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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... Wishes and Social Requests 68 2 Scripture and Benefits This - Worldly Promises : The Lotus Sutra Benefits in Early Buddhist Teachings Benefits as Divine Blessings : The Flower Garland Sutra Benefits as Windfall : Fujii Masao Benefits as ...
... wish to thank the many priests who assisted in our work by giving interviews , respond- ing to our questions , and providing materials related to their institu- tions . We would like to thank the countless worshippers and visitors at ...
... wishes to thank the Japan Foundation Research Committee for funds ( JFEC grant 843 ) for a research visit to Japan in 1995 , and the Leverhulme Trust for a grant that enabled him to carry out the survey of Shikoku pilgrims ' prayer ...
... wish to stay on at her company beyond her thirtieth birthday . One day , some months before her birthday , she was summoned to the office of her section head . Believing she was about to be told she would have to leave the company , she ...
... wish to do so can legitimize the apparent accretions and assimilations from the folk tradition and therefore reaffirm many of the notions about high religion as opposed to popu- lar and folk religion , notions advanced in the critiques ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |