God in Truth
From Tenrikyo Resource Wiki
God in Truth is a common gloss of either:
- Jitsu no Kami (kanji: 実の神・實の神 hiragana: じつのかみ); often preceded by the phrase "God of Origin" (Moto no Kami)
- shinjitsu no Kami (kanji: 真実の神 hiragana: しんじつのかみ)
Contents
Cultural context
The meaning of the phrase "Jitsu no Kami" may only be fully appreciated in the cultural-historical context of pre-modern Japan. Kami was a generic description of supernatural beings, spirits of deceased persons, or any awe-inspiring phenomenon in general.
It is suspected that with the expression "Jitsu no Kami," Oyasama was asserting that the object of the faith she expounded—Tenri-O-no-Mikoto—to be an "actual Kami" that was not carved from wood or stone. Consider:
- "There is no way for God to be able to speak by entering a Buddhist image made of wood, metal, or stone placed at this Residence. God took the soul of the Parent at creation, caused Her to be born in a human body, and discerned Her mind from heaven."[1]
The expression is said to be a description of God's attribute as "Protector" (shugosha 守護者), or the Source of the so-called "ten aspects of the complete providence" that sustain human bodies and the world at large.[2]
Appearance of "(shin)jitsu no Kami/God in Truth" in Scripture
- Ofudesaki 03:085
- Ofudesaki 03:148
- Ofudesaki 04:035
- Ofudesaki 05:049
- Ofudesaki 06:050 (translated as "true and real God")
- Song Three, verse 10
- Osashizu 1887-04-03
- Osashizu 1887-07L
External links
Notes
- ↑ Oral tradition, as documented by 諸井正一 Moroi Masaichi. 『正文遺韻抄』 Seibun iin shō, pp. ??. Quoted in 矢持辰三 Yamochi Tatsuzo. 『稿本天理教教祖伝入門十講』 Kohon Tenrikyo Oyasama-den nyumon jikko, p. 24 and p. 39.
- ↑ 「親神・天理王命」 "Oyagami/Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto," 『改訂天理教辞典』 Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten, pp. 141–142. For English equivalent, see A Glossary of Tenrikyo Terms, pp. 109–111.
