Articles and exerpts from a variety of books, on the teachings of Tenrikyo
The Anecdote (Summary) In the spring of 1882, Koiso Yamada, who was expecting a baby, returned to Jiba. Oyasama told her: “This time, it is a test. When you come back to Jiba after childbirth, do not stop at Mamekoshi (where Koiso’s parents, the Yamanakas, lived) or at any…
On January 26, the Spring Grand Service was conducted at Tenrikyo Church Headquarters with Successor-Designate Daisuke Nakayama serving as chief officiant on behalf of the Shinbashira. The Grand Service commemorates the day when Oyasama withdrew from physical life—namely, the lunar calendar date of January 26, 1887. It was on that…
The Anecdote (Summary) One day in March 1882, Unosuke Tosa abruptly left his home in Muya without telling his wife, carrying only the shrine of God the Parent on his back. He made this move after a long struggle with his parents-in-law, who strongly opposed his single-hearted devotion to…
The Anecdote (Summary) When Tamezo Yamazawa began to serve Oyasama in about 1881, She instructed him in the following manner: God says, “Showing innen [causality] to parents, God waits for children to appear.” Do you understand? Therefore, virtue is more deeply planted in the second generation than in…
The Anecdote (Summary) Shina, wife of Zenroku Okamoto of Nagahara Village in Yamato Province, had seven pregnancies. However, only two children, the eldest son, Eitaro, and the youngest daughter, Kan, survived. Sometime around August 1881 a farmer named Tarobei Imada—who owned about six hectares (15 acres) of rice fields…
The Anecdote (Summary) The time was late in the spring of 1881. Kei Matsui had been spending her days and nights in tears for several years because honeycomb-like holes had progressed to the roots of her teeth and had reached the bone. One day the fragrance of the teachings…