Shuyoka, the Spiritual Development Course, marked an important milestone in October as it welcomed students into its 1,000th session.
Shuyoka provides a three-month opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds with different social positions to learn how to live the Joyous Life right by God the Parent’s side, by Oyasama’s side.
While working together with their fellow followers of the path, Shuyoka students can let God the Parent’s teachings naturally settle in their minds. Their way of looking at and thinking about things will then change, allowing them to grow into Yoboku (“useful timbers”), who can build the Joyous Life.
A new session has begun every month for the last 83 years since Shuyoka’s inception in April 1941, when it was established to replace the six-month Tenri Seminary Special Course (Bekka). In April 2016, Shuyoka was reorganized into the current program—which began with the 900th session—with the aim of further enriching its contents and responding to the increasing need for nurturing human resources. By the end of September 2024, a total of 644,389 students had completed Shuyoka since its establishment. Anyone who is seventeen years of age or older and who has the motivation and commitment to seek faith is eligible for admission to Shuyoka.
Each day of Shuyoka begins with the morning service performed at sunrise at Church Headquarters. The course includes classes in the basic teachings, practice sessions for the service dance and musical instruments, and activities referred to as hinokishin (intended to be performed as selfless and thankful action). After the evening service, students participate in the spiritual development activities organized by the dormitories to which they belong.
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On the morning of October 1, marking the start of the 1,000th session of Shuyoka, 325 students, each wearing a happi coat with a red-bordered nameplate indicating that they were in the first month of the spiritual training course, arrived one after another in the auditorium of East Left Wing 5 of the Oyasato-yakata building-complex.
At the opening ceremony for the 1,000th session, Rev. Yoshiji Matsumura, head of the Education and Nurture Bureau, delivered an address.
Rev. Matsumura began by saying that each follower has his or her own reasons and motivations for applying to Shuyoka. Quoting an Ofudesaki verse that says, “Whenever you return, never think that it is caused by your individual minds” (Ofudesaki XI:78), he said, “While it may feel as if you have decided to come here of your own accord, in truth, God the Parent has drawn you here at the most crucial moment in your lives, intending to offer you some spiritual guidance.”
He went on to explain that the pathway for human beings to live happily is what we call the “truth of heaven,” and that our way of living that accords with the pathway taught by Oyasama is what we call the “Joyous Life.”
Rev. Matsumura then encouraged participants to use these three months of the spiritual development course as an opportunity to cultivate two key principles essential for leading the Joyous Life: “Understanding that God the Parent exists” and “Learning the teaching that you are saved by saving others.”
He concluded his address by saying, “I hope that you will strive to practice the Joyous Life with your fellow students in class and with followers at your respective dormitories.”
After that, the homeroom instructors and assistant instructors were introduced. Each pair, assigned to one of the eight classes, would spend three months with their Shuyoka students.
After the opening ceremony, the Shuyoka students were divided into their respective classes and filed into the East Worship Hall, where they performed a prayer service together to pray that they be guided safely and successfully by God the Parent throughout the next three months.
Some young students appeared nervous and uneasy. Some students who are in the prime of life wore bright expressions filled with enthusiasm, and some elderly students smiled warmly. With a variety of feelings and emotions in their hearts, the journey of the 1,000th session of Shuyoka has begun.
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Currently, the English and Chinese classes of Shuyoka are held between April and June every year, and the Thai class takes place every other year. For further information on non-Japanese language classes, please contact your church, mission headquarters, mission center, or Tenrikyo Overseas Department.
In November this year, a poster was created and made available for download to promote and encourage applications to Shuyoka—where you can learn how to live the Joyous Life, where you can “Change Your Life and Your Future.”
Download page:
https://shuyoka.tenrikyo.or.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/poster-eng.pdf