The Shinto Religion Of Japan
Although Japan has experienced a rapid change of environment due to a gust of modernization, the Japanese feel the same presence of gods, in their modern lives, that they had felt in the ancient days. Shinto, written as the Way of the Gods, is a native religion of Japan that encompasses the poetic reality of senses, which is a part of basic Japanese principles of life.
According to the Kojiki, the mythological chronology of Japan, the gods of the Shinto religion are believed to have created Japan as their image of paradise on earth, and the ruler of Japan, the Emperor, is a direct descendent of the Sun-goddess Amaterasu (The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991, p.276)The Shinto religion ...
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Standing Heavenly Kami). (Shinto: The Kami Way by Dr. Ono Sokyo) At the center of creation was Ame no Minakanushi no Kami, the central figure in the universe (Takamanohara). As the universe formed from a chaotic mass, the kami of birth and the kami of growth initiated the development of the cosmic order because of their power to initiate creativity. The concept of musubi, the power of creativity is shown as a central aspect of Shinto. The concept of Takamanohara can be interpreted as the solar system. Further kami appeared and from them came Izanagi no Mikoto (the Male Who Invites) and Izanami no Mikoto (the Female Who Invites). The first kami, Ame no Minakunishi ordered the later kami to model the universe on the principles of Truth, Reason and Principle. Izanagi and Izanami, the male and female principles were ordered to create the world.
They stood on Ame no Ukihashi, (the Floating Bridge of Heaven) and dipped the jeweled spear of heaven beneath the clouds into the ...
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way. In their closing argument, Izanami threatened to kill a thousand people a day if Izanagi insists on returning to the underworld. He responded that he could assure the birth of one thousand five hundred people a day. This affirms the power of life over death and herein lies the basis of the optimism of Shinto in its view of life.( Shinto Bengi Oshigata by Hawley, 1986)
After leaving the land of pollution associated with decay and death, Izanagi bathed in the Tachibana river to cleanse him self completely from the decaying presence. This act of ritual washing is the beginning of the idea of misogi, the physical act of ritual purification in water, which is the prototype of the ...
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"The Shinto Religion Of Japan." Essayworld.com. October 29, 2015. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Shinto-Religion-Of-Japan/105136.
"The Shinto Religion Of Japan." Essayworld.com. October 29, 2015. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Shinto-Religion-Of-Japan/105136.
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