Talk:Ofudesaki (Tenrikyo)

This page is very unclear and seems to overly praise Ofudesaki. I'm having problems making sense of it myself. -- Hiyayaywhopee 03:06, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

The poems collected in seventeen books called "Ofudesaki",The Tip of the writing Brush are intended to be a model for showing tested and sure ways to quickly return the mind to its original pristine condition.

I tried to fix the more blatent advertising/proslatizing in this article, mostly by rewording the sections that claimed that Ofudeseki/Tenrikyo was superior to other religions. -- Mastim 24.217.180.180 17:54, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

I am at least one of the authors of the article on the Ofudesaki "Tip of the Writing Brush". Navagating through this encyclopedia is difficult for me and perhaps I am too old for learning this new trick but I will try to add some clarity to the article on the Ofudesaki that I posted. I attempted to respond to Hiyayaywhopee before but ended up confusing things even more by not being able to appear as anyone but Hiyayaywhopp. Concerning the editorial comments above I should like to add a couple of comments. First: The poems are indeed difficult to understand as they make clear that a superficial (common worldly) interpretation of them is not intended. In fact their entire meaning can only be grasped by a mind that can clearly distinguish between things as they originally are and things as we imagine them to be. The poems then make a case for making that distinction and promote various methods for making one's mind able to do so.

Second: There was no Tenrikyo Religion in existence when the Ofudesaki poems were written nor was there any call for starting one. The poems do not endorse or claim the superiority of any one religion over another. That said, the poems do encourage very active "salvation work". It is true that this amounts to proselytizing however the replacement of one doctrine by another is not the goal of the Ofudesaki poems, it is a product of the misunderstanding that flows from not being able to distinguish between things as they are and things as we imagine them to be. The actual purpose of hastening the "salvation of others" is that it is a method of preparing one's own mind to distinguish between things as they are and as we imgaine them to be. As a method, "the salvation of others" involves constraints that appear very clearly in the Ofudesaki poems. I will mention five such constraints: The truth that is promised is the truth that is known through the "mind like clear water." It is thus not any idea or doctrine, rather it is the original consciousness that makes the appearance and manipulation of ideas possible. Second: All human beings have an equal affinity and access to the "truth of origin", the mind in its original pristine condition. Third: That Original Truth, the truth of self, does not discrimintate and makes no distinction between one person and another. All are equally loved and cherished as they are. Fourth: The model for the "salvation of others" is one that works tirelessly at providing ways appropriate for the time, the place and the level of maturity of the person one is trying to help. Fifth and finially: True Sincerity in whatever circumstance is the art that the Ofudesaki poems promotes.

Concerning the Ofudesaki article as an advertisment. It most certainly is an advertisment. The Ofudesaki poems are each advertisments as they, each and every one, have the intention to attract human minds back to the freedom that flows from knowing and understanding the truth of their origin. Thanks for playing. John --70.143.91.190 21:33, 2 September 2006 (UTC)