| Oomoto | |
|---|---|
| 大本 (おおもと/おほもと) | |
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| Type | Universal spiritual organization |
| Classification | Sectarian Shinto sect |
| Scripture |
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| Spiritual leader | Kurenai Deguchi (出口 紅) |
| Language |
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| Headquarters |
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| Founder | Nao Deguchi andOnisaburo Deguchi |
| Origin | 1892 Ayabe, Kyoto |
| Separated from | Konkokyo |
| Separations | |
| Other name | Ōmoto-kyō |
| Official website | www |
| Slogan | Unu Dio, Unu Mondo, Unu Interlingvo[a] |
Oomoto (大本,Ōmoto;lit. "Great Source" or "Great Origin"),[1] also known asOomoto-kyo (大本教,Ōmoto-kyō), is a religion founded in the 1890s byDeguchi Nao (1836–1918) andDeguchi Onisaburō (1871–1948). Oomoto is typically categorized as aShinto-basedJapanese new religion. The spiritual leaders of the movement have always been women within the Deguchi family,[2] along with Onisaburō as its foundingseishi (spiritual teacher). Since 2001, the movement has been guided by its fifth leader, Kurenai Deguchi.[3]
Oomoto's administrative headquarters is inKameoka, Kyoto (Onisaburo Deguchi's hometown), and its spiritual headquarters is inAyabe, Kyoto (Nao Deguchi's hometown). Uniquely among Japanese religions, Oomoto makes extensive use of the constructed languageEsperanto to promote itself as aworld religion. Oomoto has historically engaged in extensiveinterfaith dialogue with religions such as theBaháʼí Faith, Christianity, and Islam, since a key tenet of Oomoto is that all religions come from the same source (in Japanese:bankyō dōkon (万教同根)).[4]
Oomoto was brutally suppressed by the Japanese government in 1921 and again in 1935, since the government perceived it to be a threat to its authority. After World War II, Oomoto was fully legalized as a registered religious organization. Various other religions have also been founded by former followers of Oomoto, most notablySeicho-No-Ie and theChurch of World Messianity.[4]
In 1892,Deguchi Nao, a housewife from the town ofAyabe, Kyoto Prefecture, declared that she had a "spirit dream" during theJapanese New Year. She became possessed (kamigakari) byUshitora no Konjin (艮の金神) and started to transmit thekami's words. According to the official Oomoto biography of Deguchi, she came from a family which had long been in poverty, and had pawned nearly all of her possessions to feed her children and invalid husband. After 1895, and with a growing number of followers, Deguchi Nao briefly affiliated herself with theKonkōkyō religion until 1897, since she did not yet have government approval for her religious movement.[4]
In 1898, Deguchi Nao metUeda Kisaburō, who had previous studies inkamigakari (spirit possession). In 1899, they established theKinmeikai together, which became theKinmei Reigakkai later in the same year. In 1900, Kisaburō married Nao's fifth daughter Sumiko and adopted the nameDeguchi Onisaburō. Oomoto was thus established based on Nao's automatic writings (Ofudesaki) and Onisaburō's spiritual techniques.[4]
Since 1908, the group has taken diverse names —Dai Nihon Shūseikai (大日本修齋會),Taihonkyō (1913), andKōdō Ōmoto (皇道大本) (1916). Later, the movement changed fromKōdō Ōmoto ("great origin of the imperial way") to just Ōmoto (大本, "great origin") and formed theShōwa Seinenkai in 1929 and theShōwa Shinseikai (昭和神聖会) in 1934.
Asano Wasaburō [ja], a teacher atNaval War College (海軍大学校,Kaigun Daigakkō), attracted various intellectuals and high-ranking military officials to the movement in 1916. By 1920, the group had their own newspaper, theTaishō nichinichi shinbun (大正日日新聞), and started to expand overseas. Much of its popularity derived from a method of inducing spirit possession calledchinkon kishin (鎮魂帰神), which was most widely practiced from 1916 to 1921. Following a police crackdown, Onisaburō bannedchinkon kishin in 1923.[5] Today, in present-day Oomoto, only thechinkon (鎮魂) aspect is practiced as a form of meditation, but not thekishin (帰神) aspect of spirit possession.[6]
In March 1920, the Ōmoto-affiliated magazineShinrei published an edition ofThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion in Japanese for the first time.[7]
Alarmed by the popularity of Oomoto, the Imperial Japanese government, which promotedkokutai,State Shinto, and reverence for the emperor, condemned the sect for worshippingOokunitokotachi aboveAmaterasu, the sun goddess from whom theEmperor of Japan claimed descent.[8] This led to two major incidents when Oomoto was persecuted under thelèse-majesté law, theNewspaper Censorship Law [ja], and thePublic Security Preservation Law of 1925. In 1921, the first Oomoto Incident (大本事件,Ōmoto jiken) resulted in the Oomoto headquarters being destroyed, and Onisaburo and a few of his followers were imprisoned.[4]
From 1925 until 1933, Oomoto maintained a mission in Paris. From there, missionaries travelled throughout Europe, spreading the word that Onisaburo Deguchi was aMessiah orMaitreya who would unify the world.
In 1924, retired naval captainYutaro Yano and his associates within theBlack Dragon Society invited Onisaburo to embark on a journey toMongolia.[4] Onisaburo led a group of Oomoto disciples, includingAikido founderMorihei Ueshiba. They were captured by the forces of Chinese warlordZhang Zuolin, but were released upon realizing they were Japanese nationals. After returning to Japan, Onisaburo established the secular organizationJinrui Aizenkai (人類愛善会),[9] also known asUniversal Love and Brotherhood (ULBA), to promote universal brotherhood and world peace. Religious organizations from around the world, including theBaháʼí Faith,Cao Dai,Red Swastika Society, andUniversal White Brotherhood, joined this movement.[4]
In 1935, the Second Oomoto Incident again left its headquarters in ruins and its leaders in prison. This incident was carried out far more intensively than the previous one in 1921, as the Japanese government sought to completely eradicate all traces of Oomoto shrines and materials.[4] Oomoto was effectively outlawed until theend of World War II. With the Second Oomoto Incident, Oomoto became the first religious organization to be prosecuted under thePublic Security Preservation Law of 1925.
After World War II, Oomoto reappeared asAizen-en (愛善苑), a movement dedicated to achieve world peace which was led by Onisaburo Deguchi's eldest grandson Yasuaki Deguchi (出口和明).[10][11] It was registered in 1946 under the Religious Corporations Ordinance. Yasuaki Deguchi considered Onisaburo rather than Nao to be the main founder of the religion, and thus used Onisaburo'sReikai Monogatari as its main scripture.[12]
In 1949, Oomoto joined theWorld Federalist Movement and the World Peace campaign.[citation needed] In 1952, the group returned to its older name, becoming the religious corporation Oomoto under the Religious Corporations Law.[13] Since then, Oomoto has opened various international branches, including Oomoto do Brasil (headquartered inJandira, São Paulo, Brazil).[14]
Oomoto's spiritual leaders, all of whom belong to the Deguchi (出口) family, are:[15]
Oomoto's spiritual headquarters, called Baishō-en (梅松苑), is inAyabe, Kyoto, due to its association with Nao Deguchi's founding of the religion in Ayabe. However, its administrative headquarters, called Ten'on-kyō (天恩郷), is inKameoka, Kyoto.[16] Oomoto also has a mission center, called Tōkō-en (東光苑), inTaitō, Tokyo.
The two main scriptures (basickyōten 根本教典) used in Oomoto are:
Of the two, theReikai Monogatari is by far the most commonly consulted and used scripture in present-day Oomoto.
Next in importance are two scriptures (kyōten 教典) composed by Onisaburo Deguchi during the first decade of the 20th century, namelyMichi no Shiori (道の栞) (lit. 'Guide to the Way')[17] andMichi no Hikari (道の光) (lit. 'Light on the Way').[18]
There are also various other less commonly used texts, such asIzunome Shin'yu (伊都能売神諭, 37 volumes, composed during 1918–1919), and theThree Mirrors orSan Kagami (三鏡, 844 chapters total) by Onisaburo Deguchi, which consists of theWater Mirror (水鏡, 249 chapters),Moon Mirror (月鏡, 212 chapters), andJade Mirror (玉鏡, 383 chapters).[19]
Oomoto has numerous sacred sites, some of which are:[20][21]
Four major festivals (大祭,taisai) are held for each of the four seasons.[28]
Oomoto and its adherents promote Japanese arts and culture, such asNoh theater, calligraphy, ceramics, and thetea ceremony.[30] According to Onisaburo Deguchi, "Art is the mother of religion" (芸術は宗教の母,geijutsu wa shūkyō no haha).[29] This perspective was also shared by Oomoto followerMokichi Okada, who founded both theChurch of World Messianity and theMOA Museum of Art inAtami.[4]
The artificial languageEsperanto plays a major role in the Oomoto religion. Starting from the early 1920s, the religion has published a large amount of literature in Esperanto. Onisaburo Deguchi reportedly introduced Esperanto back when he had interfaith dialogues with theBaháʼí Faith in 1921. Many Oomoto facilities inKameoka, Kyoto have multilingual signs in Japanese and Esperanto. Today, Oomoto continues to publish numerous books, periodicals, pamphlets, and websites in Esperanto; some materials (translation of Japanese texts, etc.) are actually more extensive in Esperanto than in English.[31]
The creator of Esperanto,L. L. Zamenhof, is revered in Oomoto as akami. The Oomoto affirmation of Zamenhof's enshrinement as a kami is stated, in Esperanto, as follows:
...[L]a spirito de Zamenhof eĉ nun daŭre agadas kiel misiisto de la anĝela regno; do, lia spirito estisapoteozita en la kapeleto Senrej-ŝa.[32]
The text above as translated into English is:
...[T]he spirit of Zamenhof even now continues to act as a missionary of the angelic kingdom; therefore, his spirit wasdeified in the Senrei-sha shrine.
The Oomoto basic doctrine (大本教旨,Ōmoto kyōshi), also known as theshinjin itchi (神人一致), states that:[33]
God is the Spirit which pervades the entire universe,
and man is the focus of the workings of heaven and earth.
When God and man become one,
infinite power will become manifest.[34]
The original Japanese text of theŌmoto kyōshi is:
The fundamental ways to reach God are the called the Three Great Rules of Learning (三大学則,sandai gakusoku):[29]
The Four Teachings (四大綱領,shidai kōryō) are:[29]
The Four Principles (四大主義,shidai shugi) are:[29]
A core Oomoto teaching is:[29]
Oomoto is essentially a neo-Shinto religious movement.[citation needed] Oomoto doctrine has also integratedkokugaku teachings and modern ideas on world harmony and peace.
In Oomoto, the one supreme God who created the universe is calledOomoto-sume-oomikami (Japanese: 大天主太神 or おおもとすめおおみかみ).[40]Oomoto means the "Great Origin",sume means "govern", andOomikami means God. Allkami are considered to be manifestations of this one God. In an account from theReikai Monogatari, the universe began with the sudden advent of "ヽ", which is called "hochi". It then develops into "◉", called "su". This is thekotodama of "su" and is the great origin of God.
Members of Oomoto believe in severalkami (minor deities or spirits). The most important areUshitora no Konjin (the kami of Nao Deguchi's initial divine possession in 1892),Ookunitokotachi, andHitsujisaru. Various religious figures from other religions, or even notable non-religious figures, are recognized as kami – for example, the creator of Esperanto,L. L. Zamenhof.[32]
Oomoto's goal is the realization of the world ofMiroku or Miroku no yo (みろくの世) ("the world to come"), which means heaven in the real world. It is expressed in various ways, such as "fromplum blossom topine" (梅で開いて松で治める,ume de aite matsu de osameru) (mentioned at the beginning of theOomoto Shin'yu), "purification of the world", "the opening ofAmano-Iwato of the world", "the world ofclear quartz", and so on.
Oomoto recognizes two realms, the physical world and the spiritual world (霊界,reikai), both of which are interconnected. In turn, the spiritual world consists of three parts:[29]
Nao Deguchi's prophecies stated that events which occur in Ayabe would also occur in Japan or throughout the world.[41][42] The Japanese government's suppression of Oomoto, consisting of the 1921 and 1935 Oomoto incidents, is considered to have been an omen of World War II and the consequent destruction of Japan.
In Oomoto, aprayer is often recited before meals, after which "itadakimasu" is said. The prayer consists of threetanka poems (known in Japanese as the "Three-Poem Song" 三首のお歌) composed by Oomoto's second spiritual leader,Sumiko Deguchi (1883–1952). In 1976, Oomoto's third spiritual leader Naohi Deguchi adopted the prayer for use before meals. The prayer in Japanese, along with a literal English translation, is as follows.[43]
| Japanese (original text) | English (literal translation) |
|---|---|
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The official Esperanto and Portuguese translations of the prayer, which do not always follow the exact meaning of the Japanese original, are:[44]
| Esperanto (official translation) | Portuguese (official translation) |
|---|---|
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One of the more well-known followers of Oomoto wasMorihei Ueshiba, a Japanesemartial artist and the founder ofAikido. It is commonly thought that Ueshiba's increasing attachment topacifism in later years and belief that Aikido should be an "art of peace" were inspired by his involvement with the sect. Oomoto priests oversee a ceremony in Ueshiba's honor every April 29 at theAiki Shrine at Iwama.
Onisaburo Deguchi taught a type of meditation and spirit possesssion technique calledchinkon kishin (鎮魂帰神) to some of his most devoted followers, many of whom went on to establish their own religions. They include:[45]
More recent Oomoto followers during the late 20th and 21st centuries include:
Various religions have been inspired by Oomoto, many of which were founded by Oomoto followers familiar withchinkon kishin (鎮魂帰神) (lit. 'calming the soul and returning to the divine') as practiced in Oomoto.[29][47] Since Oomoto believes that "all religions come from the same root" (万教同根,bankyō dōkon), these other new religious movements are not seen as heretical, but are in fact even encouraged.
Many of these religions have meditation and divine healing practices derived from Oomoto'schinkon kishin (鎮魂帰神). They include:[51][52]
Various practices and teachings inMakoto no Michi are inspired by Oomoto, including similar spirit possession practices.[53] Makoto no Michi's sacred geography is derived from that of theReikai Monogatari, in which Japan is viewed as a model (雛形,hinagata) of the world.Hokkaido is viewed as the equivalent of North America,Honshu as Eurasia,Shikoku as Australia,Kyushu as Africa, Taiwan as South America, and so on; these equivalences stem from their common mythical origins during the creation of the world.[54] The geographic equivalents of the main Japanese islands and Taiwan with the world's continents are identical in both Oomoto and Makoto no Michi.
Publications from the Oomoto Foundation:[55]
Onisaburō also dealt handily with official disapproval of chinkon kishin, formally abolishing the practice by a declaration on May 25, 1923. Henceforth, limited forms of spirit possession would be allowed strictly for the purposes of meditation and healing.
The group encourages the Japanese arts, such as Noh theater and the tea ceremony, and sponsors a volunteer organization that does aid work, campaigns for peace...
綾部あやべの大元おおもとに在ありた事ことは皆みな世界せかいに在あるぞよ。
235. La aferoj, okazantaj en Oomoto, Ajabe, la origina loko de Dio, ĉiuj okazos ankaŭ en la mondo. ("The things that happen in Oomoto, Ayabe, the original place of God, will all happen in the world.")
Oomoto's new style of healing became the fundamental form used by several later sects descended from it.Okada Mokichi, the founder ofSekai Kyūseikyō, began his spiritual career as a healer for Oomoto. His new sect achieved prominence in the postwar period through the promotion ofjōrei, or spiritual purification, an energy-channeling healing technique whereby a "white light tinged with gold" was channeled through the hand. Sekai Kyūseikyō in turn spawned dozens of other healing-based sects, such asMahikari andShinji Shūmeikai.Taniguchi Masaharu'sSeichō-no-Ie, established in 1930, employs a meditative procedure calledshinsōkan, based onchinkon kishin, to help individuals perceive divine reality.
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