Onisaburo Deguchi (出口 王仁三郎, Deguchi Onisaburō), born Kisaburō Ueda 上田 喜三郎 (1871–1948) was a Japanese religious leader. Together with his mother-in-law Nao Deguchi, he was one of the two spiritual leaders of the Oomoto religious movement in Japan. While Nao Deguchi is the Foundress (開祖, Kaiso) of Oomoto, Onisaburo Deguchi is the Holy Teacher (聖師, Seishi).
Biography
Onisaburo had studied Honda Chikaatsu's Spirit Studies (Honda Reigaku) and also learned to mediate spirit possession (chinkon kishin 鎮魂帰神) from Honda's disciple Nagasawa Katsutate (長澤雄楯) in Shimizu, Shizuoka. Starting from March 1, 1898, he followed a hermit named Matsuoka Fuyō (松岡芙蓉), who was a messenger of the kami Kono-hana-saku-ya-hime-no-mikoto (木花咲耶姫命), to a cave on Mount Takakuma near Kameoka, Kyoto, where Onisaburo performed intense ascetic training for one week. While enduring cold weather with only a cotton robe, as well as hunger and thirst, Onisaburo received divine revelations and claimed to have traveled into the spirit world.[1][2]
Onisaburo met the founder of Omotokyo in 1898 and in 1899 they established the Kinmeikai, later called Kinmei Reigakkai. In 1900, Kisaburō married Nao's fifth daughter Sumi (also known as Sumiko) and adopted the name Deguchi Onisaburō. Oomoto teaches that the guardian spirit of Nao is Amaterasu, described as a male spirit in a female body, and Onisaburo's spirit is Susanowo, a female spirit in a male body.[3]
Zuisen-en (瑞泉苑), the historic site of Onisaburo's birth home in Anao, Kameoka.[8] The site was destroyed during the Second Oomoto Incident in 1935 but was rebuilt shortly after the end of World War II. It is located next to Kongo-ji (金剛寺) in Anao. Zuisen-en is noted for its holy well mentioned in various Oomoto scriptures.
Okutsuki (奥都城) cemetery in Ayabe, where Onisaburo Deguchi is buried in a mound. His mother-in-law Nao Deguchi and wife Sumi Deguchi are buried in adjacent mounds. Nao Deguchi is buried in the front right mound, and Onisaburo Deguchi is buried in the front left mound, while Sumi Deguchi's mound is located just behind the two front mounds.[10][11]
Selected works
Onisaburo Deguchi was a highly prolific writer. As a result, the list of works below consists of a selection of some of his most representative sacred writings, and is far from exhaustive.[12][13]
Michi no Shiori (道の栞, composed in 1904 and published in 1905) (online text). Translated into Esperanto, Portuguese, and English in 1997.
Michi no Hikari (道の光, composed in 1903 and 1905; later published in 1920). Excerpted from Chapter 6 (玉の礎) and Chapter 9 (道の大本) in Oni bunko (王仁文庫). Various passages in Michi no Hikari contain paraphrases from the New Testament gospels, particularly the Sermon on the Mount.
Michi no Oomoto (道の大本, composed in 1905 and published in 1927). (online text)
Izunome Shin'yu (伊都能売神諭, 37 volumes, composed during 1918–1919) (online text)
Reikai Monogatari (81 volumes composed during 1921–1926 and 1933–1934) (online text)
Tama no Ishizue (霊の礎, 11 pieces composed around 1922 and published in 1924). These texts show influences from Honda Chikaatsu (本田親徳), from whom Onisaburo Deguchi derived his practice of chinkon kishin (鎮魂帰神), and from Emanuel Swedenborg's spiritualism. They are in volumes 16–20, 23, 24, 37. (Tenseisha book)
Oomoto sanbika (大本讃美歌), songs of praise from volumes 61 and 62 of the Reikai Monogatari