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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Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader, George J. Tanabe. explain the king's lack of a higher understanding and thereby to pre- serve what otherwise would have to be regarded as a degenerate interpretation . The ...
Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader, George J. Tanabe. in this proselytization the established religions and their institutions proclaim a similar underlying meaning as that of the religion the office lady ...
Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader, George J. Tanabe. i ate sense of the weight of otherworldly as opposed to this - worldly views - than the situation demands . The second point is that the practice of seeking ...
Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader, George J. Tanabe. tually increased it : each accident without injury was a reaffirmation of the amulet's efficacy and the religious power it signified . Thus she was ...
Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader, George J. Tanabe. also to issues of faith , its development , and its intensification . It is also in many respects associated with notions of salvation ( kyūsai ) , which may ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |