Marukoto: The Teaching of Roundness

Introduction to Kurozumikyo About the Founder Activities in Japan and Abroad History of Kurozumikyo Sacred Places for Prayer Poetry of the Founder For further reading

    Kurozumikyo is a religion that worships the rising sun. We practice this worship every day, as from our hearts we feel gratitude and thankfulness that we are in truth sustained by the great generative power of the sun. The sun is simply irreplaceable. It is the most precious thing of all. We see in its mysterious work the quality of unselfish giving and sincerity. For this reason the sun has been deified in Shinto, a Japanese religious tradition, and called Amaterasu Omikami. (The word "Kami" has been traditionally used to indicate our object of worship. The word can be used by itself, or some proper noun may be used with it indicating the nature of that kami.) We try to live in harmony with one another and allow others to live in harmony as well. "Harmony" is joyful gratitude along with sincerity. We call this state of mind "Marukoto," "roundness of mind and heart," just like the shape of the rising sun.

    On the 11th day of the 11th month in 1814, which according to the lunar calendar then in use was the day of the winter solstice, Munetada Kurozumi, the Founder of Kurozumikyo, worshipped Kami through the rising sun, expressing his sincere gratefulness. At the that moment he felt Kami come down to him through a beam of light. He was overcome by inexplicable ecstasy in merging with the sun deity. We call this mystic unity "The Direct Receipt of the Heavenly Mission." The day is commemorated as the beginning of Kurozumikyo.

    Through this experience the Founder gained the firm belief that each of us has been given a divided portion of Amaterasu Omikami's spirit, called the "bunshin." The bunshin resides right in our mind and is working upon us constantly. The effect of the bunshin is like parents' love toward their children. This love urges parents to be warm and altruistic toward their children, even to the point of unconditional giving and sacrificing. We need to cultivate our mind to be warm, strong, broad, bright, joyful, and above all sincere to others, so that this roundness of mind will cure our troubled feelings. When we do this, we see our bunshin awakened within our minds, and we regain our original pure, and joyful state of mind. Attaining this condition leads us to the Opening Way of our lives. The everyday practice of worshipping the rising sun is the act that truly cultivates our mind afresh to reach the state of Marukoto.

    Kurozumi Munetada's spirit was deified at that time and was ever after in unity with Amaterasu Omikami. His spirit has been working upon us constantly and without ceasing, providing limitless blessing to us. It has saved many people who were in misery and suffering, and in need of salvation. Yet, no sooner does our won spirit come into unity with Amaterasu Omikami and with the Founder than we ourselves receive boundless blessings directly. Through our earnest prayers we may reach a state in which we feel nothing but gratitude and limitless joy. We can realize that we are given our very lives by that great generative power and sustained by it always. Its work for us is more precious than we can ever say. In the work of that spirit we see nothing but sincerity.

    Kurozumi Muneharu, the Sixth Chief Patriarch of Kurozumikyo, offers prayers day and night for people in society who may be in need of blessing. The prayers are performed in full sincerity. Beginning before dawn each day his prayers are given facing east toward the rising sun. His daily life, full of prayer and ritual, is dedicated to those who wish that Amaterasu Omikami's spirit and the Founder's spirit will become manifest within them, and, in a moment of unity and enlightenment, bring the Opening of the Way.

    Kurozumi Munetada was born on the 26th day of the 11th month in 1780. It was the day of the winter solstice according to the lunar calendar then in use. He belonged to a samurai household where members had served as Shinto priests for more than five hundred years. He was uncommonly kind-hearted and filial by nature. When he was around twenty years old he made up his mind to become a "living kami." He believed he could attain this goal by avoiding whatever his conscience judged to be wrong. This goal was before him through years of a constant quest to be truly filial to his parents. He strove hard to attain this goal until he was thirty years old, when his parents passed away one after another within a week form the same epidemic. His sorrow and grief were so deep that he finally contracted tuberculosis. His condition worsened during the next two years, to the point that he no longer knew whether he would live to see the next day.

    On seeing what his fate was. Munetada prayed to Kami through the rising sun. He reviewed his life up to that point, and then simply and humbly thanked Kami for allowing him to live until that day. Then, in that moment, a complete change of mind took place. It struck him that his attitude toward his deceased parents had been completely in error. Now he saw that his depression and the decline of his health were contrary to what his parents would have wished for him. This led him to at least try to have the thought of being joyful and happy so that their spirits would find pleasure at least in that. His prayer of farewell to life on this morning turned into one that returned his life to him. He felt a light of joy and gratitude, and from then on led a life of nothing but joy and gratitude. After that, it did not take more than two months before his seemingly incurable disease had been overcome.

    In that year, the 11th day of the 11th month in the lunar calendar, again fell on the day of winter solstice, traditionally regarded as the day when "spring returns with prosperity." It was also Munetada's birthday. Having in that year overcome the disease which had nearly taken his life, Munetada performed the morning worship of the rising sun with an exceptionally deep emotion. This led him to experience unity with Amaterasu Omikami, a mystic religious experience. It was an immensely precious spiritual awakening for him, providing him access to a new Opening Way. It is this we call "the Direct Receipt of the Heavenly Mission." We regard this day as the starting point of Kurozumikyo.

    After this, Munetada's life was filled with prayer day and night for those in need of salvation from suffering and hardship. He told them of the limitless virtue and grace of Amaterasu Omikami, whose precious presence resided in all of their minds, waiting to be cultivated. When they were enlightened, their gloomy and impure state of mind would be overcome and they would be saved. During his lifetime he already was regarded as living Kami and the founder of a religious teaching. It was on the 25th day of the second month of 1850 when he ascended to heaven (departed from his earthly form).

    The basis of a religious organization was already laid during his lifetime. He had several tens of thousands of followers. After his death, an extensive nation-wide promulgation of his teaching was conducted. It started from Kaminakano in Okayama City, which has been called "Omoto" since then, meaning "great foundation" in reference to his teaching and the great work done for the good of people. At the end of the Tokugawa Era when the ranking of Shinto Kami was still an important government concern, his spirit was given the highest ranking, Daimyojin, by the authorities. The Emperor Komei (father of Emperor Meiji) became one of the followers of his teaching and sponsored the Munetada Shrine in Kaguraoka, Kyoto as a place for prayers for the peace and prosperity of the people and the state.

    On October 27, 1974, seeking the grandeur of the rising sun, the Kurozumikyo headquarters was moved to the top of a mountain called Shintozan from the original site at Omoto. The fast pace of urbanization in Okayama had begun to make early morning prayers more difficult at the old shrine. In Omoto, however, there still stands the Munetada Shrine, established in 1885, where the Founder's spirit had been enshrined.

    The Kurozumikyo headquarters was moved from the original site at Omoto (Kaminakano, Okayama City), to Shintozan mountain (Onoue, Okayama City). This place is in the area called Kibi-no-nakayama where the ancient state of Kibi and its culture had flourished. The sole purpose of moving the headquarters was to have a better view of the rising sun at morning prayer, but it was a huge enterprise in which all the members and followers of Kurozumikyo participated.

    It was not an enterprise concerned only with the physical construction of new buildings, but involved a fresh and comprehensive movement toward encouraging our followers to return to the Founder's original religious experience made possible by the act of worshipping Amaterasu Omikami through the rising sun. Entering into this new "Era of Shintozan," and encouraging us to follow the Founder's experience, the Sixth Chief Patriarch presented us these "Articles of the Marukoto life."

Prayer at St. Patrick's Cathedral, performed by the 6th Chief Patriarch

	Volunteer activity at Asahigawa- jidoin,folding diapers

    Our records show that the Founder raised up many children who had no parents. The Fifth Chief Patriarch helped orphans of World War II by establishing a facility to help them (the Tenshinryo). Later on, in 1965, this effort gave rise to a campaign to build a hospital for seriously handicapped children (the Asahigawaso). After it was built we carried on extensive volunteer activities centered around this facility. The circle of this effort broadened further when this hospital began providing opportunities for staff at similar facilities in East Asian countries, including Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and South Korea, to come to Asahigawaso for training . This "welfare diplomacy" has had the fruitful result of extending intercultural exchange between those countries and the people of Okayama.

    In 1993 the 61st Grand Festival of Rebuilding was conducted at the Grand Shrine of Ise. The Shrine buildings were rebuilt on a site adjacent to the old one, and then the Kami of the Shrines were moved to their new dwellings. The festival is called Shikinen-Sengu. It is a very extensive festival traditionally conducted every twenty years. In 1985, we began to participate in this religious project as a way of deepening our sincerity. We hope that this effort to understand the many guises of the Shinto tradition more deeply will put us into position to understand better the traditions of other countries. We believe we will surely gain a capacity to be truly international.

Shinto International Workshop on Global Survival and Peace

    In November, 1990 the Shinto International Workshop on Global Survival and Peace was conducted at our headquarters on Shintozan. Leading figures from religious, political, scientific and mass media groups participated. Its purpose was mainly to let people from other countries know more about the core of Japanese culture and its true goodness.

	Culture Diplomacy

    On the diplomatic side, we have donated fifty representative Japanese ceramic works from all over Japan, with the cooperation of the artists, to each of several museum. These museums are Located in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. The purpose was to introduce Japanese art to the people of these countries, so they can appreciate the true Japanese spirit. It was an effort in "culture diplomacy."

    At home on Shintozan we have implemented a water purification system that makes it possible to recycle water used at our headquarters, and to use it on the mountain. We have also started to plant saplings of trees such as pausania, oak, and camphor, at the rate of 10,000 a year. The purpose is to restore the ancient forest that once grew on the mountain. In doing this we are following the spirit of a declaration made at the Shinto International Workshop on Global Survival and Peace.

Volunteer work in Kobe, preparing the meals

    At the site of our former headquarters in Omoto one of the buildings was transformed into a martial arts exercise hall, and another into an office for the Okayama Life-Line telephone center. Both are provided free of charge, making our organization more open to the public. Soon after the great disaster of the Hanshin Earthquake, we embarked on comprehensive volunteer work in Kobe city. We prepared 2,500 breakfasts and 2,500 dinners every day for fifty days, beginning on the 23rd of January 1995. We called this effort the "Candy Fluff Operation."

	14th Dalai Lama's visit to our Headquarters

    In the spring of 1995 we invited His Holiness The Dalai Lama XIV to come to us from his home in exile India. This was to promote interreligious and inter-denominational dialogue for better mutual understanding and for common cooperative activities. We have also taken part in the Religious Summit for World Peace held in Assisi, Italy, and we are one of the members of the Japan Committee for the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) and the Japan Religious Committee for World Federation. We took an active part in the Parliament of the WorldÕs Religions held in Chicago in 1993 and in Cape Town in 1999. Having widely recognized the activities as such, Kurozumikyo assumed the role of coordinator for the Japanese delegation for the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders held at the United Nations in August, 2000.

    It is our firm belief that the Founder always wished us to foster the spirit of Marukoto, the vigorous feeling of gratitude and sincerity, and that he still wishes us to do this. Our commitment inevitably guides us not to cling to the Founder's teaching in a way that disregards other religious traditions. It should always be our aim to throw off denominational egoism and to respect the teachings of others. In doing this, we should also pray for the greater harmony of the world and for all people's happiness.

    We must also not merely make this prayer, but also put its spirit into action, starting on the land on which we stand.

    Our main annual festivals and rituals include New Year's (January); Setsubun (February); the Lunar New Year (February, at the Munetada Shrine in Omoto); the Grand Ritual for the Founder; the Procession of Kami (in April, starting at the Munetada Shrine in Omoto); the Festival for Health of Children and the General Meeting of the Kurozumikyo Women's Group (May); the Great Purification Ritual (June); the Gathering of the Young at the Marukoto Summer Camp (August); the Commemorative Festival for Moving the Headquarters to Shintozan (October); the Winter Solstice Festival, which also celebrates the birth of our Founder and the Establishment of Kurozumikyo (December).

    We have 361 branch churches in Japan. We publish a monthly periodical called Nisshin (Renewal of the Sun).

The Patriarchs (Kyoshu) of Kurozumikyo the Founder (Kyoso) Munetada 2nd Patriarch Munenobu 3rd Patriarch Muneatsu 4rth Patriarch Muneyasu 5th Patriarch Munekazu 6th Patriarch Muneharu

1780 Birth of the Founder at Kaminakano (also called Omoto) in Okayama City 1803 Munetada's first pilgrimage to the Grand Shrine of Ise (he made six pilgrimages in all) 1814 Direct Receipt of the Heavenly Mission, the establishment of Kurozumikyo 1846 Rules of the Koka Era (establishment as a religious organization) 1850 Founder's Ascension to Heaven; the Seven High Disciples begin an extensive promulgation of the teachings 1856 Permission to entitle the Founder's spirit as Daimyojin 1862 Establishment of the Munetada Shrine in Kaguraoka, Kyoto 1865 Emperor Komei designates Munetada Shrine as the only entrusted temple for prayer for his people and the country 1872 Officially recognized as Kurozmi-kosha (religious organization) 1876 First religious group to receive officially recognized status as an independent religious body 1885 Munetada Shrine established in Omoto, Okayama 1886 First Procession of Kami Festival in Okayama 1888 Pilgrimage to the Grand Shrine of Ise with ten thousand followers (conducted four more times during the Meiji Era) 1895 Publication of official group magazine begins 1899 Completion of Daikyoden Prayer Hall in Omoto 1909 First general meeting concerning the teachings of Kurozumikyo; publicationof Kurozumikyo Kyosho, containing the Founder's teaching based on his letters, poetry, and articles 1914 Grand Festival commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Founder's Direct Receipt of the Heavenly Mission 1929 Festival commemorating the 150th birthday of the Founder 1950 100th Grand Ceremony commemorating for the Founder's ascension to heaven 1952 Resumption of Procession of Kami after World War II (conducted every year since then) 1964 Grand Festival commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Founder's Direct Receipt of the Heavenly Mission 1965 Working for establishing the Asahigawaso for severely handicapped children 1974 Completion of the new Daikyoden Prayer Hall on Shintozan and the relocation of the headquarters 1979 6th Chief Patriarch participates in the 3rd Conference of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and offers "prayer for great harmony" (St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City) 1980 Pilgrimage to Grand Shrine of Ise with ten thousand followers (also in 1984 and 1994) Festival commemorating the 200th birthday of the Founder Culture diplomacy to New Zealand 1981 Welfare diplomacy starts with Asian countries Culture diplomacy to Australia 1985 Conference on Kurozumi Shinto held in Dayton, Ohio, USA 1988 Culture diplomacy to Florida, USA 1990 Shinto International Workshop on Global Survival and Peace held at Shintozan 1994 Pilgrimage to Ise Grand Shrine with one thousand children 1995 At the time of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, carrying out the "Candy Fluff Operation" for 50 days Visit of the 14th Dalai Lama

Daikyoden Prayer Hall at Shintozan	Area in front of Kami alter in Daikyoden Prayer Hall
Munetada Shrine at Omoto in Okayama	Founder's Memorial Hall in Omoto
Munetada Shrine, Kaguraoka, Kyoto

People who know no more than the feeling of Gratitude Hold today as precious. The Nowness in their hearts.
A sense of gratitude along with feelings of wonder and joy Will, if we maintain all three, bring us true sincerity.
Being delighted and also being saddened comes from the heart; So why not, then, feel delight in everything around you?
Since there are oceans as well as many mountains in this world of ours; Oh, people, don't keep clinging to such narrowness of heart.
It is a tremendous guilt to take something as your own; All things in this world Belong to heaven. [another reading:] Whenever we are taking something as our own, it brings us great guilt. Everything in the world really belong to heaven.
There is nothing more valuable than self; Yet it is by valuing the self that the self is lost. [another reading:] Of all things we have, nothing is more valuable than our self itself; To value the self aright is to lose our little self.
Standing before you, others hold up mirrors as their own hearts; And there within, you can see Your own heart being reflected.          [as given in Opening Way 57]
In this world of ours we have all come together to form a circle [Marukoto]; Let us pray to be joined by the Heart of all our hearts.
True Sincerity is the one thing we must be most thankful for; With Sincerity alone the Earth can be a family.
Whenever the heart of Amaterasu and a person's heart Are joined together as one, --This is the Abiding Life.
It is our wish to have Amaterasu's goodness be known to all The people of the world Soon and without exception.

For your further inquiry, please contact the following:

For further reading:

Helen Hardacre. Kurozumikyo and the New Religions of Japan.
Pinceton: Princeton University Press, 1986.

Tadaaki Kurozumi. The Opening Way, trans. Julie Iezzi et al. Ed. Willis Stoesz.
Lanhm. MD: University Press of America. 1994.

Willis Stoesz. Ed.. Kurozumi Shinto: an American Dialogue. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996; Chambersburg. PA: Anima Publication. 1988.