[ubcdbaker]

I was giving a lecture on Tenrikyo to university students today and was asked what sort of rituals Tenrikyo had for mourning the dead. I was unable to answer because I have never seen a Tenrikyo funeral or seen a Tenrikyo ritual for honoring ancestors, even though I lived in Tenri-shi for a year. I would like to be able to answer that question if I am asked again. Are there any Tenrikyo funeral rituals? Do Tenrikyo believers honor their ancestors the same way other Japanese do or is there a special Tenrikyo way to honor ancestors? Do Tenrikyo believers cremate their dead? If so, what is done with the ashes?
Sorry about all these questions, but I teach a class on religion in East Asia and, since Tenrikyo is one subject I really enjoying lecturing about, I want to be as accurate and comprehensive as possible.
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Don Baker
Professor
Department of Asian Studies
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC. Canada

[hawaiyan]

This is an interesting question. You will probably get different answers from different people. One reason is that death is not final. But is but one chapter in a cycle of birth and re-birth.

Funeral ritual wise, it may be similar to a shinto funeral, with few variations. All variations aside, the main ritual is the transfer of the soul(mind) from the physical body to the heavenly state. Everything else done before and after this ritual is left to the discretion of head officiant of the funeral.

In Tenrikyo it is taught that the body is a thing lent and borrowed from God, and the mind alone is our own. Therefore, the transfer of the soul from the physical body is probably the most important ritual.
Similarly the stance in cremation is that the physical body once the "tranfer ritual" is done, cremation of the body will not affect the soul of the person in any way.

I was once told by an old church minister, "When I die, don't bother building a grave. For what's in that grave will not be me. You need not visit the grave for I will not be there. I will have already found another body, to start my salvation work once again."

The rituals and burials are more for the sake of the living. We want to remember our loved ones, so we do all these things to ease our own pain.

If you go to a Tenrikyo church, you will see a shrine for the ancestors. But, unlike the usual Japanese shinto tradition where the deceased become godlike and are worshipped in that sense. Tenrikyo does not have ancestor worship. The shrine is more of a memorial, in remembrance of our loved ones.

I am not as informed as many sensei on this forum. But, this is my take, a standpoint from one Tenrikyo missionary.
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -Albert Einstein

[Pphilip]

The safest answer is that not all families believe soley in Tenrikyo. There are syncrenistic tendencies to allow for other religious rituals to take place.

In areas where Buddhistic influence is strong there will be allowances for a Buddhist priest to be present. However if the majority of the family is Tenrikyo then more allowances for a Tenrikyo ceremony usually gets priority.

I suppose if ancestor worship is discussed, you would be influenced by whether or not there is anti-ancestor worship sentiment. The home shrines are not really offering up food to "idols" (which would offend Christians who would be offered such stuff from home shrines). However we should draw the line at offering food to Christians at larger Churches since it is more likely to offend them.

Interestingly enough I wonder if a funeral service in China would have worshipers in white?
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hinokishin without a thought
makes work easier and done worthy
One's joyous life will come about,
amazingly without a doubt.

[Avery]

There is actually no such thing as a "Shinto funeral" since that duty was always relegated to Buddhism in medieval Japan, and Shrine Shinto regards death as impure. If you see a funeral that uses elements shared between Tenrikyo and Shinto, it's either a Tenrikyo funeral or a "revivalist" funeral (e.g., some shrine priest's mini-sect; this includes state funerals).

[lewdev]

Tenrikyo believes in "denaoshi" or "passing away for rebirth."

For an official reference on denaoshi, see this article:
Passing Away for Rebirth
http://www.tenrikyo.or.jp/kaiden/newsletter/html/tt10/denaoshi.html

Here's a sample from Roy's blog on Tenrikyo's basic teachings:
(7) When we pass away, we "return" our borrowed bodies to God. When we are reborn in this world, we borrow a new body. Death is called denaoshi in Tenrikyo, literally, "starting anew" or to "come back." It is usually translated as "passing away for rebirth" in English. It essentially is a belief in reincarnation, but we use the word "rebirth." We hardly use terms such as "reincarnation" or "transmigration."

See full article here:
http://tenrikyology.com/user/roy/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=140&Itemid=14

If you're not already following Roy's blog, please do!
http://tenrikyology.com
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"One World, One Family" -Tenrikyo
http://lewdev.net

[Roy T Forbes]

Oh Lewis, always plugging my site...