Tenrikyo Ofudesaki  - Sincere About Desiring This Path To Be -

Sincerely and deeply pondering the workings of one's own mind, with the sincere intention of returning it to its original pristine condition, is the central method of the "service" or work of intentionally awakening to the true origin of one's mind, the truth of self and of all things in detail. Which is nice except there are many intelligent people that don't know what that means.

To ponder, I believe, means to think seriously about something. Pondering deeply means to get to the bottom of whatever is being thought about. What then to make of ponder everything from your "innermost heart"? "Innermost heart" is not an object it is a metaphor for the original consciousness that our self-images and truths of the world have accumulated on.

Our original parental mind works to show us the way to ponder deeply from our innermost heart by continually hastening us to identify both our imagination and its conscious origin and then deeply ponder the ramifications of what has been revealed by those identifications. This is not big intellectual stuff. Everybody who is alive has a self-centered imagination and because they are alive they are also conscious. We are just not used to thinking about the origin and workings of our self-centered imagination and so the topic might at first seem awkward or strange. We are however encouraged to give the pondering a try, perhaps in doing so, "planting a seed" for the promise of good things to come in the future. Pondering deeply is free, painless and great fun once one gets the hang of it. Take a moment right now and identify your imagination. It is your mental voice. Now be aware of who hears it.

Section IVa Guides