The Honseki would not even let the smallest thing go to waste. When the Honseki began practicing calligraphy in 1891 when he was 60 years old, at first he thought it was wasteful to actually write on paper. So he practiced on a glass plate and wiped the ink off each time.
The following excerpt is from Omichi no joshiki [Tenrikyo Fundamentals] (pp. 73–76) by Koji Sato 佐藤浩司, assistant professor at Tenri University and instructor at Tenri Seminary. Note: This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
People each have their individual traits and different ways of thinking and perceiving. One comes to the conclusion that society is made up and held together by such gatherings of people. Yet a society cannot hold together if every person refuses to meet others halfway after asserting their opinion or point of view. Laws and courts function to find ways to settle conflicts between two opposing parties that have exhausted all means of finding a solution on their own. Continue reading Reconciliation
The following is a translation of Part 20 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the August 2004 (No. 428) issue of Taimo, p. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further polishing and revision.
Tokuzo Nakagawa ran a seed supplying business along Sakai Boulevard in Osaka. After being saved from a certain illness, he was encouraged to pay his respects to “the god of Shoyashiki” and met with Oyasama for the first time.
There are countless stories about how the Honseki lived frugally and never used things in a wasteful manner.
The following is an excerpt from Omichi no joshiki [Tenrikyo Fundamentals] (pp. 69–72) by Koji Sato 佐藤浩司, assistant professor at Tenri University and instructor at Tenri Seminary. Note: This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
We tend to think that we are living by our own and that we can do almost anything due to our own strength and abilities. This is especially so during our youth.
Continue reading This World is a Place Where We Express Our Appreciation and Indebtedness
The following is a translation of Part 19 the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the July 2004 (No. 427) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further polishing and revision.
The following story occurred circa the summer of 1884. A confraternity head (komoto 講元) from Kyoto brought a certain person to worship at Jiba. It was this person’s first pilgrimage returning to Jiba. A cholera epidemic happened to be raging in Kyoto at the time and he went to Jiba with the thought that there would be no harm in praying [for good health].
Even after he became the Honseki, Izo always began speaking with the phrase, “Oyasama said….”
In other words, whenever the Honseki spoke, he never spoke his own words or his own thoughts. In fact, it was almost impossible to hear him talking about himself.
The following is an excerpt from Omichi no joshiki [Tenrikyo Fundamentals] (pp. 61–65) by Koji Sato 佐藤浩司, assistant professor at Tenri University and instructor at Tenri Seminary. Note: This is a tentative translation at the moment and may require further revision.
I ask you, my readers, what do you do before you eat a meal? Do you say grace or say “itadakimasu” (I shall partake)?
Appetite is the most fundamentally important human desire, for it is essential for the sustenance of our life. Nevertheless, this does not automatically mean that all we need to do is to put food in our stomachs.
The following is a translation of Part 18 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the June 2004 (No. 426) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.
Kiku Masui of Izushichijo Village (currently, Izushichijo-cho of Yamato-Koriyama City, Nara Prefecture) traveled near and far for her husband’s asthma whenever she heard about a miracle at a certain shrine or temple. However, when she was troubled that her prayers did not have their intended effect, she heard from a neighbor about “the living god of Shoyashiki Village.” In 1863, Kiku visited Oyasama for the first time, who at the time, said to Her:
The Honseki had the teaching of tanno (true satisfaction/joyous acceptance) firmly settled in his heart. He never expressed dissatisfaction.
He always cautioned against waste, saying: “All that we have today we have because of Oyasama. In winter there were times when She spent the night without any firewood. On one particularly cold night at the end of the year when I looked for firewood at the Residence, I found nothing. I collected a handful of fallen leaves and pine needles and built a fire in a brazier. Because a fire made from pine needles doesn’t last long, Oyasama, Shuji, and Kokan slept rubbing their hands on the brazier after it went out.”
When he went to worship at the old Foundress’ Sanctuary, the Honseki cautioned about letting fire in a brazier burn in a wasteful manner to those around him by recollecting such hardships that Oyasama and Her family endured. The Honseki always made it a point to remember the path of hardship Oyasama went through.
(Adapted from Shinpan Izo Iburi den pp. 128–129)
*Note: This post has been revised since its original publication.
The old Foundress’ Sanctuary refers to the building known as Oyasama’s Resting House (Gokyusoku-sho). The Resting House was made into Oyasama’s sanctuary after She withdrew from physical life. The present Foundress’ Sanctuary was built during the “Showa Construction” in the early 1930s.