Alan Watts continues from beyond the grave to provide enlightenment to those who listen. The fortnightly podcast put out by the official Alan Watts site recently featured his wonderful talk on the illusion of self and the danger this presents … Read the rest
Category: General (Page 20 of 25)
The unfortunate alliance of Shinto with right-wing nationalism is nowhere more evident than in the cult of Yasukuni Shrine, established in the nineteenth century to honour those who died on behalf of the emperor. Defenders of the shrine like … Read the rest
Youtube has a substantial four-part video programme on Shinto as part of the Religions of the World series. It’s narrated by Ben Kingsley, who gets one or two pronunciations wrong but on the whole does a credible job. One irksome … Read the rest
The Japan Times carries an editorial today suggesting that Japan’s postwar obsession with material prosperity may have passed over into a greater concern with spirituality….
(The full editorial can be seen here.)
*****************************************************************
Sunday, Sep. 30, 2012
Spirituality … Read the rest
Yesterday there was a sumo ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo watched by 3000 people to celebrate the award of the top rank of yokozuna to the Mongolian wrestler, Harumafuji. The award means that the two top-ranking sumo wrestlers … Read the rest
Over the past fortnight I happen to have come across the Chinese zodiac in various guises. A set of 12 small shrines (hokora) for each zodiac year at Hakusan Jinja in Hiraizumi. A full set of 12 … Read the rest
Thanks to Green Shinto friend, Mark Schumacher (dictionary of Japanese religion), for pointing out this Japan Times article on a phenomenon that I have come across at a few places around Japan. It might not be politically correct … Read the rest