God in Truth

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God in Truth is a common gloss of either:

  1. 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)
  2. shinjitsu no Kami (kanji: 真実の神 hiragana: しんじつのかみ)

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

External links

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. 「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.