The Doctrine of Tenrikyo

The Doctrine of Tenrikyo (Japanese: 天理教教典 Tenrikyō kyōten) is the official doctrine of the Tenrikyo religion, published and sanctioned by Tenrikyo Church Headquarters in Tenri, Nara, Japan.

Quotes

10th Edition of The Doctrine of Tenrikyo (1993), official English translation

Full Japanese text online

Chapter 1: Oyasama

「我は元の神・実の神である。この屋敷にいんねんあり。このたび、世界一れつをたすけるために天降つた。みきを神のやしろに貰い受けたい。」とは、親神天理王命が、教祖中山みきの口を通して仰せになつた最初の言葉である。
- "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."
  These were the first words declared by God the Parent, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, through the mouth of Oyasama, Miki Nakayama.

まことに、人は、ただ教祖によつて、初めて親神を拝し、親神の思召を知る。教祖こそ、地上の月日におわし、我等の親にてあらせられる。
- Through Oyasama alone can we human beings come to worship God the Parent and know the divine will. Indeed, Oyasama is Tsukihi on earth and the Parent of humankind.

Chapter 2: The Path of Single-hearted Salvation

かんろだいとは、人間宿し込みの元なるぢばに、その証拠としてすえる台で、人間の創造と、その成人の理とを現して形造り、人間世界の本元と、その窮りない発展とを意味する。
- The Kanrodai is a stand to be set up at the Jiba of Origin to give proof that it is the place where humankind was conceived. It is shaped so as to represent the truth of human creation and growth—to symbolize the origin and perpetual development of humankind and the world.

Chapter 3: The Truth of Origin

この世の元初りは、どろ海であつた。月日親神は、この混沌たる様を味気なく思召し、人間を造り、その陽気ぐらしをするのを見て、ともに楽しもうと思いつかれた。
- In the beginning, the world was a muddy ocean. Tsukihi, God the Parent, finding this chaos unbearably tasteless, thought of creating human beings in order to see the Joyous Life and thus share in that joy.

と仰せられている。陽気ぐらしこそ、人間生活の目標であり、理想である。これを実現しようと、よふきづとめを教えて、たすけ一条の道をつけられた。よふきづとめの理は、実に、この元初りの真実による。
- The Joyous Life is the purpose and final goal of human existence. To attain this goal, God the Parent initiated the path of single-hearted salvation by teaching us the Joyous Service. This Joyous Service is based upon the truth of the origin of human beings.

Chapter 4: Tenri-O-no-Mikoto

親神を、天理王命とたたえて祈念し奉る。紋型ないところから、人間世界を造り、永遠にかわることなく、万物に生命を授け、その時と所とを与えられる元の神・実の神にています。
- We call out the name Tenri-O-no-Mikoto in praise and worship of God the Parent. God the Parent is God of Origin, God in Truth, who created humankind and the world where there was no form and who gives life, time, and place to all things throughout eternity.

親神は、人間世界の根本にていまし、この世を創められたばかりでなく、この世の有りとあらゆるもの、悉く、その守護によらぬものとてはない。しかも、その自由の守護の程は、眼に、身に、心に、ありありと、感じることが出来る。まことに、元の神・実の神にています。
- God the Parent is the origin of humankind and this world. Not only was the world created by God the Parent, but there is nothing in this world whose existence does not depend on divine providence. The unlimited workings of divine providence can be distinctly seen by our eyes, felt by our bodies, and sensed by our minds. Indeed, God the Parent is God of Origin, God in Truth.

Chapter 5: The Divine Model

教祖は、口や筆で親神の教を説き明かされると共に、身を以てこれを示された。この道すがらこそ、万人のひながたである。
- Oyasama not only revealed the teachings of God the Parent by Her spoken word and by Her writing brush but demonstrated them in Her life. The life of Oyasama after She became the Shrine of God is indeed the Divine Model for all humankind to follow.

Chapter 6: Divine Guidance

親神は、一れつ人間の親におわす。しかるに、人は、この真実を知らず、従つて、互にひとしく親神を親と仰ぐ兄弟姉妹であることも知らずに、銘々が勝手に生きているように思いあやまり、われさえよくばの我が身思案や、気ままな行をして、他の人々の心を傷つけ曇らし、世の親和を害ない紊しているばかりでなく、それがために、己れ自らの心をも傷つけ曇らせていることを気附かずにいる。
- God the Parent is the Parent of all humankind. But people are not aware of this fact or of the fact that human beings are therefore all brothers and sisters who should revere God as their Parent. They mistakenly think that they exist by their own power and conduct their lives as if only they themselves mattered. Through their self-centered actions, they injure and cloud the minds of others. Their blunderings disrupt the peace of the world. Further, by so doing, they unknowingly injure and cloud their own minds.

Chapter 7: A Thing Lent, A Thing Borrowed

人体のこの精巧な構造、微妙な機能は、両親の工夫で造られたものでもなければ、銘々の力で動かせるものでもない。すべては、親神の妙なる思わくにより、又、その守護による。
- The ingenious structures and delicate functioning of our bodies were not devised by our parents nor can these be controlled by our own power. Everything concerning the body is due to the exquisite forethought and providence of God the Parent.

この世に生れさせて頂き、日々結構に生活しているのも、天地抱き合せの、親神の温かい懐で、絶えず育まれているからである。即ち、銘々が、日々何の不自由もなく、身上をつかわせて頂けるのも、親神が、温み・水気をはじめ、総てに亙つて、篤い守護を下さればこそで、いかに己が力や智慧を頼んでいても、一旦、身上のさわりとなれば、発熱に苦しみ、悪寒に悩み、又、畳一枚が己が住む世界となつて、手足一つさえ自由かなわぬようにもなる。ここをよく思案すれば、身上は親神のかしものである、という理が、自と胸に治る。
- We are born into this world by the grace of God the Parent and live each day sufficiently provided for, because we are in the embrace of heaven and earth, constantly nurtured in the very bosom of God the Parent. That we are able to use the body each day without the slightest hindrance is due to the complete providence of God the Parent, beginning with warmth and moisture and extending to encompass our every need.
  If, on the other hand, we become ill, no matter how much we might call upon our strength and wisdom, we shall still suffer from the fever and chills of our condition. One’s sickbed will become the whole world and one will not be able to move so much as a single limb freely. If we ponder over this well, the truth that the body is a thing lent by God will settle into our hearts.

即ち、身上かしもの・かりものの理をよく思案し、心一つが我の理であることを自覚して、日々常々、胸のほこりの掃除を怠らず、いかなる場合にも、教祖ひながたを慕い、すべて親神にもたれて、人をたすける心で通るのが、道の子の心がけである。そこには、自他の心を曇らす何物もなく、ただ、親神の思召のままに生活させて頂き、連れ通り頂いている喜びがあるばかりである。
- We must thoroughly ponder the truth that the body is a thing lent by God, a thing borrowed. We must always be aware that the mind alone is ours and never neglect sweeping the mind clear of dust constantly each day. We must remain devoted to the Divine Model of Oyasama in all circumstances, trust in God the Parent in all matters, and be committed to the salvation of others. Then nothing will cast a gloom over our minds or the minds of others. There will only be the joy of living in accord with the will of God the Parent and of being led through life by divine benevolence.

Chapter 8: On the Way to the Final Goal

この中にあつて、常に己が心を省みて、いかなることも親神の思わくと悟り、心を倒さずに、喜び勇んで明るく生活すのが、道の子の歩みである。この心の治め方をたんのうと教えられる。
- In such circumstances, however, our path of faith is always to reflect on our minds, to understand that all occurrences are from the will of God the Parent, and to live with joy and brightness without allowing our spirits to fall. This way of settling the mind is taught as tanno.

親神の胸に抱かれ、ひたむきに信仰に進むものは、我が身にふりかかるいかなる悩みや苦しみにも、溺れてしまうことなく、むしろ素直に成つて来る理を見つめて通るから、悩みや苦しみも、かえつて喜びに転じてくる。かくて、真にたんのうの心が治れば、前生のいんねんは納消される。これを、「たんのうは前生いんねんのさんげ」と諭される。
- Those of us who advance straight ahead on the path of faith, trusting in the heart of God the Parent, do not succumb to the pains and sufferings that befall us but, rather, because we advance with our eyes fixed directly on the truth behind all events that occur, our pains and sufferings are transformed into joy. When the mind of tanno is thus truly settled, the causality from our previous lives is cancelled. Concerning this, God the Parent taught: “Tanno is accepted as the repentance for the causality from your previous lives.”

親神のてびきによつて信仰に入り、教の理を聴きわけて、かしものの理もよく胸に治り、心のほこりも次第にぬぐわれ、いんねんの悟りもついたなら、ものの観方が変つてくる。
- Beginning our faith through the guidance of God the Parent, we come to understand the teachings. Settling in our hearts the truth of “a thing borrowed,” we gradually clear away the dusts from our minds and gain awareness of our causality. When this is done, the way we see things will change.

少しでも普請の役に立ちたいと、もつこを担うて、日々、土持のきしんをする。心は益々明るく勇み立つて、それが何よりのひのきしんになる。これは誰にも出来るが、実地に身に行うて、初めて、その言い知れぬ味がわかる。
- Desiring to help in the work of construction in some way, we contribute our efforts in carrying loads of earth day after day. Our minds become increasingly bright and spirited. This is hinokishin at its best. Anyone can do it, and it is only in doing it that we know its indescribable joy.

ひのきしんは、信仰に燃える喜びの現れで、その姿は、千種万態である。必ずしも、土持だけに限らない。欲を忘れて、信仰のままに、喜び勇んで事に当るならば、それは悉くひのきしんである。
- Hinokishin is an action arising from the joy of fervent faith and can take many forms. It is not limited to the carrying of earth. All efforts made joyously and spiritedly, purely from faith and forgetting greed, are hinokishin.

ひのきしんは、一時の行為ではなく、日常の絶えざる喜びの行為である。しかも、その喜びは、自分一人に止るのではなく、他の人々をも感化し、心あるものは、次々と相携えて、その喜びを共にするようになる。
- Hinokishin is not something we do just for a time, but is a daily expression of our continuing joy. Furthermore, the joy expressed in the effort does not remain confined to us alone but spreads its influence, inducing others to join in, and thus comes to be joyousness that is shared.

Chapter 9: The Yoboku

たすけて頂いた喜びは、自ら外に向つて、人だすけの行為となり、ここに、人は、親神の望まれる陽気ぐらしへの普請の用材となる。これをよふぼくと仰せられる。
親神は、一れつたすけの切なる思わくから、多くのよふぼくを引き寄せようと急き込まれる。
- Our joy at having been saved is directed outward and is transformed into acts of saving others. Herein we become the material for the construction of the world of the Joyous Life. God the Parent calls such material Yoboku (timber).
  Desiring ardently to save all humankind, God the Parent hastens to draw forth a great number of Yoboku.

およそ、よふぼくの使命は、たすけ一条にある。それは、自らはげんで、天の理をよく心に治め、身をもつて教の実を示しつつ、一言の話を取り次ぐにをいがけに始まる。そして、更に進んでは、なんでもたすかつて貰いたいとの一念から、真心こめてさづけを取り次がせて頂くところに、珍しいたすけの実が現れる。
- The mission of the Yoboku is single-hearted salvation. In the beginning, we must make diligent efforts to settle the truth of the teachings in our minds. Thereafter, as we carry out the teachings in our lives, we convey a word to others about the teachings. Then, with the hope and prayer that others be saved, we proceed to administer the Sazuke with sincerity. Herein will the marvelous, saving grace of God the Parent appear.

教会は、神一条の理を伝える所であり、たすけ一条の取り次ぎ場所である。その名称の理を、真によく発揚するには、ここに寄りつどうものが、ぢばの理に添い、会長を心として、心を一つに結び合うのが肝腎である。かくて、教会生活は、国々所々における人々の和楽を深め、互に扶け合いつつ、心の成人を遂げる陽気ぐらしの雛型となる。
- The church is a place where the truth of single-heartedness with God is conveyed and where single-hearted salvation is practiced. In order to enhance the functioning of the church, it is necessary for the members who assemble there to be in accord with the truth of the Jiba and, with the head minister as the center, to be unified in mind. Then the church will become a model for the Joyous Life, bringing peace and harmony into the community by promoting spiritual growth among the people through mutual help.

Chapter 10: The Joyous Life

たすけの道にいそしむ日々は、晴れやかな喜びに包まれ、湧き上る楽しさに満たされる。それは、常に、温かい親神の懐に抱かれ、人をたすけて我が身たすかる安らぎの中に身を置くからである。これが、陽気ぐらしの境地である。
- When we are making diligent efforts on the path of salvation, our days are bright and cheerful and our lives are filled with happiness. This is because we lead our lives in the warm embrace of God the Parent and our minds are at peace with the assurance that if we save others, we shall ourselves be saved. This is the state of the Joyous Life.

親神は、陽気ぐらしを見て、共に楽しみたいとの思わくから、人間を創められた。されば、その思召を実現するのが、人生の意義であり、人類究極の目的である。
- God the Parent created human beings to see the Joyous Life of humankind and, thus, to share in that joy. To bring this intent of God the Parent into realization is the significance of human life and the ultimate goal of humankind.

一つに心合せるのは、一つの道の理に心を合せることで、この理を忘れる時は、銘々勝手の心に流れてしまう。
- To bring our minds into unity is to unify our minds with the One Truth of the Path. When this truth is forgotten, we shall become awash in selfishness.

惟うに、親神が、教祖を月日のやしろとして現れ出でられるや、人間の陽気ぐらしを見て、共に楽しもうとの、人間世界創造の思召を告げ、専らたすけ一条の道を宣べて、たすけづとめを教え、又、いき・てをどりのさづけによつて、一れつたすけを急き込まれた。このたすけの理を明かそうと、元の理を説き、所定の人と所と時の立て合いによつて、この教を始めた所以を諭し、ここに、親神を天理王命とたたえて、祈念することを教えられた。
- In summary, God the Parent appeared in this world through Oyasama, the Shrine of Tsukihi, taught the intent of creation, which was to see the Joyous Life of humankind and thus to share in that joy, taught everything concerning the path of single-hearted salvation, and then hastened the salvation of humankind by teaching the Salvation Service and bestowing the Sazuke of Breath and the Sazuke of Hand Dance. And in order to reveal the truths of salvation, God taught the Truth of Origin, which explains how the teachings began through the preordained conjunction of person, place, and time. Also God the Parent taught us to pray by calling out the name Tenri-O-no-Mikoto in praise.

かくて、我も人も共に和し、一手一つの心に、楽しみづくめの陽気ぐらしの世界が守護頂ける。それは、親神の望まれる真の平和世界であり、これぞ、この道の目標である。道の子は、存命のまま導かれる教祖に抱かれ、ひたすら、世界人類の平和と幸福を祈念しつつ、たすけの道に弥進む。
- When we come to live in perfect harmony, our united minds will call forth the blessing of the world of the Joyous Life, a world filled with happiness. This is the world of true peace long awaited by God the Parent, the world which is the goal of this Path. We followers of the teachings, embraced by the everliving Oyasama, who guides us, earnestly pursue the path of salvation, praying sincerely for the peace and happiness of all humankind.

References

Tenrikyo Church Headquarters (1993). The Doctrine of Tenrikyo. Tenrikyo Church Headquarters.

External links

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has an article about:

The Doctrine of Tenrikyo