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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... provide , while the whole thrust of Shinto mythology and legends , as set out in texts such as the Kojiki , speaks of the role of Shinto deities ( kami ) in providing the good things that contribute to fruitful human life . Introduction 13.
... kami venerated within the particular Shinto organization and hence affirming the close relationship between faith and the acquisi- tion of practical benefits.38 The Shintō Kotohirakyō ( a sect or kyōha Shinto organization based on ...
... ( kami ) and bud- dhas , as well as ancestral spirits and spirits of powerful humans who have become deities after death . It also includes the idea that such spirits can confer protection and success on the living and that peti- tioning ...
... kami and temples that are mostly reserved for buddhas and bodhisattvas . The Buddhist and Shinto religions , while they count each other as close friends , are still largely segregated and normally allow only their own deities on their ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |