On January 25, Tenrikyo Young Men’s Association held its monthly meeting at Yoki Hall. The meeting was attended by chapter chairmen from directly supervised churches and dioceses as well as members of the steering committee.
This year, the association will continue to promote the same guideline as last year, “Purifying our minds each day,” with a newly added sub-guideline, “Having less dust and more sincerity.”
At the meeting, Association President Daisuke Nakayama took the podium to address the participants. He began by describing a way to purify our minds each day. As an example, he referred to dealing with difficulties encountered in daily life—such as illnesses, troubles, and things beyond our control—and explained the process of holding dialogues based on the teachings and trying to have less dust and more sincerity. He then spoke about how important it is to implement this process in our everyday life.
President Nakayama went on to elaborate the key ideas involved in the aforementioned process. He said that it is important to recognize our dusts of the mind when we are facing challenges provided by God the Parent such as illnesses and troubles. He said that we should also talk about how the direction of our mind has changed as a result of having dialogues based on the teachings of “a thing lent, a thing borrowed” and the “eight dusts.”
He moved on to explain that the purpose of exerting our sincerity—to help others in our salvation work, for example—is ultimately to make repayment to God for the constant providence rather than simply to help the people we are working with. He then encouraged members to not only reflect on the mistaken use of the mind that accumulates dusts but also implement acts of sincerity while remembering to focus on God.
President Nakayama concluded his address by urging the association members to stay mindful of the teachings of “a thing lent, a thing borrowed” and the “eight dusts” and enjoy purifying their minds each day in the second year of the pre-anniversary period.
After the president’s address, Association Chairman Masazumi Yasui announced that posters and logos regarding the activity guidelines are downloadable on the association’s website. He also mentioned that this year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Oyasato Construction Young Men’s Association Hinokishin Corps and asked for the members’ cooperation to increase the number of corps members.