Can Someone Tell Me About The Religion Of Shinto ?
I Need To Know - Origin , Spirits , Sacred Text , Sacred Symbols , Sacred Sites , Special Days , Sacred Objects , Parts Of The World Practiced In , Beliefs , Other Interestingg Facts
The essence of Shinto is the Japanese devotion to invisible spiritual beings and powers called Jami, to shrines, and to various rituals.
Shinto is not a way of explaining the world. What matters are rituals that enable human beings to communicate with Jami.
Kami are not God or gods. They are spirits that are concerned with human beings - they appreciate our interest in them and want us to be happy - and if they are treated properly they will intervene in our lives to bring benefits like health, business success, and good exam results.
Shinto is a very local religion, in which devotees are likely to be concerned with their local shrine rather than the religion as a whole. Many Japanese will have a tiny shrine-altar in their homes.
However, it is also an unofficial national religion with shrines that draw visitors from across the country. Because ritual rather than belief is at the heart of Shinto, Japanese people don't usually think of Shinto specifically as a religion - it's simply an aspect of Japanese life. This has enabled Shinto to coexist happily with Buddhism for centuries.
* The name Shinto comes from Chinese characters for Shen ('divine being'), and Tao ('way') and means 'Way of the Spirits'.
* Shrine visiting and taking part in festivals play a great part in binding local communities together.
* Shrine visiting at New Year is the most popular shared national event in Japan.
* Because Shinto is focused on the land of Japan it is clearly an ethnic religion. Therefore Shinto is little interested in missionary work, and rarely practiced outside its country of origin.
* Shinto sees human beings as basically good and has no concept of original sin, or of humanity as 'fallen'.
* Everything, including the spiritual, is experienced as part of this world. Shinto has no place for any transcendental other world.
* Shinto has no canonical scriptures.
* Shinto teaches important ethical principles but has no commandments.
* Shinto has no founder.
* Shinto has no God.
* Shinto does not require adherents to follow it as their only religion.
Its a Japanese religion in which it was decided who would exceed the throne in the imperial family. It's forceful authority was abolished and Buddhism came and people started to believe a little in both of them.
Well, it is considered, like any tribal religion, to be a form of animism, there is no heaven, nor hell, although there is an afterlife, it is caught up in this one. Honouring the spirits of certain areas ensures that each spirit is given unique obeisance, assigned one caretaker, usually with an annual festival to celebrate that spirit's particular attributes. It also makes for an interesting interpretation on how live as we see it as being entwined with powers that are unseen, bordering on the superstitious. However, it also imbues every part of life, even unseen ones, with holiness.
It is interesting to note that the natives of the Island of Japan have a strong genetic link to Mongolians.
What Ren said, but you also might look at these sites which have a lot of information on Shinto:
From a Shinto university:
http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/
An important Shinto shrine:
http://www.isejingu.or.jp/shosai/english/index.htm
A Shinto shrine in North America:
http://www.tsubakishrine.org/history/index.html
Because the Shinto texts are not central to the religion, there is a wide variety of practices (some of them local to one shrine or even one family) and interpretations.
One thing that makes it hard for English speakers to comprehend the Japanese saying that they don't have any religion is that the English word "religion" is translated into a word ? that has the connotation of "cult". If you asked the average English speaker if they belonged to a cult they would likely say "no" too.
Shintoism is focused on how you live your life (being in harmony with nature and society) and so mostly has life-affirming rituals (first shrine visit, New Years, marriage, etc.) to help restore the original pure state (there is no concept of original sin and life isn't considered some kind of test for the next life). Shinto didn't even have funeral rites until the Meiji Restoration of 1868 when the government tried to use Shinto to control the people.
Can Someone Tell Me About The Religion Of Shinto ?
