Tag Archives: Service dance

Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 18 and 19

18. The Songs of Truth

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.

 

19. Children Playing Shuttlecock

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.

Continue reading Blogging Anecdotes of Oyasama 18 and 19

Question no. 6: Explaining the Tenrikyo manner of prayer and the seated service

Q: I happened to live at a local Tenrikyo kyokai while on a study abroad program in Japan (or what’s called “home stay”). I was always curious about what was going on during the daily services: Why clap four times during prayer? Isn’t four a bad luck number in Japan? What is going on when they are bowing their heads down? What do the words and gestures of the daily services mean? Is there any significance behind why the first song is repeated 21 times, the second one done just once, and the third one is repeated in three sets of three?

submitted by Freshly Made Friends (real name withheld)

A: Hey Freshly, you’re asking at least five different questions there! You only get to ask just one…. Maybe two at most!

I’m kidding. Your questions are somewhat correlated, so I’ll be more than happy to answer them. But I will start by explaining how kyokai sanctuaries are set up for those of you out there who’ve never been in one before.

Continue reading Question no. 6: Explaining the Tenrikyo manner of prayer and the seated service

Post-26 Report (Dec 2008)

Ninth Installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” Lecture Series

The ninth installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” lecture series, sponsored by the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion, was held at 13:00 on December 25. The lecturer in December was Koji Sato sensei and he was assigned to discuss Song Four (Yo Kudari-me) of the Mikagura-uta. The title of the lecture was “Mune no uchi yori shian seyo” (“Ponder over it from your innermost heart!”).

Continue reading Post-26 Report (Dec 2008)

Post-26 Report (Nov 2008)

A belated Happy New Year 2009 (Year of the Ox), everyone!

Many thanks to all of you for visiting the site in 2008 and to those visiting for the first time. I am always humbled that to think that people take the time to visit this site considering there are a vast multitude of activities available to them on the web. If I actually had the luxury of spending as much time as I could on the web, I probably would be watching NFL and NHL games, learning another language, or trying out online guitar tutorials.

A big thanks once again for all your visits to the site. Now on to (at least the first part of) an overdue Post-26 Report.

Continue reading Post-26 Report (Nov 2008)

Post-26 Report (Oct 2008)

Okay, here it is, after much delay, my “Post-26 Report” for the month of October.

Seventh Installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” Lecture Series

The seventh installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” lecture series, sponsored by the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion, was held at 13:00 on October 25. The lecturer in October was Yomei Mori sensei and he was assigned to discuss Song Two (Ni Kudari-me) of the Mikagura-uta. The title of the lecture was “Muhon no nē o kirō” (“I will cut off the root of rebellion”). Continue reading Post-26 Report (Oct 2008)

Post-26 Report (Sept 2008)

Sixth Installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” Lecture Series

The sixth installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” lecture series sponsored by the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion was held at 13:00 on September 25. (It was held on the sixth floor of the Tenrikyo Doyusha building.) The lecturer this month was Yoshitsugu Sawai sensei and he was assigned to discuss Song One (Hitokudari-me) of the Mikagura-uta. The lecture itself was entitled “Ri o fuku” (“The providences shall come forth”).

Continue reading Post-26 Report (Sept 2008)

Post-26 Report (July 2008)

Fourth Installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” Lecture Series

The fourth lecture of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” lecture series sponsored by the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion was held at 13:00 on July 25. (It was held on the sixth floor of the Tenrikyo Doyusha building.) The lecturer this month was Kazuhiro Hatakama sensei and he was assigned to discuss the so-called “Section Three” or “Third Section” (Dai-sansetsu) of the Mikagura-uta:

Ashiki o harōte tasuke sekikomu ichiretsu sumashite Kanrodai

(“Sweeping away evils, hasten to save us. All mankind equally purified, the Kanrodai”).

Continue reading Post-26 Report (July 2008)

Post-26 Report (June 2008)

Third Installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” Lecture Series

The second lecture of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” lecture series sponsored by the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion was held at 13:00 on June 25. (The venue, as always was the sixth floor of the Tenrikyo Doyusha building.) The lecturer this month was Midori Horiuchi sensei and she was assigned to discuss the so-called “Second Section” or Section Two (Dai-nisetsu) of the Mikagura-uta:

Choto hanashi Kami no yū koto kiite kure

ashiki no koto wa iwan de na

kono yō no ji to ten to o katadorite

fūfu o koshirae kitaru dena

kore wa kono yo no hajimedashi

Namu-Tenri-O-no-Mikoto

(“Just a word: Listen to what God says. I never tell you anything wrong. Representing heaven and earth I have created husband and wife. This is the beginning of this world”).

Continue reading Post-26 Report (June 2008)

Post-26 Report (May 2008)

Second Installment of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” Lecture Series

The second lecture of “Savoring the Realm of the Mikagura-uta” lecture series sponsored by the Oyasato Institute for the Study of Religion was held at 13:00 on May 25. The lecturer this month was Yoshinori Sawai and he was assigned to discuss the so-called “First Section” or Section One (Dai-issetsu) of the Mikagura-uta: Ashiki o harōte tasuke tamae Tenri-Ō-no-Mikoto (“Sweeping away evils, please save us, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto”).

Continue reading Post-26 Report (May 2008)

The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 26

The following is a translation of Part 26 of the series “Senjin no sokuseki” (Footsteps of Our Predecessors) from the February 2005 (No. 434) issue of Taimo, pp. 34–35. This translation is a provisional one at the moment and may require further revision.

Part 26: Like Sliding On Water

In 1879, Umejiro Izutsu, a cotton salesman from Honden 本田, Osaka, converted from Omine Shugendo to become a fervent devotee of the path when his newborn daughter Tane was blessed with a recovery from illness. Oyasama bestowed his confraternity with the name “Shinmei-gumi” and many followers would gather at the confraternity assembly hall located in Honden.

Between 30 to 50 followers would gather every night to worship and dance the Twelve Songs. Their devotion was so great that the tatami mats wore out and needed to be replaced in three months.

Continue reading The Footsteps of Our Predecessors 26