In Tenrikyo, the phenomenon usually referred to as "death" is known as "passing away for rebirth," or "denaoshi." The original meaning of "denaoshi" is "to start anew."

Human beings have interpreted death as the frightening end, the final stage that we have no control over. Death was seen as annihilation, absolute darkness, and a descent into nothingness. It was a phenomenon cloaked in immeasurable fear.

However, Oyasama taught that death was like taking off an old set of clothes and coming back with a new set of clothes. Our body is borrowed from God the Parent (Refer to 5.3. A Thing Lent, A Thing Borrowed), and something that is borrowed must eventually be returned. Yet our soul, which is the spiritual essence of human beings, lives for eternity and is perpetually reborn in this world by borrowing a new body.

The story of creation indicates that human beings were born and reborn, each time growing to be half an inch taller than in the preceding lifetime, before becoming what we are now. Humans will also continue to go through births and rebirths in this world. This teaching says that, for humankind, there is no world apart from this world, unlike beliefs that claim there is a next world or that there is a heaven and hell.

Although an individual's death is certainly the end of that person's life, that end can be seen as an intermission that comes before the beginning of a new life. Rather than being a final conclusion that we have no control over, death is a turning point where we are allowed to have hopes and expectations of the next life.

This teaching of "passing away for rebirth" liberates us from the hopelessness that this life is the only life we have. We are then enabled to discover a bright future for ourselves. At the same time, this provides us with the realization that our actions not only impact our present lives but future lives as well, thus preventing us from living an irresponsible life focused on immediate pleasures.

Our present is possible because it is built upon the numerous days we lived before and our present will help form the state of our life tomorrow. Likewise, our present lifetime is built upon the numerous lives we lived in the past. So we must take into consideration that the way we live our present life will help shape how our next life will unfold when we are reborn.