what are shinto beliefs and morals?

what do they believe about the afterlife

all i know is there Japanese

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvN.OMEs9lnSmq20Wi.0rZDsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid =20100520191143AAgaHOs


I asked the same question. Just look at the best answer, it was very informative.

They believe everything is animated by a spirit. These forces are known are Jami.

The primary moral, shared with virtually all other religions and non-religious philosophies, is the ethic of reciprocity, also known as the golden rule.

The Shinto version:

Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.
The heart of the person before you is a mirror.
See there your own form.

Shinto has very little to say about the afterlife. Shinto is focused on getting along in this life in harmony with nature and society. Many Shintoists have another religion to take care of the afterlife, so it's pretty common for someone to have the life affirming rituals (first shrine visit, new years, etc.) at a Shinto shrine and then have a Buddhist funeral. Some even add a Christian wedding to the mix. Shintoists believe that other religion's Gods are just another Kami so there is no conflict in belonging to multiple religions if that's what helps you.

Shintoists believe that everything starts out clean and picks up "spiritual dirt" from either negative thoughts (envy, greed, loneliness, etc.) or contamination with unclean substances such as blood. Shinto rituals are designed to clean the "dirt" and restore the original pure state.

Shintoists also believe that everything has a spark of the divine (Kami), so there are about as many Kami as there are objects in the universe (Japanese speak of the eight million Kami).

Shinto doesn't have any specific commandments, there is no founder, and the Shinto texts are not central to Shintoist belief. This allows Shinto to be very flexible--some would say too flexible because this has allowed the state to manipulate Shinto for political purposes upon occasion. However, this has allowed Shinto to adopt new information (such as science) and fit into the times without any "bible vs. science" problems because there is no "fixed word of God text" that has to be literally believed regardless of the evidence.

This flexibility also means that different Shintoists have different views about what constitutes Shinto and what practices are important. There are a few that every Shintoist believes and there are many that differ. This also applies to priests and shrines so you'll see varying customs--in some cases a custom is followed by only one shrine.

For some additional (and more official) information you can look here:

A Shinto university site:

http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/

An important Shinto shrine:

http://www.isejingu.or.jp/shosai/english/index.htm

A Shinto shrine in the U.S.:

http://www.tsubakishrine.org/history/index.html