#shugendo

I decided to take a day trip to Mt. Hiei an area famous for its sacredness for both Shinto and Buddhism! It was lovely to see the cherry blossoms and some mountain blossoms blooming!

I took a cable car up to the top of the mountain. I learned during the ride up that the incline is 28° and that this is one of the largest cable cars in Japan. One of the cool things you'll often see in cable cars and old timey trolleys is ofuda for safety!

Once I got off the train I decided to hike to the main temple complex Enryakuji. It was a long hike but gave me a small idea of what it's like to practice Shugendo, and what the monks at Enryakuji who train as Yamabushi undergo everyday. I also learned on the ride that Mt. Hiei is 648m above sea level, and is home to over 50 species of bird! You could really feel the sacredness while hiking there.

I also got some videos on the way up on the cable car, and from my hike. I hope you enjoy!

Shikinen sengū 式年遷宮

“The shikinen sengū is a ceremony held at a regular interval of years to transfer the sacred object to the newly constructed or repaired main building of a Shinto shrine.

…The first shikinen sengū was performed in 690 during the reign of the 41st Emperor Jitō, the empress of the 40th Emperor Tenmu who established the system. This ceremony was suspended from 1462 to 1563 because of military conflicts, but it has been continued since its revival in 1563.

… Kasuga Taisha… Shiwahiko Jinja/Shiogama Jinja… repair the shrine buildings extensively and transfer the sacred objects to the renewed main buildings every 20 years. Kamo-mioya (Shimogamo) Jinja… every 21 years, Sumiyoshi Taisha… every 30 years, and Izumo Taisha… every 60 years.”

Shinto shrines on the tops of mountains.

“Mountains have been worshipped in Japan since ancient times, and it has been believed that kami inhabit or descend to mountains. In particular, such mountains as Mount Fuji, Mount Ontake, Mount Ishizuchi, Mount Hakusan, Tateyama, Daisen, Three Dewa Mountains (Dewa-sandman), and Hikosan are deemed sacred mountains. They have been the sites for ascetic practices called shugendō 修験道, a combination of an ancient faith in the mountains and Buddhism, since the arrival of the latter, while there are SHinto shrines in their foots and summits. ⛩️→ pp. 32-35”

Why are there many Shinto shrines around Mount Fuji listed as a World Heritage?

“…While it provided its surrounding areas with water, it erupted in the 8th and 9th centuries and caused disasters. This made people sense the existence of the kami in the mountain with gratitude and awe, and led to the construction of shrines to worship it.

Moreover, from the 12th century, the kami of Mount Fuji was syncretized with Mahavairocana (Dainichi Nyorai 大日如来) of Buddhism and shugendō developed in the mountain. Subsequently, groups of worshippers were formed to climb it as pilgrims and it became increasingly popular.”

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.

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.

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