13. Sow the Seed
Tosuke Maeda and his wife Tatsu of Anryu Village, Settsu Province, were peddling flower seeds under the name of Taneichi. They had had many children one after another, and they did not want to have more. But in 1865, Tatsu was again expecting a baby. Then Tatsu heard of a god in Yamato Province who would bring about an abortion, and so she went there. However, she did not arrive at the place of that god, but was guided by an unknown force to Shoyashiki Village. There she was granted an audience with Oyasama, who said:
“You are the Taneichi (literally, ‘seed market’), so you will sow seeds.”
What do you mean by sowing seeds? asked Tatsu. Then Oyasama taught:
“It means to go here and there and talk of Tenri-Ō.”*
Referring to the expected baby, Oyasama added:
“It will not do to abort the child. The baby will be a boy, the heir to the Maeda family.”
These words struck home to Tatsu and convinced her of giving up having an abortion. When she returned home, she told her husband Tosuke of Oyasama’s words and he too was convinced. From that time on they often returned to Jiba and received teachings from Oyasama. The baby was born on June 18th of that year and was named Tojiro.
Both husband and wife told people of the divine name of Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto wherever they went to sell their flower seeds. Moreover, when they met a sick person, either the wife or husband would return to Jiba to pray for that person. All the sick people they prayed for were saved.
(Note)
* God the Parent
Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 8–9