Buddhist and Shinto Religions in Early Japan

1. Buddhist and Shinto Religions in Early Japan By: Jessie Liu, Sophie Wu, Shravan Raman

2. Buddhism

3. Intro to Buddhism To do no evil; To cultivate good; To purify one's mind: This is the teaching of the Buddhas. --The Dhammapada

4. What is Buddhism? • a world religion or philosophy based on the teaching of the Buddha and holding that a state of enlightenment (Nirvana) can be attained by suppressing worldly desires • Karma –six separate planes of rebirth– three fortunate, three unfortunate. The fortunate ones are the realm of demigods, gods, and men; the unfortunate ones are animals, ghosts and hell. Karma refers to good or bad actions a person takes during his/her lifetime. Good actions, which involve either the absence of bad actions, or actual positive acts, such as generosity, righteousness, and meditation, bring about happiness. Bad actions, such as lying, stealing or killing, bring about unhappiness. • Religious texts: Tripitaka, Dhammapada

5. The Goals of Buddhism

6. Seven Links of Enlightenment

7. Beliefs • Things are created, they are inherently subject to decay, and then finally, they are dissolved again. • Beings are the heirs of their deeds. Deeds determine karma and karma determines future births and future events. This is how things work. This is what determines the different "storylines" for each being for each life.

8. Shintoism

9. Intro to Shintoism • It was originally "an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults, divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism.“ • Shinto creation stories tell of the history and lives of the "Kami“, or deities. • Kami are usually shown in paintings and shrines, but under the influence of Buddhism, kami can also, though more rarely, be represented by statues. Practices of Shinto gradually incorporated imported practices of Chinese Buddhism. • Religious texts: Nihongi, Yengishiki, Kogoshui, Kojiki

10. Beliefs • There are "Four Affirmations" in Shinto: Tradition and the family: The family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved. Their main celebrations relate to birth and marriage. • Love of nature: Nature is sacred; to be in contact with nature is to be close to the Gods. Natural objects are worshipped as sacred spirits. • Physical cleanliness: Followers of Shinto take baths, wash their hands, and rinse out their mouth often. • "Matsuri": The worship and honor given to the Kami and ancestral spirits. • Ancestors are deeply revered and worshipped. • Believers respect animals as messengers of the gods. A pair of statues of "Koma-inu" (guard dogs) face each other within the temple grounds.

11. Shinto Creation Story Heaven and earth began, three invisible deities came into being Land floated like oil and reed shoots sprouted From those reed shoots two deities rose and after them five or six pairs of deities came into being, and the last of these were Izanagi and Izanami, whose names mean "The Male Who Invites" and "The Female who Invites". Izanagi and Izanami gave birth to and created several islands Izanami soon died in childbirth and Izanagi in despair killed the child Izanagi went to the underworld to see Izanami and they had an argument and ended with “one thousand people will die everyday, and 1500 people are born everyday” He purified himself and created more deities, ancestors of the Japanese and the imperial family the sun goddess sent their first ruler down from the heavens The bonding of Izanagi and Izanami

12. Design of Religious Buildings Background on shrines: Shinto shrines were traditionally near unusual "concentrations" of nature such as waterfalls, caves, rock formations, mountain tops, or forest glens. Rather than buildings, shrines of the earliest age were sacred precincts such as mounds, groves, or caves. Rituals were held outdoors, among natural surroundings, with no particular structure for them.

13. Design of Religious Buildings a shrine complex surrounded by a fence entered through a sacred arch or torii complex included main hall for worshipers (haiden), a smaller kami hall (honden) and a ritual landscape Worshippers directed their prayers to the honden, which housed a specific kami symbolized by a sacred object from Japanese mythology earliest constructed Shinto shrines were for ancestral spirits who would be given food offerings kami (heroes/deities) can be divided into two main categories: kami of natural phenomena and kami of mythical or historical people

14. Design of Religious Buildings • shrines were made entirely of wood • No clay, mud, plaster, mortar; poles in ground supported thatched roof and walls • Thatching=either the barks of the Japanese "hinoki" or miscanthus or thin wooden plates ridges of roofs=wood in the shape of a box The roofs, which shed Japan's heavy rainfall, are built up in a delicate curve from strips of Hinoki bark and then trimmed forked timbers on the roof called chigi short logs lying horizontally across the ridge of the roof called katsuogi

15. Influence of Religion Japanese Worldview Attitude & Behavior Karma is a part of religion and may drive people to do good things People may hold everyday objects and nature with more respect because they may be harboring kami Keeping clean is important (personal hygiene) Ancestors and elders will be treated with high respect Due to their religion, Japanese people view the world as a place full of supernatural beings and practice animism, believing that regular objects contain supernatural beings. Without their belief in gods, they would not view the world in this way.