Everliving Oyasama

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Everliving Oyasama is the standard English gloss for (go-)zonmei no Oyasama (ご)存命の教祖. Among being one of the so-called three roles of Oyasama, it refers to the central Tenrikyo belief that Oyasama remains alive and continues to work for the salvation of humankind, albeit without a physical form. Also called the “truth of the everliving Oyasama” ((go-)zonmei no Oyasama no ri (ご)存命の教祖の理).

The notion of Oyasama being “everliving” is connected with the sacrament of the Sazuke that is ultimately said to be granted by the virtue of her “everliving truth.” The current Shinbashira Zenji Nakayama once noted:

“[T]he many instances of wondrous salvation that occur through the administration of the Sazuke, which began to be bestowed widely following Her withdrawal, provide the most powerful evidence for the workings of the everliving Oyasama.”[1]

Analysis of “zonmei”

Zonmei is a Japanese word that merely means “living” and “currently alive.”[2]

Appearances/frequency of “zonmei” in Scripture

See Also

External links

Notes

  1. Sermons and Addresses by the Shinbashira 1996–2005, p. 226–7. (Spring Grand Service, January 26, 2003)
  2. For examples of modern usage of this term, see ALC: 存命.
  3. 『おふでさき索引』 Ofudesaki sakuin, p. 172.
  4. 『おさしづ索引』 Osashizu sakuin, pp. 1309–10 (vol. 2, pp. 439–40).