Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-6
| 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 201–205 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
1885
With the arrival of 1885, Oyasama entered Her eighty-eighth year. Her Eighty-eighth Year Celebration was held that year in the two adjoining rooms south of the north room with the raised floor. During the celebration, Oyasama put both Shinnosuke and Kikutaro Maegawa, both twenty, on Her back, and walked around the rooms three times, astonishing all who were present.
Now the plans, which Takeuchi had proposed and others had supported, developed into a nationwide movement to establish the church. On March 7, 1885, a meeting was held at the Church Establishment Office. In attendance were: Shinnosuke, Narikatsu Fujimura, Yonosuke Shimizu, Tokichi Izumita, Miyoshi Takeuchi, Seizo Morita, Risaburo Yamamoto, Ka'ichiro Kitada, Umejiro Izutsu, and others. Fujimura proposed that they discuss the advisability of deciding the head of the church and its directors by vote, whether or not a monthly salary system should be adopted, and other items.
The discussion became heated and a conclusion could not be reached. In addition, Izutsu had a violent stomachache and collapsed. At this point, they made an inquiry of Oyasama, who said:
Sah, sah, indeed the Shinbashira is thin at present. But when flesh is added to him, no one knows how great he will become.
Her words awakened them instantly. They now understood that as long as they continued such discussions with Takeuchi, Fujimura, and the like, they would never be in accord with the will of God the Parent.
Nevertheless, a full-fledged movement to establish the church did begin around that time. In March and April of that year, the Shinto Headquarters was approached for religious instructor appointments for Shinnosuke and nine others by a petition to the Patriarch of Shinto with a letter of recommendation from the Omiwa Church sent in accompaniment. In addition, in April and again in July, the civil authorities in Osaka were approached with a petition for church establishment. In their first attempt to obtain civil authorization, a petition for permission to form the Tenrikyo Church, dated April 29, was filed with the governor of Osaka Prefecture. Four books on the doctrine were submitted in accompaniment: The Twelve Songs, Ofudesaki Part 4, Ofudesaki Part 10, and The Story of Creation.
As for the Shinto authorizations, Shinnosuke was appointed as a religious instructor on May 22. On May 23, permission was granted for the establishment of a sixth-degree church to be directly supervised by the Shinto Headquarters. The other religious instructor appointments were also received. A letter accepting these appointments was sent to the Shinto authorities on June 2.
In Shikoku that year, Unosuke Tosa and others also received their appointments through a connection made with the Shusei sect of Shinto. In their case, too, it was to lessen the pressures and the interference thrust upon them by the public.
Civil authorization for the formation of the Tenrikyo Church, however, was not such an easy matter. A notice was received from the governor of Osaka Prefecture, dated June 18, rejecting the petition to wit: "Request difficult to grant."
The knot of June 1885
On June 20, Kenkai Murashima, head priest of the Konzo Temple in Iwamuro Village, as well as Osamu Murata and others kicked in the front gate and forced their way inside the Residence. Their violence being too excessive, Shinnosuke was about to bring charges against them. But Akio Komamura of Tanbaichi Village interceded and apologized for them so Shinnosuke dropped the matter.
On July 3, a second request was made to the civil authorities. The petition, addressed to the governor of Osaka Prefecture, read, "Request to Establish the Shinto Tenrikyo Church." The request was submitted with the stipulation that Baron Kunihae Imazono would be in charge.
On October 8, after having made certain of Shinnosuke's attendance, the heads of the fellowships were called to a meeting at the Church Establishment Office. Narikatsu Fujimura and Masamoto Ishizaki, who attended the meeting as interested parties, suddenly stood up and left while discussions were in progress and went to the restaurant Uoiso in Furu Village. After a while, someone arrived with a message from them that they wished to speak with Shinnosuke, Yonosuke Shimizu, and Shobei Masuno, and that the three of them please come to the restaurant. Suspicious of trickery, the three did not go. Then Fujimura returned and listed his complaints to Shimizu. Ishizaki, however, vanished that night.
A notice arrived, dated October 28: "Request difficult to grant." The petition was rejected again by the prefectural authorities. At this time, an inquiry was made of Oyasama who said:
The core is thin. When the flesh of sincerity is added, he will grow stout.
In the eyes of God the Parent, the question was not at all matters of legal authorization and the like. That which God the Parent earnestly urged was the Service that leads to the Joyous Life. In reality, the severe persecution and interference were none other than manifestations of the hastening of God the Parent. But people did not understand this. They focused their eyes only on superficial matters, absorbed only with human thoughts. Thus, they made fruitless appeals, over and over.
Oyasama often said, "Shinnosuke the Shinbashira," clearly indicating the core of the Path. Despite this, the attempts to appoint someone without such divine destiny to that post of responsibility, however temporary and whatever the reasons for haste, show how far off the mark their minds were.
To paraphrase: Think this point over carefully and ponder first where one's thoughts are to be directed. To add flesh to the core means for you to add the flesh of your sincerity to the Shinbashira. If you add the flesh of your sincerity to Shinnosuke in accordance with the will of God the Parent, although he is still young and inexperienced, he will become a splendid Shinbashira.
Thus, Oyasama taught the path of single-heartedness with God that is unmixed with human thought.
In that year, Narazo Hirano, originally of Kawachi Province, then residing in Koriyama, Yamato Province, began to follow the path.
