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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... Teachings Benefits as Divine Blessings : The Flower Garland Sutra Benefits as Windfall : Fujii Masao Benefits as Objectives : Iijima Yoshiharu Benefits as Concession and Mystery : Öchō Enichi Benefits as Folk Syncretism : Tsuruoka ...
... teachings , and doctrines , it is inap- propriate as a term of analysis for situations where customs , practices ... teaching , not necessarily even of belief , but of practice and action . Thus we readily use the term " religion " to ...
... teachings , by contrast , are given little prominence.12 Numerous studies of folk practices and be- liefs are considered to come under the rubric of shukyō ( religion ) : Shinno Toshikazu's Nihon yugyō shūkyōron , for example , which is ...
... teachings . This is usually done within the context of emphasizing the importance of worshiping the partic- ular kami venerated within the particular Shinto organization and hence affirming the close relationship between faith and the ...
... teachings expressed in the ma- jor scriptural traditions that have shaped Japanese religious history— notably Buddhism , its textual traditions , and the doctrinal formula- tions they have imparted but also Shinto and the mythic ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |