私は信仰的には、天理教の信者であります。それで、今日、JR松山駅で、路傍講演を行いました。
今回は、たまたま、英語でスピーチすることとなりました。以下はその原稿です。
実際の音声は、FACEBOOKの「伊藤和夫」の本日の投稿欄で聞いてください。
発音の未熟さから、わかりにくい箇所がいくつかあります。
A roadside speech
Good morning ladies and gentlemen visiting here. Now, I’d like to talk about a religion I believe in. So, for some time, feeling at home, please listen to me.
There are lots of religions in the world. A genuine religion is what leads people to their enlightenment and their happiness. Among such genuine religions there is a religion which I believe in. It is Tenrikyo, which was founded in 1838, in the later period of the Edo Era, around 180 years ago,.
According to its teachings, God the Parent created this world from an original chaos of a muddy ocean, and also created us human beings in order to see them live their joyous lives and share in that joy. Thus all human beings are originally brothers and sisters because they are all created by the same God the Parent. Then we should help each other to realize joyous lives. We can say that the purpose or ultimate goal of us human beings in this world is to live a joyous life, a life full of joy.
However, in reality, there are lots of sufferings for us human beings. Some suffer from diseases and others face various kinds of problems in their daily lives. It is in such a severe situation that people should know the true meaning of their living in this world. People did not come to this world by their own power and with their own wish. People do not live their lives by their own power. But, they were born by a greater existence, and they are protected by a greater existence to live their daily lives.
Now, I’d like to show you an essence of the thinking of Tenrikyo’s believers. The bottom line is that “The human body is a thing borrowed from God the Parent, and the mind alone is our own. So the key to receiving blessings from God is how we use our mind.”
So, we, the followers of this path, are thinking in our daily lives of how to use our mind. We are not always perfect, so we have to sweep away accumulated dust of the mind. Selfish uses of the mind, which are not in accord with God’s intention, are referred to as dust. As pointers on how to notice such kind of dust in the mind, the following eight dusts have been cited, that is, miserliness, covetousness, hatred, self-love, grudge-bearing, anger, greed, and arrogance.
Around 110 years ago, in the middle of the Meiji Era, my grandfather began to believe in this teaching, triggered by a serious problem he had to face. In those days, his new-born babies had died one after another. When disappointed by his successive sad incidents, he had a chance to hear about the teaching of Tenrikyo. He came to understand the teachings and his faith has been handed down to my father and then to me. Since that time, more than 100 years has passed. And I exist now like this. I am now living a happy life.
If you are suffering from illnesses or other problems, or you know someone who is in such a situation, please visit your nearby church of Tenrikyo, and have a chance to hear about the teaching.
Thank you very much for your listening.
