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6 Religion Lecture Notes ?/span>2001 by Mineharu Nakayama
Key
words: Shintoism, shrine vs. temples, Izumo and Ise Shrines, Confucianism,
Polytheism vs. monotheism, Christianity, Catholic and United Church of Christ,
Buddhism, Mahayana vs. Theravada, Shingon Sect, Tendai Sect, Pure Land Sect,
True Pure Land Sect, Nichiren Sect, Zen Sect, Nirvana, Amida Buddha,
impermanence, New Religion, Soka Gakkai, Tenrikyo
Japanese - unified world view, both/and not either/or, religion=
dogmatic
More Shito followers (106,644,000) than Buddhism followers (95,766,000)
cf.
Christianity (1,487,000) - 1991
Three time period
Prehistoric
- make appearance
9-17th
c - develop and organize
17th-now
- formalism, stimulation, renewal
Polytheism vs. monotheism
Native, Folk religion - local belief
Shinto (named when Buddhism came) - the way of kami -
animistic worship of natural phenomena (animism, pantheism, polytheism,
shamanism, purification, exorcism)
no
lines between man and nature
no
theology or even concept of ethics, unconcerned with the problem of afterlife,
more concerned with purity and fertility (human & rice)
worship
of the spirits, ancestors
rituals:
purification (harai)
festivals
(matsuri), portable shrines (mikoshi)
pacification
of the gods and of the spirits of the dead
chinkon
"to quiet the spirits" - chinkon-sai "requiem"
"god-shelf"
(kamidana) in home: offerings of rice, fruit
good
luck charms (amulets)
designation
of "sacred space"
kami
'god" or superiors (good and bad goods)
uji
(clan); ujigami (clan god or totem)
jinja
or jingu - Shinto shrine (not temple), Shrine vs. temples
Kojiki Record of Ancient Matters (712 AD) - origin of
the island
Yamato
imperial clan: its clan god: Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess; its shrine, the Shrine
at Ise or Ise
Jingu - gabled rooves, raised granary; torii
creation
myth of the Japanese archipelago; principal characters (Izanagi & Izanami, Amaterasu, Susano-o, the brother of Amaterasu
and "bad boy" of the gods-Izumo = shrine
of Susano-o)
Kojiki and Nihongi - not "sacred texts" or
"scriptures"
Tenno (emperor) high priest (of Sun goddess Cult at
Ise), "reigned but have not ruled"
(Varley), "the portable shrine" (Maruyama),
the Pacific Island pattern; "a sacred majesty as
'a sort of prisoner to the Chaptain-general'"
state
Shinto - Meiji (emperor worship of the late 19th and early 20th century) - but
no longer
state religion (separation of Shinto shrines and temples, elevation of
religious status of Emperor, Ise Shrine:
"Church of Japan")
ethics: good is the absense of evil, naturalness;
sincerity or purity (makoto) (What is natural? - importance of sentiment;
anti-intellectualization)
Omamori (good luck charm), Ema
7,
5, 3 (girl, boy, girl)
people's
love of nature, sense of closeness to it - from Shinto
1) closeness of humans, gods, nature
2) family - butsudan, kamidana
3) purification, rituals, charms (=omamori)
4) local festivals, individual cults
5) pervasiveness of religion in everyday life - not dogmatic, praying is
important
6) natural bond between religion and nation - state Shinto; emperor
-chief priest - religious function (rice)
Historically
Division
of labor between Buddha and kami: - welfare of spirits of the dead to the
Buddhas vs. praying to the Kami for the peace and prosperity of the living
8th
c - Kami - guardians of the Buddhist teaching
Heian
- Kami suffered from worldly passions and depended on Buddha's for salvation
12th
c Honji Suijaku after death people became Kami
12th
c - Amitabha (Amida Buddha)
Neo
Confucianism - 16th-17th c influence over Kami
Tokugawa
- everyone became Kami after death
Meiji
- one great family under the paternalistic rule of the emperor
Kami represents (a) the principles of the
life-centeredness of the community and (b) the life-centered community
Confucian philosophy "jukyo" - the teaching
of the scholars - final shape in 12th century -rational natural order - of
which man was a harmonious element and a social order based on strict ethical
rules and centering on a unified state, governed by men of education and
superior ethical wisdom
-
no concept of deity, no priesthood, and very little religious ritual, no
worship, only right thinking and right living (loyalty to the ruler, filial
piety to one's father and strict observance of proper social ritual and
etiquette) - political, ethical system -heavenly mandate (God put King in
power)
No
temples, priests
Revival during Tokugawa Era, but not survived in the
19th century
- western thought
but
some remain - interpersonal relations and loyalties and faith in education and
hard work
Religious Taoism - yin and yang (Tale of Genji - bad direction,
calendar)
12-shi
- Rabit/Hare (1975, 87, 99), Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep/Ram, Monkey, Chicken/Rooster
(1969, 81,93), Dog, Boar, Mouse/Rat, Cow/Ox, Tiger
Daian,
Butsumetsu, Tomobiki
Buddhism - concerned with the after-life and the
salvation of the individual
never
ending cycle of lives (suffering) - born in nirvana (Pure Land - attainable
after enlightened)
suffering
coming from human attachment or desires
six
wandering worlds
early
success - similar to Shinto, prestige (China), political family
Three treasures - Buddha, law or teaching, and
religious community or monks
Mahayana "greater vehicle" - salvation into
paradise, Buddhisattva
Theravada "doctrine of the elders"
9th c - esoteric Buddhism - stressed magic formulas,
rituals, and art
10th c - "pure land" of the Western
Paradise (Amida) - salvation of all sentient beings
12th c-13th c - Zen (self discipline) through
meditation - sitting in meditation (zazen) and conundrums (kooan) - sudden
enlightenment (satori)
Buddhist alters, Bon festivals, (Tokugawa - registry
through temples)
Shingon (Kukai), Tendai (Saicho), Pure Land (Honen), True Pure Land
(Shinran), Nichiren, and Zen
Nichiren
- Lotus Sutra (all sentient beings can attain enlightenment), predicted
Mongol's attack
impermanence (Mujoo)
Christianity - 1549 - Catholic (Saint Francis Xavier)
Tokugawa
- a threat to the political unity
20th
c with socialist movement
United
Church of Christ (40% of Protestant)
Hiroshima (Catholic) and Nagasaki (Protestant)
New Religion - Secho-no Ie, Soka Gakkai, Rissho
Koseikai, Tenrikyo, Mahikari, Aum, etc.