The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-04-04

there We're a generation of Kami or del
ties IN the beginning who created the
heavens and the earth. together with all
things. including human beings. and be-
came the ancestors of the Japanese.
'Jimmu-Tenno, the grandson of Ninigi-
nO-MikOto. was the first OF the human
emrerors.
Having brought the whole land under
one rule he performed great services TO
the divine ancestors. cherished his sub
jects and thus discharged his great fili1l
duty. MS did all the emperors after him.
So also all the subjects were deep in
their respect and adora ton toward the
divine ancestors and the emperors, their
descendants. Though in the course of
time various doctrines and creeds were
introduced into the country. Con-
fucianism i'm the reign Of the fifteenth
emperor, DIN: Buddhism in the reign Of
the twenty-ninth emperor. Kimmei, and
Christianity. IN modern times. the en-
percrs and the subjects never neglected
the great duty Of ShintO. The present
forms Of ceremony are come down to us
from time immemoTial I'm our history.
OF the three divine treasures trans
mitted from tho divine ancestors the
divine gem is still held sacred in the
/. imperial palace. the divine mirror in the
great temple of $50. and the divine sword
In the temple Of Atsuta I'm the province
of Dwarf. To this day his majesty the
emperor. performs himself the ceremony
Of worship To the divine ancestors. and
/ all the subjects perform the Same to the
dieties Of temples. which arc called ac-
Cordt1g To the local extent of the feS-
/ tivity, the national. the provincial. the
3 local and the birthplace temple. When
the feSoai day of the temples. especially
th3 birthplace. etc. comes. all people
who. living i'm the place are considered
specially protected ny the deity Of the
temple. have a holiday and unite i'm
performing the ancient ritual Of Worship
and praying for the perpetuity of The
imperial line and for profound peace
over the land and families. The deities
dedicated To the temples are divine inn
pertal ancestors. illustrious loyalist:5,
I benefactOrS to the place. etc. Indeed the
Shinto is a beautiful cultus peculiar 10
our native land and is considered the
! foundation of the peTpstuity Of the inn
perial house. the loyalty Of the subjects
and the stability Of the japanese state.
! Thus far have given a short descrp-
ton of Shinto, which il the way in which
every Japanese. no matter To what creed
even Buddhism. Christianity. ctc.-he
! belongs, must walk Let me explain
} briefly the nature and origin Of re-
/ igious force Of Shinto l. p. Of the ,Iikko
! sect. whose tenets ! profess TO believe.
[ The Jfkko (practicaD sect. as the
/ name indicates. does not lay so much
| stress upon mere show and speculation
! as upon the realization OF the teachings
/ Its doctrines arg plain and simple and
I teach man to do mans proper work
/ Being a new sect. il is free from dognas
/ and preJUdices and is regarded as a re-
! formed sect The scriptures on which
| the principal teachings Of the sect arc
| founded are Furukotobumi. Yamatobumf
/ and many others. They teach us that
! before heaven and earth came into ax-
! lSLahce there was one absolute deity
] called ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -Kami He
| has great virtue and power to create to
/ reign over things: he includes every
| thing within himself, and he will last
/ forever without end. I'm the beginning
| the one deity. self-originated took The
! embodinents of two deities: one with
the male nature, and the other female.
! The male deity is called Takai-AIusibi-
| no-Kani. and the female Kami-NiuslIbi-
no-hami. These two deities are Moth
/ ing but forms of the one substance and
| unite again in the absolute deity These
three are called the Three Deities of
creation They caused a generation Of
| deities 10 appear. who, in their turn.
gave birth TO the islands of the Japanese
archipelago. the sun and moon. the noun
| talns and streams the divine ancestors
etc 30 their virtue and power are es-
teemed wonderous and boundless."
! According to the teachings Of our
/ sect We ought TO reverence the famous
mountain, Fuji. assuming it to be the
sacred abode of the Divine Lord and
as the brain Of the whole globe. And
as every child of the heavenly deity came
Il
| from the one original soul of deity he
| ought 10 be just as the deity ordered
| dn sacred Japanese 'KanngaraO. and
make Full the example and emblem of
| his thought and action. For instance
he must he plain and simple as the
| form of the mountain. make his BODY
and mind pure the serenity of the
same, etc. We would respect the pres
ent world with all its practical works
more than the future world: pray for
/ the long life of the emperor and the
peace of the country. and by leading a
| life or temperance and diligence cooper
ating with one another in doing public
| good; we should be responsible for the
DRESSINGS or the country.
THE founder OF this sect is
HaseSawa Kakugyo. who was born in
Nagasah of the Hizen provence i'm
| l54l. In the eighteenth year Of his age
Hasegawa. full Of grief at the gloomy
state Of things over the country, set
| out on pilgrimage to various sanctuar-
! les of sacred mountains and lakes.
Shintoistic and Buddhistic temples
| While he was Offering ferVent prayers
| on sacred Full, sometimes on its summit
and sometimes within it's cave. he re-
ceived inspiration through the mira
| cuiOus power of the mountain, and be-
coming convinced that this place is the
holy abode OF Ameno-Mina-I<a nu-shi-no-
Kima he founded new sect and prOpa-
gated the creed all over the empire.
After his death I'm the cave in his
1O6th year the light OF the doctrine was
| handed own by series OF teachers. The
/ tenth OF them was my father Shibata
| HanamOrt. born at Ogi of the Hizen
province in 1909 He was also in the
eighteenth year OF his age when he
adopted the doctrine Of this sect. Amid
| the revolutionary war of Meiji, which
I followed Immediately he exerted all his
power to propagate his faith by writing
religious works and preaching about the
provinces.
Now / have given a short sketch of
the doctrines OF our religion and of it's
history. In the next place let me ex-
press the humble views that l have had
for some years on religion.
AS our doctrines teach us, all animate
and inanimate things were born from
one heavenly deity. and every one of
them has its particular mission; so we
ought to love them all. and also to re-
spect the various forms of religions In
the world They are all based, / believe,
, on the fundamental truth OF religion.
The difference between them is only in
outward form, influenced by variety OF