemented properly, hinokishin can allow our minds to receive joy from God the Parent every day.

In the present-day world, there is a tendency to try to achieve maximum results from minimum effort. Generally, people want more comfort and less hard work. Yet such tendencies foster conflict, which unfortunately is a characteristic of our world now.

Ultimately, fighting will not enable anyone to be victorious. Our teaching encourages us to come to a genuine conviction of the truth of the teachings, engage in self-reflection, and replace the mind, so that the joy of life can be experienced and savored.

Such joy, indeed, characterizes the path leading to the Joyous Life. Let all of us, therefore, spiritedly give full expression to our attitude of hinokishin, reflecting it to the world around us.

By performing actions that are free of greed, we can gradually return to the original joyousness of the mind that we had when God created us. If we experience perfect freedom from greed even for a minute or an hour each day, joy and brightness will in time become an integral part of our lives without us even noticing. So wonderful and precious is hinokishinn. Let all of us, therefore, make an honest and sincere effort to have more people than ever before take part in Hinokishin Day, making this event truly worthy of the year of Oyasama's 120th Anniversary.

Thank you for listening.

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