The Honseki’s attendance at the ceremony on April 15 enshrining a set of Oyasama’s red clothing at Kochi Bunkyokai was the highlight of his 1894 missionary tour of the western provinces. Arriving on April 14, he stayed until the 18th.
The following excerpt is from Omichi no joshiki [Tenrikyo Fundamentals] (pp. 144–145) by Koji Sato, professor at Tenri University and instructor at Tenri Seminary. Note: This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
It is a difficult task for a person who knows and understands something to explain and have it understood by another who does not. The one who understands does not understand why the other person does not understand.
Continue reading It Is Not That the Child Does Not Understand
The following is a translation of Part 40 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the April 2006 (No. 448) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision. (This is part two of a two-part series [see part one])
Choe Jae-Han (the first head minister of Won Nam Seong Gyohae) was brought back to life after Rev. Hideno Kimura’s administering of the Sazuke. Still, he had lost much of his vision and his arms and legs were bent inward, making him look like a cicada nymph.
On his tour of the western provinces, there was an occasion when the Honseki was making his way through Kochi where it was raining from morning. Yet there was the unexplainable phenomenon of the rain stopping wherever his procession happened to be traveling by and would resume once again after it passed by. Only the area around the Honseki’s palanquin would be free from rain. Continue reading Anecdotes of the Honseki Izo Iburi 59
The following is a translation of Part 39 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the March 2006 (No. 447) issue of Taimo, pp. 36–37. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
Choe Jae-Han, the founding minister of Won Nam Seong Gyohae (church), suffered from several illnesses from his youth. When he finally succumbed to Hansen’s disease, it left him without a place to work. Jae-Han subsequently abandoned himself to despair and plunged himself into a world of darkness. He spent his days and nights fighting and gambling; his notoriety increased as he repeatedly went in and out of prison.
A commentary by Yoshitaro Hirano (1849–1969) third head minister of Sakai Daikyokai on the Honseki:
A carpenter became a Tenrikyo sensei donning a formal montsuki. There are countless examples of such followers. However, it was Izo Iburi sensei who must be considered to have best embodied the teaching, “By saving a single person, you save tens of thousands.”
The mindset of the Honseki was continuously filled with joy due his practice of tanno. He often went about in a light-hearted manner, saying, “I used to be carpenter.” Outwardly, he spent his life without wearing a single adornment on his body. He was a living example of the proverb that claims a silk brocade of the mind amounts to a silk brocade worn on the body.
(From Ten no jogi p. 79)
*Note: This post has been revised since its original publication.
The following is an excerpt from Omichi no joshiki [Tenrikyo Fundamentals] (pp. 137–142) by Koji Sato, professor at Tenri University and instructor at Tenri Seminary. Note: This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
There are times when people are able to understand each other without saying anything out loud. In a majority of cases, it is likely an unspoken agreement to help one another, ala, “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” There is also the Japanese proverb, “The eyes speak as much as the mouth.” Words between lovers can often seem unnecessary.
Continue reading The Truth That I Do Not Tell and Cannot Tell
The following is a translation of Part 38 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the February 2006 (No. 446) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
Kanzo Nakadai was born in 1840 and was the eldest son of Kaneshime Kimuraya, one of the leading fish wholesalers in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, at the time. He converted to the faith when he was 47 years old after Sasuke Uehara spread the fragrance of the teachings to him, which helped him experience a vivid recovery from a physical disorder.
Four a.m., New Year’s Day. The sliding doors between the Honseki’s eight-mat bedroom and the hallway are opened. Rin Masui and a seinen (male attendant) enter. The seinen massages the Honseki’s shoulders; Rin Masui his feet. The morning drum signaling everyone to assemble at Church Headquarters sounds.
In the afternoon on one particular New Year’s Eve Day, the Honseki asks a seinen (male attandant), “Has the maku been put up yet?”
The Honseki was referring to the purple entrance curtain decorated with the Nakayama family crest.