Author: John D. (Page 64 of 202)

Zen and Shinto 12: Martial Connections

April 2, 2016 / John D. / 0 Comments

A Kendo contest held at Kashihara Jingu

Brian Victoria, author of Zen at War, recently gave a talk in Kyoto about Zen terrorism in the 1930s. Brian is a Soto Zen priest, and his book has been hugely influential – as well as controversial. The book focuses on Japanese militarism from the time of the Meiji Restoration through the Second World War and the post-War period. It describes the influence of state policy on Buddhism in general, and particularly the influence on Zen which eagerly supported the military in its war of aggression. A famous quote is from a leading Zen figure, Harada Daiun Sogaku: “[If ordered to] march: tramp, tramp, or shoot: bang, bang. This is the manifestation of the highest Wisdom [of Enlightenment]. The unity of Zen and war of which I speak extends to the farthest reaches of the holy war.”

While reading about Brian Victoria’s book in an article in Japan Focus, I came across the following passage, which suggests a very conscious effort by Zen leaders to assimilate with Shinto in the Edo Period. It was a time of Kokugaku, when Nativists such as Motoori Norinaga were increasingly influential:

In the Edo period [1600-1867] Zen priests such as Shidō Bunan [1603-1676], Hakuin [1685-1768], and Torei [1721-1792] attempted to promote the unity of Zen and Shinto by emphasizing Shinto’s Zen-like features. While this resulted in the further assimilation of Zen into Japan, it occurred at the same time as the establishment of the power of the emperor system. Ultimately this meant that Zen lost almost all of its independence.

It seems then that the desire of leading Zen practitioners to align themselves with the Shinto cause brought identification with the nationalism of figures like Motoori (a noted China hater), which was exploited by Meiji leaders in formulating a State Shinto ideology aimed at bolstering the authority of the emperor they controlled. Acting on behalf of the nation was seen as an act of glorious self-sacrifice, by which the individual ego was sacrificed for the will of the emperor. It was an ideology to which both Zen and Shinto assented.

It is perhaps not coincidental then that both Zen and Shinto have been closely related to the development of martial arts. Zen was embraced by the warrior class, who took to its concern with mindfulness, self-discipline, and transcending the fear of death. Shinto was similarly allied to martial arts, not surprisingly given that ancient clan kami stood at the forefront of military conflict. The whole Yamato conquest was fuelled after all by notion of divine legitimacy. The swords that samurai treasured were imbued with animist spirit and buried with them.

When one thinks about it, there’s a military precision to the rituals of both Shinto and Zen. Anyone who has stayed overnight at a Zen temple will have noticed the emphasis on obeying orders, marching in line, and correctness in all things. Similarly those who have seen ceremonies at large Shinto shrines will have noticed the orderliness with which priests walk in file, the attention to detail in their rituals, and the hierarchical nature of the ranking.

It seems then that the military connection provides a key to understanding the commonality of Zen and Shinto. For those of us in the peace camp, it gives much to be concerned about. When I spoke to Brian Victoria about this, he suggested that the problem lay in the interaction of State and Religion. Regardless of the leanings of a particular religion, when it becomes allied to the State through seeking patronage and protection, it necessarily becomes a servant of State in times of war. Christianity has done it, Islam has done it, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism have done it. Perhaps there then lies the lesson in all this, and perhaps the hermit tradition of Daoism is the perfect response!

Sword skills displayed at Shimogamo Jinja

Zabuton cushions laid out in a Zen temple meditation room. Each monk is allotted one tatami and small cupboard space, similar to life in a barracks.

Obeisance lies at the heart of Shinto – and Zen

Shaved heads and lined up in a straight row…

Priests parading in single file are a common sight at Shinto ceremonies.

Shinto-style parade

March 27, 2016 / John D. / 1 Comment

The origin of this Matsue festival concerns the first feudal lord of the area, Matsudaira Naomasa, who during a famine successfully prayed for a good harvest. (This photo and all others courtesy Visit Shimane site.)

Today being Easter Sunday, it’s a good occasion to reflect upon the similarities in the European annual round and that of Shinto. Both lie in the northern hemisphere of course, so not surprisingly spring fertility rites take place at similar times (one thinks today of Easter bunnies and Easter eggs in particular). Moreover, both traditions celebrate the produce of the harvest in autumn.

Japanese culture is known for its tendency to adopt practices from other countries and make them their own, often improving them in the process. In a fascinating blog article, Megan Manson has written a thoughtful piece on the intriguing question of why Christmas, Valentine’s and Halloween have been taken up by Japanese in a big way, yet Easter has (so far at least) been completely ignored. Great question, and she gives a great answer.

Below is a description of what might facetiously be called an Easter parade – Shinto-style. It’s a ‘resurrection’ of an old festival, in which dance features prominently – a reminder of the oft-quoted anecdote told by Joseph Campbell about a priest who declared that in Shinto ‘we dance’. And surely for an Easter Sunday, the Lord of the Dance himself would be happy with that…

Colourful banners and scrolls accompany dancers in kabuki costumes.

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Rare Shinto ritual on the waterways thrills crowd in Matsue

March 27, 2016 Asahi Shimbun By TATSUYA ISHIKAWA

MATSUE–A centuries-old Shinto ritual featuring a colorful boat procession to wish for a bountiful harvest sailed the waters on March 26 near Matsue Castle, with a troupe of singers and dancers in traditional costumes performing aboard.

The event by Matsue Jozan Inari Jinja shrine, called Horan Enya and dating to the Edo Period (1603-1867), is famed as one of the nation’s three renowned Shinto rites featuring ships.

A total of nine boats carrying about 70 performers traveled along a moat within the castle walls during the rite. The ritual, which is held every 10 years, was initially scheduled for 2019.

But it was moved up to this year to mark the designation of Matsue Castle as a national treasure, which was announced last year, and the 350th anniversary of the death of Matsudaira Naomasa, head of the feudal Matsue Domain.

In the event, performers danced in a manner similar to Kabuki performers aboard their boats as spectators waited to capture the rare spectacle with their cameras.

The Shikinen Shinkosai festival of Jozan Inari Shrine (Matsue City) is fondly known to local people as “Horan-enya.”

This Shinto ritual is carried out once every ten years. The next Horan-enya is due to be held in May of 2019.

Shrine maiden for anime figures

March 26, 2016 / John D. / 0 Comments

An advertisement for a shrine maiden to help with disposal of anime figures shows Shinto’s flexibility and ability to adopt. The Rocket News article below couches it in typical slanted fashion as something weird and exotic, but it’s part of a long animist tradition of pacifying the souls of dolls and other objects that have given service to their owners – needles, calligraphy pens, Daruma figures, etc.

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Shrine seeks maiden to perform memorial services for ‘deceased’ anime figures

By KK Miller, RocketNews24 Mar. 26, 2016

A job listing site in Japan is currently featuring a very interesting part-time job based in the new Akihabara Shrine that will open in April. It sounds like a pretty decent place to earn a little bit of extra pocket-money as the successful applicant can pick the schedule that works best for them, doesn’t need to have any prior experience as a shrine maiden, and need only to be ready to work with a smile on their face.

Besides sounding like one of the easiest part-time jobs in the world, there is one other tiny detail that makes the position stand out from other job opportunities Japan: the newly hired maiden will be responsible for performing memorial services for anime figures and figurines.

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that Akihabara — the land of “otaku” — should offer such a service for people’s prized possessions, but it still makes you wonder just what a memorial service for a figure would actually entail. Will they be burned to a crisp and then presented to their former owner in an urn? Will the shrine maiden stockpile the figures in the back, only to resell them at a later date? Could the memorial service cost more than the figure itself? So many questions!

The Akihabara Shrine hopes to become another landmark of legend within the bustle of Electric Town and they’re betting on the shrine maiden being a key part of their image. You can apply for this job here until the end of March, or visit them yourself when it opens in mid-April.

Zen and Shinto 11: Manpuku-ji

March 22, 2016 / John D. / 2 Comments

Hotei san, one of the temple’s main deities and a manifestation of Amida

Manpuku-ji is possibly the most striking Zen temple in Japan, because it looks so Chinese. The architecture is different, the clothing different, the statues radically different from the Japanese norm. Established in 1661 by a Chinese immigrant named Ingen, it’s retained a Chinese Ming character into the present day.

The small Hachiman-gu that protects Manpuku-ji. Note the doves on the corners of the roof, the messengers of the kami.

Ingen was invited by the Chinese community in Nagasaki during the so-called Age of Isolation, with the support of Zen priests in Japan. The 65 year old Chinese monk came with twenty disciples and a group of craftsmen. The temple he set up with backing from the Tokugawa was at Uji, just outside Kyoto, where he established a new type of Zen, somewhat different from Rinzai and Soto. It had elements of Pure Land belief, as well as keeping to Chinese style in its sutra chanting and clothing.

Shortly after the foundation of the temple a protective shrine (chinju sha) was added, which derived from the large Iwashimizu Hachiman shrine not far away. Interestingly, Hachiman is known as a guardian deity of Japan, so the immigrant Ingen was very much adapting to local practice in accepting the tutelary kami.

Hotei bags bearing prayers come in five different colours

Interestingly, one of the main deities at the temple is Hotei, the potbellied member of the Seven Lucky Gods and the only one to be based on a real person, it is said. (He was modelled after a rotund and happy Chinese monk.) At the base of the statue are five ‘Hotei bags’, the idea being that you write down a wish, place it inside the bag, and hang it up like an ema. The colours are based on the five elements:

Black – water. Cures illness.
White – metal. Good for business.
Red – fire. Love and academic success.
Yellow – earth. Traffic and home safety.
Green – trees. Health and longevity.

The prayers to Hotei echo Shinto practice, as do the Daruma omikuji (fortune slips) and a water basin shaped like a lotus flower. The theme of purity in Zen, a common point with Shinto, was taken up in a notice explaining the giant fish that hung before the dining hall. In Zen temples the wooden fish is struck at times of meals, and a notice at Manpuku-ji explained the practice as stemming from the ever-wakeful nature of fish, which never close their eyes. Being immersed in water, they are already pure but nonetheless it is spitting out a ball, representative of getting rid of world attachment (bonno) in order to keep a pure heart.

Fish is a symbol of purity and is about to spit out a ball from its mouth representing worldy attachment

Fish is a symbol of purity, and this one is about to spit out a ball from its mouth representing worldly attachment. The fish is used as a gong for meal times, and you can see clearly where it gets struck.

Spring equinox

March 20, 2016 / John D. / 0 Comments

The spring equinox is celebrated in Japan with Shunbun no hi, a national holiday. It was established in 1948 as a day for the admiration of nature and the love of living things. Prior to 1948, the vernal equinox was an imperial ancestor worship festival called Shunki kōrei-sai, which shows how animism and ancestor worship overlap in Japanese consciousness.

The equinox is a reminder of the commonality of pagan religions, and I’d like to repost the article below, courtesy of the Huffington Post, because it puts forward some compelling thoughts about the nature of the season. It’s a reminder to be more aware of the changes going on around us and to rejoice in the miracle of existence.

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Spring Equinox 2013: May You Be Like the Sun
by Teo Bishop

There is a reason that on Imbolc, the February High Day, we place such an emphasis on light and fire. When we say I keep vigil to the fire in my heart, we are acknowledging the real and present challenges of winter, as well as the feelings of stasis and stagnation that can occur during the colder, darker months.

We tended that fire because we had to; because it was imperative that we be mindful of the fact that the darkness is not a permanent state. It is only a season.

Example of how nature lends itself to celebration

And now we find ourselves on the precipice of a new season. Here in the Northern Hemisphere we observe the Spring Equinox, the moment when the light of day and the darkness of night are equal. Today, if but for a single moment, there is perfect balance.

And there is meaning in the balance.

The Equinox is more than just a scientific fact, an observable reality; it points to the shift that we are making toward a time of new growth and new life. The outer world — the thawing soil under our feet, the budding branches of the trees, the new sounds of the new offspring mingling with the bustle of the city — is all an indication to us that we are changing, too. We are breaking open and coming to life again.

That is, we can be. It is a mindset for us to embrace, should we choose to.

Paganism is made up of many experiential traditions. We come to know by doing. We do not typically act on blind faith, but instead seek to work our way toward a deeper understanding through our actions. We are willing to question our assumptions (or the assumptions handed down to us by others), and we are willing to think expansively about the ways we are connected to the world around us. It is in our experience of living that we come to wisdom about living.

And now, standing at this moment of balance, we have the opportunity to demonstrate these characteristics. We can embody this experiential ethos by asking ourselves:

Are we in balance? Are we willing to thaw, to soften, to allow for new growth in our lives? What does that look like? How does that feel?

Celebrating in harmony with nature

Will we stand in our own sovereignty on this day of balance and accept that there is a good and meaningful work for us in the coming weeks and months? This is the opportunity offered to us on the Equinox.

Whether we are gardeners, or farmers, or city dwellers, there is a planting to be done in the spring. This is a time to take the plans you made while waiting for warmer weather — those ideas about new projects, new endeavors, new steps toward a realized dream — and begin to put them into action. It is a time to start doing.

The world is an example. It is showing you how to start. You need only open your awareness to its unfolding, and you will see how you might begin to manifest the changes of spring in your own life.

“Manifestation,” a much over-used word in some circles, is not a parlor trick. It is a series of steps one takes toward a goal. Each step is important, including those small, unseen, internal shifts we make on days like today. Those questions listed above are worth spending time with, especially if the answers are not ready on your lips. They are meant to propel you forward into new action; and through that new action, new growth.

This is the blessing I offer to you on the Spring Equinox:

May you be like the soil.
Become ready for turning,
And welcome new life.

May you be like the bud.
Recognize your potential,
And expand into color.

May you be like the river.
Receive the new waters,
And move forward with power.

May you be like the sun.
Go forth into spring
And bring light to the world.

Pray with a good fire, my friends. Celebrate the Equinox with a full heart, and go into the world with confidence and clarity of purpose.

If you are a solitary Pagan or Druid and are looking for support around your practice, consider the Solitary Druid Fellowship. The Fellowship provides free, customizable High Day liturgies based in ADF Druidry, as well as daily, lunar and seasonal devotionals.

Neo-Shintoism

March 19, 2016 / John D. / 8 Comments

A Pagan Shrine for Ostara with easter eggs and stone figures of Mary & Joseph from a Saxon-inspired nativity set – a syncretic touch in a postmodern age

With the spread of Shinto overseas, there are some exciting transformations taking place as innovators adapt Japanese practice to their needs. This is particularly evident in the marriage of Shinto to contemporary paganism, with pioneers creating something that might be called Neo-Shintoism. (See an earlier piece on Minzoku NEO-shinto.)

One of the most articulate advocates of the neo-Shinto movement is Megan Manson, an eclectic pagan practising in the UK and piecing together a remarkably coherent set of practices. She runs her own blog, has lived in Japan and is involved with Japan-UK relations. In a recent article for the interfaith Patheos site, she wrote of “How I found the Shinto-Pagan Path“, and in the extract below she describes what initially drew her to Shinto.

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There are many possible reasons for the harmonious relationship between the scientific rationality and spiritual outlook held by a large proportion of the Japanese population, but I think one of the most important is that in Shinto, actions take precedence over belief. In my experience, many Japanese aren’t too sure what they believe at all – additionally, they do not consider having well-defined spiritual beliefs as particularly important. They’ll carry on making pilgrimages to shrines, going to festivals and taking part in seasonal Shinto rituals without worrying too much about whether or not the kami really exist. They do it partly because they enjoy doing it; it feels “right” to them.

When I realised this, I understood that this was the missing piece of the puzzle for me. I had approached Paganism from a Western, Christian perspective, probably due to my Catholic background. I thought that faith was a fundamental starting point for spirituality, and that one had to essentially choose between whether to trust in science or believe in religion. Shinto taught me that this was not the case at all. It taught me that it was OK to be a Pagan for no other reason than it feeling “right,” and that one could still follow a religion and hold scientific fact to be just as valid. As I grew to learn more about Neopaganism and the Pagan community, I realised that many other Pagans in fact feel exactly the same way.

A simple Inari altar

I continued to use Shinto as a framework for my Pagan beliefs, and as I did so, I realised that I was becoming increasingly drawn to venerating the Shinto kami themselves along with Western Pagan deities, and one kami in particular: Inari Okami. Carrying across the Neopagan concept of a “patron” deity, I set up an altar to Inari in the courtyard outside our house, where we would often be visited by foxes. Inari has been my patron ever since.

Seeing the fox cross my path [one] summer afternoon gave me a moment of intense clarity. I understood that my interests in Paganism, science, and Japan were all connected. Whether or not this was truly a message from Inari, I suppose I’ll never know, but it was enough to confirm that I’d found the spiritual path for me – one that blended all of these ideas together.

So now I consider myself a Shinto-Pagan, practising both religions side by side. I celebrate the eight festivals of the Neopagan Wheel of the Year in addition to Japanese festivals. I participate in a local moot where our rituals are very much Wicca-influenced, invoking the Great God and Goddess and involving circle casting and calling the four elements; I also make regular offerings and Shinto norito prayers at my Inari altar.

To me, it seems natural to combine western Paganism with Shinto. Not only do the two religions have much in common in terms of their focus on ritual, nature worship and sense of duty to the ancestors, but as mentioned previously, Shinto is rarely practised in isolation from other religions in Japan. For me, Shinto is like a reactive chemical element – it likes to “bond” to other religious paths to create a new path that is best-suited to the practitioner. I find that my Shinto and Neopagan paths really complement and enhance one another. Even my blog’s title (Pagan Tama) reflects the Shinto-Pagan blend; the word “tama” is of special significance in Shinto and can be translated as “soul.”

Where my path will lead from now, I’m not sure. I feel that there is so much out there to learn and that I’ve only just begun. But as the Japanese say, senri no michi mo ippo yori hajimaru – “Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

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For a podcast with Megan, click here. Megan talks about her path to Shinto, some of the history of Shinto and how it relates to the other religions practiced in Japan. What is the difference between Japan and the West in regards to religious identity? What does it mean to be multi-faith, and how do we explain it to others?

Megan’s Shinto shrine is dedicated to Inari Okami. The picture behind is a painting done by an art teacher at the school in Nagasaki where she used to work – a view from the school window that now acts as a “window to Japan”.

The Spider Clan

March 18, 2016 / John D. / 0 Comments

courtesy Keio University

Spiders in myth

Anyone familiar with Noh and Kabuki will know of the Tsuchigumo, or ground spider. These plays are sometimes put on at shrines for the entertainment of the kami. The creature plays a part too in Shinto myth through appearance in the Kojiki and Nihongi. What is its significance? From the Japanese Mythology and Folklore website comes a revealing piece that links the spider with shamanic clans in East Asia.

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The spider was synonymous in the ancient Kojiki and Nihongi chronicles with local indigenous renegade clans. The symbol later evolved into the yokai supernatural folkloric proportions that we know today. These clans were found from Yamato Katusragi to the easternmost Japan, and associated with mounds and caves or rockcut catacombs. They were thus either indigenous descendants of the Jomon, or another settled tribe of Eurasian or Southeast Asian origin.

Tsuchigumo

The Chu (Zhu) state, Zhou dynasty period people in Southeast Asia had a spider as their totem (and Chinese character name). Altaic shamans, in addition to deer and bird, sometimes had the spider spirit as helper in their travels to the Underworld.

From Lappland to Central Asia, the spider was a divine or lucky emblem, but large hairy or venomous spiders were also best known there and associated with caverns and holes in the ground, among which species were the Ladectrus or the black widow spider, that commanded the respect of the land’s peoples.

Japan has an East Asian species that spins characteristic webs very low from the ground, trapping predators and deterring mammals. A benevolent goddess spider is still known from the folklore surrounding the Joren Falls in the Izu peninsula in eastern Japan. The spider is also associated with the Orion constellation from ancient Eurasia across the Beringia to the Americas (among the folklore of the Chinook, Bigfoot and other tribes).

tsuchigumo01ps