Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-7
| 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 205–212 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)
Text
1886
With the arrival of 1886, Oyasama entered Her eighty-ninth year.
Her last Hardship
On February 18, a large group of followers of the Shin'yu Fellowship came to the Residence for worship. They requested that they be allowed to perform the Twelve Songs but the request was denied, for the police were enforcing their restrictions very strictly and, should the police arrive while the Twelve Songs were being performed, troubles would fall on Oyasama at once.
Then, at Chobei Murata's house, which had become a place of lodging for the followers and whose front gate bore the sign "Tofu Shop," Kichisaburo Uemura and some others, buoyed by their high spirits, began to perform the Teodori on the second floor. This became known quickly to the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station, and several officers came to the house without delay. They quickly dispersed all the followers assembled and then went to the Residence. Ordering the front and back gates to be closed, they barged into Oyasama's living room and began a search which included even the closets and chests. Finally, they found a piece of cloth to be made into Amulets on which words were written. With this as evidence, they arrested Oyasama and Shinnosuke as well as Masui and Nakata, who happened to be there.
The officers alleged that it was because Oyasama wore red clothes that people gathered to Her, compelling the followers to make black, formal garments for Her, which they delivered to the station. All during the time She was at the station, Oyasama wore these black garments over Her red clothes.
The night wore on and at about two o'clock on the morning of the 19th, Oyasama's interrogation began. She was sentenced to twelve days' detention. According to the records of Shinnosuke, who was with Her in detention at the time:
- Oyasama, having gone to the police station, was questioned at about two that night. She explained about Her divine inspirations, about the divine providences for the human body, about the dusts, and about the truths concerning the Amulet. Further, She said:
Of the Amulet, God orders Me to bestow it. The boy in My family knows nothing about it.
At about three o'clock in the morning, Masui and Nakata were questioned. Both answered that they had received divine blessings and therefore told others about it in return for the obligation. From about four o'clock, Shinnosuke was questioned. He replied: "It is I who bestow the Amulets. I am a religious instructor and bestow them according to religious law. My old mother knows nothing about it. Shinnosuke was justified because he and nine others had, in fact, been registered as religious instructors in the previous year.
The group spent the rest of the night on the wood floor of the interrogation room. Oyasama sat in the northeast corner of the room. Hisa sat by Oyasama in attendance. Shinnosuke sat in the southwest corner. One officer sat on guard in the center of the room, in a chair, relieved in one hour shifts. Masui and Nakata had been put into cells.
Oyasama motioned to Shinnosuke and said:
You must be lonesome. Come over here.
Shinnosuke had Hisa explain to Her that this was a police station and that he was not permitted to go. Then Oyasama said,
Is that so?
and said no more.
By the time the intense questioning had been completed, dawn arrived before anyone even had a chance to doze. The sun rose above the mountains in the east but the officer on guard, unnoticing, dozed on. The lamp on his desk continued to burn uselessly.
Oyasama arose quickly, approached the lamp, and blew it out. The officer was awakened with a start by Her slight puff of breath and shouted, "Old woman, what are you doing?"
Oyasama, with a smile on Her face, said:
The sun is already up but your lamp was still lit. It is wasteful, so I put it out.
From early in the morning, Oyasama was made to sit next to the desk sergeant in the wood-floored room alongside the road where She could be seen by passers-by. This was from their attempt to punish Her by embarrassment. In addition, other arrested offenders were purposely made to sit beside Her. But Oyasama was unperturbed by it all and carried on in Her usual manner without change.
At night, when it came time for Her to sleep, Oyasama took off Her black, quilted garments and used them to cover Herself. For Her pillow, She used Her clogs, wrapping them with Hisa's waist sash. Then She rested. In the morning, She awoke at Her usual hour, and, after completing Her toilet, sat straight all day without relaxing Her posture. Thus, throughout Her detention at the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station, there was not a day when Oyasama did not carry on as usual.
Hisa sat beside Oyasama during the day and by Her pillow at night. Each night, she shaded Oyasama's face with both hands until dawn. Although Hisa continued to serve Oyasama night and day, she experienced no fatigue.
For meals, Oyasama did not accept any food served by the police station. Hisa tried to slip Oyasama the food which had been forwarded to her by the followers but was prevented from doing so by the officers. For drink, only boiled water delivered from the Kajimoto house in an iron pot was offered to Her; the followers felt that nothing should be given to Oyasama that was not prepared with sincerity. It was also a precaution to ensure that nothing untoward would come to Oyasama to endanger Her life.
During the day, passers-by would say, "Look at that old woman," or would point at Hisa and say, "Such a young girl as that, to be in such a place when she's old enough to be thinking of marriage." There were others who came to the grid to levy a barrage of insults. Years later, Hisa said: "I did not think anything of it. How could I have left Her alone in a place like that?"
Nothing She saw or heard ever bothered Oyasama. In fact, one day, She saw a cake peddler passing by and said to Hisa:
Oh, Hisa, buy a cake.
Hisa asked, "What will You do with it?" Oyasama said:
That officer is so bored that he is dozing off. So I want to give it to him.
Hisa replied: "This is a police station. It is not permitted to do so." Then Oyasama said,
Is that so?
and said no more.
Even while at the police station, the words of God were revealed when the time came to do so. When this occurred, the officers would say: "The blood has gone to her head. Take her to the well-side and douse her with water. But each time, Hisa would stop them with every ounce of strength. Not once did she allow Oyasama to be doused.
One day Oyasama began a revelation:
At each knot, at each knot, buds will sprout. . . .
The officer shouted, "Hey!" Hisa attempted to stop Oyasama, "Grandmother, Grandmother. . . ." Suddenly a voice rang out majestically:
There is no grandmother here. I am the General of Heaven!
So different was that voice, filled with austere dignity, inconceivable that it came from the usually gentle Oyasama, that Hisa trembled in fear before the presence of God. Hisa was taught the truth of Oyasama being the Shrine of Tsukihi, a truth surpassing by far the ties of blood.
Further, at each time of revelation, came the words of God:
At the Residence, those who come to stop, as well as those who must go forth, all are actions of God the Parent.
Concerning Oyasama's hardships:
God the Parent takes Her along.
Concerning the restrictions and the interference by the police:
At the Residence, those who come to stop, by their coming, dig up buried treasures.
Further, each time Oyasama was held in detention or imprisoned, She said:
From a knot, buds will spring forth.
Thus, as each event occurred, Oyasama taught the followers the true intent of God the Parent on which the visible events were based and, by opening their minds to the parental heart, cheered and encouraged the followers who otherwise would have remained bewildered and dismayed.
It is said that the winter that year was the coldest in thirty years. Oyasama, despite Her advanced age of eighty-nine years, and despite having to sleep on a cold wooden floor, cheerfully endured the hardship of detention with the bright and warm mind of Tsukihi. The thought of it brings tears. To speak of it chokes one's throat. These are the footprints of the Divine Model for which we are grateful, for which, perhaps, we are undeserving—a path which only the Parent could have undertaken, to teach humankind how to reconstruct this world, said, until now, to be only a transient world of suffering, into the world it should properly be—the world of the Joyous Life.
While Oyasama was undergoing this hardship, Shimizu, Masuno, Umetani, and others stayed at the house of Matsujiro Kajimoto and went day and night to the police station to ascertain Oyasama's well-being. Shimizu and Masuno were assigned to deliver Hisa's food and to report back on Oyasama's condition each time. There was a stream of followers calling at the Kajimoto house daily to inquire about Her. Iburi, Takai, Miyamori, and others were assigned to remain at the Residence and to manage it.
Oyasama, having undergone the hardship of detention in this way, was released from the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station on March 1. The people who came out to greet Her on that day had increased greatly in number from the previous year. They filled the entire area in front of the station, and it is said that the procession of people and rickshaws following Oyasama home extended from the station to the Residence in an unbroken line. At the time of Her arrival at the Residence at nine o'clock in the morning, however, four police officers, dispatched from the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station, were standing on guard at the gate and would not allow the followers to take even a step inside.
