Chinkon kishin
Chinkon kishin is a Japanese religious practice that consists of two components, chinkon and kishin. It originated in Japan during the 19th century and was first taught and practiced by Chikaatsu Honda. In 1898, Onisaburo Deguchi, the founder of the Oomoto religion, learned chinkon kishin from Honda's disciple Nagasawa Katsutate and popularized it during the early 20th century. Chinkon kishin was widely practiced in Oomoto from 1916 to 1921, during which the phrase began to be widely used. The basic practices of several Shinto-based Japanese new religions are derived from chinkon kishin. Chinkon kishin is still practiced in more or less its original form in Shintō Tenkōkyo and Ananaikyo, whereas it is highly modified in present-day Oomoto.
During kishin, or spirit possession, a mediator known as the saniwa questions the deity in the possessed person, known as the kannushi . Currently, the Japanese new religions Makoto no Michi and Shirakawa Gakkan also have similar practices.
History
Chinkon kishin was originally taught as the separate components of chinkon and kishin by Chikaatsu Honda during the 19th century, who in turn derived many of his ideas from his teachers Seishisai Aizawa and Atsutane Hirata. Honda then taught chinkon and kishin to his disciple Nagasawa Katsutate. In turn, Nagasawa taught it directly to Onisaburo Deguchi, Yoshisane Tomokiyo, and Yonosuke Nakano. Shintō Tenkōkyo and Ananaikyo both still practice chinkon kishin, although participation is restricted to members and is not open to the general public. In present-day Oomoto, only the chinkon aspect is practiced as a form of meditation, but not the kishin aspect of spirit possession.Chinkon kishin was widely taught to Oomoto followers by Onisaburo Deguchi from 1916 to 1921 until the Japanese government cracked down on the practice during the First Oomoto Incident of 1921. In 1923, Deguchi banned chinkon kishin and replaced it with miteshiro o-toritsugi, which involved the use of rice ladles. This practice would go on to form the basis of johrei and okiyome in later Oomoto-derived religions that make use of the "laying of hands" to channel divine light for spiritual healing.
Onisaburo Deguchi taught chinkon kishin to Masaharu Taniguchi, founder of Seicho-no-Ie, and Mokichi Okada, founder of the Church of World Messianity. Johrei as practiced by the Church of World Messianity is directly based on chinkon kishin, while the chinkon aspect of chinkon kishin forms the basis of shinsōkan in Seicho-no-Ie. The practice of johrei in turn inspired Kōtama Okada, founder of the Mahikari movement, to invent the similar practice of okiyome.
Religions
The following Japanese new religions derive their basic teachings and practices from chinkon kishin and its derirative practices, as taught to their founders by Nagasawa, Deguchi, or Okada.- Oomoto
- Ananaikyo
- Shintō Tenkōkyo
- Seicho-No-Ie
- "Divine light" religions
- * Church of World Messianity and related splinter groups such as Shinji Shumeikai
- * Mahikari movement religions