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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... sect or kyōha Shinto organization based on Kotohira Shrine in Shikoku ) , for in- stance , affirms that through reverence for its kami , and through prayer at their shrines , one can attain such benefits as being blessed with children ...
... sects - first the Tendai sect and then the Myōshinji branch of the Rinzai Zen Bud- dhist sect . In the modern era it separated itself from the Rinzai Myōshinji sect and became the main temple of an independent Bud- dhist sect , the ...
... sect in the sixteenth century and in 1954 became head temple of an independent sect of Nichiren Buddhism , known as Saijō Înarikyō . The temple is famous as a center for praying for worldly benefits , and this has been a constant factor ...
... sects . The " elite " monks who read their Buddhist sutras were quite clearly aware , because the texts reiterate it so often , that their religion specifically promises practical benefits and offers ritu- als and other practices ...
... sect who is in certain ways the paragon of benefactors . In Chapter 5 we turn our attention to practice and the ways in which people petition for benefits . Besides considering the forms such actions take , we look at some of the ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |