shinto

"Shinto, the very process of creating and giving birth to life and spirit is described as musubi and we place it in very high regard. In other words, the basic religious idea of Shinto is the continuous process of creation. When we apply this principle to an individual spirit-soul, we see that musubi is the process of work through which each person generates, grows, transforms, and develops naohinomitama (the innermost pure spirit), making his or her spirit grow and become strong. This means that the first task involves the creating of the body, which is attained through diligent care of bodily health. The second task is the creating of heart and mind, or psychological growth. Thirdly, there is the creating of the spirit, that is to say the purification of spirit-soul."

"There are various ways one can develop mental concentration. When you successfully reach a concentrated mental state the realm “free from all ideas and thoughts” will be opened to you, even though it might be for only one or two seconds. This does not mean that you neither think nor feel in those moments. This realm is purely clean and bright, transparent everywhere, and filled with limitless wisdom. No matter how short the moment is, you can touch the eternally existing clean and bright world and feel that the entire universe exists within that brief period."

"If you truly enter a deep state, then chinkon can also lead you into a realm exactly like the one known as “the realm of mindlessness and thoughtlessness.”"

"There is also the saying: “everything is ‘I’.” This means that everything is the result of the transformation and creation of daigenrei (大元霊), the “creator Kami of the universe” and that the source of life is one. This also means everything that is manifest in that universe is interconnected, part of the web of life, from the most apparently complex organisms to the seemingly simplest. Any phenomenon manifested in “me” is meaningful and nurtures “me.” In the end it moves “me” toward Kami. In this sense, every manifestation in the cosmos is a manifestation of “me.” All this should not be understood only at the rational level. It must be experienced intuitively as we access our inner Kami."

"When you see this reality in deep introspection through chinkon practice, you will intuitively know the truth of the saying, “this body as it is, is Kami.” There is also the saying: “ancestors and ‘I’ are connected as one.” This means the ancestors and “I” are connected with each other as one body. “I” am one scene of an endless, continuous life history in the eternal universe. My ancestors who bore me are also the children of Kami ... Therefore, “‘I live” means ‘I’ am living in the flow of this eternity.”"

"Through worldly preoccupations, we become separated from that true self, and yet we can be aware that it exists and that it needs to get out. In a sense we can say that this phenomenon represents the separation between purity and impurity. To make this separation occur, a centrifugal separation movement of purity is needed. As a result of this movement, the true self, shrouded by the cloud of illusion and impurity, is able to emerge. The true self is a state of transcendence and so it is able to remain pure, even in the midst of impurity. However, the ego-self living in the relative and conflicted world cannot hear the voice of this true self. In order to hear this voice, we need to conduct silent listening in meditation. In Yamakage Shinto, that is known as chinkon. When we carry out chinkon, the relationship between true self and ego-self does not have conflict, and they become one body like the front and back of one coin. This is known as the unification of Kami and the human being. This unification means that Kami and the human being spiritually become one."

"During the period of transition from this world to yukai, the hidden world of subtle energy, the spirit-soul is at its most vulnerable. It can be likened to a delicate butterfly, at the moment of emergence from its chrysalis. Therefore, there are spirits entrusted with the task of protecting the spirit-soul from danger at this time. In most cases, the spirits of deceased ancestors or friends of the dead come to meet and greet the dead. These spirits in turn receive instruction from higher ranks of spirit so that they may give useful guidance to their dead relatives or friends."

"Gradually, each human spirit-soul is purified so that it may become a highly advanced spirit, just as flowers bloom, bring forth fruit, and eventually mature. The soul who committed misdeeds undergoes a process of atonement. Having successfully worked through this, it is able to move on to further spiritual growth. Some very advanced psychics are conscious of this process taking place."

"Therefore in Shinto there is no doctrine of absolute and final salvation. Human beings continue to grow. Human beings keep growing throughout their lives, and after their lives on earth they go to the other world (see Chapter 7) and continue living for renovation and maintenance, or shuri kosei. Eventually, they may keep growing until they eventually become Kami."

"Therefore, it has been widely believed in Japan that ancestral spirits exist in the invisible world, overlapping with physical reality and having intimate connection with people living in this world. In this unseen world, the ancestral spirits continue to work on their own purification."

"These mountains are called spiritual mountains in Japan, and they used to be sacred places to which it was thought the spirits of dead human beings went. These spiritual mountains also became the base for the school of mountain ascetics that has existed since the arrival of Buddhism in Japan. According to Japanese folklore, the spirits of the dead remain for a certain time at the mountain to watch over their descendants and to receive memorial services. After being completely purified, the spirit stays within the mountain, but moves to a higher dimension to become one of the ancestral spirits of that village."

"Since ancient times, Shinto has taught that the goal of human life is to “become like a Kami” through the work of refining the personality and bringing out a clean and bright character. This work is understood to continue even after death. For beyond death, there is a high and pure world as well as a low and unclean one. Therefore, every spirit-soul (reikon) has to continue training for purification and further spiritual advancement even after physical death. This is the hidden knowledge gained by the experience of Shinto practitioners over its long history. In Yamakage Shinto we can find the following “Song of the Spiritual Journey”:"

"In the period immediately after death, the spirit-soul remains close to this world, observing how the family is doing, going out to visit friends at their home, or going to worship at a shrine or Buddhist temple. Many are not yet clearly aware of their own death status. Some still retain a part of nigimitama, so they have a semi-material body and can even make noises. Those who have psychic powers are able to see them. Usually they spend a certain period of time, the so-called “forty-nine days,” in such circumstances. In Buddhism they call this circumstance chuyu, meaning “existing in the middle.” A while afterwards they become aware of their death and fully move onto the other world, or yukai."

"Shinto is not a faith tradition that can be propagated or imposed. Each human community, every human culture, has its own version of Shinto, which is based on accumulated experience, historical memory, and, perhaps most crucially, the local environment. Shinto recognizes and celebrates human diversity, just as it recognizes and celebrates the diversity of nature. For beneath that diversity there is an underlying unity — the union of humanity, earth, and heaven."

"Thus true chinkon practice takes place in your heart and mind. You should neither become obsessed with external formality, nor boast of your spiritual and psychic power or experience. It is a mistake either to aim at gaining supernatural power or to compare your own abilities with those of others. You must not become trapped in arrogant pride, nor become a slave to the process of spiritual training, nor speak noisily about its benefits. Chinkon should lead us to a state of spiritual calm, where selfish ambitions and desires give way to the realization of the true self, the Kami within each one of us."

"In some shrine buildings, when kannushi of low spiritual levels are serving, one can sense the presence of shady, lower-level spirits. These correspond to the kannushi’s own level of spiritual development. It often happens that only malevolent spirits, not good spirits, gather at places where large sums of money are demanded from visitors. Often, this happens with newly established religious groups. When people go to such places, they experience headaches or nausea."

"Experiencing “light” is easy, even for beginners, during chinkon. One may experience the inside of the brain filled with dazzling light, or one may feel enveloped by a golden mist. But these are only preliminary states of consciousness. If you keep advancing from there by imagining a small sun or a round moon at the center of your forehead, eventually you will see a sun or moon of such brightness that you will be shocked. This does not appear as part of the realm of fantasy, but as the real experience it is. According to the hidden teaching handed down to the Yamakage family, people will see “mist, smoke, sun, wind, fire, fluorescence, crystal, and a moon.” Sometimes a coal black experience may occur instead of light."

"That is why the importance of chinkon in Shinto has been emphasized repeatedly since ancient times. Chinkon is different from simple mental concentration or the quieting of the mind. Through the practice of chinkon one can actually break through the wall of other dimensions existing in their mind. When this happens, the other world will appear, and they will become aware of the worlds of spirit and Kami. Without this, people cannot approach Kami filled with reverence and awe, nor can they experience true faith with gratitude in their hearts and minds. However, the faith I am talking about here is not something that can simply be taught at college."

"Shinto sees everything in existence as generated by and transformed from the ultimate origin of life; this is expressed in the idea that all forms of life are a child-spirit of the original Kami."

"Each Kami has its own characteristics, but they are not fixed. Furthermore, the Kami can spread out simultaneously into various places and various existences. This concept can actually be applied to human beings also. In the section on “one spirit, four souls” (Chapter 6), we shall see that the human being is the assembled body of many souls. This assembled body of souls can sometimes be divided. That is why a well-trained spiritual person can send off his own separated soul to a distant location or a different time period to perform long distance healing, precognition, or clairvoyance."

"Shinto values nature and life. This is because Shinto originally arose from a sense of gratitude and awe toward great nature. Our ancestors loved nature, from animals and plants to mountains and rivers. This love of nature is intrinsic to the Japanese character, influencing our art forms as well as our spiritual practices, even in a modern, urbanized nation where millions of people have little apparent contact with nature. In this age when human beings are destroying mother earth in the pursuit of material progress, we should reclaim our love for nature and let it inform our daily lives and spiritual practices."

"Shinto is, ultimately, such a simple belief that anybody can accept and practice it. It neither requires special intellectual ability nor does it demand a life-denying asceticism. As long as people understand the attitudes associated with cleanness and brightness (happiness) and rightness and straightness (honesty), they can start from those points and advance further along the path to explore more profound themes. One of the strengths of Shinto is that it can allow people to find their own level of practice and experience, without being physically or intellectually overwhelmed, but gaining as much spiritual awareness as practitioners of more stringent or austere paths."

"For a jinja, one must choose a suitable place and then create an appropriate setting for a sacred space. Then it is necessary to ask Kami to descend upon it and make its presence felt. In other words, jinja need not be a place where Kami have dwelled eternally, or will always live."

"The spirit of Kami does not visit unclean places, and an unclean shrine becomes a mere building devoid of Kami energy, even though it may still have mitamashiro (御魂代) there. Mitamashiro is a material object temporarily representing spirit, such as a mirror, for the spirit of Kami to descend upon."

"問 神、何衣、何食、何宅 曰 衣道、食道、宅道 如人、衣於道、食於道、宅於道，則亦猶神"

"Spiritual Learning is [a method of learning in which one] personally witnesses and verifies the genuine existence of deities by training oneself single-mindedly in the principles of spirit possession, while taking the divine classics and national histories as one’s basis. By personally apprehending their [i.e., the deities’] loftiness and might, one understands why the world of our country’s divine classics is unparalleled. Hereby one understands for the first time the original principles of the establishment of the universe, the configuration of the planet earth, the boundary between the manifest and arcane realms, and the reason why the grandson of Heaven [i.e., Ninigi-no-mikoto, Amaterasu’s grandson] descended to earth. Thus one becomes awed by the mighty virtue of the Heavenly Deity who is the Imperial Ancestor, and can understand why our Imperial Household is honorable and mighty, and why shrines exist. However, this Spiritual Learning is mutually complementary with the study of the divine classics. Only by both studying the divine classics and personally experiencing the existence of deities can one understand their mighty virtue. One cannot truly comprehend the mysterious wonders of the divine classics merely by the philological analysis carried on by scholars from ancient times. Only by experiencing the genuine existence of the deities through the method of spirit possession can one understand the arcane, distant, subtle and marvelous original principle of our realm of the deities."

"204. 人間は人間らしくすればよい。何も求めて不思議なことをしなくてもよい。"

"209. 木のもとへ肥料をやれば、枝振りまで栄える。 先祖や親を大切にすれば繁盛させてくださる。"

"219. 手厚く信心をする者は夢でもうかつに見るな。神は、夢にでも良し悪しを教えてくださる。"

"223. 思う念力岩をもとおすというが、信心する者が一心を出して願えば、どんなことでもかなえてくださる。"

"226. 「一心になることは、はなはだむずかしいものと思います。拝みながら、いろいろのことが思われたりして、心の内が定まりませんが、どういうものでありましょうか」と申しあげると、 「一心になる心は、子供をこしらえる時のようなぐあいに思い知れよ」と仰せられた。"

"230. 金の杖をつけば曲がる。竹や木の杖をつけば折れる。神を杖につけばよい。 神は、曲がりも折れも死にもなさらない。"

"254. 若い時の信心は、老いての楽しみである。"

"279. 「苗代にひきがえるが入って卵を産んで困ります」と願う者に対して、金光様は、「よそでは封じると言うが、うちでは封じない。かえるに、あぜで遊んでもらうようにすればよい。うちの田に入らないようにすれば、よその田に入るから」と教えられた。"

"289. 人から出る日給はわかっても、神から出る日給はわかるまい。"

"291. 何を飲むにも食べるにも、ありがたくいただく心を忘れるな。"

"293. 食物は、わが心で毒にも薬にもなるものである。"

"343. 縁談には、相性を調べ見合わせるより、真の心を見合わせよ。"

"354. 金光大神の話は、学者の話や講義と違って、ここが続き、ここが切れ目ということがない。天地のある間は、天地の話が尽きることはない。金光大神は天地の道理を説くのである。"

"396. 欲を捨てることについておたずねした時、 「いやいや、私にも欲がある。世界の人を助けたい欲がある。欲を捨ててはいけない」と仰せになった。"

"400. 金光とは、金光るということである。金は金乃神の金、光は天つ日の光である。天つ日の光があれば明るい。世界中に天地金乃神の光を光らせて、おかげを受けさせるということである。"

"With the completion of this sacred staff, I will end your farming career. Please understand. ... There are many people like yourself, who have sincere faith in kamis, but still have many problems. Help these people by performing toritsugi. This will help Kami and save people. Man exists because of Kami, and Kami exists because of man. Thus, Kami supports man as Kami's child, and man supports Kami as his parent. There will be eternal prosperity through aiyo kakeyo, mutual interdependency."

"今般、天地乃神より生神金光大神差し向け、願う氏子におかげを授け、理解申して聞かせ、末々まで繁盛いたすこと、氏子ありての神、神ありての氏子、上下立つようにいたし候。"

"Konkō Kyō not only declares itself as monotheism but, at the same time, repudiates all ordinary superstitious beliefs and practices so widely prevalent among the nation at large, such as the selling and the wearing of charms and the use of exorcisms, divinations, and formal, repetitious prayers. Its founder, like Jesus of Nazareth, began life as a simple peasant and, like Jesus, Kawate Bunjirō eventually came to the conviction that the great Father of All Life had come to self-knowledge in himself. Chronologically Konkō Kyō is almost exactly coextensive with the history of Christianity in modern Japan. Its study affords material that is remarkably suggestive in making comparison with the progress of the Christian movement."

"It was not until after he had founded his church that he began to call himself by the extraordinary title, "The Living God, The Great God Konkō." He declared that his "roots" were the same as those of God. Yet this remarkable manifestation of an expanded ego was united with the utmost humility. To the end of his life he preserved the character of a simple, self-abnegating farmer. There is no evidence that during his lifetime he ever invited or permitted worship on the part of his followers. Almost on his death-bed he declared with tears of gratitude and humility in his eyes that he could not cease to thank God that He had opened His truth to an ignorant man like himself. The followers of Konkō Daijin have described this dual consciousness as the union of complete man and complete God. It suggests the twofold nature ascribed to Jesus."

"375. たとえ人にたたかれても、けっして人をたたいてはいけない。人に難儀をさせるな。よい心にならせてもらえばありがたいと思い、すれ違った人でも拝んであげよ。できるだけ人を助けるようにせよ。"

"2. 天地は生き通しである。天地が生きているから、人間もみな生きていられるのである。"

"24. 鳥や獣がどのようにして生きていくかを考えてみても、神のお恵みがわかる。冬になったといって重ね着をするでもなく、夏になっても一枚も脱ぐことはない。神はそれでちゃんとさしつかえないように育てておられる。"

"39. 天地金乃神はこの世の親神であるから、天地金乃神に信心しているといっても、していないといっても、天地の間に生きているからには、天地金乃神の子に変わりはない。"

"54. 人のことをそしる者がある。神道はどう、仏教がこうなどと、そしったりする。自分の産んだ子供の中で、一人は僧侶になり、一人は神父になり、一人は神主になり、また、役人になり、職人になり、商人になりというようになった時、親は、その子供の中でだれかがそしられて、うれしいと思うだろうか。他人をそしるのは、神の心にかなわない。釈迦もキリストもどの宗祖も、みな神のいとし子である。"