Shinto: A Celebration of Life
Shinto: A Celebration of Life

Author: Aidan Rankin

Publisher: John Hunt Publishing

Published: 2011-03-16

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1846947383

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Shinto is an ancient faith of forests and snow-capped mountains. It sees the divine in rocks and streams, communing with spirit worlds through bamboo twigs and the evergreen sakaki tree. Yet it is also the manicured suburban garden and the blades of grass between cracks in city paving stones. Structured around ritual cleansing, Shinto contains no concept of sin. It reveres ancestors, but thinks little about the afterlife, asking us to live in, and improve, the present. Central to Shinto is Kannagara: intuitive acceptance of the divine power contained in all living things. Dai Shizen (Great Nature) is the life force with which we ally ourselves through spiritual practice and living simply. This is not asceticism, but an affirmation of all aspects of life. Musubi (organic growth) provides a model for reconciling ancient intuition with modern science, modern society with primal human needs. Shinto is an unbroken indigenous path that now reaches beyond its native Japan. It has special relevance to us a

This Japanese Life.
This Japanese Life.

Author: Eryk Salvaggio

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2013-07-25

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9781489596987

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Most books about Japan will tell you how to use chopsticks and say "konnichiwa!" Few honestly tackle the existential angst of living in a radically foreign culture. The author, a three-year resident and researcher of Japan, tackles the thousand tiny uncertainties of living abroad. -- Adapted from back cover

Essentials of Shinto
Essentials of Shinto

Author: Stuart Picken

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 1994-11-22

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 0313369798

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Shinto is finally receiving the attention it deserves as a fundamental component of Japanese culture. Nevertheless, it remains a remarkably complex and elusive phenomenon to which Western categories of religion do not readily apply. A knowledge of Shinto can only proceed from a basic understanding of Japanese shrines and civilization, for it is closely intermingled with the Japanese way of life and continues to be a vital natural religion. This book is a convenient guide to Shinto thought. As a reference work, the volume does not offer a detailed critical study of all aspects of Shinto. Instead, it overviews the essential teachings of Shinto and provides the necessary cultural and historical context for understanding Shinto as a dynamic force in Japanese civilization. The book begins with an historical overview of Shinto, followed by a discussion of Japanese myths. The volume then discusses the role of shrines, which are central to Shinto rituals. Other portions of the book discuss the various Shinto sects and the evolution of Shinto from the Heian period to the present. Because Japanese terms are central to Shinto, the work includes a glossary.

Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage

Author: David Souden

Publisher: Quest Books

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9780835608046

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Following ancient footsteps, today's pilgrims travel, not as tourists, but as spiritual seekers with a sense that their destination has sacred meaning far beyond its literal surroundings. Pilgrimage traces twenty great, age-old journeys to sites all over the world. It evokes the aspirations of pilgrims past and present and describes the beauty and strangeness of the roads they travel. Some journeys are arduous---the long trek to Mount Khailasa in Tibet, for instance, or the one to Mecca every devout Muslim dreams of making. Others are poignant, such as the one the dwindling number of Native American Zuni people make to Corn Mountain, New Mexico, in the tradition of their once flourishing civilization. But all such journeys---whether to Jewish/Muslim/Christian Jerusalem or to Hindu Pandharpur; whether to the Black Madonna in Czestochowa, Poland, or to the Buddhist shrines in Kyoto, Japan; whether to the healing waters of Lourdes, France, or to the Mormon Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah--are enacted in dramatic affirmation to achieve transformation. Illustrated in full color, this book is a stunning celebration of those journeys.

Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia
Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia

Author: Bryan S. Turner

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-09-25

Total Pages: 614

ISBN-13: 1317636457

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The Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia provides a contemporary and comprehensive overview of religion in contemporary Asia. Compiled and introduced by Bryan S. Turner and Oscar Salemink, the Handbook contains specially written chapters by experts in their respective fields. The wide-ranging introduction discusses issues surrounding Orientalism and the historical development of the discipline of Religious Studies. It conveys how there have been many centuries of interaction between different religious traditions in Asia and discusses the problem of world religions and the range of concepts, such as high and low traditions, folk and formal religions, popular and orthodox developments. Individual chapters are presented in the following five sections: Asian Origins: religious formations Missions, States and Religious Competition Reform Movements and Modernity Popular Religions Religion and Globalization: social dimensions Striking a balance between offering basic information about religious cultures in Asia and addressing the complexity of employing a western terminology in societies with radically different traditions, this advanced level reference work will be essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of Asian Religions, Sociology, Anthropology, Asian Studies and Religious Studies.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Author: Marie Kondo

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2014-10-14

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1607747316

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The book that sparked a revolution and inspired the hit Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo: the original guide to decluttering your home once and for all. ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE—CNN Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles? Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

Moon Living Abroad Japan
Moon Living Abroad Japan

Author: Ruthy Kanagy

Publisher: Moon Travel

Published: 2017-09-12

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 1631216406

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Moon Travel Guides: Make Your Move! From visas, to job-hunting, to cultural assimilation, get a head start on your life-changing move with Moon Living Abroad Japan. Inside you'll find: Practical information on setting up the essentials, including visas, finances, employment, education, and healthcare Firsthand insight on navigating the language and culture from experienced expat Ruthy Kanagy, an American raised in Japan Tips on finding housing that suits your needs and budget, whether you're renting or buying A thorough survey of the many regions, provinces, and individual cultures that Japan encompasses, to help you find the right new home for you Interviews with other expats who share their personal experiences building successful lives abroad How to plan a fact-finding trip before making the move to familiarize yourself with aspects of daily life in Japan: internet and phone access, schooling, banking, insurance, travel, transportation, and more Special tips for those making the move with children or pets Moon Living Abroad Japan takes the hassle out of planning your move, giving you the insider tips, practical resources, and local know-how to start your new life abroad!

Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage

Author: Jean Holm

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 1994-09-01

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0567310728

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Drawing on a term used originally in social anthropology, the contributors to this volume take a different world religion as the starting point of their analysis of various themes, seeking to explore and illuminate the parallels and differences throughout. It is only in so doing that we can gain a real awareness of what it means to belong to any one religion. Rites of Passage is the new title in this series which addresses important issues of the day, and examines how each of the eight major religions approaches a particular theme. Constructed to be comparative, the books are both authoritative and accessible.

Nature, Space and the Sacred
Nature, Space and the Sacred

Author: S. Bergmann

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-12-05

Total Pages: 501

ISBN-13: 1351915673

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Nature, Space and the Sacred offers the first investigative mapping of a new and highly significant agenda: the spatial interactions between religion, nature and culture. In this ground-breaking work, different concepts of religion, theology, space and place and their internal relations are discussed in an impressive range of approaches. Weaving together a diversity of perspectives, this book presents an innovative and truly transdisciplinary environmental science. Its broad range offers a rich exchange of insights, methods and theoretical engagements.