May I begin by expressing my deep appreciation to all of you for attending today's Autumn Grand Service despite the inclement weather. May I also thank you most sincerely for putting your hearts into performing the tasks of the path in various parts of the world. We have been able to duly perform the Kagura Service and the Dance with Hand Movements. I would like to take this opportunity to invite us to reflect anew on God the Parent's intention behind the Teaching's day of origin and take it to heart once again, so that we can embark on the next steps of single-hearted salvation with a fresh mind. May I have your attention for a while.

In October 1838, God the Parent declared:

I am God of Origin, God in Truth. There is causality in this Residence. At this time I have descended here to save all humankind. I wish to receive Miki as the Shrine of God.

The Life of Oyasama

With these words, God the Parent became openly revealed in this world.

Oyasama's husband, Zenbei, and others who were present were astonished at this totally unforeseen revelation and tried every argument to refuse God's request. Zenbei explained that his home was a busy one where the children were still very young and begged God to go to someone else's home, saying that there were other respectable homes. God, however, refused to budge and said: "Whoever may come, God will not retire. It is natural that you are filled with anxieties at present, but after twenty or thirty years have passed, a day is sure to come when all of you will admit the truth of My intention." God also said: "You shall do as God of Origin wills and comply with My demand. I shall save all humankind if you will listen to Me; but if you should object to it, I shall destroy this house so completely that not a trace of it will remain." Thus God strongly urged Zenbei to comply.

In those words spoken by God, we can sense God's firm determination to do whatever it takes to open the Teaching for world salvation by settling Oyasama as the Shrine of God at that moment in that Residence. At the same time, we find God understanding people's thoughts and feelings, telling them about the delight that lies ahead, explaining the great and indispensable mission, and urging them to make the decision.

With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that the event I have just described was based on the promise God made during the creation of humankind?which is to say that the event took place at the conjunction of the causalities of time, person, and place, namely at the arrival of the Promised Time, through Oyasama as the Shrine because She had the causality of the Soul of the Mother during creation, and at Jiba of Origin, where humanity was conceived. Yet how great Zenbei's agony must have been since there was no way for him to know any of this!

During the three-day dialogue between God and humans, Oyasama conveyed God the Parent's intention without any rest or sleep until, eventually, She looked as though Her life was in danger. Thus, on the morning of October 26, Zenbei finally forsook all his concerns for himself and his family and said: "I offer Miki to You." This marked the beginning of the ultimate teaching for world salvation.

The Teaching's day of origin is the starting point of this path. It is to mark that day of origin that we perform the Monthly Service on the 26th of every month. Regarding the Spring Grand Service, which is performed on January 26, a passage from the Divine Directions says:

[C]oncerning the twenty-sixth, the principle of the founding and that of the ending are one in truth.

Osashizu, February 29, 1896

This passage, I believe, tells us that the events on October 26, 1838, and January 26, 1887, both came from God's parental love for the children, or human beings, and that the two events are therefore one in truth.

The Service performed on the 26th represents with hand gestures the workings through which God created humankind in the hope of taking delight in the Joyous Life; it is a Service in which we pray for the reconstruction of the world. If we seek the significance of the day of origin of the Teaching, we arrive at the creation of humanity and, if we inquire into the Parent's intention behind creation, we can orient ourselves in the direction of humankind's Joyous Life, which is what our future holds.

With Oyasama being settled as the Shrine of Tsukihi on the Teaching's day of origin, the reason for the creation of humankind was revealed and the goal toward which human beings ought to work was made clear.

Because the origin exists, our faith exists. The origin is eternal and unchanging. Because it is unchanging, it can serve as a secure, dependable guide for us in the face of the rapid and bewildering changes occurring in the world. Although we tend to get caught up in our own immediate concerns in the course of daily life, I believe we must not forget to return our thoughts to the origin and reconfirm our understanding of it at each important juncture and as occasion arises. In this way, we must make sure we are on a secure footing as well as remind ourselves of our ultimate goal.

I quote from the Ofudesaki:

I am God of Origin, who began the human beings of this world. Yet there may be no one who knows Me.

This time, I teach single-hearted salvation, beginning once more that which never existed.

Ofudesaki III:15, 17

I shall do marvelous things, the same as My beginning of this world.

I shall begin a Service which has never existed since I began this world, and assuredly settle the world.

Ofudesaki VI:7?8

Further, we read:

Even until now, I have told you that now is the beginning of this world, yet no one knows what I mean.

Ofudesaki VII:35

These verses tell us that God of Origin, who created humankind and the world, has become openly revealed in this world to teach the path of single-hearted salvation and that, through the Kagura Service, which represents with hand gestures God the Parent's workings during creation, we are able at the present time to receive the same providence that enabled creation to take place--the providence that will settle this world. Just as God created humankind and the world in the muddy ocean for the purpose of the Joyous Life, so the Teaching's day of origin is a starting point for reconstructing this world that is like the muddy ocean into the world of the Joyous Life.

If we consider the Teaching's day of origin as the starting point where humankind began to walk the path to true salvation after coming into contact with God the Parent's intention for the first time, then the starting point for our individual journey of faith can be said to be the day of origin when each of us embraced the faith. The situation on our own day of origin--when we were drawn to this path after suffering from illness or other problems or losing sight of the dependable guide for our mind and being beset by worries or anxieties--can indeed be compared to the chaotic world at the time of the founding of the Teaching, when humankind was wandering in darkness, relying only on the self-centered imagination, as no one knew the true Parent. The mind that is covered in dust--the mind that is likened to muddy water--can gradually be purified and allow us to see the Parent's intention if we come to understand the truth taught in the teachings and put it into practice, as we are told in the Ofudesaki:

When you calm your mind step by step and ponder, it will change into clear water.

Ofudesaki II:26

Day by day, your innermost heart will be purified and understanding will come. You will come to see the truth as you mature.

Ofudesaki VI:15

In addition, as we grow spiritually, we can move from the mind that only desires our own salvation to the mind that wants to work for the salvation of others.

Further, it is God the Parent's desire that the teachings gradually spread throughout the world so that this world may be transformed as described in these Ofudesaki verses:

If only human beings throughout the world have purified their minds and lead lives joyously. . .

Ofudesaki VII:109

Hereafter, if all of you throughout the world save one another in every matter,

Ofudesaki XII:93

In other words, God's desire is for the world to be reconstructed as the true world of the Joyous Life.

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