Life of Oyasama Chapter 9-8
| 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 212–216 and 219 of the print edition. The “Notes” below are footnotes from 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
On May 25, 1886, Shinnosuke received a summons from the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station. When he appeared, he was told that a copy of the Mikagura-uta had been confiscated from Motoyoshi Ibaraki in Osaka. Ibaraki said he had received the copy at the house of Shinjiro Nakayama, Mishima Village, Yamato Province. (Shinjiro was Shinnosuke's legal name.) The case was reported to the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station by the Osaka Police. Shinnosuke was made to submit a written reply to the charge.
On May 28, three people came to the Residence to investigate: Bishop Toyomichi Furukawa, representing Masakuni Inaba, the Patriarch of Shinto, accompanied by Bishop Masao Utsumi, and the head priest of the Omiwa Church, Moriyoshi Kojima. That day, they were given an explanation of the teachings by an intermediary. The next day, the 29th, they met Oyasama and asked Her various questions to which She responded, dwelling on the teachings at length.
Afterward, Bishop Furukawa called Shinnosuke over and said: "She speaks because something makes Her speak. Therefore, you who are close to Her must take great pains to see that She does not run afoul of the law." Then the followers were made to submit a written acknowledgment to follow five outlined points.[1] Signers were: Shinnosuke, Izo Iburi, Chusaku Tsuji, Isaburo Masui, Risaburo Yamamoto, Naokichi Takai, and Chuzaburo Koda.
Continuing on, the Kagura Service and the masks were explained by an intermediary, and the priests watched a performance of the Teodori on the second floor.
On June 16 that year, the chief of the Ichinomoto Branch Police Station and an officer abruptly came to the Residence by rickshaw. Immediately upon entering, they ordered the rickshaw man to close the front gate and then barged into Oyasama's living room and began their search. This time, nothing was found out of order.
In Shinnosuke's records is written:
- This year, on July 21, Oyasama said:
- It will grow dark in the four directions until nothing can be seen. When this happens, it will not do to be hazy about the hand movements of the Service. So practice the hand movements of the Service!
Giving warning in advance of the grave time close at hand, as it indeed was, Oyasama urged the followers to be firmly resolved and to prepare for that day by learning the hand movements of the Service of the Kanrodai, which is fundamental to the path of single-hearted salvation and for which Oyasama had toiled since 1838.
On the night of August 25 of that year, a member of a gang of gamblers in Miwa Village, Ichitaro Toshima, alias Kiyaten, and several of his friends, came knocking at the front gate, shouting that they were from the Nara Police Station. Unaware that it was a lie, the people opened the gate. Then the intruders forced their way inside over the people's objections and declared, "We shall burn down this village." They then went to the well and, making "the final toast of their lives," as they said, they stormed into the house. Followers, who were upstairs in a meeting, heard the noises and the threats, and ran downstairs to defend the house. Villagers also, learning of the ruckus, began to assemble, lanterns in hand.
Some of the intruders were readying to force their way into Oyasama's living room but Hirano, Yamamoto, Masui, Miyamori, and others fought them off successfully. The villagers also joined in the fray, some exchanging blows with the intruders, others wrestling with them while others ran off to inform the police. It was bedlam.
Officers dispatched from the station arrived after a while. They began their questioning but the responses of the offended parties were so mild that the intruders were released after only a verbal reprimand.
The following day, Hirano and Toshima met and, after speaking with each other, found that they had once been acquaintances. Hirano reprimanded him and gave him four yen[2] for his fare back. Then Toshima confessed openly: "I heard that you had returned to Koriyama, so I made plans to carry the old mother off. It was a great mistake."
That year, 1886, Junshichi Masuda of Koriyama, Yamato Province, Kanzo Nakadai of Tokyo, and Heiichiro Ueda of Okanishi Village, Yamato Province, among others, began to follow the path.
If you do not follow the path of the Divine Model, there is no need for a Divine Model. It will not do to change the Divine Model. . . . There is no path but the path of the Divine Model.
Despite the causality of Her soul and despite Her being the Shrine of Tsukihi, in order to save humankind who would not walk the path of salvation merely by being taught, Oyasama stood at the forefront Herself and bore every hardship to demonstrate, by Her own life, the Divine Model by which all humankind could achieve salvation.
If you do not follow the path of the Divine Model, there is no need for a Divine Model.
The Divine Model, which was set forth by Oyasama in Her life for the long period of fifty years is, indeed, the only path by which we, the children of God, can proceed straight forward to the Joyous Life. There is no path but the path of the Divine Model. It is because Oyasama left us such trustworthy footprints in going through every kind of hardship cheerfully and spiritedly that we human beings can, ourselves, rise, strengthened, from the depths of any illness or trouble with peace of mind.
Oyasama is, indeed, the Parent of the Divine Model.
Notes
Appendix IV
- The god of worship is to be one contained in the Shinto regulations.
- The doctrine of creation is to be based upon the two books of the ancient chronicles.
- Man is the lord of all creatures. Man is not to be confused with the souls of fishes and shells.
- No one is to be prevented from taking medicine, alleging that it is an order from God.
- Priests are to be appointed by the recommendation of Shinjiro Nakayama and reported to the Patriarch of Shinto. However, in order to receive acknowledgement for such appointments by local authorities, we are to remain affiliated with Omiwa Church.
- We shall obey the above articles strictly as ordered. If, by chance, we do not, we shall not object to any measures that are taken to reprimand us. We submit this acknowledgement with our joint signatures:
- Shinjiro Nakayama
- Izo Iburi
- Isaburo Masui
- Risaburo Yamamoto
- Chusaku Tsuji
- Naokichi Takai
- Chuzaburo Koda
- To Bishop Toyomichi Furukawa
- Representing the Patriarch of Shinto
