What is salvation work? In a recent lecture by a Tenrikyo reverend, he considered salvation work as anything that helps others. Even helping someone carry his or her suitcase may be considered salvation work. According to him, a smile can be considered to be salvation work. But is this really salvation work? Does helping and elderly person cross the street be considered salvation work? Can making someone feel good be considered salvation work? The answer may be no. This path of salvation may be directed inwards to the helper and not outward to the individual he or she is trying to help.
There are people who go door to door spreading the truth of their religion, believing that they can save souls. Their persistence can even make others uncomfortable, even to the level of arousing anger. By the reverend’s definition of salivation, this cannot be considered salvation work. But which ideology is correct?
What is salvation? In the Heaven’s Truth Church (Tenrikyo), salvation involves the removal of evil (greed, arrogance, and self love) from one’s heart. This by the principle of causality will bring upon joy to the individual. But true joy is shared joy. How do we go about the process of sharing our joy? This is where salvation comes into play. It is the process of disseminating God’s truth to the world.
In our religion, God has given us a special prayer (Joyous Service) which performed with true sincerity, will bring upon individuals to our churches; we can then teach them God’s truth of causality, and teach them about the evils (greed, arrogance, and self love) that we must sweep from our minds to bring forth a joyous future.
Salvation begins with the purification of one’s mind of evil (greed, arrogance, and self love), and the performance of our special prayer (Joyous Service). With the acceptance of our prayer, God will bring others to us, so we can share our joy. True joy is shared joy. Shared joy will bring upon a joyous world. Smiling, and philanthropy are all attributes to one’s salvation, but we must tell others the reasoning why the sweeping of evil from our minds is paramount in seeking the joyous world. This is why God has given us this special prayer that will eventually save the world.
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