|

Asian religious leaders at
Utamatsuri Poem Festival,
Banshoden Santuary, Kameoka,
November 5, 1983
|
|
Joint Worship is perhaps the most powerful of all means
of inter-religious exchange. Praying together in a shared
sacred space brings home to all participants that the God
they pray to is the same and that "All Religions Spring
From the Same Root".
Oomoto has performed joint worship services with Episcopal
and Catholic believers, other Shinto sects, Buddhists,
Hinduists, Muslims, representatives of indigenous religions
such as American Indians, and many others. Sometimes the
worship takes the form of Oomoto ritual; other times it
may be a Christian ceremony such as the Kiss of Peace
in Ayabe in 1977, or the rites of another religion.
|
|
Utamatsuri
The Poem Festival
One of the most striking forms of joint worship at Oomoto
is the old tradition of the Utamatsuri, or Poem
Festival. Poems written on shikishi (square plaques)
are placed on a square altar. topped by an ancient poem
calling for the removal of all barriers between peoples.
Representatives of different religions place poems or
prayers for peace on the altar and pray from the four
directions.
|
|