Tenrikyo Religion

What is the significance of the Tenrikyo creation story for Tenriko doctrine as a whole?

Tenrikyo is one of the so-called “new religions” of Japan. Within this particular religion lies the origin of all things as we know it but more importantly, how humans came to be. Like all religions, this one has a story of creation and it centers on a divine being. This divine being is known as “God the Parent”. This particular being of “God” is almost exactly like how you would like to refer to God, in layman’s terms. The story of creation purports that God the Parent gave an important purpose for all of the humans that were created. This particular purpose is to be able to co-exist with each other as brothers and sisters—which is what the religion says to be our natural state of being. The doctrine of Tenrikyo supposes that we, as the human race, need to be awakened to this truth that envelops the whole story of Creation.

The significance of the Tenrikyo creation with the whole doctrine of this new religion is that it focuses on the joyous life that all of us humans need to lead. In the story of the creation, God the Parent found that the earth was dull and quite lifeless.¹ This is what prompted God the Parent to create  human beings for the sole reason that by being a witness to the Joyous Life that he intended for us, God would be able to share in that particular joy. All of creation started off with that thought of God. It was said that when God was creating the world as well as human beings, he began by simply making and shaping what were to be models as well as mediums and with all of the joined efforts, they allowed human creation to begin.

The story of creation was backed up by the wonderful story of God the Parent wanting to take everything that is dull and allow other lesser beings to share in the Joyous Life that he had always wanted. This is where the Joyous Life begins—by not enjoying ourselves but simply by caring for others, for giving them a particular spirit of assistance and by essentially allowing them to participate in the helping process that humans need. ¹ Human beings are said to be bestowed a certain skill set by which each and everyone uses to help another person. It could either be through ones talent or something else. The important thing is the aspect of the Joyous Life would not be so ingrained in today’s contemporary Japan if not for Tenrikyo.

The ability of the religion to make millions of people believe that one’s purpose in life is to be able to help those who are in need is one of the reasons why this particular religion is so popular in the country of Japan right now.

            Without Tenrikyo’s Story of Creation, the foundations of the religion would be insubstantial and it would certainly be just another religion in the world. However, the caring and joyous people who are able find their purpose in life because of the religion can thank those people who contributed greatly to the ideology of the Joyous Life. It has been the center and core of the Tenrikyo teaching and it will definitely continue to be in the coming months. Until then, it would be an excellent idea to be able to hear someone out or contribute anything that you can use.

Bibliography

Tenrikyo.or.jp The Key words of Tenrikyo. Retrieved 2 October, 2007, <http://www.tenrikyo.or.jp/en/teaching/teachings/index.htm>