Welcome to The Religions Page!
Japan's Famous Ancient Religion
In the words of Richard Hooker, nothing says "Japan" like the shinto religion. It was the original religion of japan, and used to be the primary religion in Japan. Although it was the mail religion, it did not originate in Japan. It is a combination of other diverse religions. Since it is so broad, there are many different variations of Shinto, in fact, everyone who believes in it has a different idea of what it is.
The best way to descibe shinto would be an amorphus mix of nature worship, hero worship, divination techniques, and shamanism. Some of the things they celebrate are spring planning, and the fall harvest. The people who practice this religion have a strong sense of gratitude, and an appriciation of life and beauty.
People would have a good time at the festivals, they would not make thier life hard like the buddhists. During the festivals rice, chestnuts and millet would be chewed by the whole village and then spit out into a tub for it to ferment. This was the earliest method of making sake (more can be read on the food page). Sake was a large component of most festivals.
Shinto can be practiced in a shrine. Sometimes, if a shrine has a special history, they will celebrate on signifigant days. There is a famous shrine on the coast of Japan called the Izoma Shrine. In the shrines people worshipped the leaders of their clans, and their gods of Shinto. There is much more to be learned of the history of this religion. Despite all this it is still practiced to this day.
The Journey of Enlightenment
Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century AD, but this was after the religion had existed for over 1000 years. It is still a major world religion that can be found in many countries. Many people from China, India, and Japan are buddhists. Since it was created when there was little communication, the many countries it existed in had their own way of evolving it, so there are different types of Buddhism.
Siddhartha Gautama, known as "The Buddha". He was a young prince, so hewas raised in sheltered luxury. When he turned about 29, he left his luxurious home to go on a "journey of enlightenmen". First off, he started to believe that you were supposed to indulge yourself, and not feel that you are that good of a person. When he found enlightenment, he went everywhere preaching and he formed a group called the sangha. There is nothing left of the buddha, no writing, nothing.
The ultimate goal of the Buddhist is to come out of the "cycle" (birth, death, oldness, etc) to become an enlightened state where greed, hatred, and ignorance do not exist. When you become this, you have entered what is referred to in English as a "nirvana". To acheive nirvana you must practice loving, kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy. So far, the only person to acheive this was the Buddha.
- Different Types -
Zen: Introduced to China in about 520AD, introduced to Japan about 80 years later. Meditation was a big factor in this particular division.
Amida Buddhism: Amida Buddha, known as the buddha of everlasting light, people believed in the Pure Land, a place where you were granted eternal happiness.
Nichiren Buddhism: A very important religion in medievil Japan, and it was the only division of Buddhism that originated in Japan. This sect focused mainly on individual effort.
- The Buddha -
