Virtues
Eight Mental Dusts
Tenrikyo's eight recurring misuses of mind: miserliness, covetousness, hatred, self-love, grudge-bearing, anger, greed and arrogance.
- Tradition or school
- Tenrikyo
- Framework type
- Virtues
- Authority classification
- Traditional
- Observance
- Mixed requirements
- Research status
- Identified for research
- Origin period
- Nineteenth-century Tenrikyo teaching
- Origin region
- Japan
- Attributed origin
- Teachings of Nakayama Miki, known in Tenrikyo as Oyasama
- Intended audience
- Tenrikyo followers, with broader reflective application
- Published constituent items
- 8
- Last reviewed
- 28 June 2026
Names and terminology
Alternative names: Eight Dusts of the Mind
Primary texts and authority
Tenrikyo teachings and official explanatory literature concerning the dusts of the mind.
Rules, principles or steps
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Miserliness
Do not cling to resources or effort when reasonable generosity and responsibility are called for.
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Covetousness
Recognise and restrain possessive desire for what belongs to others.
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Hatred
Challenge sustained hostility that dehumanises others.
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Self-love
Avoid self-centred concern that disregards the equal needs of others.
-
Grudge-bearing
Do not preserve resentment as a continuing desire for retaliation.
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Anger
Regulate anger so that it informs rather than controls action.
-
Greed
Restrain excessive acquisition and appetite.
-
Arrogance
Avoid inflated status claims and contempt for others.
Historical development
The metaphor compares harmful mental habits to dust that can accumulate but can also be repeatedly swept away through reflection and corrected conduct.
Variations
English translations vary slightly in rendering the individual dusts.
Traditional interpretation
The dusts are not treated as an essentially evil human nature but as correctable misuses of mind that obstruct the Joyous Life.
Controversies and disputes
Religious claims connecting mental states, illness and causality require careful distinction from evidence-based medical explanation.
Truth By Reason analysis
The metaphor encourages self-examination and change rather than permanent condemnation. It is ethically useful when it does not blame people for illness or excuse external injustice.
Ethical themes
Sources
- Tenrikyo — Dusts of the Mind Mainstream secondary source