Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto
Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto くにとこたちのみこと is one of the “ten aspects of God’s providence.” It appears first on a list of sacred names in Chapter Four of The Doctrine of Tenrikyo. It represents the protection of the eyes and fluids in the human body as well as water in the world at large.[1]
Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto, together with Omotari-no-Mikoto is regarded as representing the primary male and female aspects of God the Parent.[2] They are both explicitly mentioned in Ofudesaki verse 16:12:
Listen! This origin is the venerable Kunitokotachi and Omotari.
Contents
Sacred name
The sacred name Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto has an antecedent in the Nihon Shoki and is written with the kanji 国常立尊.[3] (It may be noted that Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto is usually written as くにとこたちのみこと in Tenrikyo literature.)
One explanation in the Tenrikyo tradition asserts that Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto was named so because this Kami stood (tachi) to survey the landscape (Kunitoko) before consulting with Hi-sama (Omotari-no-Mikoto) about the prospect of creating human beings.[2] [4] Another explanation says this sacred name signifies “to work standing (tachi) on a basis or foundation (Kunitoko).[5]
Representation in the Kagura Service
In the Kagura Service, the position of Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto is reserved for the Shinbashira.[6] The Shinbashira stands in the north wearing a male lion mask with an open mouth and white hair. A sash hanging from the mask is fastened to the wrist of the dancer representing Taishokuten-no-Mikoto.[7]
Form in the muddy ocean
According to a narrative of the Divine Record written by Isaburo Masui, in the muddy ocean Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto came in the form of a giant dragon (tairyu) with a single head and a single tail.[8]
Form in the heavens
Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto is represented in the heavens at the Moon.[8]
Ura-shugo or “indirect explanation of the divine providence”
Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto is associated with Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism and Senju, the Thousand-Armed Kannon (Avalokiteśvara).[8]
External links
- Encyclopedia of Shinto: Kunitokotachi
- Wikipedia: Kunitokotachi
- Wikipedia: Shakyamuni
- A to Z Photo Dictionary Japanese Buddhist Statuary: Shaka Nyorai
- Wikipedia: Thousand-armed Kannon
Notes/references
- ↑ The Doctrine of Tenrikyo, pp. 30–31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 『改訂 天理教事典』Kaitei Tenrikyo jiten, p. 294.
- ↑ 天理教青年会資料調査班 Tenrikyo Seinenkai Shiryochosa-han. 「教祖伝史料の検討『中山みきノート批判』」“Oyasama-den shiryo no kento: Nakayama Miki kenkyu noto hihan.” 『あらきとうりよう』 Arakitoryo 149 (Fall 1987), p. 233.
- ↑ Yamazawa 1881 poetic version of the Divine Record, verses 2–4.
- ↑ Kontani, Hisanori. My Lecture on the Koki, the Divine Record, p. 25.
- ↑ Morishita, Saburo S. Teodori: Cosmological Building and Social Consolidation in a Ritual Dance, p. 123.
- ↑ Tenrikyo: The Path to Joyousness, p. 151.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 中山正善 Nakayama Shozen. 『こふきの研究』 Koki no kenkyu, pp. 116.
