Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-2
| The Life of Oyasama |
|---|
| Preface |
| Chapter One |
| The Shrine of Tsukihi (1837–1838) |
| Chapter Two |
| The Early History of Oyasama (1798–1837) |
| Chapter Three |
| On the Way (1838–1852), (1853–1854), (1862–1864) |
| Chapter Four |
| The Place for the Service (1864), (1865–1866) |
| Chapter Five |
| The Salvation Service (1866–1882) |
| Chapter Six |
| The Identification of the Jiba (1869–1873), (Jan–Nov 1874), (Dec 1874), (1875), (1876–1877) |
| Chapter Seven |
| Buds Sprout from Knots (1878–1880), (1881) |
| Chapter Eight |
| Parental Love (pp. 121–124), (pp. 124–131), (pp. 132–137), (pp. 137–146), (pp. 146–157), (pp. 157–165), (pp. 165–168) |
| Chapter Nine |
| The Hardships of Oyasama (Jan–Sep 1882), (Oct–Dec 1882), (Jan–Jun 1883), (Jul–Dec 1883), (1884), (1885), (Jan–Apr 1886),(May–Dec 1886) |
| Chapter Ten |
| The Portals Opened (Jan 1–11, 1887), (Jan 12–13, 1887), (Jan 18–Feb 18, 1887) |
Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-2 presents a portion of the contents of Chapter Eight from The Life of Oyasama as published by Tenrikyo Church Headquarters. The title of the chapter is "Parental Love."
Unlike earlier chapters, Chapter Eight offers little information on Oyasama's life. It mainly functions as a summary of the Ofudesaki. The content below is equivalent to pages 124 to 131 of the print edition. The “Note” below is footnote from the print edition.
Note: The print edition of has been split into seven sections on this wiki due to length of text. The chapter is split as follows:
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-1 (pp. 121–124)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-2 (pp. 124–131)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-3 (pp. 132–137)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-4 (pp. 137–146)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-5 (pp. 146–157)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-6 (pp. 157–165)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 8-7 (pp. 165–169)
Contents
Text
The significance of the Ofudesaki
God reveals in the Ofudesaki:
This is a world constructed on reason. So I shall press upon you everything with the reason in verse.
I shall press, though not by force or word of mouth. I shall press by the tip of My writing brush.
It is all very well if you err in nothing. But should you err, I shall inform you by verse.
In consideration for us human beings who are apt to forget what we hear and so that the will of God the Parent would be available for us in its exact form for all time, Oyasama recorded it with Her brush. That Oyasama wrote in verse was also due to the deep parental love, so that anyone might find the divine will familiar, easily memorized, and easily acceptable.
According to sources from that time, whenever God the Parent urged,
Brush, brush. Take up the brush,
Oyasama took Her brush in hand and the brush sped on, during the daylight hours of course, and even in the dark of night, abruptly stopping when the revelation of God the Parent ended. <See also Anecdotes of Oyasama 22> The Ofudesaki, written in this manner between 1869 and about 1882, comprises seventeen numbered parts. In all, there are 1,711 verses.
Seventeen parts
- Part 1 From the 1st month in the 2nd year of Meiji, the year of the Serpent (1869)
- Part 2 The 3rd month in the 2nd year of Meiji, the year of the Serpent (1869)
- Part 3 From January in the 7th year of Meiji, the year of the Dog (1874)
- Part 4 April in the 7th year of Meiji (1874)
- Part 5 May in the 7th year of Meiji (1874)
- Part 6 From December in the 7th year of Meiji (1874)
- Part 7 February in the 8th year of Meiji (1875)
- Part 8 May in the 8th year of Meiji (1875)
- Part 9 June in the 8th year of Meiji (1875)
- Part 10 June in the 8th year of Meiji (1875)
- Part 11 June in the 8th year of Meiji (1875)
- Part 12 About the 9th year of Meiji (1876)
- Part 13 About the 10th year of Meiji (1877)
- Part 14 From June in the 12th year of Meiji (1879)
- Part 15 From January in the 13th year of Meiji (1880)
- Part 16 From April in the 14th year of Meiji (1881)
- Part 17 About the 15th year of Meiji (1882)[1]
Outline of the Ofudesaki
In outline, the will of God the Parent is recorded in the Ofudesaki as follows:
God the Parent, desiring to see the Joyous Life of humankind, created human beings at the Jiba of Origin. Being the true Parent of all humankind, the only thought in the divine mind is the single-hearted love for the children. All human beings are children of God the Parent and are, therefore, brothers and sisters, and the essence of human life consists in helping and respecting one another.
The body of a human being is a thing lent by God the Parent, a thing borrowed, and the truth of self is only the mind. Illness and disaster all come from the parental love of God who is leading us to reflect on our misuse of mind and directing us onward to the Joyous Life. They are none other than calls for our service, guidance, road signs, admonitions, regret, or anger. If we but replace the mind, sweep away the dust, and settle true sincerity in our hearts, then, when we pray, God the Parent will bestow any salvation freely and unlimitedly.
At this time, after waiting for the Causality of the Soul of Oyasama, the Causality of the Residence, and the Causality of the Promised Time to conjoin according to the promise made at the time of the creation, God the Parent is revealed in this world for the first time taking Miki as the Shrine and teaches the path of single-hearted salvation.
God the Parent sets up the Kanrodai at the Jiba of Origin as proof of the creation of humankind and the world and teaches the Service of the Kanrodai, which is performed with the Kanrodai at center, as the fundamental means to single-hearted salvation. Further, as means for the salvation from illness, God bestows the Sazuke. Universal salvation will appear by the Service, and any sufferer, however serious the illness, will be saved by the Sazuke. Thus, this world will gradually change into the world of the Joyous Life.
Therefore, the performers of the Service must all assemble quickly, unite their minds, prepare the musical instruments, and perform the Service in one accord as soon as possible.
Thus, in order to fulfill the desire long held since the time of creation for the realization of the Joyous Life on earth, God the Parent taught the Service of the Kanrodai. In order that its truths be understood, God revealed the truths of the creation of the world. And, because the seasonable time was pressing, God intensified the demands for the children's spiritual growth and hastened the completion of the Service.
Part one
No matter to which page the Ofudesaki is opened, the verses are filled with warm parental love, the parental love which leads us to the bright Joyous Life.
First, in part one:
As your minds become spirited step by step, there shall be rich harvests and prosperity everywhere.
In the very beginning, at the time of the creation of this world, God the Parent created humankind in order to see us lead the Joyous Life and share in our joy. Indeed, the Joyous Life is the very will of God the Parent. However, because of the immaturity of our minds despite our knowledge and learning, and because we did not know the real truth of creation, the Origin and the Parent, we heaped dust and causation upon ourselves and blamed the world for our misery.
It was out of the parental love that God guided and nurtured us for long ages since the creation, enhancing our spiritual growth by appropriate training, given at the proper time and in keeping with the place, as one would weed and fertilize a field, urging us to stand when we crawl and to walk when we stand. It is truly out of single-hearted parental love for the children that at this time, the promised time having arrived, God desires the appearance of the Joyous Life in this world once again and begins the path of single-hearted salvation.
The Service
Out of this same parental love, God the Parent hastened the performance of the Service as the path to the Joyous Life throughout the Ofudesaki.
Continuing in the Ofudesaki are the verses:
Hereafter, I shall teach you the hand movements of the Kagura Service and wait for all to assemble and perform it.
When all are assembled and quickly do the Service, as those close to Me become spirited, God, also, will be spirited.
When the mind of God is depressed over everything, the growth of all crops will be depressed, too.
The mind that causes depressed crops is pitiful. Quickly become spirited so that the crops are not depressed.
If you wish that the crops grow spiritedly, do the Kagura Service and the Teodori.
Thus, God the Parent awaits the performance of the Kagura Service. When all are assembled and quickly perform the Service, God the Parent will be spirited. And when God the Parent is spirited, the crops will grow in abundance. Therefore, God urges the performance of the Kagura and the Teodori with the hope of a bountiful harvest.
Part two
Progressing to part two:
After the tea is picked and the plants are trimmed, the Joyous Service will follow.
From where do you think this Service comes? The people in high places will become spirited.
Thus, God teaches that after the tea is picked and the plants are trimmed, the season for the Joyous Service will come, the minds of the people in high places will be spirited, and soon the broad path will come into being.
Illness and pain of whatever kind do not exist. They are none other than the hastening and guidance of God.
The reason for My hastening, if you should ask, is that I desire performers for the Service.
Here, we are given the understanding that, because of the urgency for the completion of the Service, God puts a mark on the bodies of those who will be performers of the Service to draw them to Jiba.
Though you turn away those who come day by day, their number will only increase step by step.
No matter how great a number of people may come, do not worry, for it is in the hands of God.
Marvelous is the Kanrodai of this world's beginning. It will be the cause of peace in Nihon.
For fear of persecution, you turn away people who come yearning to be at the Home of the Parent. Their numbers will only increase but do not worry, because God the Parent will answer for it. Here, God the Parent teaches about the Kanrodai for the first time. When the Kanrodai is set up at the Jiba of Origin, where the world began, and the Service is commenced, this world will become the ideal world of the Joyous Life.
Note
- ↑ These dates are written on the cover of each part. It is assumed that the dates from 1874 are according to the Gregorian calendar. January 1, 1874, corresponds to the thirteenth day of the eleventh month of the sixth year of Meiji. There are no dates recorded on the covers of parts 12, 13, and 17. Therefore, the dates provided for these parts are prefaced by the word "about" since they are based on assumption.
