Tenrikyo Ofudesaki - Magical Rites -

When we follow the instruction to look at and ponder the long journey of human development we find that indeed for most of our human past, from all over the world and through all ages, our species  has relied on magical and supernatural causes to explain the existence of various evils, such as illness, death, weakening, warfare, earthquakes, tsunamis and other experiences that have troubled or frightened us. We, as a species, like an answer to the question "why is this happening to me?"  and for millennia supernatural causes and magical solutions and cures offered us the best explanations and remedies for our time, place and level of maturity.

In numerous cases in our past, ritual magical rites and supernatural interventions have been understood as both the causes of and the desired effective relief that we long and pray for. In many cases we have received the relief that we prayed or paid for while in others we didn't. In either case there have been supernatural explanations offered to match the outcomes. Now, at this time in the development of our species, we have been instructed to forget about that whole approach and to move forward and advance our maturity by instead employing a point of view that is based on the fundamental truth of origin, the true origin of our mind.

The Poems above unpack a totally different understanding and point of view through the use of the metaphor "branches" or as in some translations "twigs". Both translations work for me: "branches" calling to mind the diversity of the human species while the use of "twigs" brings to mind new, immature and delicate growth. Both are dependent upon the "root" for their appearance and continued existence and it is the revelation of that "root" at the heart and core of the human mind that this teaching is all about.

That "Root", "Core", "Heart", "Original Cause" is here now. It is the consciousness that is reflecting the reading of this.

Sure Guides: Section IVf