Tenrikyo-Ofudesaki - Sure Guides- Distinguishing the State of Our Mind
The
state of our mind is distinguished, "tasting its flavor" by our original
parental consciousness. Using the metaphor of "water" we can easily
understand the meaning and truth of the state of our own mind by the words
"clear" or "muddy". A "clear" mind being a mind that sees and
experiences the world clearly and directly, as it is; do that now. As
opposed to a "muddy" mind that sees and experiences the world through a lens
of self centered thinking and the "truths of the world" that are built upon
the insecure foundations of accumulated - like mud at the bottom of a pond
or river or dust on a mirror- imagined self-centered truths.
As we proceed we will also touch on other metaphors that describe this same distinction, such as Nihon (native) and Kara (alien) - Fire (consciousness) and Water (imagination) - Moon (imagined changing light) and Sun (original eternal consciousness light). Each of these metaphoric relationships are extended into allegorical themes in the poems but they all have the same intended meaning of revealing the one origin of the mind and the original cause of all things in detail.
from those which are concerned only with the self.