Thinking of the future of the path, Chushichi Yamanaka said to Oyasama one day, “The path will become so much better if it is cleared in the high mountains.” Whereupon Oyasama taught:
“If the path is cleared from up above, can the people down below get near? If the path is cleared from down below both the people up above and the people down below can easily get near, can they not?”
Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 23 Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 28
On the morning of the tenth day of Oyasama’s visit to the Matsuo residence in July 1872, Ichibei and his wife went to Oyasama’s room to extend their greetings. Oyasama asked:
“Would you like to have God enshrined?”
Ichibei replied, “Yes, I would like to have God enshrined, but where would be the best place?”
“Over there,”
Oyasama said, pointing Her finger to where the Buddhist altar was. It was so unexpected, like a bolt out of the blue, that Ichibei and his wife were speechless, thinking of their ancestors enshrined in the Buddhist altar. The couple exchanged glances and silently nodded their heads in approval. Ichibei asked, “Then where shall the Buddhist altar be moved?” Oyasama said:
“The ancestors will not be angry, nor will they oppose the move. Set it in a similar place in the other room.”
The other room was the old guest room. A carpenter was called at once to draw up plans for God’s altar in accordance with Oyasama’s directions. Preparations were made for the relocation of the Buddhist altar. The Buddhist priest was strongly opposed to their proposal, but they asked him to offer the prayer against his will. The relocation of the altar was completed that night without trouble. The following morning four carpenters came to build God’s altar.
“If you do not hurry you will not finish in time,”
Oyasama said to speed up the work. It was completed on the evening of the twelfth day of Her stay. The next morning, the couple went to Oyasama’s room to extend their greetings, but She was not there. When they went to the other room, they found Her sitting silently before the newly completed altar.
“You did well. This will be fine, this will be fine,”
Oyasama said, and then She went to the sickroom of their eldest son, Narazo, who was unable to move from his bed. As Oyasama sat beside him, She said:
“Your head must itch.”
She took Her own comb and began to comb Narazo’s hair slowly. Oyasama said as She returned to Her room:
“Today is a nice day, a happy day, because today God is to be enshrined,”
and She smiled happily. The couple was wondering how the enshrinement was going to be done when they heard someone at the front door. Haru went to greet the visitor and it was Shuji, Oyasama’s son. As soon as Shuji was escorted to Her room, Oyasama said:
“Arrangements for the enshrinement are complete, so please make the gohei, the sacred staff.”
When it was completed, Oyasama personally took the staff to the altar and offered Her prayers to sanctify it.
“God is going to be here also from today. How happy! This is truly wonderful,”
Oyasama said, overjoyed.
“I am returning home now,”
She said, and She returned to the Residence.
The Buddhist altar was completely removed from the home at a later date.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 21–23 Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 27
In 1872, while staying at the house of Matsuo, Oyasama said to the couple, Ichibei and Haru, when they came to greet Her one morning:
“Both of you always wear formal clothes when you come to see Me. From now on just wear your everyday clothes. Would it not be more comfortable for you?”
When the two bowed their heads in appreciation, She taught them the following:
“Today I will tell you the story of linen, silk and cotton.
“The linen lets the breeze go through freely and does not stick to the skin. Therefore, there is nothing cooler or better to wear in the summer. However, it is too cold to wear in the winter. It is just for the summer. After being worn for about three years, it begins to discolor. If it becomes completely discolored, it is worthless. Even when it is dyed into a darker shade, the color is uneven. When it reaches this stage, it is as useless as waste paper.
“Silk, whether made into a formal coat or a kimono, is elegant. It is something everybody wants even though it is very expensive. However, do not become a person like silk. It is nice while it is new, but when it gets a little old nothing can be done with it.
“Now, when it comes to cotton, it is ordinary but is used by everyone. There is nothing that is so handy nor so widely used as cotton. It keeps us warm in the winter and it absorbs our perspiration in the summer. When it becomes dirty, it can be washed over and over again. When its color fades and it becomes so old that it cannot be worn any more, it can be used as a diaper or as a cleaning rag or even as sandals. To be useful until its original form no longer remains: this is cotton. God desires man to have a mind like cotton.”
It is said that thereafter Ichibei and his wife carved the word “cotton” in their minds and wore nothing but cotton throughout their lives.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 20–21
This episode occurred in 1872 when Oyasama was seventy-five years of age. During a period of seventy-five days of fasting, She visited the home of Ichibei Matsuo for the purpose of saving people in Higashiwakai Village, north of Tatsuta. Before leaving the Residence, She had three small cups of sweet rice wine and three round pieces of raw eggplant.
“Let us start on our trip,”
She said. “Please go on a litter,” someone pleaded. She replied:
“Remember that this is a test,”
and, so saying, began to walk briskly. When She arrived at the Matsuo residence, Ichibei and his wife were so overjoyed that they were close to tears. Assuming that Oyasama was tired and exhausted after walking about sixteen kilometers while fasting, they had a hearty feast prepared for Her.
“What a tempting dinner! Thank you very much. I accept your kind thoughtfulness, and it fills my stomach. Please take away the dishes now, and bring me water and salt instead,”
She said. Ichibei’s wife, Haru, thought that the dishes might not have been to Her liking, so she inquired about it.
“Each one of them is my favorite. They all look delicious,”
Oyasama replied. Whereupon Haru said, “But you haven’t touched anything. You ask for just water and salt, but I cannot do that.”
“I am now fasting in accordance with God’s will. My stomach is always full. I understand how you feel. Well, then why don’t you take those chopsticks and try to feed me?”
Oyasama asked.
Haru was pleased and she moved the tray in front of Oyasama. Haru picked up the bowl of rice in one hand and, using chopsticks, took some rice from it. Just as she was about to move the chopsticks toward Oyasama, who was waiting to be served, Haru’s knees began to shake. The rice on the chopsticks, together with the bowl, suddenly dropped upon the tray. Bowing deeply before Oyasama, Haru humbly apologized. She withdrew the tray from in front of Oyasama, who was smiling, and brought another tray that she had prepared.
“Thank you very much for your trouble. Are you going to feed Me again?”
Oyasama said, opening Her mouth wide. Haru again picked up the bowl and took some rice with the chopsticks. As Haru moved her hand toward Oyasama’s mouth, Haru’s right thumb and index finger twitched painfully, and the chopsticks and rice fell on Oyasama’s lap. Feeling deeply ashamed, Haru apologized for her repeated carelessness.
“I am thankful for your kind thoughts, but it will be the same no matter how many times you try. God has stopped you. So please take away the tray of dishes quickly,”
Oyasama said tenderly to console her.
So Oyasama continued to fast during Her stay, and news of this reached the Residence. On the fifth day, three persons — daughter Kokan, Iburi, and Yohei of Ichieda — came from the Residence. Kokan asked Oyasama to have some food.
“You all think that I am not eating of my own accord, but it is not so. It is just that I cannot eat. If you think otherwise, try and feed me,”
Oyasama said. Kokan tried to feed Her, but the chopsticks jumped up and hung in the air. Witnessing this, everyone was convinced. So Oyasama’s fasting continued to the day of Her return.
Shuji came to take Oyasama home, and Ichibei decided to go with Shuji to borrow a litter from the Kohigashi family of Byodoji Village. They asked Oyasama to ride in the litter, and when they came to Tatsuta, Oyasama said:
“I feel dizzy.”
So they respected Her wish, and Oyasama began to walk. Oyasama explained:
“God has said, ‘Do not ride in a litter. Walk.’ “
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 18–20
Hikotaro Matoba of Nigo Village, Yamato Province, had a fine voice and was good at leading a chorus. During the bon festival season, he sang on festival towers in Nagataki, Chishawara, Kasa and other neighboring villages.
In 1871, when he was nineteen years old, Hikotaro was told that he needed to expand the volume of his voice in order to produce truly wonderful sounds. So he practiced by a waterfall in Yokkawa, singing, “Ko-o-rya! korya! korya!” at the top of his lungs.
As it was after the day’s hard work in the fields, he invigorated himself by licking a paste made of charred vipers, soybeans and dried sesame. On the third night of the practice, he suddenly lost his sight. He had developed an eye disease, probably amaurosis.
Guided by his mother, Hikotaro went to Hase, barefoot, to pray for the aid of the goddess Kannon. But his prayers were not answered at all. His mother, Shika, grieved at seeing his condition, said, “You cannot see even the white chicken at your feet, can you?” His condition remained unchanged for over three months. Then, he was told, “There is a new god in Shoyashiki who is able to cure any illness. That god will save you in an instant.”
Before long, he returned to Jiba. When he was received by Oyasama, She gave him three packets of the sacred powder of roasted grain and said:
“I am glad you have come home. This world remains in complete darkness as long as you are blind. But you shall certainly be saved if you do as God tells you.”
Hikotaro answered, “I cannot go on living like this. I will do anything if God will save me.” Whereupon, Oyasama said:
“So, if that is your wish, do no worldly work. Go with God, and devote yourself to the salvation of man for the rest of your life.”
No sooner had he replied, “I will do so,” than his sight was slightly restored. Within a few days, he had completely recovered. From then on, with great joy he devoted himself day and night to spreading the fragrance of the words of God and saving others. He was so wondrously saved that even at the age of eighty-seven he needed no glasses for close reading.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 17–18 Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 24
Saku Matsumura was staying with her parents, the Kohigashis, in order to recuperate from tachiyamai disease. On January 10, 1871, she returned to Jiba to pray for her recovery.
Oyasama told Saku various inspiring stories. Then She combed her hair, crushing one by one the lice which had bred during her long illness and fever. In addition, a bath was prepared and Oyasama washed the dirt off Saku’s body.
Because of Oyasama’s careful and warm nursing, Saku remarkably recovered her health within three days.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 16–17
Concerning the Ofudesaki, Oyasama said:
“You know there is the Fudesaki. What do you think of it? The seventeen parts of the Fudesaki were not completed in a short while. God spoke into my ears, saying, ‘Do not look at any writings, even the charge book from a bean curd shop.’ I wondered why. Then God said, ‘Brush, brush, take up the brush.’ I took the brush up for the first time at New Year’s when I became seventy-two years old. And when I took the brush up, My hand moved by itself. From heaven, God did it. After what was to be done was finished, My hand became numb and it could not be moved. God said, ‘Calm Your mind, and read this. If You find something You cannot understand, ask Me.’ I added brush strokes when I found something I could not understand. That is the Fudesaki.”
These were the words Oyasama told to Shirobei Umetani in Her later years.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 16
Around the middle of May 1868, five years from the time Chushichi Yamanaka had embraced the faith, a heavy rain had fallen continuously for many days. The river overflowed here and there, rice fields were washed out and houses were carried away. Chushichi suffered heavy losses. A landslide on his mountain property buried many large trees. Also, his rice fields of approximately ninety ares* were washed out.
People in his village had been deriding Chushichi’s faith and immediately seized the opportunity to heap all sorts of abuses on him, saying, “Look at him! What a fool he is! Stupid one!” Feeling chagrined at what the villagers said, Chushichi visited Oyasama in the Residence and explained the situation to Her. Oyasama told him:
“Sah, sah, that’s all to the good. That’s all to the good. Now that your goods have been carried away to the bottom of the sea, it will come to good in the future. You may wonder why your fields and hills were washed out in spite of your faith, but you must accept the situation with a heart of gratitude. You must do so. That will come to good in the future.”
Chushichi heartily thanked God that he suffered only a small misfortune instead of a calamity.
(Note)
*Are [pronounced air]: Metric system, a surface measure equal to 100 square meters.)
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 15–16 Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 21
Early in March 1868, Chushichi Yamanaka stayed overnight at the Residence. The next morning, when he went to extend his morning greetings to Oyasama, She said:
“Chushichi, a girl was born at your home last night. They are all waiting for your return. Hurry home to them.”
Chushichi had not expected the baby to be born that soon, so he had stayed overnight at the Residence. Therefore, when Oyasama informed him of the birth he was half in doubt, but he acknowledged Her words, saying, “Oh, I see, thank you.” However, when he met his son, Hikoshichi, on the way and was told the news of the birth, he realized fully the truth of Oyasama’s words. When he further learned that it was indeed a girl, he was filled with awe.
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 14–15
When the sacred songs of twelve chapters were completed, Oyasama told Her attendants:
“These are the songs for the Service. Try singing them to the best tune you can find.”
Each of them sang to his own tune. After listening to it, Oyasama said:
“Thank you for your singing, but none of them will do. You should sing them this way.”
She sang loudly Herself. Then She told the attendants:
“These are the songs of truth. So you must dance to the truth. Try dancing the best way you can.”
Each of them arranged the dance and showed it to Oyasama. Afterward, She said:
“Thank you for your dancing, but no one danced to the truth. You should dance in this way. You should not just dance. You should dance the truth.”
So saying, She stood up and performed the dance movements Herself in order to teach the attendants.
In this way, Oyasama Herself taught the singing and dancing after having all the attendants try on their own.
This is the story told by Haru, wife of Ichibei Matsuo.
Note: Haru Matsuo was born on September 15, 1835, and entered the faith in 1866. She passed away on May 1, 1923, when she was eighty-nine years old.
The songs for the teodori, part of the Mikagura-uta, were written by Oyasama at fixed times during the eight months from January to August of 1867. This was how the songs were taught to the world for the first time. It took three years to teach the dance.
Oyasama taught six persons how to dance, making the movements Herself with Her hands and arms, and repeating them three times. Three persons learned while the other three watched. Oyasama said nothing even if someone made a mistake.
“I would not put him to shame,”
is said to be Oyasama’s comment. She taught every movement three times and completed the teaching in three years. While teaching, Oyasama would say:
“It is like children playing shuttlecock during the New Year’s season, singing ‘One, Two.'”*
This is the story that Shirobei Umetani heard from a senior in the faith.
(Note)
* Refers to the counting of the songs in the Mikagura-uta
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 13–14.