God Walks among Us: Konkokyo

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My grandmother who served as my mother figure during the earliest years of my life, she passed away when I was five years old. It hit me pretty hard. However, the reverend at my church handed me a very pretty red box and opened it. It had a circular mirror. I looked at him, confused. He then said, “Your grandmother is still with you. She does not go away. She is always with you. In the mornings just walk by the box and say hello and before you go to sleep you can also tell her about your day.”

For those coming from a Judeo-Christian backgroundthis sounds a bit nutso. For those airy fairy new agers, you are not cutting edge. Your ideas about the universe and all of us being interconnected actually are part of Shintoism and its little bastard sister, Konkokyo, or Konko. These ideas have been swarming around Japan since the 19^th century.

I rarely went to church. My Catholic mother grew up in time when the Catholicism was quite stern; it freaked her out enough to allow my brother and I to pick our own spiritual paths. My brother is super devoted to Konkokyo. I am not much for commitments so I blended Mexican Catholicism with Konkokyo. I go to confession and pray with a pink rosary, but, I also meditate. However, I also believe that the universe is (kami) God and not some old dude with beard looking down on us. I also will go on daily walks so that I can be in touch with my grandparents who are now both dead. Not a day passes where I do not think of them.

InKonkokyo, everything is seen as in divine relation with each other. Kami’s (god) energy is constantly bouncing off of us. In regards to the concept of heaven and hell, we are actually right now dwelling among it. When we die, we do not get booted to some palace or inferno in the sky. We remain in unity in this world and with kami.

Since every religion has its core beliefs, with Konkokyo they are quite simple: they focus on the now. They center on the betterment of humanity through practicing gratitude, being humble, helping one another, and meditation. The explanation for suffering and sadness is because people have become cut-off from the interconnectedness of humanity and the universe.

The great thing for me has always been in my darkest of hours, I have never felt completely alone. I know that my energy and my grandparents were right there by me interlocking. It did not make the mourning and loss any easier but it gave me another tool for coping. Having my grandparents in my life taught me to be hard-worker, a lover, and highly creative. It through my time with them I also am beginning to feel a little more comfortable in my own shoes.

By: Lucy Tambara