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Ofudesaki
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Ofudesaki
The Ofudesaki (おふでさき or 御筆先, "Tip of the Writing Brush") is the most important scripture in Tenrikyo. It is one of Tenrikyo's three scriptures (sangenten 三原典), along with the Mikagura-uta ("The Songs for the Service") and the Osashizu ("Divine Directions"). A 17-volume collection of 1,711 waka poems, the Ofudesaki was composed by the foundress of Tenrikyo, Miki Nakayama, from 1869 to 1882.
The Ofudesaki as composed by Miki Nakayama is also the primary sacred scripture of most Tenrikyo-derived religions, including Honmichi, Honbushin, Kami Ichijokyo, among others.
The name Ofudesaki can be split into three smaller segments. O is an honorific prefix, fude translates to "brush," and saki translates to "tip." Thus, the Ofudesaki has been referred to in English as The Tip of the Writing Brush. It was even once referred to as "The Book of Revelations" in early English Tenrikyo literature. It is a convention in Tenrikyo literature to write Ofudesaki in hiragana (おふでさき) as opposed to kanji.
Nakayama's intention for the Ofudesaki is explained in the scripture itself:
This is a world constructed on reason. So I shall press upon you everything with the reason in verse. /
I shall press, though not by force or word of mouth. I shall press by the tip of My writing brush. /
It is all very well if you err in nothing. But should you err, I shall inform you by verse. (Ofudesaki I:21–23)
The inscription of Part I of the Ofudesaki reads, "From the 1st month in the 2nd year of Meiji, the year of the Serpent", which means that the composition of the Ofudesaki began sometime in 1869 according to the Gregorian calendar. This year saw the end of the Boshin War, a civil war between the ruling forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the Imperial Court, and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, a period of modernization and reform for the Empire of Japan.
The inscription continues with the words, "An old woman of 72 years." The ‘old woman’ refers to Miki Nakayama, who at that point had been allegedly possessed by a god for about three decades. In 1853, she had the Nakayama family's main house dismantled and sold and had the remaining rice fields mortgaged a couple of years later. In 1864, a carpenter from Ichinomoto Village named Izo Iburi visited Miki Nakayama, and as a gesture of gratitude, constructed a place where followers could pray, laying down the foundation for the structure known today as Tenrikyo Church Headquarters. From 1866 to 1869, she taught her followers a prayer service.
An oral account of the writing of the Ofudesaki has been recorded in a Tenrikyo supplementary text (jungenten 準原典) known as the Anecdotes of Oyasama. A follower named Shirobei Umetani recalled Miki Nakayama saying:
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Ofudesaki
The Ofudesaki (おふでさき or 御筆先, "Tip of the Writing Brush") is the most important scripture in Tenrikyo. It is one of Tenrikyo's three scriptures (sangenten 三原典), along with the Mikagura-uta ("The Songs for the Service") and the Osashizu ("Divine Directions"). A 17-volume collection of 1,711 waka poems, the Ofudesaki was composed by the foundress of Tenrikyo, Miki Nakayama, from 1869 to 1882.
The Ofudesaki as composed by Miki Nakayama is also the primary sacred scripture of most Tenrikyo-derived religions, including Honmichi, Honbushin, Kami Ichijokyo, among others.
The name Ofudesaki can be split into three smaller segments. O is an honorific prefix, fude translates to "brush," and saki translates to "tip." Thus, the Ofudesaki has been referred to in English as The Tip of the Writing Brush. It was even once referred to as "The Book of Revelations" in early English Tenrikyo literature. It is a convention in Tenrikyo literature to write Ofudesaki in hiragana (おふでさき) as opposed to kanji.
Nakayama's intention for the Ofudesaki is explained in the scripture itself:
This is a world constructed on reason. So I shall press upon you everything with the reason in verse. /
I shall press, though not by force or word of mouth. I shall press by the tip of My writing brush. /
It is all very well if you err in nothing. But should you err, I shall inform you by verse. (Ofudesaki I:21–23)
The inscription of Part I of the Ofudesaki reads, "From the 1st month in the 2nd year of Meiji, the year of the Serpent", which means that the composition of the Ofudesaki began sometime in 1869 according to the Gregorian calendar. This year saw the end of the Boshin War, a civil war between the ruling forces of the Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the Imperial Court, and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, a period of modernization and reform for the Empire of Japan.
The inscription continues with the words, "An old woman of 72 years." The ‘old woman’ refers to Miki Nakayama, who at that point had been allegedly possessed by a god for about three decades. In 1853, she had the Nakayama family's main house dismantled and sold and had the remaining rice fields mortgaged a couple of years later. In 1864, a carpenter from Ichinomoto Village named Izo Iburi visited Miki Nakayama, and as a gesture of gratitude, constructed a place where followers could pray, laying down the foundation for the structure known today as Tenrikyo Church Headquarters. From 1866 to 1869, she taught her followers a prayer service.
An oral account of the writing of the Ofudesaki has been recorded in a Tenrikyo supplementary text (jungenten 準原典) known as the Anecdotes of Oyasama. A follower named Shirobei Umetani recalled Miki Nakayama saying:
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