The Joyous Life is a life pervaded by ever refreshing joy and filled with an exhilarating sense of inner delight. It is a life full of happiness.

In the beginning, when God the Parent created humankind and the world, the intention was to see us live the Joyous Life and to share in our joy. The Joyous Life, therefore, is the ultimate goal of human existence.

Happiness does not depend on material abundance or one's outward environment or social position. Regardless of what the circumstances are, we can always find true happiness and fulfillment in life if we make it a practice to maintain the brightness, spiritedness, and joyousness of the mind each day. One vital ingredient of this practice is a keen awareness of how blessed we are to be alive--which is possible only through God's providence--and how precious it is to be able to use the body, which is a "thing lent by God, a thing borrowed." This awareness may be regarded as the foundation for the Joyous Life.

Another key to living joyously is mutual help and respect grounded in universal brotherhood. Not only were the first human beings conceived and given birth by God, but all people throughout the world have always been and continue to be provided for and sustained by God, the Parent of all humanity. All human beings are, indeed, the children of the same Parent and are thus brothers and sisters. As such, we would do well to respect and help one another if we are to savor the Joyous Life in the true sense of the word. The selfish perspective that all is well as long as things are well for oneself alone and that enjoyment is to be pursued even at the cost of causing others inconvenience or trouble will not lead to the Joyous Life. Even if we enjoy ourselves for a time, living from such a perspective is bound to harm us and cause us suffering, for no one lives in complete isolation.

An important aspect of helping others is to share joy and delight with them. If we are to realize the Joyous Life, helping others needs to be done in the attitude of joy and gratitude that comes from the knowledge that all human beings live constantly in God the Parent's warm embrace. Trying to help others in this manner--which will lead to one's own salvation as well--will allow boundless peace, brightness, and delight to pervade all our lives. God the Parent will then take delight in seeing our mutual help and respect that are underpinned by such a sense of joy and gratitude. This, indeed, is one way in which the true Joyous Life--in which God and humankind, that is, the Parent and children, dwell in perfect union--can be brought to realization.

Tenrikyo is the path to the Joyous Life taught by none other than God the Parent--humanity's Parent of Origin--who became openly revealed to teach it. We can have absolute confidence in this path.