Throughout history, a wide variety of differing cultures and religions have developed and created a unique way of life for the people that practice them. One in particular is a Japanese tradition, specifically Shintoism. The primary belief is that its followers must pray to the gods or their ancestors in times of trouble in order to reach their own personal fulfillments. This religion demonstrates how god “assists” those who ask for help, or in other words, gives them some sense of hope during rough times. A statement about religion that relates to this is Ludwig Feuerbach definition of religion, “God, I have said, is the fulfiller, or the reality, of the human desires for happiness, perfection, and immortality.” By including this quote it develops a comparison between Shintoism belief and Feuerbach’s definition. Both which provide a deeper understanding of religions today. …show more content…
They make sacrifices and offerings to any form of what they believe to be a higher being in an attempt to bring greater fortune among themselves. Those who follow this religion do this since they are taught that there is more to the world than just what they understand. The invisible world is what the Shinto religion calls this other realm. Here is where both gods and spirits take action towards those seeking guidance. For some cases, those who have prayed to their ancestors and gods receive what they were looking for, while others have their prayers unheard. While some may perceive this as an act that there prayers were answered others find misfortune. Both find reason to believe that spirits and higher beings caused these actions but according to Feuerbach, people only comprehend it this way in order to have greater reasoning for events in their lives other than natural
Pyysiainen, I. (2003). Buddhism, religion, and the concept of "god." Numen, 50(2), 147-171. Retrieved from the JSTOR database.
The author’s theory about the peoples’ belief in divine intervention is that the poorest existence is attributed to God’s will, but as their materilistic life and styke get better, God descends the scale of responsibility at a consumerate speed.
Human search for meaning in Shinto is based off of their beliefs, rituals, origins and culture. There are four components that make up the Shinto human search of meaning, Simplicity, one with the world, peace within the world and the individual journey to self-discovery and potential. Simplicity refers to the lack of scripture, rules and expectations the individual to interpret hoe they are to live their lives. Peace with the world is to be what the individual interprets to be the best person they can have an optimistic approach to the world encouraging world peace and peace within themselves. One with the world refers to the immanent nature of the religion, the way the world is viewed individually contributing to their connection with the
The supernatural powers and deities of Shinto are Kami. Kami are not Gods but spirits that intervene with humans that do not live in a separate dimension but in the same dimension as humans. Kami can take form of elements of nature such as rivers, mountains, storms and earthquakes but they were also the deities that created the universe as stated in their holy text. They can also be spirits that take the form of the living and the souls of humans that have demonstrated outstanding achievement (such as soldiers that gave up their lives for war, emperors and leaders) becoming Kami after their death. Kami are also the ancestors and protectors of human beings. Kami can also influence the course of nature and events of humans. They like the human
Kanetomo’s description of Honjaku-engi reveals that this type of Shinto was heavily influenced by the shrine traditions during that time. Based on Kanetomo’s definition of Honjaku-engi, I believe that this type of Shinto connects people with their spirituality through shrine rituals. By passing down the stories, secrets, and rituals of the Kami worshipped at the shrine, worshippers are able to connect the physical world with the spiritual world (Debary 352).
“Religion deals with daily living as well as the ultimate source, meaning and goal of life.”
Firstly, the traditions within Shintoism were important to help the Japanese people to connect with their ancestors and the nature around them. The word ‘Shinto’ itself means way of the gods. It is as old as the Japanese culture and was the only religion in Japan until the 6th century. According to the Shinto religion, there exists a basic life force called kami. Kami are close to human beings and respond to human prayers. They can influence the course of natural forces, and human events. Shinto tradition says that there are eight million kami in Japan. Due to their deep respect and love for nature and Japan itself, many shrines were set up in places of natural beauty. Followers went to pray here to receive good fortune and samurai would often go to the shrines to pray for victory before and after battle. Shinto’s traditions involved having a clean lifestyle. They washed and bathed everyday which made most of japan a fresh
Religion and faith play numerous roles in people’s lives. From being a unifying factor to alienating people, and from comforting people to terrifying others, the roles of religion is vast and boundless. In The Crucible and “Upon the Burning of Our House”, it is evident that religion and faith play a subconscious role in the lives of people by acting as an inner conscience and by giving people a spiritual peace of mind.
People all over the world experience suffering in all forms. Because of this suffering, and because of the lack of knowledge about what is to come, many people feel the need for guidance in this life. That one religion could be a better path of spiritual guidance than another
In his view it serves psychological functions for individuals helping them cope with emotional stress that would undermine social solidarity. He argues that death is the main reason for religious beliefs and identifies two types of situations: where the outcome is important but uncontrollable and thus uncertain and at times of life crises events such as birth, death etc. religion helps to minimise disruption.
What purpose does religion serve? Why does religion continue to play an important role in human life? Koenig (2009) declared that atheism is rare, and rather, 90% of the world’s population practices religion or spirituality. Religion and spirituality have ambiguous meanings and are not universally defined. Although difficult to adequately define, Koenig (2009) inferred that “religion is rooted in an established tradition that arises out of a group of people with common beliefs and practices concerning the sacred” (p. 284). Spirituality, however, is often defined on an individual basis and not necessarily connected to religious beliefs (Koenig, 2009). Researchers often relate spirituality to personal interaction with spiritual entities
Shinto and Buddhism are two different traditions that have flourished in Japan for hundreds of years. Generally, followers from one of the traditions tend to follow the guidance of the other as well, which makes the relationship between Shinto and Buddhism very rare in world religions. At first, when these two traditions contacted each other in ancient Japan, there was a lot of confusion, but eventually they were able to coexist. However, even though Buddhism and Shinto share similarities regarding flexibility and independence, there are more differences between them proven by Buddhism’s spread to ancient Japan, their contrasting practices and beliefs and the different outlooks on the afterlife.
Feuerbach believes that religion has it’s built in destruction and that it will give way to humans being able to believe in our own capabilities. He writes,"If man is to find contentment in God, he must find himself in God." (The Essence of Christianity). Religion is humanity’s consciousness of themselves as beings and therefore humans are God. When Feuerbach says “religion is the alienation of man from
Religion emerges from the human susceptibility for protection and use it as a tool for liberation from the bitter realities and perplexities of the world. “Religious ideas are teachings and pronouncements about facts and states of external (or internal) reality that convey something one has not discovered for oneself and which assert the right to be believed” (Freud 88). We must object to religious claims because there is no proof to substantiate them and merely ideas we follow for generations. Religious ideas are beyond the control of reasoning, as if we don’t validate our beliefs and behave that our beliefs have a substantial basis of support. Religious ideas are teachings, not the thought that
deities act “harmoniously” with one another. Nature, in turn, is a vital part of both the spiritual world and the human world; “Japanese love and reverence for nature lies at the root of Shinto”. For many other religions, this is not the case. For Western religions, the “Creator and the created, and the human and natural realms” do not relate with one another immediately. The Shinto religion can again be seen acting in a more spiritual way than any other religion. The spirituality of Shinto and its people can be expressed further: