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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... worshiping the partic- ular kami venerated within the particular Shinto organization and hence affirming the close relationship between faith and the acquisi- tion of practical benefits.38 The Shintō Kotohirakyō ( a sect or kyōha Shinto ...
... worship would lead to the acquisition of their grace and benevolence : as befits his position as a Buddhist priest and guardian of a number of sacred images , a priest whose role at the temple was to perform such rituals of supplication ...
... worship . The Ichibata Yakushi Kyōdan as an independent Buddhist sect affirms the importance of genze riyaku as a central point of its doctrines ( kyōgi ) : 51 benefits are , as the priest affirmed , the result of faith , and the sect's ...
... worship at the temple . Matsumoto writes as follows : One thing I would like to state here is that there are some people who say that praying for this - worldly benefits such as the healing of illness and business prosperity is not true ...
... worship that have been closely associated with so - called high or elite culture ( and have subsequently been desig- nated as National Treasures ( kokuhō ) or Important Cultural Proper- ties ( jūyō bunkazai ) have often been regarded as ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |