Tenrikyo is a religion that is based on the teachings of Miki Nakayama (1798-1887), whom the followers call "Oyasama." According to its doctrine, she received a divine revelation from God the Parent, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, and was settled as the Shrine of God in 1838. Oyasama set forth her teachings over the course of the following fifty years. The basic thrust of her message is that humankind was created for the purpose of living a life of joy. The Joyous Life, she taught, is to be equally shared by all people in the world, who are children of God the Parent and are, therefore, related to one another as brother and sister. She also maintained that , if joy is experienced by all humankind, God, too, will share in that joy.

Among the important points of the teachings is the place where humankind is said to have been originally conceived. Known as the Jiba of Origin, this place is marked by a distinctive hexagonal stand called the Kanrodai, the stand for the heavenly dew. There, a special ritual called the Kagura Service is performed. In the performance of this Service, which is taugt as the means to universal salvation, dancers representing the ten aspects of God the Parent's providence at the time of creation perform a ritual that mirrors the creation of humankind. The ten dancers, wearing their respective kagura masks, encircle the Kanrodai. Moving in unison to the song and in harmony with the music of nine instruments, they symbolize by hand gestures God the Parent's complete providence, and thereby symbolize in the present the workings through which human beings and the world were created.

The Teodori being performed in the Main Sanctuary

Another ritual dance created by Oyasama is the Teodori, the dance with hand movements. This dance, performed as the second part of the Service, is intended to be a symbolic expression of the Joyous Life. Through its use of aesthetic hand movements, the Teodori is meant not only to convey meaning to the dancers but also to radiate joy to those who observe it.

Oyasama emphasized that through the spirited performance of the Service, God the Parent, too, would become spirited, thus bringing about the realization of the Joyous Life---the objective of humankind's existence.

In conjunction with the Service performed as the means to universal salvation, Tenrikyo stresses the administering of the Sazuke, a Tenrikyo healing rite, as the means to salvation from illness. The Sazuke is administered to people with physical disorders, and is said to bring relief when God the Parent accepts the combined sincerity of the person administering it and the person to whom it is being administered. The administering of the Sazuke is considered to be an act of helping those who are in need so that their minds may be awakened to the truth of the teachings.

The Mikagura-uta

Between 1866 and 1882, Oyasama composed the Mikagura-uta, The Songs for the Service, which constitutes the song-text for the Kagura Service and the Teodori. One of the three Tenrikyo scriptures, it comprises the three songs for the Kagura as well as the prelude and the twelve songs for the Teodori.

The Ofudesaki, The Tip of the Writing Brush, is the scripture that is invested with primary importance and, in the scripture that is invested with primary importance and, in fact, Tenrikyo maintains that all of Oyasama's teachings are vividly revealed in this one book. Written by Oyasama from 1869 to 1882, the Ofudesaki consists of 1,711 verses divided into seventeen parts.

The Ofudesaki

Of central importance in Tenrikyo is the teaching that the human body is a thing lent, a thing borrowed from God the Parent, and that the mind alone is in actuality what we may call our own. Tenrikyo explains that, because human beings are endowed with free use of the mind, they tend to view their bodies as their own and use their minds self-centeredly. Oyasama likens such uses of the mind to dust, which can and ought to be swept away. Oyasama cited eight varieties of dust: miserliness, covetousness, hatred, self-love, grudge-bearing, anger, greed, and arrogance. Tenrikyo emphasizes that the mind becomes clouded and loses its original brightness when dust accumulated in the mind, thereby preventing one from perceiving the intention of God the Parent and from receiving blessings fully. The followers are therefore advised to constantly sweep away dust so that they may return the mind to its original pristine condition, which is taught as the purified mind, or the mind like clear water.

The Osashizu

Furthermore, Tenrikyo teaches "true sincerity" as being the opposite of the self-centered mind of dust. According to God the Parent's teachings, "The mind of saving others is the real truth of sincerity alone and, by this truth of saving others, you are saved." Consequently, the dedication to saving others is considered to be the quintessence of sincerity which is in complete accord with God the Parent's intention. Tenrikyo followers are thus expected to set aside their own interests and work for the salvation of others as Oyasama's instruments, fir, in their conviction that their efforts will bring the world of the Joyous Life to realization even a day sooner.