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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 31
... widely re- garded as an integral feature of the new religions and a crucial factor in their appeal to a wide audience both in their initial stages of de- velopment and in their subsequent growth . The earliest religious power of ...
... widely recognized . Explained in texts such as the Lotus Sutra , the concept asserts that Buddhism , in its drive toward universal truth and the establishment of the unchanging Buddhist law that can bring full enlightenment to all ...
... widely known for the benefit of healing eye problems and has been at various times in the past affiliated with different Buddhist sects - first the Tendai sect and then the Myōshinji branch of the Rinzai Zen Bud- dhist sect . In the ...
... widely recognized in academic studies that categorical divisions do not always work in practice . In his comprehensive study of medieval English Catholicism , for example , Eamon Duffy has noted that " no substantial gulf existed be ...
... widely recognized , action and ritual are intrinsic to Asian religion in general and to Japanese religion in particular . The pursuit of benefits is a basic religious ac- tivity expressed through the performance of rituals and actions ...
Other editions - View all
Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |