Tenrikyo cosmology[edit]

Creation myth[edit]

The authoritative version of Tenrikyo's creation story can be found in the third chapter of The Doctrine of Tenrikyo, which is titled "The Truth of Origin" (「元の理」moto no ri).

Content[edit]

What does it talk about?

Fukaya, Tadamasa. A Doctrinal Study: The Truth of Origin.
explains the three causalities.
- Promised Time, Residence, Oyasama
explains the beginning of human creation and why humans were created
- Joyous Life
explains how human beings were guided and developed over many years.
explains the significance of the Kagura Service.
explains the existence of Tenrikyo as a teaching
explains the importance of human beings' consent in the creation
explains why souls were drawn back to the Residence
explains tsukihi dialectic, oneness in two

History of composition[edit]

Nakayama Miki left a written record of Tenrikyo's creation story in the Ofudesaki, one of Tenrikyo's three main scriptures. The story is recounted mainly in Part VI, which was composed in December 1874.

Nakayama also taught the creation story a number of times by word of mouth. The earliest versions of the story were written down by her disciples in 1881. Most of these versions were written in verse form, similar to the Ofudesaki. Later versions of the story, written from 1883 until the time of Nakayama's passing in 1887, were written in prose form.^[1]

Nakayama Shozen. Lectures on The Doctrine of Tenrikyo.

Jiba[edit]

A kind of axis mundi. The identification of the Jiba in 1875.

Kanrodai[edit]

The pillar that marks the Jiba.

Construction[edit]

The construction of the Kanrodai. The model of the Kanrodai. Ofudesaki's specific orders.

Sources[edit]

The Life of Oyasama
Tracing the Life of Oyasama
Inoue, Akio. "On the Significance of Interdisciplinary Studies of Moto-no-Ri." From Women and Religion: Tenri International Symposium '98, published by Tenri Yamato Culture Progress. Tenri, 2003.
Matsumura, Kazuo. "On the Koki Story and Femininity of the Foundress of Tenrikyo." From Women and Religion: Tenri International Symposium '98, published by Tenri Yamato Culture Progress. Tenri, 2003.

References[edit]

^ Nakayama Shozen. Lectures on The Doctrine of Tenrikyo. Originally published by Doyusha Publishing Company as 「天理教教典講話」 in 1979, and then translated and published by the Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department in 1994. Tenri, Japan.

[1] Nakayama Shozen. Lectures on The Doctrine of Tenrikyo. Originally published by Doyusha Publishing Company as 「天理教教典講話」 in 1979, and then translated and published by the Tenrikyo Overseas Mission Department in 1994. Tenri, Japan.

[1]