Even the smallest animals can bring harm the mouse that eats our grain and carries disease, and the locust that devastates our crops. The blossom scented wind, a harbinger of spring, can become a wild storm. The oceans, where life first appeared, may suddenly rise, sending violent tidal waves onto the land, causing much destruction and grief. The sun, which gives life to all living things, sometimes parches the earth, causing drought and famine. Nature’s severity, does not take human comfort and convenience into consideration. Individuals who have made a great contribution to the state or society may also be enshrined and revered as kami. Kami derived from nature, such as the kami of rain, the kami of wind, the kami of the mountains, the kami of the sea, and the kami of thunder have a deep relationship with our lives and a profound influence over our activities. Since ancient times, Japanese have expressed the divineĮnergy or life-force of the natural world as kami. For honoring the kami, and receiving their blessings, there is no time but now. Yet, as a fundamental aspect of daily life in Japan, the focus of Shinto is on the present. It will continue to shape the future through the deep influence it exerts on Japanese thought. Shinto has shaped the past as an integral part of Japan’s cultural heritage. Only by both receiving the blessings of nature and accepting its rage can we maintain a harmonious connection to the world around us. It is a relationship that continues to this day, defined by a great reverence for nature’s strength, and gratitude for nature’s bounty. Its origins can be seen in the relationship between the ancient Japanese and the power they found in the natural world. Shinto places great value in the virtues of purity and honesty, yet as a faith, Shinto has no dogma, doctrine, or founder. They may be worshipped anywhere, but many people visit Shinto shrines, called jinja, to pray, cleansing their hands and mouth at the entrance to purify the body and mind. Kami are all around us, in every thing and every person. There are kami of the mountains, and kami of the sea. It also means showing respect for the myriad kami a word that corresponds to ‘deity’ in English residing in the natural world. Observing the Shinto faith means worshipping ancestors as guardians of the family. It is the foundation for the yearly life-cycles, beginning with the New Year’s Day visit Japanese pay to a Shinto shrine to wish for good luck. It is a way of life and a way of thinking that has been an integral part of Japanese culture since ancient times. Shinto is the indigenous faith of the Japanese.
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