We call God the Parent, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto. God the Parent created human beings and everything else from where there was no form. God the Parent provided us with the Cosmos, the Earth, and the natural environment that makes life possible. God the Parent oversees the laws of nature and is also its source. God is also our Parent who relieves human beings of our troubles and guides us to the Joyous Life.
In order for us to better understand God the Parent’s providence, each particular working of God was assigned a sacred name and explained. This is the “ten aspects of God’s complete providence.”
We learn this exposition of the providence in order to build genuine faith to the teaching of God the Parent, appreciate the providence by chanting the sacred names, and learn the intention of God the Parent shown through illness and calamities.
Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto: in the human body, the providence of the male organ, of bones and support; in the world, the providence of support in general.
This aspect of the complete providence is male and represented in the heavens as the star Alkaid; its direction is the northwest. At human creation, its symbolic form in the muddy ocean was an orca. Its counterparts in the Buddhist tradition are Hachiman Bodhisattva and Prince Shotoku.
In the human body, this aspect of the complete providence provides us with the workings of the skeleton, joints, ligaments, muscles, and the male reproductive organ. In the world at large, it supports everything such as trees and other things that stand on the earth such as trees.
We are able to stand, sit, lie down to sleep, and wake up all because our joints have the strength to support us and allow us to move our bodies. Further, this aspect of God’s providence also helps stiffen the male organ. Plants and trees grow or buildings stand all because of the protection of support of Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto.
The quality of the mind that is associated with the workings of Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto is a mind that vigorously offers support. This is a mind that takes initiative in all matters, strives to help to shoulder the burden of others, and prioritizes vigor and strength over everything else.
To best conform to this aspect of the complete providence, we should dedicate our energy and time in a way that supports the teachings. On the other hand, if we are single-mindedly argumentative, stubborn, or greedy, if we become upset from losing face, or if we are too lazy to make any effort, we cannot fully receive the protection of Tsukiyomi-no-Mikoto.
If we stubbornly refuse all the tasks and work we are assigned or engage in hinokishin with discontent in our heart, we risk being afflicted with arthritis, caries, periostitis, broken bones, bone dislocations, sprains, eruption/swelling of the skin, or cancer. It is important to accept the tasks God has entrusted to us and work while fully embodying the teachings. It is important to shoulder the burden of expectations of God and that of our church.
*This exposition was written by Rev. Chuichi Fukaya, the second head minister of Yamatoyoki Branch Church, and translated by Roy Forbes.