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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 199

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama,

199. Just One (hitotsu ya de)

Sei Honda, an official of the Heishin Shinmei-ko Confraternity, returned to Jiba in 1882 for the second time. She had chronic abdominal edema and her stomach was beginning to swell. Oyasama told her when She saw her condition:

“Osei, Osei, it must be very trying to carry that stomach. But this is not the dust accumulated in your present life. It has been carried over from your previous lives. God will surely save you. You must not change your heart. You must not let go of this string at any cost. Since you know nothing about your previous lives, just ask God for forgiveness and just thank God.”

From that day on, Sei could not stay still when she thought of all the dust that she had accumulated during her past three lives. Despite her swollen stomach, she went forth every day to do missionary work.

Sei poured water over herself even on the coldest days in winter before going out. As people gradually began to come to her in increasing numbers, she would offer water in the sake offering-bottle at the altar and then give it to them. By this means marvelous healings took place one after another. For several years, she went forth with zeal to do missionary work. But in the autumn of 1886, when she was forty-nine years of age, her abdominal edema became worse until she was in critical condition. She suffered so much that she alternately said, “Please let me sit up,” and, “Please let me lie down.” Hisakichi Hashida, who was the head of the confraternity, returned to Jiba. Through the arrangement of Gisaburo Nakata he was granted an audience with Oyasama, who said:

“Let me lie down. Let me sit up. You must have heard her wrong. What she meant was to enflame the confraternity with zeal. She will not die. Go back quickly and perform the service sincerely.”

So Hashida hurried back to Kobe. For three days and three nights, day and night, six times in twenty-four hours, he performed a special prayer service for her recovery.* The third day came but there was no sign of improvement. Another series of the special prayer service was performed for three days and three nights, but her condition became worse. From the sixth day on, she clenched her teeth and slept for twenty-eight days as if she had been dead. During this period she was given sacred water daily, and three sacred sugar candies were cooked and given to her through a bamboo tube three times a day.

The doctor refused to come, saying, “She will die this time.” However, during those twenty-eight days she urinated so frequently that it must have been over twenty times a day. On the morning of the twenty-eighth day, her younger sister, Sue Nadatani, was changing Sei’s clothes. Sue noticed that her sister’s swollen stomach had shrunk to its normal size. She was so astonished that she shouted out. Hearing Sue’s voice, Sei opened her eyes for the first time and looked around. Sue asked, “Can you hear?” Sei spoke for the first time, “How thankful I am! How thankful I am!”

A thin rice gruel was cooked and given to her. She ate two mouthfuls and said, “It is delicious. How thankful I am!” She then ate two bowls of the gruel with some pickled plums. She ate grated yam next. Day by day Sei regained her strength. But she was just like a baby, wetting the bed, and her memory was very short.

About a month later, Kichigoro Kataoka, another official of the [confraternity], returned to Jiba in her place to report it. He was granted an audience with Oyasama, who said:

“It is natural. It is natural. She is just one year old. She was reborn without having to die. She is still young. She is only one. She does not know anything yet. She will not know until she becomes two or three.”

Sei had lost her memory completely. When sewing a kimono, she would make mistakes in the measurement. She could no longer play the shamisen, she was that bad. But within two or three years she gradually began to understand things, and from the fourth year she was so blessed as to lead a normal life.

Thus, Sei was given a second life at the age of forty-nine, and she lived on for thirty years to the age of seventy-nine, devoting herself to saving others with yet greater zeal.

* This service consisted of the seated service and the entire teodori, and was performed three times during the day and three times during the night. As it was performed in this way for three days and nights consecutively, the performers went without sleep or rest.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 156–158

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 167

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167. Through Saving Others (hito tasuke tara)

On September 1, 1885, Hyoshiro Kami’s eldest daughter, thirteen-year-old Kimi, suddenly lost the sight of both eyes. Hyoshiro, too, on October 7th of the same year, went blind. This was divine guidance. On November 1st, Hyoshiro asked his wife Tsune to return to Jiba in his place. Oyasama said:

“This eye condition is not serious. It is just that God’s fingers are keeping them closed. Keeping them closed means God is testing him and guiding him.”

She continued:

“A message sent through people is just a message. A favor asked of people is just a favor. Words pass through one person, then there is one more person. Words pass through two persons, then there are two more persons. The more people words pass through, the more the words become distorted. If distorted words are imparted, error will be committed in the world. If an error is committed, then it is too late. It is best for the person to return himself. Thereupon, I shall teach him well.”

Tsune returned home and related these words to Hyoshiro. He was deeply impressed and said, “Indeed, that is right.” On the morning of November 3rd, he traveled the distance of sixteen kilometers from Kasama and returned to the Residence, cane in one hand and his wife guiding him by the other. Oyasama began by saying:

“Sah, sah,”

and for two hours thereafter She taught him the story of the creation.

Oyasama’s voice at that time was so forceful that it made the household fixtures tremble. As soon as Oyasama had finished speaking, Hyoshiro suddenly realized that his sight had returned without his knowing when or how. When he came home, he found that the eldest daughter Kimi’s eyes had also been marvelously cured. However, thereafter for some reason until about eight o’clock every morning, he could not see very far, and everything was a blur to him. No matter how much he reflected, he did not receive God’s blessing. Therefore, in January of the following year, 1886, he returned to Jiba again, and asked for guidance. Oyasama instructed to him:

“God has finished guiding you, but has not finished testing you. Testing means that through saving others you yourself shall be saved. You must not think of yourself. If you single-heartedly turn yourself to the thought, ‘I must at any cost save others and have others be saved,’ then your illness will be completely cured.”

Accordingly, thereafter, he ardently strived to save others and before long he had completely recovered from his illness.

Anecdotes of Oyasama pp. 134–135

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 155

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama

155. If You Are Saved (jubun ga tasukatte)

Sometime in 1884, at the age of thirty, Tsurumatsu, the eldest son of Matashiro and Seki Moriguchi of Kaichi Village in Yamato Province, had very painful nodules of anthrax on his back. He went to see a doctor because they had begun to form pus. The doctor, giving up on him, said, “This is the end of this man’s life. Let him eat anything he likes.” Tsurumatsu returned to the Residence where he had come to worship before, and received a blessing directly from Oyasama, who affixed to his sores a piece of sacred paper on which She had breathed.

Two or three days later, Tsurumatsu called out from his bed, “Will someone take a look? The bedding has stuck to my body and will not come off.” The family came and saw that the nodules had opened and the pus had drained all over the bedding. Then, the family replaced the sacred paper with another which Tsurumatsu had received from Oyasama. This was repeated several times and the anthrax healed completely.

When he returned to the Residence to thank Oyasama, She gave him these words:

“So it is. How wonderful to be saved from death. If you are saved and are very grateful, then go out to save others.”

Tsurumatsu was deeply impressed by these words and thereafter devoted himself to spreading the teachings of God and saving others.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 126

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 103

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103. Without Erring

Komakichi Komatsu, who lived in Osaka, returned to Jiba for the first time in July 1882, led by Tokichi Izumita, his spiritual guide, in order to offer his gratitude. This was soon after his recovery from cholera and the beginning of his faith.

When Komakichi was granted an audience with Oyasama, She personally handed him an amulet and spoke these gracious words:

“I appreciate your return from the bustling town of Osaka to the remote countryside. You are eighteen and still young. Go through life without erring. As long as you do not err, in the end, your happiness will exceed all bounds.”

Komakichi kept these words as his lifelong motto and remained constant in them throughout his life.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 87

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 100

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100. You Are to Save Others 

Sadakichi Konishi of Kambe Village in Yamato Province was a hard working man who could do twice as much work as others. From a minor cause he became consumptive, and was spending the days in despair for he was pronounced incurable by doctors. At the same time his wife, Iye, who had had difficulty during the previous delivery, was pregnant with her second child.

Around March 1882, the fragrance of the teachings was spread to Sadakichi by Jirobei Morimoto of the same village. In spite of his illness, Sadakichi returned to Jiba with his wife and she received the Grant for Safe Childbirth. At that time Sadakichi asked Oyasama, “Is this god a god of only safe childbirth?” Oyasama replied:

“It is not so. This God saves man from any illness.”

Sadakichi then asked, “To tell the truth, I am ill with consumption. Can I be saved?” Thereupon, he received these words filled with parental love from Oyasama:

“You need not worry. No matter what your illness may be, you can receive divine protection. You must throw away your greed.”

These words penetrated deep into his mind. Thus, Sadakichi made a firm resolution. As soon as he came home he gathered all his cash together and handed it to his wife. Then he confined himself in a room in a detached house, writing “Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto” on a sheet of paper which he hung in the alcove. He prayed intensely, chanting, “Namu, Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto, Namu, Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto.” The only time he left the room was to go to the bathroom. He had his morning and evening meals brought to his room and he continued to pray day in and day out. In so doing, the color marvelously returned to his face and his coughing ceased. Before long he was completely saved from the suffering of his long illness.

In addition to his marvelous salvation, Iye also was able to give birth to a baby boy without difficulty. Without delay they returned to Jiba to express their gratitude. From the bottom of their hearts, they thanked Oyasama, who was very pleased and said:

“Because you became single-hearted, you were saved.”

Sadakichi said, “There is no happiness greater than this. How can I repay this blessing?” Then, Oyasama replied:

“Save others.”

Then Sadakichi asked, “What should I do? How can others be saved?” Oyasama replied:

“Earnestly tell others how you were saved.”

Then She gave him about half a pound of the sacred powder of roasted grain and said:

“This is a sacred offering. Have people take this with the offered water.”

Receiving this, he happily went home.

There were many sick people everywhere he went. Carrying the sacred powder with him, he went out to save others in the manner taught by Oyasama. They were all saved, one after another, and the number of followers increased.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 83–84

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 95

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95. The Path of Eight Hundred Kilometers 

Chuzaburo Koda of Kawahigashi Village in Yamato Province was employed at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Niigata Prefecture. When he went home on vacation late in 1881, he found that the condition of his second daughter, Riki, who had been suffering from an eye disease for two or three years, had become worse. Although medical attention was given, it was said that it was only a matter of time before she would lose her sight.

The new year, 1882, arrived with the whole family being deeply concerned. Early in the year, they were about to decide that they should offer prayers at one of the most famous temples of the country, the Kanzeon at Mount Otowa in Yamato Province. Yosaburo Miyamori of the same village heard of their plan and visited the Koda family. Miyamori had already been a follower in the faith for several years. The family had him offer prayers for Riki at once. The next morning she was able dimly to see her fingers and cookies as well.

As a result, they gave up the idea of going to Mount Otowa, and instead, the parents and Riki returned to the Residence on March 5th. They stayed there for seven days. On the third day, Chuzaburo’s wife, Saki, offered this prayer: “I will offer one of my eyes as a sacrifice, so please save at least one of the eyes of my daughter.” From that night on, Saki gradually lost the sight of one eye. In exchange, Riki gradually regained the sight in one of her own eyes, until it was fully recovered. Chuzaburo was so moved by this wondrous blessing that for the first time he made a firm resolution to have faith in God.

He submitted his resignation to the prefecture because he wished to serve God at the Residence, and because travel between Niigata and the Residence took sixteen days. However, the prefecture refused his resignation and ordered his return. At a complete loss, Chuzaburo asked Oyasama, “What should I do?” She told him:

“There is a bridge of the path which is eight hundred kilometers long, and there is no one but you to cross that bridge.”

Koda was filled with emotion by these words. He made a firm resolution from the depths of his heart to spread the fragrance of the teachings and to save others. He departed on March 17th. Thus, he took the first step of mission work in Niigata Prefecture.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 79–80.

Translation of “Sawa’s note”

“Roughly in the area west of JR Yanagimoto Station in Higaki-cho, Tenri.”

Insight from Yomei Mori sensei

In a pithy article of just six and a half pages, Yomei Mori sensei from the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion offers much insight regarding this particular selection from Anecdotes, which I will try my best to paraphrase at length here. The main focus is on three key expressions:

  1. “ni-hyaku ri” (200 ri or 800 kilometers)
  2. “hashi” (bridge)
  3. “shinjin” (faith)

200 ri

In discussing the expression 200 ri, while the wondrous blessings his daughter received for her eye condition motivated Chuzaburo Koda to make a “firm resolution to have faith.” The government must have placed great trust in Chuzaburo and his technical expertise to have refused his resignation and demanded for his return.

Chuzaburo, who wished to devote himself exclusively for the path, was caught between carrying out this wish and meeting his worldly responsibilities. Torn, he approached Oyasama for advice and she told him, “There is a bridge of the path which is 200 ri long, and there is no one but you to cross that bridge.”

Mori sensei then speculates that Oyasama’s words here are suggesting that exclusive devotion to the path is not at all incompatible with working in society if one’s heart is in the right place. He then goes on to explain that such a sentiment is embodied in the expression “sato no sennin” or “hermit/sage of the village.” Although hermit/sage is usually associated with a person who secludes oneself from society to free oneself from distractions and practice physical austerities, the phrase “sato no sennin” embodies the ideal in Tenrikyo for adherents to remain in a community and do their best not to be swept away by prevailing social currents.

Mori sensei also suggests that the expression 200 ri symbolically refers to Tenrikyo’s overseas mission of today. There are a variety of ways in which adherents are building bridges in overseas communities, beginning with cultural activities such as judo and instruction of Japanese language to providing medical or financial assistance.

Bridge

On to the theme of “bridge.” In Niigata Daikyokai monogatari, Oyasama is quoted as saying to Chuzaburo Koda: “I have put in front of you a bridge spanning 200 ri. I put it there with the hope that you would cross it. If you do not cross it, it would mean I placed the bridge for nothing.”

Mori sensei goes on to write that the bridge Oyasama is referring to is obviously not a real bridge but a metaphor for the connection between Jiba and another place (Niigata in Chuzaburo’s specific case). To be connected with Jiba means to be constantly mindful of the original intention that led God to create human beings and the creation process itself. An adherent can outwardly express this connection to Jiba and show one’s appreciation for God’s daily blessings with a “return” or pilgrimage to Jiba.

He then goes on to note:

Even today, when many people return from all over the globe to make a pilgrimage to Jiba, it is a fact that some cannot return even they wish to. There are differing reasons for this. One must enter Japan, one of the world’s biggest economic powerhouses in order to return to Jiba. Financial factors especially loom large for followers from developing countries. It is downright ironic that the homeland of humanity is located in a country with one of the highest standards of living in the world.1

The notion that a person cannot return to Jiba without God’s blessing has been expressed in Scripture.2

Further, there are Timely Talks that warn adherents of the rotting of the spirit, becoming swept away by social currents, and losing sight of the original Parent, which will cause one’s bridge to rot or be swept away.3

Mori sensei then mentions that although Chuzaburo never steps foot in Niigata again after he returned to Jiba to serve at the Residence4, the people who he led to have faith in the path continued to support the “bridge” that had been put into place and made efforts to establish Niigata Daikyokai.

Shinjin

The word “shinjin” (faith) makes several other appearances in instructions attributed to Oyasama in Anecdotes. Some representative selections in addition to selection 95 include:

Mori sensei writes that these instructions describe a faith that anyone can practice at anytime on a daily basis in any day and age. Such a faith has much in common with the notion of the “hermit/sage in the village” alluded above.

Finally, Mori sensei offers his commentary on a number of verses from The Songs for the Service that include the word “shinjin” (rendered in the official translation as “believe(d)”). He suggests the sequence of its appearances represent different stages of how faith should develop.

  1. Although one believed until now, one did not know that Tenri-O-no-Mikoto was the Creator (Moto no Kami) and not merely a common deity who could be petitioned to with prayers or ritual incantations for personal benefit (paraphrase of Song Three, verse 9).
  2. If one continues one’s faith, one will be blessed with a life that is at the apex of joy (paraphrase of Song Five, verse 5).
  3. If one is resolved to continue one’s faith in any situation, unite one’s minds with companions of the faith and form a “brotherhood” or religious organization (paraphrase of Song Five, verse 10). This demonstrates that faith in the path is not merely an individual matter, but ought to be conveyed to others and embarked on together. Faith that is open to anyone now must become faith that can be shared with anyone.
  4. Even if one has had faith for many years, a usage of the mind that goes against God’s intention will not do (paraphrase of Song Six, verse 7).
  5. Even so, one must continue one’s faith. But if one’s mindset is not corrected upon self-examination, one will have to start from the very beginning or in some cases return the body (paraphrase of Song Six, verse 8).
  6. When one lives in accordance with the teachings and embarks on the path exclusively devoted to performing the Service and saving others, the result one’s efforts must appear (paraphrase of Song Six, verse 9). While a person’s faith is not something that is readily visible, as one continues it, a group dedicated to the faith naturally forms and one’s efforts must manifest itself in visible form as “effectiveness.” When one boldly crosses a bridge placed by God, people at the other end will begin to believe in the original Parent, forming a group of believers and a road that connects to Jiba.

My take / research

My intuition leads to me to assume that “Kanzeon at Mount Otowa” refers to Kannon-ji, but I can’t be completely sure.

Oyasama is also described using the metaphor of a bridge in Anecdotes 33, saying to Risaburo Yamamoto as follows: “You shall be saved for sure if you decide to dedicate your whole life to serve this Residence. The bridge between countries; a rough log bridge. Without a bridge, a river cannot be crossed. Will you dedicate your life or not? Arakitoryo, arakitoryo!”

The word “arakitoryo” or “(rough) wood master” implies that Risaburo was asked to become the master to find and hone the rough pieces of timber (i.e., missionaries) that can be fashioned into bridges. While Risaburo made some missionary efforts himself (as described in this story), it appears that he devoted most of his time at the Residence as an “intermediary,” and instructed Oyasama’s teachings to returning followers. In this sense, his role was not different from that of Chuzaburo Koda’s.

If I were to compare my own faith with that of a bridge, it would admittedly be short and rotten, not unlike the one in the picture below:

124569321.zm32ry0i.IMG_6977a

Image source: pbase.com

Bibliography

  • Mori Yōmei. 2006. “Michi no ni-hyaku ri mo.” In Itsuwa-hen ni manabu iki-kata 2. Tenri: Tenri Daigaku Oyasato Kenkyūsho, pp. 75–81.
  • Tenrikyo Church Headquarters. 1976. Anecdotes of Oyasama, the Foundress of Tenrikyo. Tenri: Tenrikyo Church Headquarters.
  • Tenrikyō Seinenkai, ed. 2006. “Oyasama: Kekkō to omōte sure ba, Ten ni todoku ri.” Taimō 449 (May 2006), pp. 16–17.

Further reading (On Koda Chuzaburo)

Notes

  1. In no way does Mori elaborate why he finds this so ironic. It is because one of the first things Oyasama did after becoming the “Shrine of God” was to “fall to the depths of poverty”? ↩
  2. In Divine Directions dated April 23, 1887:

    This Residence is the Four-fronted Mirror Residence. Even if you wish to come here, you may not be able to come. I shall not tell those who have come here to go away, nor shall I tell those who do not wish to come here to come.

    An Anthology of Osashizu Translations, p. 37. ↩

  3. Here are passages from the Osashizu that were not available in English until now (or at least as far as I’m aware). My translations:

    Although a bridge may appear strong, it will be swept away in a flood. There have been times when they have been swept away. It will surely happen again.

    March 23, 1896

    Even if you have a bridge, can you cross that bridge if it has rotted?

    October 31, 1900 ↩

  4. According to supplemental information from Taimo, Chuzaburo Koda took over overseeing the Nakayama household after Ryojiro Yamazawa passed away on June 19, 1883. ↩

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 88

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88. From a Dangerous Place

The events of this story took place in late autumn of 1881. Unosuke Tosa was saved from near shipwreck close to Okushiri Island off Hokkaido. His ship docked at the port of Osaka, and on the same day he returned to Jiba to offer his thanks to God. He worshiped before the Kanrodai, offered his thanks to God the Parent, and vowed to carry out his firm resolution in the future.

He was so happy that he told the seniors at the Residence in detail the story of his having been saved. One of those who was listening, interrupted and asked whether that event had occurred at a certain time on a certain day in a certain month. When Unosuke calculated the date of his salvation, he realized it was exactly the same day. According to the senior, “Oyasama opened the sliding door and stood for a while facing north, waving an open Service fan, calling to someone to come,

‘Ho there! Ho there!’

I thought it was very strange. Now that I have heard your story, I understand what She was doing.” At this, Tosa was so touched with emotion that he could not contain himself. He made his appearance before Oyasama and, bowing deeply before Her, offered his gratitude, “Thank you for saving my life.” His voice trembled, and his eyes were so filled with tears that he could not clearly see Oyasama’s face. Oyasama spoke to him in a gentle voice and comforted him, saying:

“I brought you home from a dangerous place.”

Tosa then and there decided to leave his lifelong work as a seaman and made a firm resolution to dedicate his life to the single-hearted salvation of others.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 74–75.

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 84

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84. In the Southern Half of the Province

When Koiso Yamanaka was to be married to Ihachiro Yamada of Deyashiki in Kurahashi Village, her father, Chushichi, asked Oyasama about the marriage. Oyasama said to him:

“I am not sending her to be married. Rather, I am sending her to the southern half of the province to spread the teachings as none have spread it there yet. However, it all depends on her heart.”

The Yamanaka parents were hesitant about this request because the Yamada family was living deep in the heart of the mountains, but Koiso was married on May 30, 1881, after saying, “Let me be married as God desires.”

Koiso then found that Isa Yamamoto, a relative of the Yamada family had been bedridden for more than five years due to the paralysis of her limbs. Koiso prayed to God for her recovery and repeatedly gave her sacred water. The following year, when Chushichi Yamanaka came to visit them, Isa was marvelously healed. She rose to her feet, all her joints cracking, and was able to walk by herself. In her village Koiso also found a girl named Naragiku Tanaka who had been blind for more than seven years. Koiso prayed to God for the girl’s recovery, each time washing her eyes with sacred water. Soon, she received God’s blessing. The mention of Koiso’s cure of the cripple and the blind girl became so well-known throughout neighboring villages that many people came to see her one after another.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, p. 70

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 72

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72. Destined to Be Saved

From around April 1880, Kosaburo Murakami of Izumi Province, in the prime of his manhood, began to lose the use of his hands and feet due to sciatica. The pain was so severe that he completely lost his appetite. He went to see doctors and sought as many various kinds of medical treatment as possible but he found no effective cure. His whole family, as well as he himself, lived from day to day in deep depression, feeling as if they had fallen into an abyss of misery.

Out of his ardent desire to be cured, Kosaburo went to Jinnan Village near Tatsuta, as he had heard that a noted herb doctor lived there, but was disappointed because the doctor was not home. At that moment he remembered his servants and the route merchants often speaking of the living god of Shoyashiki and so he decided to return to Shoyashiki Village since he had come thus far.

Thus he returned and was warmly received by Oyasama, who said:

“You will be saved, will be saved. You are destined to be saved.”

Oyasama further told him the teachings which he had never heard before. Then, at the time of his departure, he received three sweet bean dumplings placed on a sheet of paper, and some sacred water. Kosaburo, refreshed with the feeling that his body and mind were cleansed, left for home.

Although he had ridden in a rickshaw over a long distance, he was not tired at all when he reached home; on the contrary, he felt delighted. Then praying, “Namu, Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto, Namu, Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto,” he rubbed the water he had received from Oyasama on his aching hip. As if in a dream, the pain disappeared on the third day.

For the next half a year, each time he returned to Jiba his condition improved a little more, and in January of the following year, 1881, he held a celebration for his recovery. Kosaburo was forty-two years old. Feelings of gratitude naturally made his feet turn toward Jiba.

Returning to Jiba, Kosaburo immediately asked Oyasama how to repay Her for the favor. Oyasama replied:

“It is neither money nor material things. If you are happy because you have been saved, then with that joy go out to save people who are praying to be saved. That is the best way to repay the favor. Strive courageously for the salvation of others.”

Kosaburo firmly pledged to strive for the path of single-hearted salvation of others by following Oyasama’s words.

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 62–63

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Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 67

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67. Poor Fellow

Tsurumatsu Nukuto was frail from childhood. In 1879, when he was sixteen years old, his chronic stomach ailment grew worse and soon reached the critical stage. His doctor gave him up as hopeless.

At this time, the fragrance of the teachings was spread to Tsurumatsu by Kiichi Asano through Higashio, a distant relative. At the recommendation of Kiichi, Tsurumatsu firmly resolved to follow the path. So, accompanied by his parents, he returned to Jiba for the first time, carried on a stretcher, over forty-eight kilometers of mountainous road. He rested overnight and the next morning, through the arrangements made by Jyukichi Nakayama, Tsurumatsu was received in audience by Oyasama with special permission to remain on the stretcher. Thereupon, Oyasama said:

“Poor fellow.”

She took off the red kimono-undergarment She was wearing and put it on Tsurumatsu, slipping it over his head.

At that moment Tsurumatsu felt the warmth of the red kimono under-garment and at the same time he felt as if dawn had come. Though his illness had been critical, from that moment he began to recover. He stayed one week; he received marvelous salvation and was soon cured completely.

It is said that all through his life Tsurumatsu recalled that moment and said, “Even now I cannot forget that warmth.”

Anecdotes of Oyasama, pp. 58–59

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