Omotari-no-Mikoto

Tenrikyo Pearl Church Monthly Service – 2008 December Service by Taeko Nakao

Good morning. I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to attend the December Service here at Tenrikyo Pearl Church and thank you for your kind and sincere offerings. I am sure God the Parent and Oyasama is really happy to see you all here today and to have performed the service with joy and in high spirits! This the last month of 2008 so it might be a good time to take stock of your accomplishments and check to see if you have been meeting your goals for 2008. This month we continue on our ten divine providences series.

 

OMOTARI NO-MIKOTO

 

In the human body, Omotari no Mikoto is the providence of warmth, in the world the providence fire. In the heavens it represented by the Sun.

 

In the world, the providence of fire is without doubt a very powerful force in our world. In prehistoric times till today we have an eternal fascination with fire. It was used to keep us warm, provide light at night, and protect us against predator animals. It was something fearful too if we weren’t careful and so it also became a center of worship or a tool of worship. Even today, we use “eternal flames” to mark memorials. Fire, like water has a spiritual quality to it, it comes from nature and has religious significance¹. At church we offer water on the altar and at night we have the night lights, presently we use electric light bulbs.

 

Once a big fire gets going it can destroy almost everything in its path. People can lose everything, including their lives. If we use it right, fire is very useful. It is the catalyst that advances civilization. It provides electricity, runs our cars, and turns sand into glass and ore into metals. And it cooks our BBQ’s. This is the power of fire.

 

In the heavens, Omotari no Mikoto is the sun. The sun is really huge. It will take one million earths to fill it up. It provides light and heat energy. If we could harness all of the sun’s energy for one minute, it could provide electricity for the entire United States for 13 million years. The sun provides photosynthesis for plants and algae to grow. It is the basis for the food chain for all life on earth. There will be no life on earth without the sun. 1

In the human body, Omotari no Mikoto is the providence of warmth.

 

Try touching your body. We can feel that it is warm and we know that we are alive.

 

The normal “average” body temperature of course is 98.2 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Centigrade). When core body temperature goes higher or lower, then something is wrong with our body. When it is too low we may develop allergies, asthma, depression, fatigue or being tired all the time, hypothermia and mood disorders 4. At 91F (33° C) we lose consciousness, at 86F (30°C) we lose body temperature control and at 82F (28°C), we have muscle failure. Going the other way: at 108F (42° C) brain damage occurs. 5 Also with continued high fever we may suffer from heat stroke, chest problems, lung problem and pneumonia.³ This is from the use of the mind of miserliness. For example: when we are unwilling to share our possessions with others, even though we have a lot. When we continue to have miserliness, we have to suffer from these illnesses. To be saved, we need to become humble like water flowing to a lower place and subsequently “lower” the temperature of our fevers. 4

 

But the body, when it’s working properly has the remarkable capacity for regulating its core temperature when the outside temperature is between 68° and 130° F (20° and 54.4° C).

 

Body Core Temperature
(C) (F) Symptoms
28 82 muscle failure
30 86 loss of body temperature
33 91 loss of consciousness
37 98 Normal
42 108 central nervous system breakdown
44 111 Death
     
Ambient Temperature (outside the body)
20-54.4 68-130 Range that the body can self-adjust without clothing.

 

We can see that the body has the capacity to maintain body temperature in fairly extreme temperatures. This is due to God the Parent’s providence and blessing. I believe that this is a clue to how we should use our minds in our daily interactions. It tells us that we should have a mind that can adjust to different and extreme situations.

 

When the body temperature is normal and stable, that means that we are living in the optimum state with peace of mind. However, there are many of us nowadays whose mind is not stable or suffer from depression and mental illness, no matter how much we are filled with material wealth. 4

 

According to Rev. Kanji Nakadai in his book “Ten no ri ni sou (Aligning Our Mind With the Truth of Heaven)” Our emotional well being and mental health is due to the providence of Kunitokotachi and Omotari no Mikoto. The blessing of water and fire, moon and sun and heaven and earth. Heaven is the Truth of Father, earth is the Truth of Mother. 7

 

In the Ofudesaki X: 54:

The earth and heaven of this world is your real Parent.

Out of this, human beings were born.

 

The sun gives us light and warmth equally in this world. The earth receives the heavenly truth of heaven and produces plants and vegetables. Also the woman bears the child by receiving the truth of heaven.

 

Originally, when the mind of the husband and wife respects the parents and husband and wife help each other in harmony, they can nurture a bright child. On the other hand, when we treat parents with disrespect and being rebellious and disobedient, the mind becomes unstable.

 

Recently, I met this young man who has an unstable mind, who was diagnosed with depression, saying that he is really scared to go out and meet people. He says that he experiences anxiety when he goes out of his home. Because of this he cannot go to work. He stays at home all day. He looks healthy, but his mind is not well. To be saved from this illness, I explained earlier that we need to become humble, like how water flows to a lower place. Also we need to respect our parents and the people above us in our workplace.

 

Today we talked about the blessing of Omotari no Mikoto, which is the blessing of warmth in the body and about the lack of this blessing. Through the lack of this blessing we suffer from illnesses. To be saved from these illnesses, we need adjust our way of thinking, by being flexible in our relationships, respect our parents and cooperate with our superiors.

 

1From How Stuff Works: http://science.howstuffworks.com

²From Body Temperature Regulation: http://www.rwc.uc.edu/koehler/biophys/8d.html

³“Kihon Kyori of Minitsuke You (Let’s Study the Basic Doctrine, unofficial translation)” by Rev. Yoshitaro Ueda

4“Satoshi Satori” by Matataro Sawada.

5From Cold Body Page: http://www.mall-net.com/mcs/coldbody.html

6From Temperature Regulation of the Human Body: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/heatreg.html

7“Ten no ri ni sou (Aligning Our Mind With the Truth of Heaven, unofficial translation)” by Rev. Kanji Nakadai.

 

Announcements

  1. The total collection for UNICEF in the Hawaii Tenrikyo diocese was $1015. Thank you again to all those who contributed.
  2. I would like to thank all of you for your support of the thanksgiving dinner at Pearl Church last month. About 24 people attended and as some of you have noticed, there were a few new faces and we were able to share the warmth of family and friends in a joyful atmosphere. Thank you bringing food and fellowship not only for family and friends but also for the people you met for the first time.
  3. On November 29 & 30 the Aloha band conducted a band camp in which 4 participated from Pearl Church.
  4. The monthly MHQ Hinokishin Day was held last Tuesday with 6 people from Pearl Church participating.
  5. December and January are busy months for everyone so we made a schedule flyer to help everyone remember. Please note our first activity will be the canopy setup at the Tenri Cultural Center, this Saturday on 12/20 at 9am. Also please join us for family and friends Cosmic bowling on 12/26 at 6pm at Fort Shafter.
  6. The annual mochi pounding will be Tuesday, December 30 from 7am at Dendocho. Please see Mrs. Taeko Nakao to order your mochi and please join us in the mochi pounding and kneading hinokishin.
  7. Just a reminder that we are working to purchase a new drum and small gong for monthly service use. The estimated budget is $8,000. Again, I would like to ask everyone to take this opportunity to renew your efforts to practice the four “R’s”. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Remind; and bring your deposit containers to church. We also offer yard service as another fundraising activity. If you know of anyone who needs yard service and tree trimming, please let us know.
  8. Please join us as we start the New Year with our annual New Year’s Service which will be held on January 1, 2008 at 7am. It will be our very first service of the New Year. Or come join us later for food and fellowship anytime during New Year’s Day!
  9. Next we would like to ask for your support of the BGA Beard Papa fundraising. It’s a 6-cream-puffs-for-$10 ticket and you can use this to bring dessert to family gatherings and parties. The cream puffs normally sell for over $2 so at 6 for $10, you are getting a very good deal.

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