Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of JapanPraying for practical benefits (genze riyaku) is a common religious activity in Japan. Despite its widespread nature and the vast numbers of people who pray and purchase amulets and talismans for everything from traffic safety and education success to business prosperity and protection from disease, the practice has been virtually ignored in academic studies or relegated to the margins as a uh_product of superstition or an aberration from the true dynamics of religion. Basing their work on a fusion of textual, ethnographic, historical, and contemporary studies, the authors of this volume demonstrate the fallacy of such views, showing that, far from being marginal, the concepts and practices surrounding genze riyaku lie at the very heart of the Japanese religious world. They thrive not only as popular religious expression but are supported by the doctrinal structures of most Buddhist sects, are ordained in religious scriptures, and are promoted by monastic training centers, shrines, and temples. |
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... Belief , and Prayer Good Luck ( koun ) and Moral Luck ( kaiun ) 94 97 100 102 107 108 Material Spirituality 115 Social Welfare and Repayment of Gratitude 120 Materialism , Selfishness , and Prayers for All 123 Belief and Disbelief in ...
... Believing she was about to be told she would have to leave the company , she entered in trepidation - only to hear her boss say that since she was a devoted and model worker , the company wanted her to stay on and become a senior in ...
... beliefs cor- rupted the idea to include material pleasures.7 The Nichiren scholar Asai Endō characterizes the new religions as being devoid of doc- trine and having only methods for magical healing ; he criticizes the Sōka Gakkai in ...
... beliefs , teachings , and doctrines , it is inap- propriate as a term of analysis for situations where customs ... belief , but of practice and action . Thus we readily use the term " religion " to describe the is- sues we are ...
... belief in a specific faith , continues to have some resonance in con- temporary Japan ( as does the term " religion " in English - speaking cul- tures ) , in scholastic terms it has far broader meanings that incor- porate ritual , folk ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |