Falsehood

Falsehood is the standard gloss for the Scriptural term uso うそ. Often paired with flattery, it is a use of the mind in addition to the eight dusts followers are warned against having. The Besseki Lectures say that falsehood and flattery “point to an insincere mind—however sweet our spoken words may sound.”

It may be noted that a more common translation for uso in non-Tenrikyo texts is “lie.”

Appearances of “uso” in the Ofudesaki

There are two distinctive ways in which “uso” is used in the Ofudesaki. First, it appears in verses that either describe or warn against readers’ tendency to have doubted God’s words and considered them false. Examples of this use are:

• Ofudesaki 01:042
• Ofudesaki 03:024
• Ofudesaki 06:043
• Ofudesaki 06:103
• Ofudesaki 13:075
• Ofudesaki 13:096

“Falsehood” as misuse of the mind

“Uso” referring to a misuse of the mind appears in the following verses:

• Ofudesaki 12:111
• Ofudesaki 12:112
• Ofudesaki 12:113

External links

• Online version of excerpt “Falsehood and flattery” from Dust and Innen by Kikuo Tanaka.
• Online version of excerpt “Falsehood and flattery (uso to tsuisho)” from Words of the Path by Yoshikazu Fukaya, pp. 77–8.