Kurozumi Munetada (Founder of Kurozumikyo & Shinto Solar Mystic)

Kurozumi Munetada served as a hereditary Shinto priest at the Imamura Shrine in Okayama. Deeply devoted to his parents, when both succumbed to a sudden epidemic in 1812, his intense grief triggered a severe case of pulmonary consumption (tuberculosis) that brought him to death's door.

The Winter Solstice Awakening

On the morning of the Winter Solstice in 1814, realizing that dying of sorrow would dishonor his parents, he turned toward the rising sun in supreme gratitude. As the golden rays illuminated his face, he breathed in the solar light (Nisso), experiencing an overwhelming spiritual ecstasy wherein his lungs were instantly healed and his ego dissolved into the life-giving essence of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu-Omikami.

Universal Healing and Joy

Munetada began traveling throughout western Japan, teaching ordinary farmers and merchants that chronic illnesses and misery arise from blocked heart-energy caused by complaints and depression. By transmitting the warm solar breath of life and instructing disciples in daily gratitude (Yoki), he performed hundreds of spontaneous faith healings and gathered over one hundred thousand followers into Kurozumikyo.