Tenrikyo

Tenrikyō is a religious organization located in Tenri city, Nara Prefecure. It bases its doctrine on the revelations its foundress, Nakayama Miki (1798–1887), had over the years between 1838 and 1887. Nakayama experienced spirit possessions by a male kami (deity) who called himself Tsukihi (‘Sun and Moon’), a name suggesting the union of genders that the heavenly spheres symbolize. The deity proclaimed himself as the ‘true and original god’ (Tenri Ō no Mikoto) and decided Nakayama Miki’s mission, which was to relieve people from suffering in preparation for the coming of a perfect divine kingdom (kanrondai sekai), in which all human beings would enjoy joyous and blissful life (yoki-gurashi) in union with Tenri Ō no Mikoto. The deity made continuous revelations to Nakayama, later recorded in the Mikagurauta (1866-1875) and the Ofudesaki (1868-1882). She came to be called Oyasama, ‘the beloved parent’ as well as the hinagata (‘divine model’).