#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.

[kanmuritravels]

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

[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

[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.

[jchboom]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[hylasims]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[goldentailedthief]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[cutestuffsims]

Misty path to Dewa Sanzan temples, Japan

[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.

[genkinahito]

26-ji 13-bu, Spring in Between, Boku no Machi wa Ofuro ga Atsukute Maizokin ga Dete Ramen ga Umai., Ikuharu Kakete Oi Yukan Kajin Baba Akiko no Hibi, Itan no Jun'ai, Shugendo Renaissance, Takumi-kun Shiri-zu Nagai Nagai Monogatari Hajimari no Asa, Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend The Cannes Film Festival is still in effect and it has been interesting collecting views on the films playing. Monster by Hirokazu Kore-eda came out of the gate strong with solid reviews but it was soon eclipsed by Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest. The other big Japanese film, Kubi, has also received mixed reviews and while Western critics have fallen over themselves to praise…

[am-euno]

Fan Pseudo-Servants (Atlas, Sinmara, Zao Gongen)

They all play different roles, but I think I need to update Kirschtaria’s sheet soon because that was an outdated and messy concept from 2021– though I already posted illustrations of him here before ^_^

Ophelia needed a knight, but she became one herself. Surtr’s affection for her made him gift her Laeveteinn, making her its new keeper, and Sinmara was summoned “within” her as a resulr.

Pepe-san’s design is my most recent work out of these three :) Their class betrays their manifestation as they essentially break their oath that this would be their final life. The patron god of Shugendo, Zao Gongen, is the avatar of three Shinto interpretation of Buddhist deities

I hope to keep making Crypter fanservants because I miss them every day. I don’t want Kirschtaria to be alone :’)

More fanservants to come in the future, this time more original ones!

[akkivee]

so kuukou as a tengu and why it’s neat from a buddhism point lol

monks who practice shugendo, mountain asceticism, are called yamabushi!!!! for these monks, mountains are revered as gods and symbolic of the buddha and do all of their ascetic training in the mountains and practice worship using nature itself!!!!

when yamabushi monks begin their ascetic training, it’s their belief that they’re going thru a reincarnation. the yamabushi typically when training wear white for this reason; in jp, when you die, you’re dressed in white robes, but it’s also true that when you’re born, you’re swaddled in white clothing. that white is both purity and symbolic of the reincarnation you go thru starting your mountain training

some aspects of that mountain training are food and sleep deprivation. by pushing oneself to the limits of human life, it’s there humans find incredible power within themselves is the belief. once upon a time ago lol, many became shugendo practitioners to try to unlock supernatural abilities

for these monks, tengu, who are depicted protectors of buddhism, traverse the mountains with ease and come with supernatural powers, are kinda like the ideal beings for the yamabushi lol

and so lol!!!! you have kuukou!!!!! whose temple resides in the mountains!!!!!! practices his asceticism by depriving himself of food and sleep and meditates amongst nature!!!!! has been described as pure and sings of reincarnation!!!! he’s even supernaturally powerful!!!! and is doing his best to make buddhism thrive in new ways, thusly protecting his religion lol!!!!

kuukou is a tengu!!!!!!