Becoming an Ikigami (Living God), cont.

Ikigami is a traditional Japanese word to which Japanese people have been familiar since ancient times. This word mainly has two meanings.

1) People felt respect and gratitude toward someone that acts to help those in trouble and suffering even if his act may make him sacrifice his life. They called such a person 'ikigami' (living deity or kami) or 'ikibotoke' (living Buddha) to show their respect and gratitude to him.

2) This word also refers to someone that successfully acquired a skill to conduct mysterious rites after having special training over and over again. Such a person was considered to be one who had a spiritual ability to transmit the messages of gods and buddhas to people through praying to and accessing those gods and buddhas, and they called him 'ikigami' or 'ikibotoke.'

People called Konko Daijin, the Founder of Konkokyo, 'ikigami,' in awe when they saw him performing Toritsugi-Mediation to free people from suffering; praying to Tenchi Kane No Kami and telling people the teachings of Kami. Their act of calling him so derives from the above-mentioned usage of the word. And also, Tenchi Kane No Kami called the Founder 'Ikigami Konko Daijin' to admire the function of salvation of Konko Daijin's Toritsugi-Mediation.

Konko Daijin, who was called 'ikigami' by both Kami and people, created a new meaning to this word, ikigami. He taught his followers that every single person was 'ikigami,' not limited numbers of special people. In Konko Daijin's teaching, all the humans can manifest the function of Tenchi Kane No Kami as children of Kami, because they are given a part of His functions. Therefore Konko Daijin taught that everybody was 'ikigami.'

Receiving this teaching, each of Konkokyo believers began to set 'becoming an ikigami' and 'manifest being ikigami' as an important goal of his faith, believing that they could help let hatred and conflict disappear from the human world by manifesting the functions of Kami in their daily lives...