Course: Eastern Religious Traditions
Lecture #11: Religion in Japan – Introduction
Japan has many of the same characteristics as Chinese religion and culture, i.e.., socially oriented, isolationist, practical and this worldly. They have a strong historical awareness coupled with a sense of the unchanging essence of her people. These characteristics have attained remarkable durability as a result of Japan's relative geographic isolation and racial homogeneity.
Result is that Japanese native traditions and spirit have survived waves of foreign cultural inundation from China and the west.
Japanese folk religion as practiced in piety by the ordinary people, shares characteristics in common with other cultures in its this-worldly, communal, pragmatic, magical and adaptive features.
However, it also embodies a sense of the sacredness of the land and people nourished by its beauty and relative isolation and security. Result, is strong racial sentiment which sees Japan in a central role in the cosmic order.
During the stone age what inhabitants there were, were of largely Ainu stock, whose religion involved blood sacrifice and the bear ritual. It seems to have had no influence on the invading Japanese who entered the four main islands from both the north and south.
The earliest records are the Kojiki (the record of ancient things) written in 712 CE in Chinese characters which are phonetically Japanese, and the Nihongi (Japanese chronicles) from 720 CE which gives a history of Japan up to 697 CE.
Both works try to show that Japan has a divine mission upon earth and thus pass smoothly from myth to history and back presenting the merely mythological as though it were verifiable history.
It is evident from Chinese documents that unification of Japan took 6 or 7 hundred years (till about the 8th century, CE) and it would appear from these documents that authority lay with women rulers who acted as shamans or mediums, thus preserving in their person the unity of the regal (or political) and the priestly (or religious) function, which later became the emperor's role.
All freely accepted foreign cultural elements are transformed to bring them in harmony with Japanese views. This process is evident in the adoption by the Japanese of Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist beliefs and practices and particularly of Christianity which has had great difficulty in gaining acceptance.
These various traditions have been fused into a complex whole.
Japanese Perspective on Religion
There are three angles with which to approach Japanese Religion: this worldly realism, communalism, and emphasis on purity.
The Japanese throughout history have enjoyed life in this world. Their landscape and productive soil have inspired them to believe it is truly a land of the gods.
Awareness of the goodness of the land stimulated all forms of art and efforts transform even the most lowly object into a thing of beauty. There has been a conscious attempt to harmonize man-made structures with their natural surroundings attesting to a sense of kinship and unity with Nature.
This sense of awe and wonder aroused by the creative forces of Nature has also provided the basis for accompanying traits of pragmatism, eclecticism, tolerance, and a more intuitive, sentimental and nonintellectual approach to religion among the Japanese.
They believed that gods and spirits inhabited natural objects. Their openness to nature and phenomena also meant an openness to influences from the rest of the world. They not only welcomed Chinese culture with its religious beliefs and practices, but they continued the transformation of other-worldly Buddhism which had begun in China. They were receptive to claims that Buddhism possessed superior magic powers for dealing with divine forces seen in the sometimes-erratic behavior of nature.
The intuitive approach has expressed itself in the widespread Japanese sentiment that Buddhism and religion in general is mysterious and profound. Concern for the mood and beauty of a ritual outweighs in significance any intellectual consideration in its evaluation. Group sentiment has played a great role in determining thought.
Illustration of predominance of intuition over intellectualization is the contrast in the ways of understanding the nature of divinity in Japanese and western thought.
In west philosophers and theologians attempt to define what God is; then they seek the evidence of his existence in the world.
The Japanese regard the impressions of beauty, mystery, awe, goodness, or ugliness which arise in encounters with things in the world as signs of the presence of divinity within those things.
Thus, the idea of divinity begins with the recognition of the special character of the object which points beyond itself to a more fundamental reality behind and within.
There is no need to define or prove divinity in this context as in the Western mode of thinking, because the recognition of the peculiar significance of the object constitutes its quality of divinity.
Divinity is not limited to a specific class of objects nor to one set of attributes. Aesthetically, this perspective encourages art and the exaltation of the common and menial.
Communalism
Began with primary commitment to the clan and family in ancient times. Eventually this commitment extended to the central imperial clan which gradually grew more powerful as the government transformed into a centralized bureaucratic state on the Chinese model. Supported by similar Confucian principles, the Japanese came to view their country as a great family headed by the imperial parent.
Thus religion throughout Japanese history has been inextricably interwoven with kinship, group, and national concerns and relationships.
On the village level the Dozoku kinship unit (a group of related, nuclear families in hierarchical arrangement involving status and obligations) has been the major religious unit. Religious festivals generate a cohesive spirit as all the members strive to secure the life of the group thru ceremonies designed to stimulate fertility or pacify the spirits of the dead. The centrality of the kinship group was expressed in ancestor reverence, which has been an essential feature in every tradition, native or foreign.
Significant implication is that the group has priority over the individual in all vital social matters. One’s religion and religious activity depends on his groups obligations thus religious commitment and belief have not been emphasized.
The Emperor came to symbolize the unity of the people the supreme mediator between the gods and the people. He was the concrete expression of the divinity of the nation being a direct descendant of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-O-Mikami, the kami (see below) of the Yamato clan.
Loyalty to the emperor came ahead of loyalty to family as in China.
This concept of Kokutai (national essence) provided the ideology of modern Japanese nationalism.
Emperor reverence relates to the tendency to form strong bonds of devotion to concrete individuals, whether emperor, Lord, or teacher. This characteristic contributed to factionalism and sectarianism in later developments of Japanese Buddhism.
Concern for Purity
Japanese emphasis on purity initially centered on the avoidance of actions giving rise to physical or ritual pollution or uncleanness which could threaten the well-being of the community and the individual. In common with other lesser developed peoples, the early Japanese focused their attention on the external, concrete act. Eventually consideration was given to motivation and inner character.
Japanese concern for purification was early observed by the Chinese. A central ceremony was the Oharae whose text is contained in the Norito (ritual prayers). From this we can understand what their idea of sin or pollution was. According to the prayer, sins were divided into heavenly and earthly.
The Heavenly sins were: Breaking down the ridges, covering up the ditches, Releasing the irrigation sluices, Double planting, Setting up stakes, Skinning alive, skinning backwards, Defecation--Many sins (such as these) are distinguished and called the heavenly sins.
The Earthly sins were: Cutting living flesh, cutting dead flesh, White leprosy, skin excrescences, Sexual transgressions -- The sin of violating one's Own mother, one's own child, a mother and her child, a child and the mother, the sin of transgression with animals, Woes from creeping insects, Woes from the birds of on high, Woes from the deities of on high, killing animals, the sin of witchcraft -- many sins (such as these) shall appear.
The performance of the rite of purification caused the gods to take away all the sins recounted above.
According to the ritual, the Goddess Se-ori-tu-hime who dwelled in the fast-flowing rivers carried the sins to the ocean where they were swallowed by the Goddess Haya-aki-tu-hime. When she swallowed them at a gulp, the deity Ibuki-do then blew them all to the underworld and tranquility reigned.
As can be seen, sins were primarily social in character. Good and evil were completely distinguished according to whether an act was beneficial for the community or dangerous.
The term good (Yoshi) covered a wide area such as beauty, excellence, good fortune, and nobility. Bad (Ashi) signified something evil-omened, inferior, and unlucky. In mythology, the polarization of good and evil was expressed in Magatsubi-no-kami (bending Kami) and the Naobi-no-kami (straightening kami). The former were gods of pollution and disaster, while the latter were those who restored things to a normal condition.
Tho early Shinto possessed awareness of purity and pollution (good and evil) it did not have a formal value system. Rather, it sought unity with the Kami in each action. To attain unity with the Kami meant to cultivate a bright, pure, correct and straight mind.
Tho the Japanese concern for purity became more inward, it was not guilt ridden nor ascetic since it believed in the essential goodness of man and was optimistic.
Many imperial edicts stressed purity of heart or the honest sincere heart. one must have pure intention in fulfilling vows.
Among the symbols of imperial authority, the mirror represented the pure heart as interpreted by the Shinto thinker Kitabatake Chikafusa:
The Mirror harbors nothing within itself. As it reflects all phenomena without a selfish heart, there is never an instance when the forms of right and wrong, or good and evil fail to show up. Its virtue consists in responding to these forms as they come. This is the basic source of correctness and uprightness.
In addition to the ideals of purity of body and spirit the principles of filial piety, loyalty, gratitude, and sincerity have been key elements in Japanese moral existence.
A keen sense of duty and obligation has inspired them with serious purpose. These fundamental social values have received support and reinforcement from the religious traditions. Confucianism (especially the principle of Li or propriety) strengthened Japanese moral sentiments and provided the theoretical structure for native morality.
The Japanese have developed a highly ceremonial ritualistic culture.
The Japanese religious perspective harmonized well with religio-philosophical elements imported from China.
Confucianism implemented moral and political tendencies thru affirming hierarchy, authority, monarchy, filial piety, and duty.
Religious Taoism amplified magical techniques and divination practices
Buddhism expanded the scope of the Japanese understanding of human life and offered gorgeous imagery, ceremony and pageantry appealing to the Japanese aesthetic sentiment.
Religion in Japanese History
The indigenous Japanese religion coming from prehistoric times faced the subtle complexity and pageantry of Mahayana Buddhism which appealed to many facets of Japanese character
Rather than fading from history the two religions merged on the folk level, and the native tradition became more self-conscious thru the compilation of its myths in the two above mentioned books. Borrowing Chinese terminology, the native tradition came to be known as Shinto (the Way of the Gods.)
Despite the formalization of Shinto, Buddhist perspectives and activity dominated the Japanese religious world on the institutional and intellectual levels.
However, the national sentiment, grounded in Shinto faith in the divinity of the rulers and the country, never permitted leaders to neglect their obligations to the gods of the people.
On the surface the foreign culture appeared stronger, but the folk sentiment nourished the roots as an underground stream and the foreign tradition transformed into the national image.
Thus, because of national sentiment and Buddhist tolerance, Shinto ritual and outlook on life persevered.
During the 12th to 14th century and later in the 17th to 19th century, Shinto tradition became re-awakened alongside the flourishing of numerous popular, lay-oriented Buddhist sects.
Associations of exponents of pure Shinto without foreign accretions began to appear one after another to lay the foundations for the restoration of the Emperor to political authority.
The modern political use of Shinto as the basis of Japanese nationalism depended on the latent sentiments in the minds of the people. Modern popular religious cults have drawn upon either Shinto or Buddhist traditions, taking advantage of the deep-rooted association of these traditions in the hearts of the people.
Despite tension in modern times, the two traditions complement each other.
Buddhism with its universal, cosmic philosophy provides a vision of Japan as the kingdom of Buddha radiating Buddhist wisdom and compassion to the world.
Shinto supports that sense of uniqueness and particularity in the Japanese which has prevented them from losing their identity in the midst of floods of foreign influence.
Shinto
As with other ancient societies, the early Japanese were concerned with securing food and maintaining the continuity of the group. As a means to achieve these ends, the Japanese early came to revere mountains. There were three types of belief concerning their sacredness. Conically shaped dormant volcanoes, supremely represented by Mount Fuji, have been objects of reverence. Mountains have also been associated with fertility as the sources of water. They have also been conceived as either residences of the dead or the way the dead ascend to heaven.
The outstanding feature of the religion was a female shaman, Himeko (sun daughter) who acted to bring peace and order to the community after protracted strife. Her activity may have provided the model for the myth of the central female Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-o-Mikami.
Ancestor worship and concern for the spirits of the dead became especially prominent from the 8th to the 12th century because all social and personal crises such as political changes, civil war, epidemics, famines, droughts, earthquakes, etc. were believed to be the result of revenge by the angry spirits of the dead. Sometimes they were believed to be caused by the angry or jealous souls of living men and women.
These beliefs still persist to the present time and ceremonies must be held to pacify spirits of people who have suffered untimely death.
The Origin of these beliefs is rooted in several things. The shaman possessed by a deity, deification of nobles after death, belief in spirits and the equality of all people that Buddhist and Taoist belief brought into their religion. Buddhism the belief attained its strongest expression as it was originally not central to Shinto.
Shamanism has never been institutionalized but has persisted to the present, appearing even in contemporary religions. It has combined with alien traditions of Buddhism and Taoism.
Most are female, though some male shamans are present. The emperor possessed shamanic charisma thru his descent from the sun goddess and as head of the imperial clan.
Forms of Shinto
Shrine Shinto the term is a relatively modern one and refers to what was supported by the state in its efforts to provide a basis for national integration and feeling.
Sect Shinto refers to individually founded modern religious orders based on Shinto beliefs and practices.
Folk Shinto is applied to the magico-religious beliefs which are the substratum of beliefs and sentiment in all other aspects of Shinto. It serves both individual and communal purposes, the individual attempts to satisfy his various needs for health, wealth, and security in life, while the communal cult is the focus for harmonization of the local society, politically and culturally.
Imperial House Shinto refers specifically to those rites carried out by the Emperor and his family.
Domestic Shinto signifies the worship centered on the god-shelf in the ordinary homes.
Although Buddhism as well as Shinto have been associated on the folk level it is Shinto which, thru all changes, has continued to provide the foundation of the Japanese religious consciousness as a sacred people in a sacred land.
Shinto has evolved into a complex system paralleling the transformation of the people from a group of clans to a modern industrial state.
Kami: Myth and Ritual in Traditional Shinto
Materials from the Kojiki and Nihongi are the main source for these myths and material though these are the product of a specific class of people.
Shinto was not consciously cultivated in early times nor systematically organized. It was rather the awe of the superhuman powers in nature that penetrates all religion and is the basis of their conception of deity.
The central core of Shinto lies in its peculiar awareness of divinity which points in the direction of a conception similar to the Polynesians mixed with the more pantheistic tendencies of Buddhism and Taoism.
Kami in Shinto does not refer to an absolute being who stands distinct from the world but refers more to a quality in things, persons, and forces, whether good or evil, which raises them above the ordinary level of evaluation thru the sense of awe, wonder, fear, attraction, or repulsion which the object arouses in the person.
The Shinto scholar Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801 CE) gives the clearest definition:
It may be said that Kami signifies, in the first place, the deities of heaven and earth that appear in the ancient records and also the spirits of the shrines where they are worshipped.
It is hardly necessary to say that it includes human beings. It also includes such objects as birds, beasts, trees, plants, seas, mountains, and so forth. In ancient usage, anything whatsoever which was outside the ordinary, which possessed superior power or which was awe-inspiring was called kami. among human beings who are called kami the successive generations of sacred emperors are all included.
Dragons, echoes, foxes, tigers, wolves, peaches, rocks, stumps, leaves and thunder are also included in nonhuman kami.
Since divinity (kami) permeate the whole cosmos there is no division between secular and sacred existence.
There were considered to be eight hundred myriads of deities (8,000,000). this conception had the sense of the abundance and pervasiveness of divine power thru the whole cosmos and life.
As one scholar of Japanese religion points out this is polytheism but not 'idolatry'. He says:
Life, by its very nature, tends to be infinite. Historians of religion, by penetrating the more profoundly into the religious reality, have come to recognize that former generations have misjudged polytheism. What they understood to be "idolatry," was never practiced in this manner by any religion. Religious people, by worshipping a variety of objects, always intended one thing, the SACRED, which they expressed in many forms.
As the society developed, the originally unorganized cult took firmer shape with more concrete conceptions of deity, formation of priestly functionaries, and establishment of shrines and rituals.
Classifications also appeared in the types of spirits recognized in Shinto: Traditionally, Shinto acknowledged four kinds of spirits,
1. those which rule with authority and power,
2. those which bring about union, harmony, and recollection,
3. those which cause mysterious transformation, and
4. those which impart blessings.
One and the same kami might have more than one function. Spirits of enemies and those who might have met an unfortunate death were also believed to have power. Spirits of animals could also function and were feared and venerated. People could be possessed by the kami.
Four classes of functionaries appeared in Shinto. these were ritualists, abstainers, diviners and musicians and dancers.
Festivals represented the people's active response to environmental changes in the quest for food and group survival. Many were thus seasonal praying for good crops (Feb. 4), a harvest festival (Nov. 23-24) and a local shrine festival. The purpose of the festivals were:
To ward off any misfortune and secure or augment the cooperation of the kami in promoting the happiness and peace of the individual and community. They include prayer for divine protection, communion with the kami, praise of the kami's virtue, comfort for the kami's mind, reports to the kami on the affairs of daily life, and pledges offering the whole life to the kami.
There are more than 80,000 shrines of varying status. Presently they are without government control or support and are self-supporting and independent, though priests are loosely joined in an association of Shinto Shrines.
Ethics the central ethical concept is that of on. Because of the awareness of the goodness of nature there is the obligation one has to his benefactor and the gratitude which expresses it.
The idea that life wins out over death and pollution is important to their concept of purity. There is affirmation of the life force which becomes embodied in history thru man's work and effort.
Another important theme drawn from the mythical tradition was the principle of saisei-itchi (union of government and religion). This forms the basis of the self-understanding of the nation. This concept teaches that the religious and political dimensions of life are essentially one.
Commitment to the nation is an ultimate commitment and has manifested itself in modern times in extremes of patriotic sentiment, for example, the Kamikaze pilots of WW II.
This principle has had to be set aside as a result of the Shinto directive issued in 1945 declaring absolute separation of church and state in Japan. Despite the abuses of the concept in modern times, it does hold the ideal that human society is not only an organized secular arrangement, but a spiritual reality in which mundane and divine affairs are completely integrated and harmonious.
Struggle for Pure Shinto
With the coming of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian thought there were accommodations made over the centuries. However, there were attempts to weed-out all non-Shinto ideas starting in the 13th century CE. The reason for this self-conscious Shinto polemic and apologetic may stem from what was believed to be remarkable interventions of the gods saving Japan from the Mongol invasions in 1274 and 1281 CE through great winds (kamikaze)
Shinto religion flourished in times of danger when the rulers called on the national deities to aid the nation.
The most important development for the evolution of Shinto thought was the emergence of the National Learning school which aimed at reawakening and purifying the national consciousness based in Shinto against Buddhist, Confucian, or Christian influences which had penetrated Japanese culture.
Its patriotic fervor sets the stage for the modern employment of Shinto as the ideological basis for nationalism and national cohesion.
There were several important thinkers but two in particular were key figures in the background of modern Shinto thought and scholarship. These are as follows:
Motoori Norinaga (1730-1881 CE)
Already quoted above, brought the school to its highest development in purging Japanese and Shinto thought from its Confucian and Buddhist influences. He used linguistic study to interpret the Kojiki and Nihongi in depth.
Using particularly the Kojiki he showed the basis for cultivating spiritual sentiment in adoration of the Sun Goddess and the elevation of two other deities that were strictly Japanese as symbols of the life force.
He gave expression in a telling fashion to the intuitive, emotional side of the Japanese spirit in his attempt to displace the dominant Confucian rationalism.
He asserted the superiority of Japan over other nations, pointing to the unbroken line of emperors as witness. He suggested a messianic destiny for Japan because she possessed the ancient way of the Sun Goddess.
According to him, truth lay in the expression of human feeling and sentiment and he felt Buddhist monasticism was against man's nature and thus insincere. The primary value for Norinaga was sincerity (magrokoro):
Those who boast
That they cannot be moved-
Are they made of stone and wood?
To veil and hide
the Sincere Heart,
To put on airs
to pretend--
Such are the ways of China.
Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843 CE)
More intellectual. A physician, he had gained his notions of creation and eschatology from Christian sources. However, he was committed to the revival of Shinto and hated all things foreign. All his knowledge was permeated and woven together by his exaltation of Shinto as the highest knowledge.
Tho despising the West, he appreciated the value of Western science and the influence of Christian thought was evident in his concept of deity and afterlife.
Deities of Shinto were universal Gods, and he used evidences from other religions concerning the existence of a supreme creator to support his contention of the truth of Shinto teaching.
He took great comfort in advocating his position from the Copernican revolution which recognized that the world revolved around the sun saying the Japanese had always recognized this.
He saw the world as a place of testing, and all accounts would be squared in the world of souls.
Ultimate Concern for both of these thinkers was to define and promote Shinto (Shinto is that which is against Buddhism). Had to eliminate everything foreign and get back to original Shinto.
Highest Reality was their Kamis, especially Amaterasu-Omikami, the sun goddess, Ame-no-mi-naka-nushi-no-kami who was the highest personified deity. Considered Taka-mi-mushubi-no-kami as the creator of all.
Human Predicament was caused by not recognizing the 'true way" (Shinto) of the Kamis. thus we suffer
Solution follow the true way.
Shinto and Patriotism
Most significant outcome of the national learning movement was the restoration of Imperial authority under the emperor in 1868 CE and the establishment of Shinto as the official ideology and expression of patriotism.
Japanese leaders responsible for preparing Japan to take its position in the modern world politically and industrially sought in Shinto the basis of national cohesion.
Shinto was proclaimed the state religion, and Buddhism was purged from any association with Shinto shrines and ceremonies. The anti-foreign feelings led to many temples being burned with the slogan ‘abolish Buddha,’ cut down Sakyamuni (icons).
A board was set up of Shinto Missionaries to propagandize and indoctrinate the people concerning Shinto and patriotism. It aimed to check the spread of Christianity. There were three main points.
1. Compliance with the spirit of reverence for Kami and love of country;
2. Clarification of "the principle of Heaven and the Way of man"
3. Exalting the emperor and obeying the Imperial Court.
The effort was a history of failure for several reasons and the whole thing was abandoned in 1882.
It was impossible to weed-out all foreign thought since it was already so ingrained. Also, there was far more sectarianism within Shinto than had been thought. Progressives and conservatives couldn't agree. It was argued that there must be separation of church and state in a modern nation.
With defeat in WW II, the new Constitution made it explicit that the government must henceforth refrain from any religious involvements.
The problems of Shinto within the modern development of Japan have raised the question of whether Shinto is a religion or merely a patriotic cult. Both views are present in modern Japan.
There have been many explicitly religious movements inspired by charismatic individuals and based on Shinto beliefs and outlook since the turn of the 19th century and another wave since WW II. These have been termed the "new religions."
These have had phenomenal growth especially when compared to the political movements such as communism.
These religious mass movements are a combination of ancient and modern themes. There are five common factors which have led to the appearance of these sects.
1. Social crisis, or upheaval in the cultural situation;
2. A charismatic leader or inspired personality;
3. Performance of miracles and wonders;
4. Forms of ecstatic behavior as trance; and
5. Syncretic doctrines.
In contrast to the highly intellectual, alien, and radical pronouncements of political mass movements which are out of touch with the feelings of the majority of people, the "New Religions" have been very successful in concentrating attention on the concrete need of the people for health, wealth, and security in the highly competitive mass society.
A major appeal of most groups is the promise of benefits thru magical practices and faith.
They cater to the need of individuals for recognition and status thru offering means of mobility within the organization for ordinary people of devotion and zeal.
These sects fall into five categories
1. Pure Shinto so called because they worship deities central to ancient Shinto tradition and are devoted to the ideals of Shinto.
2. Confucian sects also follow the basic tenants of Shinto, but are buttressed with teachings with moral social concepts derived from Confucian tradition.
3. Mountain sects (three in number) are based on traditional Japanese reverence for mountains. Two worship Mt. Fuji and one Mt. Ontake. Their aim is the security and prosperity of the nation.
4. Purification sects (two) emphasized ritualism as the to attain the goals of national, individual and human existence. Particularly, they support the practices of ancient Shinto.
5. Faith-healing groups which stress material and bodily welfare thru cultivating the spirit.
The Tenri-kyo and Omoto-kyo sects were founded by women who had a prophetic revelation in which a new age was foretold with the paradisiac condition of the age of the kami.
The sect Shinto religious organizations have maintained their existence down to the present time. Some have split into sub groups so that they now total about 75 groups with Tenri-kyo the most active of all.
A survey of the Shinto tradition reveals that the ancient religion had a durability and vitality thru the ages and has provided spiritual orientation in the face of crisis on the intellectual level as well as popular level.
In the present, Shinto has suffered from the defeat of WW II, but as a whole it was more than a cult of nationalism.
It has been reinterpreted to provide a philosophy of life adequate to attract modern intellectuals.
It has also displayed great potentiality as a resource for the emergence of new religious communities, which could orient men and women in a difficult world and constantly renew their sense of being a sacred people in a sacred land.
Tenrikyo
Mentioned last time, but will give more detail since it is the largest of the newer religions (other than Soka Gakki)
Nakayama a woman founded it in 1838 when she had a revelation from the God Tenri. who is their highest reality.
They have about 2.000, 000 adherents with a large headquarters, school and sanctuary dedicated to Tenri. They have their own city called Tenri city.
The faithful believe they stand at the center of the universe.
Followers are taught that the deity possessed Nakayama and she was transfigured by the god (the deity of divine reason).
They considered her body a shrine for the god.
Teaches: physical as well as mental and spiritual sickness in the world is caused by hokori "dusts” -- all these dusts cause suffering by making the spirit unclean. These are:
1. covetousness, 2. stinginess, 3. misdirected love, 4. hatred, 5. revenge, 6. anger, 7.arrogance, 8.selfishness (this is the worst and the root of all the others.)
Human Predicament is suffering and sorrow in the world caused by bad attitudes (dusts). The fact of the world is that the soul of man is part of the omnipresent deity, Tenri.
The body of human is temporarily loaned y Tenri along with all material things so wealth should be used to help our fellow man.
The dusts themselves may be swept away by exercise of sincere faith and surrender to the benevolence of Tenri and trust in Him.
Ultimate Concern is that in place of the 8 dusts arise the 8 satisfactions:
1.longevity, 2. freedom from sickness, 3. harmonious and peaceful adjustments to all situations, 4. successful accomplishments of undertakings, 5. prosperous descendants, 6. sufficiency of material things, 7. thankful spirit, 8. inner tranquility.
They practice faith healing with the prayer: "sweep away evil and save us thou wonderful king of divine reason.”
They uphold the dignity of labor--virtue of unrequited service to others. Thankfulness to fellowmen to be able to serve them.
Ultimate Goal is to change the whole world by changing individuals. Bring back age of Kamis.
If you don't experience joy in life it’s because you don't realize the meaning -- to live for Tenri -- must dust your mind of the 8 things.
To Summarize:
Ultimate Concern -- 8 satisfactions, spreading this universally to bring back age of Kami.
Highest Reality --Tenri, souls all part of Tenri
Human Predicament -- death, suffering, etc. caused by the 8 dusts which reduce to selfishness.
Solution -- practice of sincere faith, unrequited service and worship.