#shugendo

[redsamuraiii]

Kumano: The Practice of Shugendo - Japanology Plus | NHK World Japan

Join the host as he get to know the practitioners of Shugendo known as the Yamabushi, who push themselves to the limit, trekking through the Kumano mountainside in pursuit of spiritual purification.

Shugendo is a syncretic religion combining elements of Shinto and Buddhism with Taoism, animist beliefs, and shamanistic practices played out on some of Japan’s most sacred mountains.

[tenjin-no-shinja]

Introduction

The Japanese Religious Blend Known as Shugendo

Though less widely known or practiced today than Buddhism or Shinto, shugendo was once a major force in Japan...Its practitioners, called shugenja, once provided the healing and spiritual services required by isolated communities. They also organized commercial markets and guided worshippers on pilgrimage...known more commonly as yamabushi (“one who lies down in the mountain”), were itinerant, usually unordained monks.

—Pages 24-25

Their struggle for enlightenment is embodied in their most important gods, Fudo Myō-o and Zao Gongen. Zao is a Japanese deity who first appeared on Mount Yoshino, where En no Gyoja was performing a thousand-day ascetic practice. The story recorded in a thirteenth-century work says that the Buddha appeared to him in turn as Shakyamuni, Kannon, and Maitreya. En no Gyoja rejected this, saying that the visage was too gentle for converting the evil world to Buddhism. So the god was transformed into the terrible figure of Zao with his arm raised in anger, his foot poised to strike the ground, his eyes ablaze, and flames shooting up around him.

—Page 25

Confucianism and Its Impact on Religion and Governance 

...The greatest impact was on the ruling elite, who adopted its five tenets on the proper relationships between ruler and vassal; parent and child; husband and wife; elder and younger sibling; and friends...It includes a code of morality that emphasizes truthfulness, intelligence, sincerity, virtuousness, and obedience. The emphasis in Japan on ancestor worship, praying in front of an urn holding the ashes of the deceased, and the idea of heavenly and earthy kami are also influences of Confucianism.

—Pages 25-26

...In pre-medieval times it acted as a philosophical underpinning to kami worship, providing instruction on the proper way to live. Such considerations were lacking in kami worship—which was primarily oriented toward ritual for protecting the state and the emperor, protecting the crops from damage, and protecting the community from plagues and other forms of disaster. Though the Kojiki and Nihon shoki contain some limited moral allegory, there is nothing in the way of an ethical doctrine. Because Confucianism had few deities of its own, there was no obstacle to Shinto importing its precepts from the standpoint of belief in kami. Conversely, as a systematic and practical philosophy concerned with the reality of the world, Confucianism had little patience with religion... The anti-Buddhist bias found an ally in Shinto during the late Edo period.

—Page 26

The Japanese style of Divination Called Onmyodo

...In essence, onmyodo is Japanese divination based primarily on a combination of Chinese, five phase (or five-element) theory and yin/yang. The latter is a cosmology of balance between constantly cycling opposites, embodied in the familiar black and white symbol called the tai-ji...Five-phase theory is based on the “elements” of  water, fire, wood, earth, and metal.  The theory extended to every aspect of the physical world.  For example, what was identified with birth, Jupiter, the east and so on. Knowledge of the proper use of materials, colors, or sounds could produce the correct alignment of forces and a positive outcome to any endeavor.

—Page 27

Shinto Today

...Shinto has no council of leaders deciding how doctrines should be interpreted or how they should be applied to present-day moral or political issues. There are no dictates about what one should or shouldn’t believe, but there are practices aimed at developing the right way to live, which can be described as developing purity of heart, brightness of character, thankfulness, and reverence for the kami. The positive or negative influence of the kami on daily life is considered the result of our reverence or neglect of them. Importance is placed on the correct ritual acts toward the kami and the correct attitude toward life. There are also accepted practices on the proper rate to venerate the gods in general and for venerating specific deities at specific locations. As far as the general public goes, such acts will usually involve the type of simple visitation and prayer described previously...

—Page 29

The Shinto Priesthood

Many Shinto priests serve only part time and many serve voluntarily. They are not cloistered, do not wear priestly garb outside of official duties and are free to marry. There are approximately twenty-two thousand licensed priests serving about eighty thousand shrines. This means that about two-thirds of all shrines are unmanned on a full-time basis. There are also certain rites traditionally performed by community members, most of which are related to festivals; however cleaning and daily offerings are also performed by them at unmanned shrines.

—Page 30

The daily schedule begins with cleaning the shrine grounds and buildings early in the morning. After that, a ceremony of the daily offering of food and drink for the kami is conducted, including reading of the Oharae no kotoba (purification prayer). First the area and the participants are purified in a ceremony called shubatsu. Offerings are placed on small tables within the haiden, on the steps in front of the honden, or some other designated place. They will usually consist of a rice wine called miki, rice, salt, and water. The food offering, called shinsen, is made once in the morning and possibly once in the evening, depending on the shrine. On special feast days mochi, fish, seaweed, vegetables, fruit, and confections may also be offered. The offerings are withdrawn in the evening and thanks given for divine protection.

—Pages 30-31

[kanmuritravels]

Sanbutsu-ji Setsubun Ceremony Mitoku-san, Tottori Prefecture, Japan

[zeldagrove]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[crazyfox-archives]

Yamabushi mountain ascetics praying at the Yakiyama Kōjindō (八鬼山荒神堂), a modest chapel enshrining the fire & hearth deity Sanbō-Kōjin (三宝荒神) at the top of Yakiyama Mountain (八鬼山) in Owase, Mie Prefecture

Photo from a November 5, 2022 article in the Chunichi Shimbun

[rasenkaikyo]

it's giving

[arcthebreeder]

Digital Monster Entry (DME)

Name: Kuzuhamon

(lit. Legendary White Kitsune Monster)

Stage: Ultimate

Attribute: Data

Type: God Man

A God Man type, Ultimate level Digimon that is said to be a Fox-species digimon that lived long, and transformed to take a humanoid form, is said that only those among them of a high level are able to evolve into a digimon more powerful than Kuzuhamon, it is versed into Shinto, Omnyōdō and Shugendō. A signle Kuda-Gitsune lurks within the pipe it carries on the belt around its waist, and it is able to employ this Kuda-Gitsune to use it for things like attacking and gathering information, Its signature moves are the following:

• Using the Kuda-Gitsune it carries on its waist to attack the opponent, an attack called Ura Izuna.

• Spreading a purifying barrier with its Shakujou staff that exorcises evil spirits, the Taizōkai Mandala.

[cookinguptales]

Happy Halloween!!!!! Trick or treeeat

Happy Halloween!

This trick is really kind of morbid, so I’ll put it under a cut even though I didn’t post any graphic photos.

So I talked a little bit before about sokushinbutsu, but to summarize, it’s a practice in esoteric Buddhism/Shugendo that involves self-mummification. The process would be started while the practitioner was still alive. Over the course of about a decade, they’d increase their spiritual intake (through meditation) and decrease their physical intake of food and water. They’d start by switching entirely to a diet of seeds, nuts, pine needles, etc. found on the mountain where they were doing this. This diet would strip away most of their fatty tissue, which was necessary for the preservation process. They’d also reduce their water intake to dry themselves out.

Things get a bit harder to read here, so fair warning.

In Yamagata, the region I was in, there are more successfully preserved sokushinbutsu than anywhere else, and this is partially due to the culture of it there in the mountains and partially due to the environment. The spring water there has large amounts of arsenic, which helped preserve the bodies. There were also lacquer trees that, instead of being used to lacquer bowls, could be turned into a highly toxic tea that would — well, sort of lacquer the internal organs. This water and tea would be the only things consumed after a while.

After about a decade of this, the body would be very, very frail. With the help of other monks, the aspiring sokushinbutsu would be lowered into a hole in the ground, which would be covered up, only a bamboo tube providing air from the outside. The person would be given a bell, which he would ring to alert the others that he was still alive — until he wasn’t. When the bell stopped ringing, the bamboo tube would be removed.

A few years later, they would return and disinter the body. If it had preserved, it was a successful sokushinbutsu and would be given a place of honor in a temple. If not, it would be reinterred.

Now… why would a person do this? It’s such an agonizing process. The answer lies, I think, in the concept of a bodhisattva in Buddhism, or a person who has achieved enlightenment but then chooses to return to humanity to help others. I think this is a similar idea. Sokushinbutsu means living Buddha, and that’s what’s really going on here. The practitioner achieves enlightenment through self-sacrifice, and is then able to help others in this state. They, in effect, are transforming themselves into bodhisattva while remaining here on earth.

The sokushinbutsu at Dainichibo temple in Yamagata is named Shinnyokai. When you visit the tiny temple out in the countryside, nestled at the base of the sacred mountain Yudonosan, you are greeted by a monk who will be happy to sit you down and explain the history of the temple and its treasures. He’ll tell you about the founding of the temple and its statuary. He’ll tell you about the period when Shinto and Buddhism coexisted in syncretic harmony in Japan and how they were forcibly torn apart during the Meiji Restoration. He’ll tell you about the 1800-year-old cedar tree outside and the sword next to you that was once owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu. And he’ll tell you about Shinnyokai, who wanted to save people from a bitter famine, who once tore his own eye out to pray for the healing of eye diseases, and who eventually turned himself into a sokushinbutsu for the salvation of all.

It’s a bit of propaganda, maybe, but most legends are. His real life is much more disputed, and in some disreputable ways. But when I visited Dainichibo last week, that’s the story that I was told before being brought in to see him.

I didn’t take photos, for obvious reasons. The general rule in Japan is that you can take photos of the outside of a temple, but nothing inside, where the sacred relics are. And on Yudonosan, particularly sacred, you’re not even allowed to speak of what’s enshrined there.

Down at the base of Yudonosan, though, we can at least speak of what’s in the temple. But uh. We certainly can’t take pictures.

Pictures do exist, though, if you’re curious, and just googling Dainichibo in Yamagata should bring them up. He’s one of the most famous and well-preserved sokushinbutsu in Japan, and I think there’s an odd beauty to this living Buddha — who, in the words of the monks at Dainichibo, is not a mummy. I look at him an I wonder if there’s anything I believe in so much to go through all that. I wonder what it’s like to love something that much.

I don’t know if I admire it or if it scares me.

Still… I do have one photo for you. They change Shinnyokai’s robes every six years, and scraps of those robes are put into omamori charms for people who come all the way out there to pray at his side. They’re said to be protective. The monk said he keeps his in his pocket at all times, but I just put mine in a small compartment in my backpack.

Who knows? Maybe it’ll work. Such things are above my pay grade. But going out to visit Dainichibo was a fascinating experience, and I highly recommend the stop to anyone doing the Dewa Sanzan. The monks are very welcoming.

[jchboom]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[hylasims]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[ulftorio]

自宅寒行の後半からお大師様が出てきてはいたが、 結局、 密教・曼荼羅かい という大まかな答えが出て 越後お山に向かうことに。 入る前に答えが出るとはね。 日本が本格的におかしくなったのもこの分離論争からだ。 これは単なる偶然とは思えない。 #神仏習合 #両部神道 #加持 #神道 #仏教 #道教 #修験道 #寒行 #御嶽山 #八海山 #湯河原 #japan #shugendo https://www.instagram.com/p/CoHmznVJR2v/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[wisdomquesting]

The Heart Sutra

 What is a Sutra? A sutra is a Sanskrit term that means “thread” or “string.” The Heart Sutra is an ancient Sanskrit text, originating in India around 1800 years ago, and has been a profound source of spiritual wisdom and guidance for generations.

 This scripture encourages us to have a balanced view of life, to have compassion, and to recognize our connection with the universe and its energies. It urges us to be mindful, and aware, and to harmonize our thoughts, words, and actions with universal truths. The sutra suggests that the path to enlightenment is through understanding the emptiness of all phenomena and that this is the way to liberation. The word “path” here is important because it is the path that provides wisdom, as wisdom denotes applied knowledge. Knowledge alone is just that, knowledge alone. Applied knowledge is the way we as humans experience “the path”.  Moreover, applied knowledge-bearing wisdom urges us to be in tune with ourselves and the laws of nature, helping humanity to avoid attachment to material things, and to recognize the interconnectedness of all beings allowing us to comprehend the nature of the universe and the divine.

 The Heart Sutra is like a guide map directing us toward spiritual knowledge and liberation. It is also a source of comfort, like a warm embrace in the chill of a cold night. I see the Heart Sutra as a lighthouse, guiding us to safety in the midst of a stormy sea; an ancient map whose spirit constantly updates itself and guides us through treacherous waters providing us direction just as a compass helps us to reach our desired destination. The Heart Sutra is a powerful tool that can help us find our way to happiness and a heart-filled compassionate life.

[tenjin-no-shinja]

Kuya no Taki

I often went hiking with meetup groups in Japan during the summer. We went to this beautiful waterfall on Mt. Atago. The mountain is a sacred space for Shugendō, with the divine protector of the mountain being a kami called Atago Gongen.

This particular waterfall was fascinating as there were several crevices further up with statues and offerings, and I was told the monks use the metal chains secured to the rocks to climb up the waterfall and replace offerings.

[goldentailedthief]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[crazyfox-archives]

A yamabushi mountain ascetic performing the firewalking rite (火渡り) while blessing a child in tow at Gangōji Temple (元興寺) in Nara

Image from the temple’s official website