Beginning our faith through the guidance of God the Parent, we come to understand the teachings. Settling in our hearts the truth of "a thing borrowed," we gradually clear away the dusts from our minds and gain awareness of our causality. When this is done, the way we see things will change.

The sights and sounds of the world do not change, but our perception of the world--that which is reflected in our minds--changes. The world, which we had imagined to be a world of suffering, now comes to be perceived as a world of joy. When our minds are bright, the world is bright. This is what is meant by the teaching "When your mind is completely purified, then comes paradise."

Our minds, however, are ever changeable. Our minds in the morning are not always the same in the evening. We are affected by events that occur around us, and our minds, bright in the morning, may become darkened by evening. Though once deeply moved by the teachings and determined to be devoted, in time our joyful and bright spirits may wane. There may also be times when, despite having been saved by divine grace, we falter because of some new illness or other troubles. In such circumstances, however, our path of faith is always to reflect on our minds, to understand that all occurrences are from the will of God the Parent, and to live with joy and brightness without allowing our spirits to fall. This way of settling the mind is taught as tanno.

Those of us who advance straight ahead on the path of faith, trusting in the heart of God the Parent, do not succumb to the pains and sufferings that befall us but, rather, because we advance with our eyes fixed directly on the truth behind all events that occur, our pains and sufferings are transformed into joy. When the mind of tanno is thus truly settled, the causality from our previous lives is cancelled. Concerning this, God the Parent taught: "Tanno is accepted as the repentance for the causality from your previous lives."

Tanno is not merely to be resigned nor is it just to persevere. It is to recognize God's parental love in all events and be braced by their occurrence into an ever firmer determination to live joyously each day. Thus, even illness or troubles become nourishment for the mind and they, as knots, afford us the opportunity to make an advance in our faith. This is taught by God the Parent in the words: "From a knot, buds will sprout."

(This article was excerpted from The Doctrine of Tenrikyo, 58-59.)