Perhaps, it will still take a long time to realize such a world of the Joyous Life for all humankind. Nonetheless, we need to continue our efforts to convey and spread the teachings throughout the world in order to achieve that goal. We also need to work with our own minds to attain a level of spiritual growth that is appropriate for the years we have spent so that we can respond to these words of Oyasama: "[V]irtue is more deeply planted in the second generation than in the first one, and deeper still in the third than in the second" (Anecdotes of Oyasama, no. 90, "Deeper in the Second Generation Than in the First").

As we move steadily forward in the direction of all humankind's Joyous Life, our minds can gradually become pure and clear as well as spirited and brightened. At the same time, the Joyous Life characterized by mutual help will emerge and grow in our families and around us, and it will gradually spread in wider and wider circles.

In my sermon at this year's Spring Grand Service, I touched on a slogan that is jointly promoted by the Women's Association, the Young Men's Association, and the Boys and Girls Association. The slogan says, "Let's visit our churches with our families." I went on to talk about the joyous atmosphere of family togetherness. In my view, whether or not we can enjoy happy family togetherness depends only on the state of mind of each of us. Yet there are many people in the world who are living in ways far removed from the Joyous Life simply because they are unaware of the appropriate use of mind for it. This, I think, means that we need to redouble our own efforts to build a harmonious family marked by unity of mind and mutual help and to set an example for people around us.

We are taught that the relationship between God and human beings is one between the Parent and the children. Thus, all human beings are equal brothers and sisters. As one might expect from this, the teachings of this path often use the analogy of a family. Such teachings are also intended to tell us how our human families ought to be.

This path was taught by God, our Parent, out of God's parental love for us human beings because, being unaware of our true Parent or the true intention of the Parent, we were getting lost, beset by problems, and fighting one another. This path is the path of single-hearted salvation that was opened to save us. God the Parent says that God wants to save all of us, God's children, and lead us to the Joyous Life so that, by seeing us live joyously, God could share in our joy. Such a world in which God and humankind dwell in perfect union can, I think, be called the ultimate family togetherness.

God's parental love, which is singly intent on saving us, was shown to us through the Divine Model that Oyasama demonstrated through Her own example. It was to make the truth of the Divine Model clear and to convey its true essence that The Life of Oyasama, Foundress of Tenrikyo was compiled. Accounts of concrete expressions of Oyasama's parental love in the context of day-to-day living were collected in a volume called Anecdotes of Oyasama, the Foundress of Tenrikyo. Through these books we are able to study the Divine Model of Oyasama.

To achieve a happy family togetherness, the harmony and unity of mind between husband and wife is indispensable. The weighty truth of husband and wife is concisely taught through the song for the Service that starts with the phrase "Choto hanashi," or "Just a word" (Mikagura-uta, section two), as well as the hand movements that go with it. Husband and wife represent the truth of the embrace of heaven and earth. We are taught that the truth of husband and wife reflects the truth of how the models of man and woman worked in unity of mind to conceive the original number of humans, thereby enabling the first step to be taken toward the Joyous Life World.

These days, concerns are often expressed that the weakening ties of husband and wife are bringing about the collapse of the family, adversely affecting children, and by extension undermining the basic fabric of society. I am sure many of you who are engaging in salvation work and dealing with all kinds of situations in your daily lives are fully aware of how things are. We can say that those of us who are Yoboku have an extremely important role to play in present-day society as we are taught the particular importance of the husband-wife relationship in this regard.

Concerning how all human beings are brothers and sisters, the Ofudesaki says:

All of you throughout the world are brothers and sisters. There should be no one called an outsider.

Ofudesaki XIII:43

More than anything else, what brings joy to God the Parent is for us brothers and sisters to help one another. Conversely, nothing would cause greater pain or sorrow to God than to see us brothers and sisters bickering or quarreling, let alone fighting.

Regarding those of us who are fellow followers of the path in particular, God the Parent tells us that we are "brothers and sisters among brothers and sisters" (Osashizu, May 9, 1898), so mutual help among followers is something that we must make it a priority to implement. Through our own mutual help, I hope we can set an example for people around us so that the circle of mutual help will expand further and further.

As we have seen, the teachings of this path include various pointers on how to address issues involving the family. Not only should we use them to help us settle our own families, but we should also share them with others around us since there are many people who have emotional turmoil and anxieties over issues between husband and wife or parents and children. In this way, I hope we will be able to reach out to such people and help them.

Our civilizations have achieved amazing advances. Yet it seems to me that, far from making any progress on mutual help, the world has become a place of competition and conflict with no sense of security or comfort where people are constantly caught up in their immediate concerns and guided by the thought that all is well so long as things are well for oneself.

I think that the primary reason for this is that people have lost sight of the reliable guide for their minds, so that they are unable to look at things through a long-term perspective or ponder over things from a broad point of view.

Living as we do in this day and age, even those of us who are followers may not entirely be free from worry or insecurity or from feeling trapped with no way out. Even those who have spent many years in the faith and families who have been in the faith for a number of generations may find that difficult knots could make their minds depressed. However, Oyasama teaches:

If only the mind is purified completely, there will be nothing but delight in everything.

Ofudesaki XIV:50

Oyasama says that, if the mind becomes completely pure and clear, we can take delight in absolutely anything, whatever it is. Moreover, She says in the Mikagura-uta:

Greed is fathomless like muddy water. When your mind is completely purified, Then comes paradise.

Mikagura-uta X:4

This verse tells us that the cause of pain and suffering is greed, which is insatiable.

Oyasama has provided us with the teaching of joyous acceptance, or tanno. The basic meaning of this term is sufficiency and satisfaction. If we are to contentedly and thankfully accept something that would ordinarily never bring us joy, we need to ponder over its meaning based on the teachings.

Whenever we encounter a difficult knot, we should ponder over its meaning; otherwise, it will only be a cause of pain and suffering. If we sweep dust from our minds, purify our minds, and ponder deeply from various perspectives, the truth behind whatever is happening may settle in our minds. If that takes place, we can accept whatever is happening with joy from the depths of our minds and be blessed with having buds sprout from the knot. I believe that the Joyous Life so desired by God the Parent refers to the state of the world in which, even when painful situations arise, people are able to implement joyous acceptance as well as help one another overcome such difficulties.

I hope that those of us Yoboku who have heard the intention of God the Parent always try to find joy in our daily lives through steadily implementing the teachings so that we may savor the Joyous Life. I hope, moreover, that we will be able to impart the joy we have thus acquired to as many people as possible while continuing our steps of single-hearted salvation towards the Joyous Life of all humankind.

I now want to close my remarks today by asking all of you to continue working spiritedly to that end. Thank you very much for listening.

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