Author: John D. (Page 138 of 202)

Hinduism 4) Bishamonten

June 20, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Ebisu and Daikoku

Four of the Seven Lucky Gods. Bishamonten is second from the left, holding a pagoda in his hand

Bishamonten can sometimes be seen in Shinto shrines as one of the Seven Lucky Gods. He’s recognisable by the pagoda he holds in one hand and often a spear in the other. He is closely associated with the north, of which he is the guardian.

Bishamonten came to Japan as part of the Buddhist pantheon, in which he plays an important role as the most powerful among the Four Heavenly Kings. These Guardians of the Four Directions are called Shitenno in Japanese and protect the enlightened.

Originally Bishamonten derived from Kubera, the Hindu god of darkness, treasures, and wealth. His color is black, and he is sometimes called the “Black Warrior.” His symbols in India are the flag, the jewel, and the mongoose.

According to Wikipedia: “He is regarded as the regent of the North, and a protector of the world (Lokapala) His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of the world. Kubera is often depicted as a fat man, adorned with jewels and carrying a money-pot or money-bag, and a club.”

This is quite a contrast with his image In Japan. “Bishamonten (毘沙門天), or just Bishamon (毘沙門) is thought of as an armor-clad god of warfare or warriors and a punisher of evildoers – a view that is at odds with the more pacific Buddhist king described above. Bishamon is portrayed holding a spear in one hand and a small pagoda in the other hand, the latter symbolizing the divine treasure house, whose contents he both guards and gives away.”

So, curiously, in the long journey from ancient India to Buddhist Japan, a jolly fat fellow with a money-pot transmuted into a fiercesome protector of Buddhas. And in the process a Hindu deity was taken up and absorbed into Shinto in a process that Joseph Campbell demonstrated so well in The Masks of God. One mountain, many paths; one deity, many faces.

Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth and origin of Bishamonten (courtesy of Kubera Kolam blogspot)

Ways of seeing

June 20, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Spanning the divide between the seen and the unseen

Alan Watts this week has been talking about the limitations of the brain in processing reality (a lecture entitled ‘Seeing through the net’). The brain works in ways that are reductionist, ‘digital’ and linear. Reality comes in waves, vibrations and is multivalent. It’s all too much!

Another problem is that we’re trained to see what is, rather than what is not. When we look at the night sky, we see stars but we don’t ‘see’ the vast space between them. Yet the emptiness is the necessary counterpart to the stars, without which they would not exist. There’s no front without a back, no existence without a non-existence, no life without death.

How to see the bigger picture, the wood as well as the trees...

It’s the limitations of human understanding that led Zen Buddhism to reject verbal explanation in favour of an understanding that transcends words. ‘Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know,’ said the Daoist sage, Lao-Tsu. There’s something of that in Shinto too, whereby myth, intuition and practice are treasured over the rational explanation.

Words and logic have led to a linear way of thinking that has resulted in the successes of modern technology, without producing a similar development in terms of awareness of the consequences. Watts likens it to shifting the right foot forward without bringing up the left. How interesting then that in Shinto – following the Daoist convention – one leads with the left foot, symbolising yin. It’s the feminine principle, the space between the stars, that we should be thinking about most.

There’s one other interesting point that Watts raises: the idea that in Chinese thought man is inherently good and to be trusted, whereas in the Western tradition, fostered by Christianity, man is inherently sinful. Because humans are basically selfish, fallible and essentially evil, they need control systems such as a moral code enforced by draconian punishments like eternal damnation. Shinto by contrast sees humans as destined for kamihood, regardless of behaviour.

The assumptions in West and East are therefore quite opposed. ‘This has amazing political and other consequences,’ Watts concludes. As always, the autodidact leaves us with much to ponder….

Searching for the light and the space within

Summer purification

June 19, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

View through the circular chinowa wreath of the midsummer misogi at the Meoto rocks near Ise

At the end of June, many shrines hold an ancient Japanese purification rite called Nagoshi no Harae. In this ceremony started in the Nara period, people atone for their sins in the first half of the year and then pray for their health for the remainder of the year by walking through a tall chinowa wreath (a large sacred ring made of miscanthus reeds). It’s said some people take pieces of the wreath home with them to purify their house, though I’m not sure if that’s encouraged by the shrines.

At some shrines people receive a white hitogata (paper scapegoat). It’s a piece of paper shaped as a person, which serves as a form of purification by rubbing it over the body to absorb pollution (kegare). The pollution is then disposed of by floating it along a river, or ritual burning.

For those of us in Kyoto, there are many opportunities to participate in the Nagoshi no Harae. Here’s a selection (courtesy of Kyoto Visitor Guide)….

Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine
June 25 (Tues.) A giant chinowa wreath (the largest chinowa wreath in Kyoto) is set up at the shrine gate. A large scale market will be open in the same day.

Kenkun Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) The chinowa ritual will start from 17:30. Participants will receive a paper amulet (not free of charge).

Kamigamo Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) A ceremony will be held in the precinct and people flows amulet (hitogata) to the stream in the forest.

Queues at the Nonomiya Shrine

Yoshida Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) People will offer amulet (hitogata) to the deity and receive a wreath. The chinowa ritual will start from 16:00.

Jishu Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) The chinowa ritual will start from 15:00 in front of the main hall.

Jonan-gu Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) Chinowa ritual and amulet offering will be open from June 25 to 30.

Shiramine Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) The Nagoshi Harae purification ritual will start from 17:00.

Kurumazaki Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) This shrine enshrines the deity of entertainment and performance. The chinowa ritual will be open from June 1 to 30.

Kifune Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) Chinowa ritual will be open from June 25.

Nonomiya Shrine
June 30 (Sun.) A large chinowa wreath will be hung on the shrine’s black torii gate from late June.

A young family prepares to pass through the chinowa for their half-year purification: in some shrines it's a case of passing through the circle and stepping into a new life, in others there's more of a ritual in following a figure of eight and passing through twice

Sacred water

June 18, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Sacred spring at Togakushi Jinja

BBC’s The Why Factor is currently featuring a most interesting programme on sacred water. It’s 18 minutes long and you can listen on its wonderful website here by clicking on the Free Download.

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“Why can the seemingly everyday activity of bathing mean so many different things for millions of people around the world? For some, unwinding in a nice, hot, soothing bath is a just reward after a long day’s work. For others, it’s an imperative act of religious faith.

Bamboo temizuya with water for purificaiton

In the first of two programmes on bathing, Mike Williams asks: Why do we bathe for purification? He looks at the rituals and symbolism of bathing: to wash away our sins, cleanse our souls, to prepare ourselves for an encounter with the divine.

From ceremonies of purification of the Christian baptism to the Sacred River Ganges, from the ancient Roman Empire to the modern Middle East, he traces the history of ideas associated with healing, spiritualism, purification and re-birth through the act of bathing.

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Amongst the items discussed is Christian baptism and the largest act of purification in the world, in the sacred Ganges river (30 million!!). Rebirth and cleansing are the key elements, expressed by showing outwardly what one strives for inwardly. One interesting observation is that washing the hands and mouth, as in Shinto, is not so much a symbolic cleansing of oneself but an intention not to defile the sacred by touch or breath.

Islam uses water to reflect on sacredness, rather than seeing it as sacred itself. Rather than immerse themselves in the water, muslims use it sparsely believing that one should not use more than one needs. It’s the basis of modern Islamic environmentalism.

At Bath in England, the Romans made a bath out of a hot spring that had been used for centuries before. Rain that had dropped 8000 years before came up eventually in the form of hot water, like a magical gift from out of Mother Earth. We take water these days for granted; we need to recall just how precious a resource it is.

Sacred water in the Mitarashi Pond at Shimogamo Jinja in Kyoto

Sacred water in free flow at a shugendo waterfall in Aomori Prefecture

Shinto in Europe: 30 Years!

June 17, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

The 30th anniversary celebration of Shinto in Europe

Green Shinto friend, the Amsterdam priest Paul de Leeuw, was in Kyoto recently and attended the Aoi Matsuri at Shimogamo Shrine. Paul is in all probability the first racially non-Japanese priest ever, and in 2011 celebrated 30 years of practising Shinto in Europe. The photos on this page are taken from a limited edition published in conjunction with the event. Our congratulations to him.

Paul de Leeuw with the altar he maintains in Amsterdam

Paul first became aware of Shinto while training with the Peter Brook theatre group. One of the members was Yoshi Oida, author of The Invisible Actor (1997) which makes use of Shinto for acting techniques.

Through introductions Paul came to meet and train with the head of Yamakage Shinto at the Kireigu shrine near Nagoya. After being trained as a priest, Paul set up a ‘dojo’ in Amsterdam which housed a small shrine.

Though there was no precedent and no demand, Paul managed to carve out a unique career as a Shinto priest in Amsterdam by teaching, performing private rites such as weddings, and carrying out ceremonies for Japanese companies across Europe, such as to safeguard safety and jichinsai (ground-breaking for new buildings).

Over the years Paul has worked for such companies as Kikkoman, Yakult, Delamine,and IPS Alpha in the Czech Republic. He gives weekly lessons in spiritual exercises at his dojo in Amsterdam, and performs the New Year ritual at the Hatsumode party hosted by Hotel Okura in Amsterdam.

For previous reports about the Dutch Shinzen Foundation, see here or here or here. For the homepage of the Foundation, see here. We wish Paul every success for the next thirty years!

Looking back 30 years to the early days of Shinto in Europe

30th anniversary celebration in City Hall Amstelveen

Imperial origins (Korea)

June 10, 2013 / John D. / 14 Comments

“Welcome to Gajo, the Home of the Japanese Royal Family”

Thanks to Green Shinto friend, San-shin expert David Mason, for pointing out an intriguing item from a Korean poster about the small town of Gajo in the south-east of Korea, facing towards Tsushima and Japan. It makes the extraordinary claim of being the hometown of the Japanese imperial line, presumably some 1500 years or more ago.

The small town of Gajo (courtesy Douch)

Whether this is a publicity stunt, along the lines of the small village in Tohoku that claims to host the grave of Jesus Christ, I’m not sure. But since legend often holds a nucleus of truth, it would be nice to know when and how the idea first started…

It appears the connection rests upon the epithet High Celestial Plain, so the question arises as to how common the name was in former times – could it apply to any mountainous area, for instance, or was there only one?

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Article from Korean Trails By Andrew Douch

Gajo-myeon is a small town some 10km east of the county seat of Geochang, and 70km south-west of Daegu City. Visitors to the area are welcomed by signs reading “Welcome to Gajo, the Home of the Japanese Royal Family”

The plain of Gajo, was in ancient times known as Gocheonwon 고천원, “The Higher Celestial Plain”. According to information on the mountain, Japan’s two oldest historical books, Records of Ancient Matters (712) and “The Chronicles of Japan (720), name Gocheonwon as the home of the mythical ancestors of the Japanese Royal Family.

It is here where Amaterasu, the Shinto Goddess of the Sun, sent her Grandson Jimmu to earth some 3000 years ago to be the first ruler of Japan, beginning the family of Royal Emperors. Place names and sites in the small modest town of Gajo reveal their connection with the Japanese myth of Amaterasu, and the story of rivalry with her brother Susanoo, the god of storms and the sea.

Along the plain and through the mountain, nine sites are recognised and named to represent features of Gocheonwon.

Udu-san in Korea, which legend claims to be where the gods descended (courtesy Douch)

In the heart of Gajo town is Masangni, the centre of the celestial plain. The Gods and Goddesses of the plain dwell in Gomalli-deul, among the rice fields on the present road to the mountain. Gungbaemi, to the east of town, is the location of the principle God’s palace. Baram-gul or Cheonseok-gul, on the ridge to Bigye-san, is the “Heavenly Rock Cave” where Amaterasu went into hiding. Dangmoe, on the summit of Bigye-san, is where all the roosters of the world gathered to crow after Amaterasu entered the cave, plunging the world into darkness.

At the foot of the mountain, west of town, is Dangjip, where the dancing goddess Ameno Uzme lured Amaterasu from her hiding place. Gaso-cheon, the current stream Gacheon-cheon, flows west of town and is where Amaterasu and Susanoo confronted each other. Above the plain rise the peaks of Udu-san, the gateway from the higher celestial plain into the heavens, where Susanoo descended to Earth.

It seems more than a little unusual that the location of Japan’s mythical foundation could be in the rugged back-country of northern Gyeongsangnam-do, in what is now a modest farming town, particularly considering the “Heavenly Rock Cave” is celebrated by shinto at Ama-no-Iwato, a cave in Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture.

I think perhaps the locals here have taken some factual liberties. Perhaps these places were given their names by Japanese colonisers and stuck, or maybe the locals like to think their ancestors were responsible for founding Japan – unlikely methinks.

There is however some belief that the Japanese Royal blood-line has a Korean influence. From Wikipedia:

“It has been theorized that the Japanese imperial line has Korean ancestry. As reported in National Geographic, Walter Edwards, professor of Japanese studies at Tenri University in Nara, states that “Blood links between Korea and the Japanese imperial family are documented from the eighth century. Even the current emperor [Akihito] has said that he has Korean ancestry.”

Since 1976, foreign archaeologists have been requesting access to the Gosashi tomb which is supposed to be the resting place of Emperor Jingu, but these requests have been denied. In 2008, Japan gave foreign archaeologists limited access to the site, but without allowing any excavation. As National Geographic wrote, Japan “has kept access to the tombs restricted, prompting rumors that officials fear excavation would reveal bloodline links between the “pure” imperial family and Korea”

Mt Takachicho in southern Kyushu, where according to Japanese mythology the ancestor of the emperor, Ninigi no mikoto, descended to earth, bearing Amaterasu's mirror

Aike Rots: Shinto environmentalism

June 8, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Aike Rots, currently in the final stages of a doctorate at Oslo University

Green Shinto friend, Aike Rots, was passing through Japan recently in relation with his forthcoming doctoral dissertation on ‘The Forests of the Gods: Shinto, Nature and the Rediscovery of Sacred Space’.

Aike has been investigating green initiatives being carried out by various shrine groups up and down the country, and in the process has turned up fascinating developments.

While in Kyoto, he generously agreed to talk about some of them. It’s a unique overview of what is happening at ‘grass-roots’ level.

I) Meiji Shrine in Tokyo
At the prestigious Meiji Shrine, Aike met with members of the NPO Hibiki (a non-profit organisation). The group is composed of volunteers, and though they are officially independent, they have an office at the shrine. The NPO is educational in purpose and maintains three working teams; 1) English language guided tours of the shrine; 2) working on a rice field at the shrine; 3) planting trees and raising seedlings for replantation at Tohoku and elsewhere.

II) Shiroyama Hachiman-gu in Nagoya
At this relatively small shrine, Aike met with representatives of a NPO to protect a forest on a former castle site. The group is working at the moment on the reintroduction of fireflies as a means to foster goodwill towards the woods (rather than seeing them as a source of harmful insects and troublesome leaves etc.)

Immersion in nature means shrines should have a vested interest in conservation

Aike thought it representative of various other shrine projects concerned with shrine woods or property. Two Kyoto initiatives he mentioned were the Aoi project at Kamigamo, by which local schoolchildren are encouraged to grow the increasingly rare aoi plant, and the Tadasu no mori group at Shimogamo aimed at conservation of the woods there.

III) Goshokomataki Jinja in Ibaraki prefecture
At this small shrine in Ibaraki prefecture (near Mt. Tsukuba), the local priest has been carrying out a project for forest maintenance and environmental education for over 15 years. Aike visited the shrine, which is surrounded by a beautiful little forest. He interviewed the priest, who is now seen as a pioneer in Shinto environmentalism, his initiative being one of the first concrete shrine-based environmental projects.

IV) Tohoku
In travelling across Tohoku and seeing some of the lasting damage along the coastline, Aike met with shrine people struggling with the rebuilding. One shrine family had set up a library, and another priest was heavily involved in spiritual care and helping people deal with bereavement.

You can read all about Aike’s Tohoku trip in greater detail on his blog here.

V) Shasou Gakkai (at Ise)
The Shasou Gakkou is a study group dedicated to study and preservation of the sacred groves around shrines. There is an annual symposium, which this year was held at Ise, attended by some 60-70 people.

The paper that made the biggest impression on Aike was one on ‘Nature Power’ by Prof Hiroi of Chiba University. Among other examples, it mentioned a progressive shrine in Gifu with an NPO that generates electricity from water. Alternative energy, one would have thought, would be dear to the heart of a nature religion, and here is a prime exemplar.

I asked Aike if he knew of any other shrine ventures in alternative energy. There was one in Hokkaido he had heard of that was trying to make do with solar power. Apparently the priest had said that since they worshipped Amaterasu, they should be able to benefit from the power she produces… it’s a very good point!!

The woods at Shimogamo Jinja in Kyoto, managed by a dedicated group working to conserve the shrine's surrounds