Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-2
| 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) |
The content below is equivalent to pages 174–182 and 216–217 of the print edition.
Note: The print edition of has been split into eight sections on this wiki due to length of text. The chapter is split as follows:
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-1 (January–September 1882)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-2 (October–December 1882)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-3 (January–June 1883)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-4 (July–December 1883)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-5 (1884)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-6 (1885)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-7 (January–April 1886)
- Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-8 (May–December 1886)
Contents
Text
The Service being performed daily
The pressures exerted by the police continued to increase after the removal of the Kanrodai, but Oyasama, paying no heed, remained steadfast in urging the performance of the Salvation Service. The Service was performed daily from October 12 through October 26 with Oyasama seated in the north room with the raised floor.
About that time, an incident involving some followers of shallow faith erupted in Senboku County, Osaka Prefecture. It became a police matter and was called the "Abiko Incident."
The followers at the Residence, greatly worried, requested that the will of God the Parent concerning this matter be revealed. The divine words were:
Sah, over the mountains and across the seas, over the mountains and across the seas, over here and over there, the name of Tenri-O-no-Mikoto will resound, will resound.
At this, the clouds of worry were cleared away.
Further, on the evening of the Chrysanthemum Festival, September 9 by the lunar calendar, Tokichi Izumita, in an excess of zeal, argued hotly with a police officer in Osaka. At that very hour on that very same night, the following revelation was given at the Residence:
Sah, sah, inside the Residence, inside the Residence, the filth is unbearable, unbearable. God will clear it all away, clear it away. Sah, everything is sufficient; there should be no complaints. The first six of My ten providences are operating. The Path will spread sufficiently in the Eight Directions. Sah, there is One who will not be lowered. Who knows when or where God will take Her?
The followers were wondering why, despite their daily performance of the Service, the police did not come to take them away, while, unbeknown to them, an order for their arrest was en route from the Osaka prefectural authorities to the Nara Police Station as the result of the two incidents.
At the Residence, on October 26, while the Service was in progress, one of the Service performers, Hanzaburo Maegawa, accidentally tripped over Tomegiku Tsuji's koto and fell. That same day, Risaburo Yamamoto mistook the glutinous rice, used for rice-cake offerings, for the usual rice and cooked it for the meal. Vaguely uneasy because of these two incidents, the followers were hoping that nothing further would happen. But, on the very next day, the 27th, an officer from the Nara Police Station arrived with Hidejiro Adachi, a fellow villager, for investigation.
This time, articles ranging from the mandala and all of the implements for the Service to the paper lanterns in front of the altar and the framed pictures in the parlor were removed and hauled to the house of the village representative. Those who happened to be present were Kajimoto, Umetani, Kita, Masui, and others.
Hardship of October 1882
Two days later, on October 29, Oyasama was summoned to the Nara Police Station along with Ryojiro Yamazawa, Chusaku Tsuji, Gisaburo Nakata, Risaburo Yamamoto, and Seizo Morita. The party started out for Nara before daybreak, Oyasama riding in the rickshaw of Mizukuma of Osaka and the other five going on foot, taking a bypath.
At the police station, Oyasama and the others were sentenced to detention. Shinnosuke and many others, who had gone to the police station to accompany Oyasama home, stood waiting at the gate. Oyasama and the other members of the party finally emerged led by an officer and proceeded to the north. Shinnosuke's group followed at first but the party went directly through the gates and entered the prison.
Only seventeen at the time, Shinnosuke, accompanied by Takai, would leave the Residence early each morning at the break of dawn to go to the prison to deliver things to Oyasama. After he did all he could do, it would always be after nightfall that he would start home from Nara.
Umetani and Kajimoto also went to deliver things to Oyasama. <See also Anecdotes of Oyasama 106> Hanzaburo Maegawa did too. And so did Gonjiro Sawada and Masa Nakayama. Of course, everyone walked. Also, a never-ending stream of followers visited Oyasama daily bringing gifts.
On the day before Her return, someone threw a bag of tonic medicine into the steam bath with the intent of causing trouble. Fortunately, it was discovered quickly, and nothing came of it.
This was the longest hardship due to imprisonment that Oyasama had undergone in the seven years since 1875, and, although not a drop of prison water or food passed Oyasama's lips, She returned to the Residence in good health on November 9.
On the day of Her release, there were one hundred and fifty or sixty rickshaws and one thousand and several hundred people out to greet Her. After resting briefly at an inn called Yoshizen, Oyasama started home in a long procession of rickshaws, greeted on the way by hundreds of well-wishers. It is said there were no rickshaws in all of the Nara–Tanbaichi region available for hire on that day.
On the way, Oyasama's party crossed paths with Izo Iburi in front of the Monju Temple in Nara. Izo was being taken to the Nara Prison as a result of a summons, having been held the previous day at a branch police station in Obitoke. As he passed the other group, he shouted in a loud voice, "I am going!" Matching his voice in volume, his daughter, Yoshie, who was in Oyasama's group, shouted: "Please take your time. Do not worry about the household!" Izo, greatly relieved, calmly allowed himself to be led away. The allegation that led to Izo's arrest was that he had not properly reported that his apprentice, Otokichi, was temporarily staying with him. Izo was sentenced to ten days' detention, until November 18.
After Oyasama returned home, this time it was Chuzaburo Yamanaka of Otogi Village who was summoned and sentenced to the same length of detention.
The passing of Matsue
On November 10, the day after Oyasama's return, Matsue, who had been briefly ill, passed away for rebirth at the age of thirty-two. The steam bath, which had been registered in the name of Osato Iburi since April 1 of that year, was closed down on the very day when the incident involving the tonic medicine took place. Also, the operation of the inn was ended on or about November 14.
Concerning the closing of both the bath and the inn, Oyasama said:
God the Parent has taken them away because the filth was unbearable, unbearable.
And concerning the detentions, She said:
It is God the Parent who comes to fetch and it is God the Parent who summons. From knots growth will occur.
Further:
You need not worry. At this Residence, you have only to do as God the Parent says to do.
Thus She teaches that one should not simply be frightened by events which occur before one's eyes and do nothing, but, rather, should perceive the will of God in all events as they occur, and strive spiritedly in those seasonable times, assured that from knots buds will sprout.
At the same time the businesses were ended, the followers who had accumulated dust until then all received physical disorders. Seeing this, the followers understood what Oyasama had meant by saying repeatedly, "A sign for a sign," that, indeed, this is the meaning of the sweeping of the Residence.
The issue of their relationship with the Jifuku Temple also was cleanly settled when they received a document from the temple, dated December 14, indicating that they would vacate the premises no later than the posted date.[1]
Those who resided at the Residence at the time were Oyasama, Shinnosuke, Tamae, and Hisa, and those who served included Nakata, Yamamoto, Takai, Miyamori, Masui, Tsuji, Yamazawa, Iburi, Kajimoto, Umetani, and Kita.
During Her imprisonment in 1882, Oyasama did not eat any of the food supplied by the prison.
When Her fast extended over one week, the jail-keeper became concerned and said to Her, "Old woman, hold out your hand." Oyasama held out Her hand and, just as She was instructed, gripped the jail-keeper's hand. When the jail-keeper asked if that was all the strength She had, Oyasama, with a smile, exerted Her strength. So great was Oyasama's strength that the jail-keeper's hand began to smart with pain. Awestruck, he quickly said, "Oh, that's enough, enough!"
In his records, Shinnosuke wrote:
- In those days, the police came as often as three times during the day and three times during the night.
- Moreover, we were ordered not to allow even relatives to stay overnight. If it was discovered during one of their night rounds that a relative was staying over, we were severely reprimanded. If worshipers were discovered by them during their day rounds, they were summarily taken to the station and reprimanded. Therefore, we posted signs at all entrances: "Worshipers are refused entry." But followers came to worship. Some even tore down the signs. There was not a single day when worshipers did not come. There was not a day when the police did not come either.
- Construction on the Resting House of Oyasama was begun in November 1882. For about three years, 1882–1884, I was only able to drowse, reclining on the bench with my clothes on. That was because the police came at all hours of the day and night to investigate, and I had to show them through all the rooms of the house and to every corner of the premises. Worst of all, they even examined desk drawers, chests, cupboards, and the like. Rarely did they come alone. The only residents in the Nakayama house were Oyasama, Tamae, Hisa, and myself.
Thus Shinnosuke, though only a youth between the ages of seventeen to nineteen, had to deal with the police as the bearer of all responsibilities for the Residence because he was the only male at the Residence and was the legal head of the family.
In 1882, the number of followers increased greatly. Notable among them were Chuzaburo Koda of Kitahigai Village, Yamato Province, who began to follow in March, and Komakichi Komatsu of Osaka, who began to follow in the summer.
Thus, although the force of opposition was strong that year, the teachings of God the Parent, regardless, began to spread rapidly. The following is a list of fellowships revised as of March of that year: Shinsei (Kyokoji Village), Tenjin (Onchi Village), Shin'e (Hozenji Village), Kagura (Oihara Village), Keishin (Osakabe Village), Seishin (Kokubu Village), Shintoku (Asuka Village), Sakaki (Ota Village), Isshin (Nishiura Village), Eishin (Umetani Village), Heishin (Hirano Village), Shinjitsu (Hokeiji Village, Kaichi Village, Kurando Village, Higai Village), Ten'e (Osaka), Shinmei (Osaka), Meishin (Osaka), Shinjin (Osaka), Shinjitsu (Sakai), Shin'yu (Kurahashi Village), Seishin (Sahonosho Village), Shinjin (Ossaka Village), and Shin'e (Sakurano-cho, Sakai).
Of these fellowships, five were formed in Yamato, ten in Kawachi, four in Osaka, and two in Sakai. Those not included in the list but known to have existed prior to March 1882 are: Tengen, Sekizen, Tentoku, Eizoku, Asahi, Shinsei, Meisei, and others. Leading members of these fellowships were more widely distributed, in such places as Yamashiro, Iga, Ise, Settsu, Harima, and Omi, while followers could be found as far away as Totomi, Tokyo, and Shikoku.
As the opposition and the control by the police intensified, the faith of the followers grew white-hot and the path flourished. As for Oyasama, the followers deeply felt that She had suffered so much hardship that they must find some way to make life easier for Her if only slightly. Their sincerity in this desire led to the construction of the Resting House.
Note
- ↑ See Appendix I, pp. 216–217.
Appendix I
- Hitherto, an office of this temple was established in the home of Shinjiro Nakayama. For our own reasons, we hereby terminate the forementioned office as of the 14th of this month by acknowledgement of the abbot and the priest assigned to the office. All previous documents on this matter are voided. All written orders are returned. Should any difficulties arise in this matter, we shall not trouble you with them. this note is submitted to you for your records.
- December 14, 1882
- Jifukuji Yanaizu, Moto Kongozan
- Kuruno Village, Uchi County
- Yamato Province
- Gikan Kawabata
- In behalf of the Reimei
- Masanori Kimura
- Priest
- To Mr. Shinjiro Nakayama
- Mishima Village, Yamabe County
- Same Province
