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Why is it important to realize and recognize the "causality of origin"?God the Parent created humankind and the world with the intention of seeing us lead the Joyous Life and sharing in our joy. Because of this intention, God has since nurtured and protected us for a long period of time and will always continue to provide for us. This intention, which originally motivated God to create humanity, is the "causality of origin" of all humankind, and the intended purpose of our existence is to lead the Joyous Life. Realizing and recognizing this goal is a prerequisite if we are to accomplish the intention embodied in the causality of origin. This realization is of paramount importance for a proper understanding of the direction in which we should proceed and of the ideal world that we should build. When we fully recognize the causality of origin, we can understand God the Parent's deep parental love for us and fulfill the true way of living.
Why is it important to recognize our individual "causality"?We have ups and downs in our life. There might even be times when we become depressed as a result of our misfortunes. No matter what hard times or sad situations we may face, however, we would do well to understand them as manifestations of our own causality, which God the Parent allows to be shown because of the parental love that desires to save us at all costs. This understanding will enable us to spiritedly get over our difficulties and overcome our misfortunes while feeling a sense of gratitude for God's parental love, thereby ensuring that we achieve a happy life in the future. A clear understanding and recognition of our individual causality is vital if we are to overcome all difficulties and troubles in a positive and spirited frame of mind and open up new possibilities in life. Only after we fully recognize our individual causality can we accept whatever happens with a sense of joy and gratitude, perceiving God the Parent's providence and parental love embodied therein. This perception will then enable us to lead the Joyous Life.
How does the dust of the mind relate to causality?The dust of the mind is our use of mind that does not accord with God the Parent's intention. The term "causality" often refers to an accumulation of this dust or, more specifically, to a condition in which we have accumulated dust to the point where we cannot easily bring the mind back to its original, pure state, however hard we may try to clean our mind or sweep away the dust. In such a condition, we may even carry our causality over to a future life. If we make a consistent effort to reflect on our misuse of the mind in the light of God the Parent's teachings and sweep away the dust of the mind every day, we will not produce negative causality. However, if we neglect to sweep away our dust, we will accumulate it without even being aware that we are doing so until, eventually, God the Parent will have no choice but to allow it to manifest itself in order to alert us to the negative causality we are generating. Such causality is often shown as illness or other troubles. We are encouraged to realize that such an occurrence is a manifestation of God's parental love that desires to save us as soon as possible. If we feel gratitude for the parental love and make efforts joyously and spiritedly to change our negative causality into positive causality, then we can be blessed with the cancellation of our causality.
What are "positive causality" and "negative causality"?"Positive causality" refers to the proper use of the mind, which accords with God the Parent's intention, whereas "negative causality" refers to the misuse of the mind--which, likened to dust, is against God's desire. Through positive causality, we can be blessed with happiness. On the other hand, if we accumulate negative causality, we may encounter misfortunes, illnesses, and disasters, all of which we should see as embodying God the Parent's guidance, care, admonition, or road signs alerting us to our unskillful use of the mind. There is every kind of causation in this world. There is good causation as well as bad causation. Osashizu, July 22, 1895, supp. vol. You talk about causality, causality, but there is positive causality as well as negative causality. Osashizu, September 30, 1898
What will happen if we neglect to sweep away the dust of the mind?We easily accumulate dust in our mind without noticing that we are doing so. Therefore, we should always reflect on our misuse of the mind and sweep it out. If we are negligent in doing so, our mind will become covered with so much dust that we will not be able to sweep it away easily. As a result, we may get caught up in our negative causality, which will prevent us from accepting God the Parent's parental love with an open heart, and we may be beset by problems caused by our own misuse of the mind that is far removed from the Joyous Life. Then we may need to receive God's message through illness or other troubles.
What is "causality of the present life"?Every day, we use our mind in various ways from the time we get up until we go to bed, whether in regard to work or interpersonal relationships. Among these various uses, our misuses of the mind, which do not accord with God the Parent's teachings, have a way of accumulating, much as dust does. If we accumulate dust in our mind and leave it rather than remove it, it will become very hard for us to clear it all. We sometimes call this condition of the mind "causality of the present life." Our causality of the present life may produce its results in our daily life in the form of our own illness and troubles or of what happens to our children who are under fifteen years of age, but such occurrences are intended to hasten our replacement of the mind. (Children's illness and other troubles may also arise from their own causality originating in their previous lives.) Also, the causality of this life may carry over to a future life.
What is "causality from a previous life"?Since the human soul is eternal, we go through births and rebirths in this world. As we do so, some of the dust we accumulate in our mind may not be completely removed within the present lifetime and may be carried over to a future lifetime. When our dust of the mind originating from a previous lifetime produces its results, we sometimes refer to it as "causality from a previous life."
What does it mean to make "repentance for your causality"?Causality arises from the dust of the mind, which goes against God's teachings and does not accord with God's intention. Therefore, making repentance for our causality means to reflect on our misuse of the mind, which has produced our causality, and to clean up and replace our mind. Repentance for causality does not mean merely to apologize to God the Parent for our various misuses of the mind, but to summon the courage to squarely face what is happening with a renewed determination to work out our new destiny. Thus, we may say that repentance for causality is not at all a negative way of thinking but rather an important and positive use of the mind, which will help create new opportunities in life for the future. Repentance for our causality may bring about a full realization that whatever happens embodies God's message coming from the parental love that desires to save us. Repentance can make a significant change in the way we live and think so that we may come to rely entirely on God the Parent and even to live in single-heartedness with God. Thus, it is extremely important for us to make repentance for our causality.
How do you make "repentance for the causality from your previous lives"?Everybody desires to live a happy life, yet things do not always go as we want them to. We are taught that such frustrating occurrences are due to causality. For example, when we find ourselves unable to shake off our bad habits or difficult temperament, hard as we may try to, or when we cannot seem to be successful in anything we do, it is important for us first to reflect on our way of living as well as our use of the mind--taking a critical look at whether or not we have misused our mind and accumulated dust in our mind. We should thus search for the cause of any given problem. However, if all our attempts fail to find the cause in our way of living or our use of the mind, then we would do well to understand that it may come from the dust and causality from our previous lives, and to cultivate the mind of joyous acceptance (tanno). We are taught, "Joyous acceptance in an unacceptable situation will be accepted as the repentance for the causality from your previous lives." Joyous acceptance never indicates resigning oneself to or putting up with a situation that one finds unpleasant. Rather, it means to recognize whatever is happening as embodying God's parental love and let it bring a greater sense of joy and spiritedness into our life. We are taught, "Whatever you see is your causality, and whatever you hear is also your causality." Thus, we can become aware of our causality from previous lives by pondering over occurrences that arise in our lives. In addition, we are taught, "I bring you together according to the causality of your previous lives and protect you." This implies that we can recognize our causality from previous lives by reflecting deeply on the lives of our forebears, parents, brothers and sisters, children, and grandchildren. This point is also alluded to by the teaching: "The entire world is a mirror. Each way you have used your mind is reflected in this world." The most important thing for us, in this regard, is to become spirited over any happening by seeing it as a manifestation of God's warm parental love that desires to save us as soon as possible, and thus we ought to settle our mind in joyous acceptance as we lead our daily life. If we consistently make this effort, any bad causation from our previous lives will eventually be canceled and we will be blessed with a brighter future.
What does Tenrikyo teach about "sin" and "punishment"?What is called punishment in matters of religion and belief means to inflict a penalty on someone for a violation of a teaching or commandment. Some religions seem to emphasize the gravity of inherent sin and the severity of deserved punishment. Tenrikyo teaches that, when we go against God the Parent's teachings, misuse our mind, or otherwise deviate from the path, God the Parent will tell us about our mistake through illnesses and other difficulties. This, however, has nothing in common with condemnation, judgment, or punishment. God the Parent provides us with "admonition," "care," and "guidance" out of the parental love that single-heartedly desires to save all of us, God's children. God's act of alerting us to our mistake may be called instructive training. It is an expression of God's parental love in response to our misuse of the mind that is far removed from God's intention. We can accept this expression as a golden opportunity to realize God's parental heart and to be freed from the pain of illnesses and other troubles.
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