Humans
In Japan, the word for "religion" under a Western connotation is "shukyo": this is the concept of a religion that is exclusive and that is constant. To identify as religious in a Western sense means one has chosen a specific tradition to follow and follows it all the time, though not necessarily to any certain degree of strictness. One does not celebrate Christmas in December and then Passover in April, all while identifying as Muslim. However, the current religious climate in Japan is just so: many do identify as non-religious all while praying at shrines, or join temples to on account of health issues and leaving once cured. The purpose of many rituals performed is for community building: belief is unimportant-- the point of the rituals at the base is to bring and keep people together.
Some history to clarify and to disclaim: the individual histories of Japan, China, Korea and India are difficult to differentiate because they shared almost everything, all the while the geo-political territory lines were in near constant motion. Japan saw Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism as contenders for the religion of the bureaucracy for many thousands of years, but the 19th Century saw the concept of religion become political in a new way. With the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry came an influx of European and American influences, including those of national pride-- a very new concept of individual identity came to light with the arrival of non-East Asian influences. Most countries of the West, especially those with firm stances on the political world stage at the time had a firm identity, comprised of one people, one ruler and one ideology. Emperor Meiji kicked the Restoration into high gear, dethroning the military rule that had been in place (called a shogunate) and outlawed the too-foreign Buddhism (which had been the religion of the bureaucracy at the time.) Then Shinto, a concept that could be historically traced to have had its origins as the single, unbroken thread that differentiated Japan from the other surrounding countries in regard to religious traditions, became the official ideology. Currently, inevitably, Shinto is heavily influenced by the surrounding countries, as well as the previously outlawed other religions like Daoism and Buddhism. It is Shinto I will use to describe X in a human context.
Shinto is considered the "way of the gods," and is deeply interconnected to nature worship, revering hundreds of deities. These deities called kami are described in the Kojiki (translated as "An Account of Ancient Matters," the oldest collection of Japanese myths, legends, traditions and historical accounts available) to be any being that possesses eminent, extraordinary qualities. This means that the kami are the substantiation of the energy that flows through the universe, a similar concept to Posthumanism's zoe. Kami are said to reside in kami halls, which are windowless, wooden rooms with nothing in them. No one enters these rooms, but people can and do enter the space just in front of the kami hall called the worship hall. In order to enter the worship hall, one must pass through the Torii: the gate that indicates the separation of the wold humans inhabit and the land of spirits. Symbolically, one enters a "house" so to speak that is not one's own, but instead is the residence of unseen beings in order to worship. An example of a kami is Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, or the inari, the kami of foxes and fertility. Nature, the energy of the universe, and godliness are all encompassed together in these little kami packages, tucked away behind a spiritual gate and cached in a wooden room that no one ever enters, and their purpose is sanctification of rituals, unity of the people, and honour in worship.
This page has paths:
- X Sam Henrickson
