Mainiti Dayly News

Miki Nakayama, the foundress of Tenrikyo, was born on April 18, 1798. She married into the Nakayama family, a wealthy farming family in Shoyashiki Village, Yamato Province (presently within Tenri City, Nara Prefecture) in 1810. In October 1838, when she was forty-one years old, she is said to have received the following revelation from God the Parent, Tenri-o-no-Mikoto:" I am God of Origin, God in Truth. There is causality in this residence. At this time I have descended here to save all humankind. I wish to receive Miki as the Shrine of God." She was thus settled as the Shrine of God, explains Tenrikyo, when her family accepted God's request on Oct. 26, 1838--- the day which is considered to mark the beginning of Tenrikyo.

Inside the Foundress' Sanctuary

The followers refer to her as Oyasama, "our beloved Parent." They maintain that, although she was outwardly human, her mind had been replaced by the mind of God the Parent ---the mind that desires to save all people in the world so that they may live the Joyous Life.

Oyasama initiated her path of salvation by plunging into the depths of poverty. Yet, people did not understand her deeds and, consequently, no one listened to her teachings for nearly twenty years. By the late 1850s, however, people began coming to Oyasama to receive what are termed "blessings of miraculous salvation," foremost of which was the Grant of Safe Childbirth. In the course of time, therefore, more and more people came to gather around her, regarding her as a living god. She sought to teach them about the existence and the intention of God the Parent and about how to attain salvation.

This way to salvation is referred to as the "path of single-hearted salvation" and consists primarily of the Service and the Sazuke, the Divine Grant.

Oyasama composed the Songs for the Service. She also wrote the Ofudesaki, The Tip of the Writing Brush, which comprises 1,711 verses. in order to record the fundamental teachings of God the Parent. Furthermore, in 1857 she identified the location of the Jiba, which is taught as the place where human beings were created, and thereafter hastened her followers to perform the Salvation Service there.

But Oyasama's teachings, which emphasized the brotherhood and equality of all human beings were not compatible with the general policies of the government at the time. Thus, with the growth of the path, Oyasama and the followers were subjected to increasingly vigorous persecution, and Oyasama was often forced to undergo the hardship of imprisonment.

Finally, the followers found themselves unable to perform the Service because it was clear that its performance would result in the imprisonment of Oyasama. Since the way to salvation depended upon the performance of the Service, Oyasama "withdrew from physical life," as it is termed in Tenrikyo, on Jan. 26, 1887, thus removing the obstacle that had prevented the followers from performing the Service.

The course of Oyasama's life during the fifty years that began on the day when she was settled as the Shrine of God is referred to by the followers as the Divine Model. They consider this to be the model life for all who work as Oyasama's instruments to save others.

Tenrikyo maintains that although Oyasama is no linger physically present, she remains everliving and works as ever before to save all humankind. This is known as the "truth of the everliving Oyasama" and is an important point in the Tenrikyo faith.