信仰と信心 — 仐寿の新春を迎えて
(Faith and Devotion — Welcoming the New Spring of Longevity)

平成28年1月号掲載(Published in the January Heisei 28 (2016) issue)

謹賀新年

　あらためて申し上げるまでもないことですが、黒住教は信仰と信心が一体になった宗教です。

Happy New Year.

It hardly needs to be said, but Kurozumikyō is a religion in which faith and devotion are united.

　信仰とは読んで字の如く信じて仰ぎ、信心とは心を信ずることです。

The word shinkō 信仰 (“faith”) is consisted of two words: shin 信 (“to believe”) and kō 仰 (“to revere”), thus it means “to believe and revere.” Shinjin 信心 (“devotion”) is consisted of two words: shin 信 (“to believe/trust”) and jin 心 (“heart”), thus it means “to believe/trust the heart.”

　一昨年、立教二百年を迎えました本教ですが、教祖宗忠神ご立教の時というのは、昇る旭日を大感激の中に呑み込み、まさに神人一体となられるとともに、わが国古来の主宰神たる天照大御神こそ、旭日に現れる天地の親神であることを確信された時であります。

Two years ago, Kurozumikyō celebrated its Bicentennial. At the time of the Divine Founder Munetada’s establishment of the faith, he was overwhelmed with awe as he embraced the rising sun, becoming truly one with the divine. At that moment he was convinced that Amaterasu Ōmikami, the ancient Divine sovereign of our nation, is indeed the Divine Parent of Heaven and Earth who appears in the rising sun.

　同時に、教祖神は一人の人間としてご自身の心の奥深くに、その天照大御神のご分霊（わけみたま）すなわちご分心が鎮まるという確信を得られたのでした。

At the same time, the Divine Founder gained the conviction, as a human being, that within the depths of his own heart dwelt Bunshin 分心 or a portion of Amaterasu Ōmikami’s spirit.

　従って、大御神様とご一体になられた教祖宗忠神を信じて仰ぎ、同時にわが心に奥深く鎮まります心の神であるご分心を信ずるところに黒住教はあるのです。つまり、教祖宗忠神を信じて仰ぎ、わがご分心を信ずる信仰と信心が一体になるところに私たちの祈りはあります。

Thus, Kurozumikyō lies in believing and revering the Divine Founder Munetada, who became one with Amaterasu Ōmikami, and at the same time believing in Bunshin, the god of heart that abides deep within our own hearts. In other words, our prayer is found where faith in the Divine Founder and devotion to our own Bunshin unite.

　天命直授と後に称される文化１１年（１８１４）１１月１１日（旧暦）の教祖神の御日拝は、お祓いを上げることから始まっていました。

The Nippai 日拝 (sunrise worship) of the Divine Founder on the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of Bunka (1814, lunar calendar), later called the Tenmei Jikijū 天命直授 (Direct Bestowal of Heaven’s Mandate), began with reciting Ōharae no Kotoba 大祓詞 (the Great Purification Prayer).

　お祓いを上げる、すなわち大祓詞を下腹からの声で唱え続ける修行を、本教では極めて重要視しています。それは、立教の時であるこの天命直授に始まると言っても過言ではないお祓い修行を、教祖神が終生励行されたからです。ある神道学者が、「黒住教の教祖様ほど数多く大祓詞を唱えた方はないのではないか」と言われたことがあります。大祓詞は、今のような詞に整えられたのは１０００年ほど昔だといわれていますが、日本人は、神社に詣で、あるいは自宅の神前、神棚で祈る時にこの大祓詞を唱えることを常としてきました。「高天原ニ神留マリ坐ス……」に始まる大祓詞は、この詞の意味を尋ねますと深遠なものがありますが、総じて生命の賛歌です。その言葉の意味を求めるより、私どもは昔からこの大和言葉、日本語の原典ともいえる歯切れのよい母音の連なる大祓詞を、ひたすら唱えることを大切にし、そこに心の祓いをいただいてきました。下腹からの声で唱える大祓詞の生み出す、目には見えませんが”糸””筋”のようなものを通じてご神徳、ご神威が下腹に鎮まるご分心に注ぎ込まれてくるのを実感できる、まさに心祓われ清らなもので満ち満ちてくる時をいただけるのです。お祓いを上げるという妙味はここにあります。

In Kurozumikyō, the training of chanting Ōharae no Kotoba 大祓詞 (the Great Purification Prayer) with a voice from the lower abdomen is regarded as supremely important. This practice began with Tenmei Jikijū at the time of the Founder’s establishment of the faith, and the Divine Founder continued it throughout his life.
One Shintō scholar once remarked: “Perhaps no one has ever recited the Ōharae no Kotoba as many times as the Founder of Kurozumikyō.” The prayer, in its present form, was arranged about a thousand years ago. From ancient times, Japanese people have recited it when visiting shrines or praying before the household altar.
Ōharae no Kotoba begins:
“Takamagahara ni kamuzumari imasu…”
When asked about its meaning, one finds profound depth, but in essence it is a hymn to life. Rather than seeking intellectual meaning, we have cherished the act of chanting these pure Yamato kotoba (indigenous Japanese words which are not loan words from Chinese)—Japanese in their original vowel clarity—as a way of purification.
Chanting from the lower abdomen produces invisible “threads” or “strands” through which divine virtue and divine power flow into Bunshin (each person’s portion of Amaterasu Ōmikami’s spirit) that dwells within. One can truly feel the heart being purified and filled with clarity. This is the exquisite essence of reciting the purification prayer.

　大祓詞を唱えながら、心の中で「教祖様、宗忠様……」と呼び掛けながらつとめるところに、尊くも有り難い時を迎えることができます。それぞれの願いを教祖神にぶち込むように投げ入れるように、まさに信じて仰ぐ祈りの時です。

By chanting the Ōharae no Kotoba while inwardly calling upon “Kyōso‑sama, Munetada‑sama… (Revered Founder, Revered Munetada)”, one enters into a precious and grateful time. It is the moment of prayer in which each person casts their wishes into the Divine Founder, as if throwing them in with all their heart—truly a time of believing and revering.

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　教祖神は天命を直授なされた御日拝の時、大感激の中に迫り来る旭日を思わず呑み込まれました。本教の祈り、修行の元をなす御日拝の始まりです。その中心にあるのが御陽気修行です。これは物理的には空気を飲み込むのですが、あくまで主体は御光に現れる大天地の生気、天地生々の霊気をいただいて下腹に鎮まるわが本体たるご分心に納める思いで、一息ひといきを有り難くいただくつとめです。

At the time of the Divine Founder’s Nippai (sunrise worship) when he received the Direct Bestowal of Heaven’s Mandate, he was so overwhelmed with awe that he instinctively swallowed the approaching rising sun. This was the beginning of Nippai that forms the foundation of our prayers and disciplines.
At its center lies the practice of Goyōki Shugyō 御陽気修行 (the training to receive the sun’s divine energy). Physically, it is the act of swallowing air, but the true essence is to gratefully receive the vital energy of Heaven and Earth—the living spirit manifested in the divine light—and to offer it into Bunshin, the divine heart that dwells in the lower abdomen as our true being. Each breath is thus received with reverence as a sacred discipline.

　いわゆる心の座は脳にありますが、心の神、ご分心は下腹に鎮まります。実は、日本人は古来、そういうことを体得していたように思います。それは、腹という言葉で表す心の働きにあります。”腹がきれいな””腹がすわっている””腹のできた人”から”腹が立つ””腹わたがにえたぎる””腹ぐろい”等々、腹の一字に深い意味を見出していたのがわが先人方です。ここのところを明らかにされたのが御陽気修行です。

The seat of the heart lies in the brain, but the divine heart—Bunshin—dwells in the lower abdomen. In truth, it seems that the Japanese people of old instinctively understood this. It is reflected in the many expressions using the word hara 腹 (belly) to describe the workings of the heart: hara ga kirei na 腹がきれいな (literally “with a clean belly” or “to be pure‑hearted”), hara ga suwatte iru 腹がすわっている (literally “the belly is seated” or “to be composed, calm under pressure”), hara no dekita hito 腹のできた人 (literally “a person with a completed belly” or “a resolute, mature person”), hara ga tatsu 腹が立つ (literally “the belly rises” or “to get angry”), harawata ga nietagiru 腹わたがにえたぎる (literally “the intestines boil” or “to be furious, seething with rage”), haraguroi 腹ぐろい (literally “a black belly” or “to be malicious, scheming”). Our forebears found profound meaning in this single word hara. What clarified this truth was the practice of Goyōki Shugyō.

　ひとえに有り難いお日の出を求めて、立教以来１６０年の霊地大元から上がって来た神道山では、毎朝お日の出を迎え拝む御日拝こそ最も大切な祈りの時です。お祓いを上げるところから日拝式は始まりますが、最も長く時間もかけられ御日拝の中心をなすのが御陽気修行です。

Seeking the blessed rising sun, at Shintōzan—the sacred mountain that rose from Ōmoto, the spiritual ground of 160 years since the founding of Kurozumikyō—the daily Nippai is the most important time of prayer. The ceremony of Nippai begins with recitation of Ōharae no Kotoba, but the longest and most central part of Nippai is Goyōki Shugyō.

　腰骨を立てて背筋を伸ばし、下腹を引っ込めて息を吐き切ります。そして下腹を前に突き出しながら御光を呑んで下腹に納めます。じっくり時間をかけて吐き出し、呑み込んだ御光をじっくり下腹に納めていくのです。下腹に鎮まるわが本体たるご分心に、きょうのご神徳をお供えしているような厳かさと感動に満ちた信心の極地です。いつまでもこの時間を持ち続けたいとの思いにかられるような神道山の御日拝です。

One straightens the hips and spine, draws in the lower abdomen, and exhales completely. Then, thrusting the lower abdomen forward, one receives and swallows the divine light, storing it within. Slowly exhaling, one carefully settles the light into the lower abdomen. It is as if one offers the day’s divine virtue to Bunshin—the divine heart dwelling in the lower abdomen as our true being. This is the summit of devotion, filled with solemnity and inspiration. Sunrise worship at Shintōzan is a time that makes one wish to hold onto it forever.

　御日拝の歌として毎朝いただく御神詠
　日々に朝日に向かい心から限りなき身と思う嬉しさ
にこそ、御日拝の真髄が説かれています。まず「日々に」に、教祖神が毎朝欠かさず御日拝されていたことが伺えます。そして御日拝の目指すところは、”天地が我か、我が天地か”といえる天地に溶けこんだような天地一体の境地に至ることです。大御神様のわけみたま＝ご分心をわが本体とする私たちは、限りなき天地と本来一体なのであり、御日拝によってその確信がより強く「限りなき身と思う嬉しさ」にほとばしり出るように表れていると有り難く思います。

As a daily hymn for Nippai (sunrise worship), we receive the divine poem:
Each day, facing the morning sun, from the heart, how joyful to feel oneself limitless.
In this verse lies the very essence of Nippai. The phrase “day by day” shows that the Divine Founder performed Nippai unfailingly each morning. The aim of Nippai is to reach the state of unity with Heaven and Earth—so complete that one may say, “Am I Heaven and Earth, or are Heaven and Earth me?”
Since our true being is Bunshin, we are originally one with the boundless Heaven and Earth. Through Nippai, this conviction wells forth in the joy expressed as “How joyful to feel oneself limitless.”

　かぎりなき命の道をみちびかん重ねたまえよよろずよまでも
の御神詠の如く、天地一体の生々の大道、生き通しの道へおみちびき下さる教祖宗忠神を信じて仰ぎ、同時にわがご分心をそれにふさわしいお働きをいただけるようにつとめる御日拝こそ、生き通しへの鍵をにぎる尊い祈りの時であります。

As expressed in the divine poem:
I’ll guide you upon the boundless Way of life, May it be renewed, for all ages to come.
We believe and revere the Divine Founder Munetada, who leads us to the great living Way of unity with Heaven and Earth, the path of unbroken life. At the same time, through Nippai, we devote ourselves so that our Bunshin may receive its fitting activity. This worship is the precious prayer that holds the key to an everlasting life.

　こうして、わが人生という、誰も取って代わることのできない尊い時をより充実したものにしてまいりたく思います。

　今年９月１８日に、満７９歳の誕生日を迎える私は、数え歳８０歳、いわゆる仐寿の新年を迎えました。自らに信仰と信心に一層励むべしとの思いでつとめてまいりますとともに、２月１３日から始まります伊勢萬人参りに皆様とご一緒できるのを心から楽しみにしていることです。

Thus I wish to make my own life, this irreplaceable time, ever more fulfilled.

On September 18 this year, I will reach my seventy‑ninth birthday. By traditional count, that is eighty years, and thus I have welcomed the sanju 仐寿 (longevity) New Year. With renewed resolve to devote myself to faith and devotion, I look forward with all my heart to joining everyone in the Ise Ten Thousand Person Pilgrimage to Ise beginning February 13.