Japanese aren’t religious? Not really!!!
I just came across a video forward in Whats-app that pointed out the Sanskrit mantras recited in the prayers by the priest in the Buddhist Kyoo-Gokoku-ji temple of Kyoto. Many of you should have come across this if have traveled across Japan. Yes, the video is just pointing out an observation but in my view it’s a long deep religious history about the land of Japan. In my own experience I have inquired the priests and they are ignorant about it b’cause they don’t know the lineage..Not just in Kyoto... You can hear the same in any Buddhist temple if you request a prayer by the priest... There are lots Hindu gods imbibed into Buddhism & there are many temples dedicated for them. You can see Buddha in the sleeping posture resembling Vishnu & in yogic posture resembling Siva. You can see Benzaiten derived from Saraswathi or Kichijoji derived from Lakshmi. Many Buddhist Temples of derived Hindu gods exists & these Hindu gods are not much popular in today’s Hindu worship. All the Buddhist temple are not in daily worship and all temples are open only on a limited period even on festivals day in a year. All these lineage are not seen in practice in today’s Japan and majorly people have little knowledge about the same. There are no goers to temple & scarcity of priests to do daily rituals.Majorly Japanese will decline any talk on gods and they say they don’t know anything. Today’s old Japanese have respect that it’s something great but they have no idea about the same. It has amused me always when I hear Japanese talk about Japanese way of doing things and has relation to any religion. The answers from Japanese to the basic question of where their ways of doing things derived have always amused me further. Yet, the entire country have lots of festivals, Obon practices, Temple visit on new year, Worshiping Nature, Ascetic Mindset of Homeless people, Orderly behavior during crisis & the list is endless will only further throw a lots of questions.
In short, Japanese aren’t atheists as perceived by many but they are very religious as they proudly follow their ways of living which they have derived through generations.
Over centuries, Japan has blended religious thoughts with real understanding. Shintoism which existed in Japan believed in worshiping the demised elders in their family as they were considered gods in the form of nature. So, nature in all forms were worshiped & that explains the nature's beauty maintained in Japan till date. Shintoism doesn't believe in absolute right or wrong and it acknowledges nobody is perfect. The old elders in the family, village was always heard with respect and devotion as they carry generations of knowledge of wisdom & this practice is imbibed even till today. Shintoism doesn't have any sacred scriptures but its descended from one generation to another through ways of living found in its four major books of knowledge.
When Buddhism came into Japan, Buddhism had a better structure and more in-depth explanations of ways of living & life after death. Today, in any Buddhist temple in temple will be associated with Shinto shrine and you will see the cemetery of great sect leader and wise people who have lived over the generations. Hence, Buddhism was a perfect blend into the then Japanese society. So it is not Buddhism in its original form that propagated into japan. No one has given a name to it but it was a confluence of Shintoism and Buddhism.
Buddhism on the other hand is a derivation of Hinduism where Buddha had an atheist ideology that he wanted to find the god with oneself against the idol worship ideology of Hinduism. However, Buddhism also defines the similar ways of living like Hinduism. After Buddha, the Buddhist sect leaders were in search of knowledge from the land where the religion originated (India). Many travelers from China had carried back the ways of living from their experience which eventually reached Japan from China. The Mahayana Buddhism that exist today has had his ways into Japan and idol worship was required to spread the ancient ideas from a far off land to the ones who no idea such existence. So, they much imbibed the ideology of idol worship and all the prayer practices similar to Hinduism. Much to the contrary of Buddha's ideology, Buddhism has temples and Buddha himself is worshiped as an idol. This confluence of religious realization established and has establish deep roots in the ways of living, thinking of the homogeneous Japanese society.
However, the religious realization got a jolt when in 16th century AD, the kings in the pursuit of industrial revolution ordered all the citizens to westernize. It was the need of the hour for their empire to be sustained from occupation. Japan being part of the silk route was in dire threat from the powerful westernized armed silk route travelers. If Japan had not westernized, Japan would have been colonized in its history. However the kings decisions resulted in blood bath in the society where the samurais went against the ruling & the kings took westerners help to shoot the samurais & those captured were moved out to far off lands to south america. There was a collapse of much traditions which has deep rooted confluence of Buddhist and Shinto beliefs and practices. In a way the society was prepared for change that westernization was pushed into Japan.
However, Japanese when they westernized had their unique way of getting westernized. They retained their best ways of living which are descended through generations or the ways of living which they could not digest with the western influence was never accepted by the society and they created their unique ways of embracing westernization.
Today, leave alone the fact that Japanese are ignorant majorly about themselves, like Hinduism which defines ways of living, Today’s Japan talks about Japanese ways of doing things which is exactly derived from the confluence of Buddhism & Shintoism & with a married blending of westernized thoughts. Its a unique confluence here and Japanese has this uniqueness. Hindus can relate themselves and westerners can relate themselves in this society as it has excerpts imbibed into their ways of living. Its a unique unnamed religion in itself and the religion survives as it is just ways of living. Just like Japanese today marry in church and have Japanese way of living ( Shintoism & Buddhism) and go to Benzaiten (Hindu Saraswathi god) on new year is always unique to the land of rising sun!!!
Labels: Buddhism in Japan, Hindu gods in Japan, Japanese religion, Japanese religious belief, Japanese religious life, Japanese ways of living, Sanskrit prayers in Gokokuji
posted by Unknown @ 5:38 PM
