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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... efficacy and the religious power it signified . Thus she was constantly reassured by the amulets in her car , and this contributed to her peace of mind when driving . The practical benefit , the riyaku , of traffic safety was also a ...
... efficacious providers of benefits . Within Japanese religion in general , there is no substantial gulf be- tween what the clergy said and did , what the elites wanted and expe- rienced in their religion , and what the people did ...
... efficacy of the text that is important in creating the correct en- vironment in which efficacious religious results may occur . Second , one should not assume that just because sutras are in- toned as ritual formulas the people reciting ...
... efficacy of specific religious centers , statues , deities , and saints contain an intrinsically moral dimension that asserts correct and in- correct modes of behavior and , frequently , demonstrates the negative side of benefits lost ...
... efficacy of the benefits they can provide , religious institutions and movements are effectively making truth claims that mark them out from their rivals . In Chapter 7 we develop this focus on the selling of religion by examining a ...
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Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan Ian Reader,George J. Tanabe No preview available - 1998 |