Ofudesaki Part 04

Ofudesaki
Author: Miki Nakayama Date Published: 1998 Pages: 486 (English ed.) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 unnumbered set

Ofudesaki Part 04 is an outline of the 4th part of the Ofudesaki. This outline is based on Thoughts on a Thematic Outline of the Ofudesaki by the second Shinbashira Shozen Nakayama.

Part 4: The three standpoints affecting the Salvation Service and their relationship with one another: (i) Oyasama’s standpoint as revealed by the intention of God the Parent; (ii) The standpoint of “those within,” “those who are close to Me,” and “all of you”; (iii) The standpoint referred to as the “high places,” “the high mountains,” “learning,” among others

1. Construction toward a Service filled with brightness (a prediction concerning the 5th of the 5th month, an announcement of the forthcoming Proof Amulet, and the construction of the Gatehouse) 1–2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7–8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
2. Making God’s intention known to those in high places; saving the world 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34–5, 36
3. The Service performers and God’s call for their service 21, 22, 23–4, 25, 26, 27, 28
4. Living the Joyous Life by leaning on God (using the teaching of fertilizer) 37, 38, 39, 40–1, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53
5. The truth of the Jiba and the parental love that desires to save all the children (distinguishing between Kara and Nihon; the children’s awakening to the truth) 54, 55, 56, 57–8, 59, 60, 61, 62–4, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72–3, 74–5, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80–1, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86–7
6. The Service and world salvation (academic learning, things unseen, and changing Kara into Nihon) 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98– 9, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106
7. The cleansing of everyone’s heart (those within and all others in the world, the high mountains and the low valleys, and Nihon and Kara) 107, 108, 109, 110, 111–2, 113, 114, 115, 116–8, 119, 120, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134
8. God's providence in the beginnings of origin 121–5, 126, 127

Part summary by Yoshitaro Ueda

From Michi no Dai: Foundation of the Path 34:37-8

Let us now study Part IV. This part was written in April 1874. As I mentioned when discussing part III, the followers who visited the Oyamato Shrine in the autumn of 1874 to ask the priests questions about its deity carried Part III and Part IV–a fact that adds special significance to these two parts. Before talking about the verses one by one, let us read together the “Summary of Part IV” to gain an overview of this part.

“This part begins by saying that the broad path is finally coming into sight and discusses making preparations for the Service, which is the fundamental component of that path. These preparations include assembling the Service performers, encouraging their spiritual growth, and teaching them the hand movements. Part IV states that through this Service–also referred to as the Joyous Service and as the Kagura service–wondrous salvation will appear and eventually bring a settling to the world.

“In addition to the preparations for the Service, Part IV contains references to another aspect of the path of world salvation, namely, spreading the teachings. Using phrases such as “making a distinction between Kara and Nihon,” this part discusses the significance of spreading the teachings of God the Parent throughout the world and, to this end, urges the spiritual growth and efforts of God's children, all human beings.

“Part IV teaches the fundamental principles of this path of single-hearted salvation based on the truth of origin. Part 4 reveals not only the causalities relating to the founding of the Teaching but also the fact that all humans are equal children of God the Parent. The Scripture also tells why this Teaching is the ultimate teaching, comparing it with the teachings associated with “high places” and “weeding and fertilizing.””

Such is the logical flow of Part IV as a whole.

I mentioned before that our study of the Ofudesaki would revolve around the completion of the Service. From this perspective, a major theme running throughout Part IV is that of assembling the Service performers. In addition, this part discusses making various preparations and arrangements for the Service, such as collecting the kagura masks, as obliquely referred to in verse 3, and training people in the hand movements of the Service.