My Hopes for the Young: Excerpts from the Second Shinbashira’s Talks

The second Shinbashira, Shozen Nakayama, trained young people by telling them, “If someone asks you what kind of teaching Tenrikyo is, you should be able to say, ‘Look at me.’” This volume was compiled to provide a resource for young people wishing to develop their skills in finding joy in life by applying the Tenrikyo teachings.

The author says, “If you listen to your innermost heart, you are certainly able to find joy. . . . [On] days that might be likened to mountains and valleys that you have to cross . . . I suggest you engage in deep self-reflection and thereby sweep your heart clean.” No matter how gloomy things may seem, he says that “one can transform such gloominess into brightness, depending solely on how one handles the mind.”

All passages contained in this volume come from addresses that were delivered by the second Shinbashira before audiences comprising young people on such occasions as the Students Training Course, the path seekers’ seminars, and the Young Men’s Association conventions.

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