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The Sounds of Shinto

March 24, 2014 / John D.

Since Heian times gagaku has been considered the music of the gods

A couple of years ago I went to a talk about sounds used for healing purposes which involved Tibetan singing bowls. That sounds affect the human psyche is obvious enough when one thinks of how certain kinds of music can move us to tears, yet other sounds induce panic and alarm. There are sounds too that can cause irritation or acute stress. Even human language itself can be affective, as the very different responses to French and German attest.

Musician Graham Ranft, presently studying the Ryuteki (the flute used in gagaku pictured above), has written in from Australia with some interesting observations he has come across regarding the use of sound in Shinto. These extend the notion of kotodama (word soul), by which certain words or sounds are thought to have magical properties (like the Middle Eastern word abracadabra).

The quotations below are drawn from “Japanese spirituality and music practice: Art as self-cultivation” by Koji Matsunobu.

The indigenous Japanese religions presented an animistic view of sound appreciation. It was believed that every sound bore a spirit, and people could be enlightened through any sound. Two important concepts regarding this view are otodamaho and ichion-jobutsu [the attainment of enlightenment through perfecting a single tone]…

The concept of otodamaho in Shinto is a method of purifying the body and mind
through the esoteric power of sound. A Japanese animist belief that was traditionally shared by people in ancient Japan explains that spiritual power resides in all sounds, including natural sound and spoken words. Otodamaho suggests that spiritual practitioners become engaged in a meditative process through the appreciation and embodiment of natural sounds, situating themselves in nature to become part of the universe.

Yoshisane Tomokiyo (1888–1952), an institutor of a new sect of Shinto,
elaborates on the theory of spiritual sound based on the concept of otodamaho as follows: “Nothing is more magical than the spirit of sound. All things in this universe are caused by the spirit of sound. All lives flow with the spirit of sound”.

To grasp this perspective, Tomokiyo recommends that one simply listen to a “sound.” Simply listen to a certain sound quietly and calm down. That’s all…. You do not have to listen to music. Listen to a certain unchangeable sound: the sound of a waterfall, the murmur of a brook, [the] sound of rain, the sound of waves, anything you like.

It turns out then that one reason why silence is golden is because it allows us to listen to the Sound of Nature. So drop out, turn off and tune in to those Good Vibrations the Beach Boys were singing about all those many years ago. And we look forward to further reports from Graham in his quest to pursue a Shinto spirituality through the resonance of sound.

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To read more about the above concepts in regard to shakuhachi, please click on this page and scroll down to the text.

To read more about Sound Healing, please see this page.

The sounds of nature can have a healing effect

Brooklyn’s Inari Shrine

March 22, 2014 / John D.

(pic by peter r on flikr)

New York’s Brooklyn is famous for its ethnic diversity, and it brings to mind many images from popular American movies. One thing you wouldn’t associate it with is a Shinto connection! Yet in its Botanic Garden is an Inari Shrine, established as part of a Japanese section, and the information about it which follows is extracted from two different websites.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden

BBG’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was the first Japanese garden to be created in an American public garden. It was constructed in 1914 and 1915 at a cost of $13,000, a gift of early BBG benefactor and trustee Alfred T. White, and it first opened to the public in June 1915. Widely considered by numerous landscape architects, to be the masterpiece of its creator, Japanese landscape designer Takeo Shiota (1881–1943). Shiota was born in a small Japanese village about 40 miles (64 km) from Tokyo, and in his youth spent years traversing Japan on foot to explore its natural landscape. He emigrated to the United States in 1907.

The garden is a blend of the ancient hill-and-pond style and the more modern stroll-garden style, in which various landscape features are gradually revealed along winding paths. Its 3 acres (1.2 ha) contain hills, a waterfall, a pond, and an island, all artificially constructed. Carefully placed rocks also play leading roles. Among the architectural elements of the garden are wooden bridges, stone lanterns, a viewing pavilion, a torii or gateway, and a Shinto shrine. The pond is filled with hundreds of Japanese koi fish that visitors can enjoy viewing on the tori or along the trail of the garden. Another element that can be discovered walking through the trail is a Japanese temple dedicated to the wolf spirits. A restoration of the garden in 2000 was recognized with the New York Landmark Conservancy’s 2001 Preservation Award

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http://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0405/040538.html/(page)/2

A scene in the Japanese section of Brooklyn's Botanic Garden (source unknown)

In 1914-15, landscape architect Takeo Shiota assembled a team of assistants to construct the carefully planned juxtaposition of stone, water, bridge, pine, and cascade. Each element is symbolic, and intended to extract the essence of beauty, nature, and life – and harmoniously combine them with one another.

There are no accidents here. The shape of the miniature lake is intended to mimic the contours of the Chinese character for the heart or mind, stepping stones recall tottering steps, a tiny turtle-shaped island and some nearby pines symbolize longevity. On a slope behind the pond is a small Shinto shrine dedicated to Inari, the goddess of rice, whose shrines are usually guarded by two stone foxes. In the lake below, as a watery gate to the jinja or shrine, stands a torii – two upright pillars supporting a curved horizontal beam above a straight crosspiece just below.

This particular torii has a distinguished antecedent, its design being modeled on the much larger original at Miyajima near Hiroshima, which also rises out of the water with particular grandeur. Miyajima is considered to be one of Japan’s three most beautiful sights.

Though the Ryoanji Temple Stone Garden and Roji Garden are temporarily closed while major construction is underway, you might as well know now what you’re missing and make plans for a future visit.

The Ryoanji Temple Stone Garden is in spirit a millenium away from the Hill and Pond Garden. This garden is simplicity itself. There is no water. There are no trees, no plants or flowers, no blossoming Kwanzan cherry trees or weeping willows – only 15 large rocks and a rectangular bed of fine, crushed stone, bordered on three sides by a modest tile-roof wall. On the fourth side is a replica of a portion of a Japanese temple building.

This garden is a precisely proportioned mirror image of the rock garden of one of Japan’s most famous gardens – the Ryoanji kare sansui or dry landscape. The original in Kyoto may date back to 1500, but it existed in obscurity until the 1930s, when it achieved sudden notoriety as a distillation of Zen Buddhist philosophy. Though its temple succumbed to fire twice – once in 1500 and again in the 1790s – the rock garden serenely survived, as it has to the present day.

Next door to Brooklyn’s Ryoanji Garden is one more Japanese-style garden, a roji, the garden path leading to the teahouse so central to Japan’s tea ceremony. The botanic garden’s roji – with its stone lantern, stone pavement and tsukubai or low stone basin for washing one’s hands – perhaps reflects the notions in vogue in the late 16th century, when the roji, formerly merely an entrance to a teahouse, began to develop into a garden.

A copy of Itsukushima's famous torii in Brooklyn's Botanic Garden (photo by Amy A. courtesy yelp.com)

Shrines 8) Types Pt 2

March 19, 2014 / John D.

The following is an abridged extract from Shinto Shrines by Joseph Cali and John Dougill, published by the University of Hawaii Press. Illustrations by Geoff Chioti.

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Kasuga-zukuri:

Named after Kasuga Taisha in Nara, this is generally a small one-by-one-bay honden.

The bays are of different dimensions so that the width is about six feet while the depth is about eight and a half feet. The structure has a curving gable roof of cypress bark that features katsuogi and slender, rather curved chigi resembling crossed swords.

The entrance is in the center on the gabled (front) side, while a pent roof covers the entrance stairway. The woodwork is lacquered in red with details in black, and the walls are white plaster.

The staircase is made of solid square lengths of wood that span the full width of the building, with two square pillars rising from the base of the stair to support the pent roof.

Sumiyoshi-zukuri:

This style of honden has a gable roof with the entrance in the center of the gabled side.

The structure is two bays wide by four deep. The roofline is flat and has a deep overhang on all four sides. There are katsuogi and very tall chigi.

All the wooden members are painted vermillion and the wooden plank walls are painted white. It is thought to derive from the shape of the temporary ritual palace built for the enthronement rites of the emperor.

The building’s interior is divided into front and rear sections, with a wall and door parallel to the entrance separating the two.

Hachiman-zukuri: A unique style named for the original Usa Jingu Shrine in Kyushu and involving two parallel buildings standing so close to each other that they almost touch along the eaves.

A narrow structure connects the buildings and features doors at either end, creating a sort of covered corridor. A large rain gutter runs the length of the roof under the eaves and above the lower roof of the intermediate space. The effect is of one building with a double-gable roof.

The roof material is Hinoki Cypress bark, and there are no chigi or katsuogi. The woodwork is lacquered in vermillion, and the walls are white plaster. There are three doors on the entrance side (the non-gabled side of the front structure) and there may be a step canopy that extends over the stairway.

The front structure is called the outer sanctuary, and the rear structure is called the inner sanctuary. Hachiman shrines often do not have typical haiden (Offertory) standing in front of the main building. Instead, they usually have a single-bay romon where worshippers pray, and it is the face of the shrine with which most people are familiar.

Scientific animism

March 18, 2014 / John D.

Thanks to Green Shinto supporter, A.J. Dickinson, for pointing out a collection of quotes in the Huffington Post about the compatibility of science and a religious outlook. Here follow a few interesting observations by members of the scientific community.

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Full moon at Shimogamo Jinja

Carl Sagan (1934-1996)–American astrophysicist
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual…The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-) –American astrophysicist and science commentator
“So you’re made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?”

Francis Collins (1950-) –American geneticist, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute
“Science is…a powerful way, indeed – to study the natural world. Science is not particularly effective…in making commentary about the supernatural world. Both worlds, for me, are quite real and quite important. They are investigated in different ways. They coexist. They illuminate each other.”

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) –German physicist, created theory of general relativity.
While the New York Times noted that “Einstein consistently characterized the idea of a personal God who answers prayers as naive, and life after death as wishful thinking,” he also “described himself as an ‘agnostic’ and ‘not an atheist.'” One ambiguous quote, from Einstein’s response to a letter from a sixth-grade student named Phyllis Wright, reads “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.”

Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) –British biophysicist renowned for her work on X-ray diffraction.
“In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall come nearer to success and that success in our aims (the improvement of the lot of mankind, present and future) is worth attaining…I maintain that faith in this world is perfectly possible without faith in another world.”

Victor J. Stenger (1935-)–American physicist
“With pantheism…the deity is associated with the order of nature or the universe itself…when modern scientists such as Einstein and Stephen Hawking mention ‘God’ in their writing, this is what they seem to mean: that God is Nature.”

In the grounds of Togakushi Jinja in Nagano

Spring equinox

March 17, 2014 / John D.

Imperial burial mounds illustrate how ancestor and nature worship go hand-in-hand

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.

Wheel of the year showing the eight Neo-Pagan celebrations (Wikicommons)

In religious terms the week around the equinox is known as higan, which is a time for refreshing ties with ancestral spirits. It’s the custom to clean up family graves, offer flowers and pay respects or report new events.

For those of us in the Northern hemisphere days the equinox brings the prospect of greater warmth and longer daylight hours. it’s traditionally associated with pagan ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. Small wonder then that the Christians used the time of year to celebrate Resurrection. (Easter is the first full moon after the equinox.)

For neo-pagans the equinox is one of the eight occasions for seasonal celebration during the annual cycle. The rites draw on customs taken from different sources.

In Germanic traditions the fertility goddess Ostara is thought by some to refer to the Eastern star and is associated with Eostre, from which Easter derives. Other mythologies associated the occasion with fertility and the return of vegetation gods. Thus egg decorating was a common form of celebration throughout Europe, and Ostara in particular was associated with the fecund symbols of the hare and egg.

In Shinto too springtime is marked by fertility festivals in many places, the most famous of which these days is the Honen Festival near Nagoya on March 15, when a giant phallus is paraded through the streets. That this life-giving symbol should ever have been made taboo in the West suggests a curious lack of balance in traditional values, and for some meditative thoughts on the need for balance at this time of year, please refer to an earlier Green Shinto posting here.

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Part of the procession at the Honen Festival held shortly before the spring equinox, held to promote fertility in crops and humans

Spiritual tourism

March 17, 2014 / John D.

An article today in the Yomiuri Shimbun highlights the rise of package holidays aimed at promoting physical and spiritual health. Here are two of the items, one involving ‘forest therapy’ in Nagano Prefecture, and one involving hiking on the Kumano pilgrimage trails (and resting on large rocks to absorb the vibes).

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March 17, 2014 The Yomiuri Shimbun

Forest therapy By Nana Ando

NAGANO—A nonprofit organization is promoting forest therapy, where tourists nourish their body and mind through physical exercises in forests in Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture.

The Tokyo-based Forest Therapy Society said there were 48 forest therapy bases across the nation as of the end of February. Iiyama was the first such lo-cation to be certified in the NPO’s inaugural inspection in April 2006.

A wide variety of experiences await in the city, including walking and yoga in the summer and trekking come winter time. About 1,500 people visit each year, mainly women in their 30s and 40s.

Located in a region with heavy snowfall, skiing used to be the city’s main tourist attraction in the winter, but the ski boom ended and tourist numbers have been falling year by year. However, the city government has expressed high expectations as forest therapy has been an effective draw in luring summertime tourists.

Fees change according to the seasons, but prices generally hover at about ¥15,000 for a two-day, one-night stay.

One of the more popular courses among middle-aged couples and women includes health checks in a city hospital, followed by nutritionally balanced, low-salt lunches.

“I hope visitors will take a second look at their everyday lifestyles by spending time in forests and using their five senses,” said Kenichi Takano, 37, manager of the Nabekura Kogen Mori no Ie accommodation facility.

Pilgrims making their way down the steps to the Nachi waterfall

Ancient pilgrimage By Eiko Negishi

TSU—In January, the city government of Owase and other munici-palities in Mie Prefecture began organizing walking tours on Kumano Kodo, an ancient pilgrimage route that is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range, a World Heritage site.

Owase has been troubled by a declining population, prompting municipalities to promote walking tours as a beneficial activity for good health and beauty.

The city government and Mie University in Tsu jointly researched the health effects of walking on Kumano Kodo for three years, beginning in 2009. Results indicated that walking on stone pavements surrounded by greenery can reduce stress, based on data gathered from electrocardiograms and saliva analysis on participants.

The tours are guided by instructors who are well-versed not only in Kumano Kodo but also in healthy walking methods for effectively burning calories.

Twelve people participated in one of the February tours, in which participants walked through Magose Toge mountain pass on Kumano Kodo. They walked for about 4½ hours, occasionally lying down on big rocks.

Shrines 8): Types Pt 1

March 16, 2014 / John D.

The following is an abridged extract from Shinto Shrines by Joseph Cali and John Dougill, published by the University of Hawaii Press. The illustrations are by Geoff Cioti.

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Building types

While there are a number of building types, they fall into two categories. The first is a generic type not necessarily associated with any single shrine. The second is usually named after the shrine where the style originated. The second category may extend to no more than a handful of shrines in the same geographic location.

Shinmei-zukuri: A type of construction associated with the rice storehouse and dating from the Yayoi period. A decorated bronze mirror from the fourth century depicts a similar style of building. It is a structure raised on stilts, with the floor level several feet above ground. It uses round wooden pillars between which boards are laid horizontally to form the walls.

The wood is unpainted but copper or gold-plated hardware is used. There is a gabled roof that extends beyond the walls on all four sides. The roof is finished with katsuogi and chigi that form a V above the roofline.

The entrance is in the center on the non-gabled side, under the eaves, reached by a steep wooden ladderlike stair. There are no other doors or windows. On the gabled side, one pillar extends from the center of the roof ridge down to the ground, exterior to the wall. The pillars are buried directly in the ground.

At some point, the architecture of the storehouse became the model for this style of shrine. The chief example is Ise Jingu in Mie Prefecture.

Taisha-zukuri: A type of honden building that probably derived from the house (miya) of the village headman, who was responsible for performing rites for the kami.

The basic style is considered one of the oldest building types. It has a symmetrical gable roof with the gable on the front. The building is two-bays wide with the entrance in the front-right bay.

The left bay has shitomido doors that are split horizontally with the upper half hinged at the top and opening upward, while the bottom half is removable. A veranda encircles the building, and stairs as wide as the entrance lead to ground level.

Another characteristic of the style is the gabled roof over the stairs, which follows its steep angle. The chief example of the style is Izumo Taisha in Shimane Prefecture.

Nagare-zukuri: This is probably the most common style of honden construction, found all around the country. The name means “flowing style,” and it is characterized by an asymmetric, upward-curving, gabled roof. The “flowing” roofline gives the style its name. The entrance is always in the center of the non-gabled side, and the roof there extends well past the wall to cover the veranda. It creates a full-width portico, sometimes with additional square pillars going from ground level up to the extended roof to support it along the eave (especially where the center section has been further extended to cover the stairs). A veranda wraps around three sides. A variation called ryonagare-zukuri has an extended roof on both front and back sides.