"Muddy, Becoming" (Nigoru)

The Scriptures often liken the mind to water and use such words as "muddy," "turbid," and "murky" to describe negative states of mind.

The Ofudesaki stresses the need to purify the "muddy water" (II:25; III:7-9, 65-66), saying, for example:

From now on, I shall speak in the metaphor of water. Be enlightened by the words "clear" and "muddy."

Truly, the hastening in the mind of God is to put in the central pillar quickly.

Though I desire to put in the pillar quickly, I cannot find where to put it because of the muddy water.

III:7-9

One characteristic of water is that it can easily become cloudy or muddy, although with time it may become clear again. What is important is to pay attention to the mind. We read in the Ofudesaki and the Divine Directions:

Though it is springwater that fills the pond in the high mountains, yet at its spout, it is mixed with mud.

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

Ofudesaki II:25-26

I shall explain by using the metaphor of a well, a deep well. Completely clear water will not become muddy so long as it is left alone. Completely muddy water is undrinkable. . . . When the time for muddiness comes, things can be impossibly difficult. The world can become muddy.

Osashizu, March 17, 1894

Saying that water will become turbid if mud is put into it, the Scriptures caution against allowing any muddiness into the mind.

Ponder this: no matter how clear the water may be, if you put mud into it, it will become turbid.

Ofudesaki III:65

It will not do to mix extraneous things into the path. Mixing them is like mixing mud into water. Muddy water is not drinkable.

Osashizu, October 7, 1900

Self-serving, selfish remarks cause muddiness there and muddiness here. If you let muddy water flow, things will become impossibly difficult.

Osashizu, November 20, 1900

This point is particularly important for the Mirror Residence, where, as a number of Divine Directions emphasize, self-serving interpretations must not be given.

If there is cloudiness in the Mirror Residence, it will be impossible to save anyone. If the core becomes muddy, those around it will all become muddy.

Osashizu, July 31, 1889
(cf. February 1, 1897)

If you make a firm resolution not to cause muddiness, it will be good. If you all add mud, saying that things should be done this way or that way, I will refuse to listen to you.

Osashizu, November 21, 1901

(This article was first published in the June 2008 issue of TENRIKYO.)