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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... Pilgrimage and the Pursuit of Benefits 199 Social Organizations and the Pursuit of Benefits : Kō and Kaisha 201 The Dynamics of Practice 204 6 Selling Benefits : The Marketing of Efficacy and Truth 206 Creating a Religious Department ...
... pilgrims ' prayer requests discussed in Chapter 5. George Tanabe gratefully acknowledges the support of the University of Hawai'i Japan Studies Endowment , which is funded by a grant from the Japa- nese government . From the beginning ...
... pilgrimage , wandering ascetics , folk legends , and miracle stories , and Miyata Noboru and Tsukamoto Manabu's edited volume Minkan shinkō to minzoku shūkyō , which discusses shamanism , the role of the gods in providing worldly ...
... Pilgrims were certainly motivated by the promises in texts and stories associated with Kannon that they could attain this - worldly salvation through journeying to the region of Fudaraku.54 Faith in Kannon is based on her ability to ...
... Pilgrimages developed as a lay religious activity during the Heian era , at which time the practice was especially associated with the up- per echelons of society : many of the pilgrims were aristocrats and ( especially in the pilgrimages ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |