親の大事
(The Importance of Parents)

平成22年11月号掲載(Published November 2010 issue)

　今年の初夏、本教の若い教師の一人が子供を授かり父親となりました。夫人は出産を前に里の親のもとに帰り元気な女の子を出産したのですが、お産を前にしての毎朝の御日拝における感動を伝えてくれていました。夫と離れているだけに毎朝、共に御日拝する思いでつとめていたようですが、お日の出を迎えると同時に、決まってお腹（なか）の赤ちゃんが活発に動いていたというのです。この話を聞いて、この赤ちゃんはきっと幸せな人生を歩むと強く思いましたし、併せていわゆる胎教の大切さを改めて思いました。

Earlier this summer, one of our young teachers became a father. His wife had returned to her parents’ home before giving birth, and there she safely delivered a healthy baby girl. Before the birth, she shared with us the moving experience she had during her Nippai 日拝 (daily sunrise worship). Though separated from her husband, she performed her devotions each morning with the thought of worshiping together. And at the very moment she greeted the rising sun, the baby in her womb would always begin to move actively.
Hearing this story, I felt strongly that this child will surely walk a happy path in life. At the same time, I was reminded anew of the importance of what is called prenatal education.

　妊娠するということは、両親の細胞がひとつになったときに、ここを器に大御神様のわけみたま＝ご分心が鎮まって生命活動が始まると私たちは信じています。「道の理（ことわり）」における「心はこごると云（い）う義にて日神（ひのかみ）の御陽気が凝結（こりこご）りて心と成るなり」のところであり、子の宮（子宮）に日止（ひとど）まって日止（ひと）＝人となるというところです。ですから、子供はつくるものではありませんし、まさに“授かりもの”であり、妊娠したときからまことに尊い存在なのです。

We believe that pregnancy begins when the cells of the parents unite, and at that moment Wakemitama わけみたま or Bunshin 分心 — each person’s portion of Amaterasu Ōmikami — settles within this vessel, and life activity begins. This corresponds to the teaching in the Principle of the Way: “The heart is formed when the Sun Goddess’s (Amaterasu Ōmikami’s) Goyōki 御陽気 (the sun’s divine energy) condenses and becomes heart.” It is the moment when the divine light stays (hi ga todomaru 日が止まる) in the womb (shikyū 子宮, literally “child’s palace/shrine”) and, abiding there, becomes hito 人— a human being.
Therefore, children are not something that we “make”; they are truly a gift bestowed. From the very moment of conception, the child is already a profoundly precious being.

　子供を授かった夫婦に必ず話すことですが、朝に夕に幼子（おさなご）の頭をなでるようにお腹をさすりながら話し掛け、祈り込んでほしいということです。かつて流行した“こんにちは赤ちゃん”の歌ではありませんが、妊娠が分かったときから直ちに“こんにちは赤ちゃん”のお母さんであってほしいとお願いするのです。

This is something we always tell couples who have conceived a child: morning and evening, while gently stroking the mother’s belly as if caressing the head of the little one, speak to the child and pray with devotion. It is not the popular song “Hello Baby” that once spread, but from the very moment pregnancy is known, we ask that the mother already be the one who says “Hello Baby.”

　私の学生時代のことでした。心理学の先生が「自分はかつて老いた母親に尋ねたことがある。“いつ自分を可愛（かわい）いと思ったか”と。母の答えは“ある日、ふとお前を授かったことが分かった。その晩、私はお前がいとしくて可愛くてひと晩中お腹をなでていた……”」と話されました。教授の両眼には光るものがあったことが忘れられません。

I recall an episode from my student days. A professor of psychology once shared: “I once asked my aged mother, ‘When did you first think I was lovable?’ Her answer was, ‘One day I suddenly realized I had conceived you. That night, I felt such affection and tenderness for you that I stroked my belly the whole night long…’” I will never forget that there was a glimmer in the professor’s eyes as he told this story.

　昔、“妊娠中に火事を見たらアザのある子供が生まれる”といったことが言われました。今日の人々には単なる迷信と片付けられてしまうかもしれませんが、子供をお腹にいただく母親はとても敏感になっています。子供を守るために、まさにご神慮で、危険を避けるべく鋭敏になっているのです。火事などを目の当たりにして、心を傷めることがお腹の子供によくないという、先人の智恵が生んだ忠言です。

In former times it was said, “If a pregnant woman sees a fire, her child will be born with a birthmark.” Today people may dismiss this as mere superstition, but a mother carrying a child is in fact very sensitive. Out of divine providence, she becomes keenly alert in order to protect the child and avoid danger. To witness something like a fire and suffer distress of heart is not good for the unborn child — this was a caution born of the wisdom of our forebears.

　私の甥（おい）が二人目の子供を授かったときのことです。この甥は私の弟忠篤（大元・宗忠神社名誉宮司）の長男黒住忠雅（大教殿勤番）ですが、生まれた子供が男子なら忠直（ただなお）、女子なら七穂（なほ・（お））と決めていまして、出産の数カ月前から朝に夕に“なおちゃん”と夫婦でお腹に呼び掛けていたようです。するとどうでしょう。生後間もない頃から“なおちゃん”と呼ぶと目を開くなり、首がすわると顔を動かすなどしての反応があったと言います。

I recall when my nephew was expecting his second child. This nephew is Tadamasa Kurozumi, the eldest son of my younger brother Tadaatsu (Honorary Chief Priest of Ōmoto Munetada Shrine), who serves at the Daikyōden. He and his wife had already decided: if the child were a boy, he would be named Tadanao; if a girl, Naho. From several months before the birth, morning and evening, they would call to the child in the womb as “Nao‑chan.” And what happened? From the earliest days after birth, whenever they called “Nao‑chan,” the baby would respond — opening his eyes, and once his neck grew firm, even turning his face toward them.

　一般的には、幼稚園や小学校で先生を生徒が選ぶことができないように、子供は親を選ぶことができないと昔から言われます。しかし最近では、赤ちゃんは産んでくれる親を選んで生まれてくるという説を唱える産婦人科医もあります。

In general, it has long been said that just as pupils in kindergarten or elementary school cannot choose their teachers, children cannot choose their parents. Yet in recent times, some obstetricians have put forward the view that babies choose the parents who will give them birth.

　わが身に日止まった人、まさに天から、大御神様から授かったいのちを「よくぞ、私たちの所へ来てくれた。有り難う」と、朝に晩に感謝を込め、心から称（たた）えながら出産の時を待つ若き母、そしてそれを温かく支える父親であってほしく思います。

For those in whom life has been bestowed — truly a gift from heaven, from Amaterasu Ōmikami — we hope that the young mother will wait for the time of birth with gratitude and heartfelt praise, saying morning and evening, “How good that you have come to us. Thank you.” And we hope that the father will warmly support her in this spirit.

　こういう親を望むのは今日では夢物語でしょうか。いやそうではありません。本来、子を持つ親は、まさに天地自然のお働き、大御神様のご神慮でそのような心に導かれていくのです。動物の世界でも明らかにそれが伺えます。子連れの熊は恐ろしいとか、日頃おとなしい羊、鹿でも子連れのときには気を付けろとは昔からよく言われてきたことです。子を守るためには親は己（おの）れの命も惜しまないからです。

Is it only a dream today to hope for parents of such heart? No, it is not. By nature, parents who bear children are guided into such a spirit through the workings of heaven and earth, through the divine providence of Amaterasu Ōmikami. This can be clearly seen even in the animal world. It has long been said: beware of a bear with cubs, or even sheep and deer, usually gentle, when they have young — for in order to protect their offspring, parents will not spare even their own lives.

　しかし、今日、人間だけがと言ってもよいほど、こうした親ごころを失った姿が目に付きます。それは智恵と心得て、あまりにも人工的なものに頼りすぎた生活になり、天然自然の生き方から遠くなっているからと言えましょう。

Yet today, it is striking that among humans alone, such parental spirit seems to have been lost. This may be because we have come to rely too much on what is artificial, thinking it wisdom, and have grown distant from the natural way of life.

　先年、テレビで見たことですが、象が動物園で出産したのですが、母親象が育児放棄どころか子供の象を踏みつけようとするので、慌てて母親から離して人間が育てているということでした。本来、大平原に住まう象ではありえないことでしょうが、セメントのオリの中という人工的な環境に閉じ込められた生活が、象の本性を歪（ゆが）めているということでありましょう。これはひとり象の問題ではなく、今日の人間の問題、特にわが国の問題だと痛感いたしました。

Some years ago I saw on television that an elephant gave birth in a zoo, but instead of caring for her calf, the mother tried to trample it. The keepers had to rush to separate the calf and raise it themselves. Such a thing would never occur among elephants living on the open plains. It showed how confinement in an artificial environment — a cement cage — had distorted the elephant’s true nature. I felt keenly that this was not only the elephant’s problem, but also today’s human problem, and especially a problem in our own country.

　私たちの日常生活から天然ものが消えて人工物になり、食べ物のほとんどに化学物質が入っている上に、親が手を掛けた食べ物も少なくなっている現実の生活です。よほど賢く、目配り気配りして生きなければ、人間本来の良さが失われる恐れがあります。

In our daily lives, natural things have disappeared and been replaced by artificial ones. Most of our food contains chemical substances, and there are fewer meals prepared with the parents’ own care. Unless we live with great wisdom, attentiveness, and mindfulness, there is a real danger that the original goodness of human beings will be lost.

　大切なことは、私たちの天与の生命力にいかに旺盛（おおせい）にお働きいただくかを、常に生活の中心に据えた生き方を重ねることです。

What is most important is to keep at the very center of daily life the question of how vigorously we allow our God‑given vitality to work within us.

　「祓いは神道の首教（しゅきょう）なり」といわれるお道信仰の基本である祓いに徹すること、ここに誤ちなき人生の極意があります。

The essence of the Way lies in purification, for as it is said, “Purification is the prime teaching of Shintō.” To devote oneself thoroughly to purification — here is the secret of a life without error.

　親自身が毎朝、洗面を済ませたら御日拝して、「御陽気をいただきて下腹に納める」ことにつとめ、夕に反省と感謝の祈りを欠かさない生き方こそ、道を取り外さない人間本然の人生の大元です。

For parents themselves, the true foundation of human life is this: each morning, after washing the face, to worship the rising sun and strive to “receive the divine brightness and store it in the lower abdomen”; and each evening, never to neglect prayer of reflection and gratitude. Such a way of living is the great source of a life that does not stray from the Way.

　岡山では昔からよく言われたものです。「アホを出せと言われたら親を出せばいい」と。わが子のことになったら、欲も得もない、計算づくの生活を超えたところにあるのが親ごころであるということでしょう。ここにこそ真に賢い親があります。利口でなくて、賢い親が若い人に一人でも多くなるよう、人生の先輩としても私どもはつとめていかねばと思うことです。

In Okayama it has long been said: “If you are asked to bring forth a fool, then bring forth the parent.” The meaning is that when it comes to their own child, parents act from a heart beyond desire or gain, beyond a life calculated for profit — this is the parental spirit. Here lies the truly wise parent.
It is not cleverness but wisdom that makes a parent, and we ourselves, as seniors in life, must strive so that more young people may become such wise parents.