Tenrikyo Ofudesaki - Dust Completely Swept Away-
The
use of the word "dust" as a metaphor for the state of the human mind, the
self-centered imagination that does not know or understand the truth of its
origin; provides us with a simple yet major instructional tool for anyone
who would like to quickly awaken, as if from a dream, to the true origin of
the mind and universal single-hearted salvation or the salvation of all
kinds and all circumstances.
The dust will disappear as if you were dreaming.
When this dust is completely swept away,
nothing will remain but universal salvation.
The "universal salvation" that is spoken of here is the "yorozu no tasuke ichijo" or salvation of all kinds given to a human mind that has quickly and sincerely settled or swept away the self-centered imagination just long enough and sincerely enough to be aware of the original conscious state that remains. The common human experience of waking up from a dream should be called to mind and pondered as it provides a valuable insight into the speed and intended outcome of a mind in which the self-centered imagination is completely swept away.
There are poems that provide examples of various kinds of dusts that rise up inhabit the self-centered imagination. The common way of the world takes these examples as the foundations for moral ethical teachings of the kind that our original parent taught us in the early childhood of our species. Trying to deal with those dusts one at a time and day after day can be compared to cutting leaves from a branch. After each cut two more grow in the same place. This new, uncommon and direct teaching and instruction is concerned with the way to quickly and completely "dig up the root" and in so doing completely sweep away all of the dusts revealing the original conscious heart and core of the human mind.
Take a moment now and identify the dreaming self-centered imagination. It is the voice of the mind's eye. Look closely at it. It will dissolve and go away. What remains is original truth of self. The true origin of the self-centered imagination.
