Tenrikyo Ofudesaki - Nothing to Fear In Doing the Work -
there will be nothing to fear in doing any Service.
This poem appears in a larger contextual theme that is concerned with the twin evils of war and oppression as they occurred in the past in a particular time and place and that theme will be explored when it appears in the Thematic Section.
In this instance we will view this as a stand alone Poem intended to be deeply and sincerely pondered with the intention of hastening the maturity of our own individual state of mind as it presently exists in this time and place. As always, the goal is the completion of any service or work that results in awakening to the truth of origin, the true origin of our mind.
What then, in this time and place might we have to fear in doing any kind of Service?
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Family pressure - One's family might be satisfied with common truths of the world and want you to be too.
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Peer pressure - The same as family pressure but perhaps with a generationally different set of truths of the world.
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Societal pressure - As societies demand a monopoly on the means to do violence, it is at this level that official oppression occurs.
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Imagined brain washing fears or mind damage resulting from the "sweeping of one's mind".
Those are all valid reasons to avoid what we may think of as the Performance of the Service. There are however many kinds of Service or works to prepare the mind to quickly awaken to the truth of its origin. And there is one Service or work in particular that offers complete protection against any of the above efforts to suppress or stop the performance of the Service or work. That one Service or work is the service of deep pondering with the intention of revealing the ever present consciousness that the self-centered imagination appears reflect to and within. It is the completion of that work or Service deep pondering that is hastened in these pages and in these Poems.
The complete protection of course flows from the fact that no one knows what is going on in your own mind as you set out to distinguish the original consciousness from the voices and images of the self-centered imagination. It is entirely between you and God.
of your own and your single-heartedness with God.