Tag: Daoism

Setsubun is here

February 2, 2020 / John D. / 0 Comments

Posted on February 2, 2020 by John D.

Shops have been doing a good trade in kits for domestic rites, when you get to throw beans at your family!

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when we get to look towards the promise of spring and try to rid ourselves of winter demons/ Here are five points of note about the seasonal festivity. For those mystified by what is going on, there are links below explaining about the reasons for the bean-throwing, or simply use the search or Categories buttons to the right and check out the many postings for Setsubun.

Green Shinto has covered all the main Setsubun events in Kyoto on previous occasions – except one, at Matsuo Taisha. So tomorrow morning we’ll be setting off to investigate how this ancient Shinto shrine, founded 712, celebrates the spring rite. Meanwhile, here are a few key points for those new to the event.

1) It’s traditional to gather up the scattered beans and eat the same number as your age, plus one for good measure.

2) The date is taken from the old lunar calendar. Because it needed tweaking to keep in alignment with the solar cycle, the year was divided into 24 seasonal sections. The last day of each section was known as ‘setsubun’ (division). One of these ‘setsubun’ came to hold a special place, because it marked the end of winter by coming between two sections, ‘Severe Cold’ and ‘Spring Begins’. It was clearly a time for celebration.

Eating a fat rolled sushi roll (*ehomaki*) in the year’s lucky direction is one of the Setsubun customs.

3) Chasing away the demons at this time was originally a Chinese custom. The change of seasons was seen as a time when the border between the spirit and human world was at its weakest, making it possible to cross more easily from one realm to the other.

A fearful winter demon needing to be chased away with beans

4) The throwing of beans in Japan began during the Muromachi period (15th-16th centuries). It may have been connected with a Noh play in which an old woman is visited by a stranger, who turns out to be a demon. In terror she reaches out for the nearest thing to hand – a handful of dried beans – and hurls them at the devil, who is chased away. (My own supposition here would be that the beans represent life and growth, as against the negativity spread by the demon.)

5) In the Edo period traditional Daoist yin-yang geomancy, with its notion of a lucky direction for each year, brought in the custom of facing that way while eating an entire role of rolled sushi. It’s said to have begun when an Osaka geisha performed the ritual to ensure she would be with her lover. As the rolled sushi combines gifts from land and sea, it’s considered auspicious. (I’ve also been told that the ehousushi [lucky direction sushi] contains seven different ingredients, in line with the Seven Lucky Gods.)

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Why beans? See here to learn why the bean-throwing obsession.

Click here for an account of how the celebrations were carried out in Lafcadio Hearn’s time. Green Shinto has reported on the events in Kyoto on a number of previous occasions: see here, or here, or here.

Bean throwing at Kyoto’s Heian Jingu; spot the beans (and the geisha)

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Taoist links with Shinto

March 29, 2019 / John D. / 9 Comments

3, 5, 7 are lucky numbers in Taoism .

Not many people realise the debt Shinto owes to Taoism. It’s usually asserted that Shinto is the native religion of Japan, as if it is a purely indigenous creation. In fact, up to 70% of modern Shinto rituals are taken from Taoism (also written as Daoism).

Take the divination for instance, which comes from Taoism. Or take the 7-5-3 numerological symbolism which comes from Tao. Or even the mitsu tomoe, symbol of Shinto, which derives from the Taoist triad of heaven, earth and human.

In a youtube video the presenters put forward five general principles of Taoism, which also speak to the core values of ancient Shinto.

1 God and the universal way are beyond comprehension.
In Taoism it is often said that the Way has no name. Similarly in ancient Shinto the kami had no name. They were seen as local manifestations of a universal force that ran through the universe and were beyond understanding. Talking about the incomprehensible is meaningless. That’s why Shinto has no dogma and doctrine. Only as the Yamato state asserted its power through the means of strategically sited shrines did kami take on the names with which we are familiar today.

2) Good and evil are human perceptions, which do not exist in nature
Christians often attack Shinto as being amoral, and Catholic missionaries of the sixteenth century thought it akin to devil worship because the ‘gods’ of Shinto included malicious as well as benevolent aspects. Taoism, like Shinto, recognises that you can’t have good without evil, any more than you can have light without darkness, or truth without falsehood. There is no supreme good, and Amaterasu is not an almighty and all-knowing goddess.

Mitsu tomoe emblem on a Hachiman horse

3) Nature’s laws are heaven’s laws
Taoism looks to nature as the supreme teacher, and Shinto is rooted in kannagara, the way of nature. ‘Heaven follows the way of Tao, and Tao follows the laws of nature,’ says the Tao Te Ching. The consequence that both Tao and ancient Shinto draw from this are similar: ‘living in harmony with the earth, keeping your body healthy, taking care of your family, living a simple natural lifestyle – these are the ways to cultivate contentment, virtue and life,’ runs the Taoist ideal. Similar values are found in ancient Shinto, which put forward the ideals of sincerity, simplicity and naturalness.

4) Karma is self-inflicted
There is no divine punishment by some entity which judges our moral behaviour, but rather natural consequences that flow from our actions. Heaven and the ways of nature are impartial. Selfishness and wrong-doing however result in suffering. You reap what you sow.
(Taoism combines this with a belief in reincarnation, which I think differentiates it from Shinto, where life after death is left to Buddhism and ancestor worship.)

5) All is one
We are all part of one universe and share in the ultimate mystery. Words and the naming of things spread division, but silence and wonder are the natural response. ‘The unity is said to be the Mystery. Mystery of mysteries – the door to all wonders,’ says the Tao Te Ching. Take life as it is, lead a balanced lifestyle, keep healthy, contribute to the community, practise tai chi or aikido, strive for oneness, don’t cultivate the ego. Selflessness. Here Taoism merges with Shinto which merges with Buddhism. All is ultimately one.

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For a 8.30 minute long video of Five Beliefs that Make You Taoist, click here.

Purification rites like this derive from Taoist influence. Simple, healthy, life-affirming immersion in nature.

A multifaith meeting at Ise with Taoists front centre

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.

Zen and Shinto 7: The Dao of Rock

February 27, 2016 / John D. / 1 Comment

Shinto garden by Shigemori Mirei at Matsuo Taisha

In my investigations into Zen this morning, I had something of an epiphany – or perhaps I should say, an awakening. Both Zen and Shinto share roots in Daoism (Taoism). Zen it has been said is the result of Indian Buddhism colliding with Chinese thought. And Shinto was conceived linguistically as shendao – the Way of the Gods. In other words, the thinking behind the Way of the Tao is fundamental to both. As Alan Watts explained in his very last book (1975), Tao is the Watercourse Way, flowing through the universe like an animating force.

Rock worship at Kamigamo Jinja

So, you may ask, if Zen and Shinto both share this in common, why are they so very different in form and belief? Why is one kami-oriented and particularist, while the other is self-oriented and universal? Why does Shinto look to this life, while Zen dwells on another?

Well, the thought struck me that they may not be as different as they seem. Both are after all based on intuitive understanding and repudiate logic and words. Zen prides itself on a transmission outside the scriptures. Shinto has no scriptures. Both in short treasure non-verbal understanding. ‘He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know,’ said Lao-Tzu.

In the Tao Te Ching, it is said the Way can never be known or defined. It can, however, be sensed or experienced, and its principles are observable in Nature. In Zen this is internalised as people seek their true inner nature. In Shinto there is the concept of kannagara, which in effect means following the laws of nature. Both seek the Way, but whereas Zen looks inside, Shinto looks outside. The former goes to the mountains to get closer to self, the latter goes to the mountains for closeness to the kami. And here perhaps is the vital difference between them, for whereas the former is deeply personal, the latter is community oriented. Zen tells you to sit in silence. Shinto encourages communal celebration.

Living rocks at Togakushi Jinja

It may be no coincidence then that both religions treasure rocks. (Landscape architect Shigemori Mirei has done rock gardens for both.) Zen temples are full of rocks in their beloved dry landscape gardens. Shinto shrines are full of sacred rocks, bedecked with shimenawa straw rope or shide paper strips. Rocks in Zen may trigger enlightenment. Rocks in Shinto are sacred vessels into which kami descend. Both religions see them as something more than mere stone – they’re representational, mini-mountains, spirit-bodies. On another level, they’re symbols of silence, of the non-verbal, of the eternal.

Here again Daoism lies at the root. Daoist practitioners went into caves to meditate, and what are caves but hollowed out rock? Significantly, in the Zen garden rocks stand for Mt Horai, the Blessed Isles of the Immortals where Daoist sages live. They may also symbolise moments of time in a vast ocean of raked gravel. And beyond that they symbolise the biggest rock of all, the one on which we’re spinning round the solar system. In this way they’re symbolic of Mother Earth, which, to quote Alan Watts, produced humans in the same way that trees produce apples. We are then the children of rock, because the earth-rock has ‘peopled’ us into existence. When Shinto followers worship rocks, they’re worshipping their ancestors in a very real sense.

It turns out then that in both Zen and Shinto rock is a means to salvation. Don McLean was on the right lines all those years ago. Rock truly will save your mortal soul!

Zen garden by Shigemori Mirei at Zuiho-in, Daitoku-ji with Mt Horai at the far end, from which a peninsula stretches out towards an individual rock, marooned and all at sea.