SHINTOISM
The people of Japan are intensely patriotic. no other nation in the world has has for so long an uninterrupted line of rulers, because the present emperor is the one hundred twenty-fourth in succession. It is not surprising that he is greatly revered; and that the national anthem should suggest the dignity of so ancient a ruling dynasty.
For Hundreds of years the musicians at court were an hereditary caste, and a descendent of this group, Hiromori, wrote the national anthem. You will notice that the melody sounds odd to our ears. It begins and ends with unexpected tones, and some of the intervals also sound strange to us.
The breath marks indicate the phrasing of the Japanese text. When singing the English words, the phrasing must be adapted to their meaning. The harmony is added, to heighten the unusual effects of the melody, though in Japan, the anthem is always sung unaccompanied and very slowly.
THE UNIVERSE, OUR GURU
The true guru is not a human preceptor. It is the Cosmos itself, Prakriti, Creation, the objective world around us. The Universe and all of it’s components are to be looked upon as one’s preceptors, and lessons can be learnt from each. Revere the Universe as your Guru.
In Shinto shrines and also in Chinese and Japanese Buddhist
and other temples, one senses a close harmony of the human and
natural orders.
The gods and guides of mankind dwell in virtual symbiosis with woods, streams,
Netsuke are small intricate carvings, usually of wood, ivory or bone. This line drawing of a mother mouse romping with her babies is from a carving of ivory and agate. And mountains, suggesting that in a larger sense, society is a part of nature, and kami, immortals, Buddhas, and humans are all parts of a greater cosmic unity.
The tiger was a strange, unknown animal in Japan. The artist probably had never seen a real tiger, which would explain its disjointed appearance.
Nature is said to be the “Great Book” of wisdom. (“Revere the Universe as your guru”, Swami says) Each of its laws serves as a lesson for humankind. The indigenous peoples of the world, (also like our tribals) know that those who ignore the lessons of Nature gradually become imbalanced. And imbalance creates sickness, both physical and spiritual!!
When I was addressing a women’s college near Tokyo in Japan in 1958, hundreds of girls were sitting in front of me on the floor in the Japanese way, with their legs bent backwards and sitting on their haunches.
During an hour and ten minutes of the lecture and its translation into Japanese, not once did I see them changing position or turning their attention here and there. They have learned to discipline their bodies and minds.
That is true education, by which they get a training of their minds and not the stuffing of the brains. And the fruits also are different, accordingly.
—Swami Ranganathananda
Festival of Toshogu Shrine
In mid-May, a century-old tradition is celebrated in the town of Nikko in Toshogu Shine. During this festival, a thousand people in historic dress escort three Portable shrines dedicated to the sprits of three warriors of the15th and the 16th centuries. In Japan, the shrine is a focal point of the Shinto religion.
There is another festival in Japan on the fifth day of May. Japanese boys look forward to Kodomono-hi or Children’s Day. On this day, families with young children fly colourful streamers and enormous kites, in the shape of carp fish, from a large pole in the garden. The streamers and carp kites symbolize a family, and the Shinto religion places a lot of emphasis on the family and country. The first kite represents the father, the second kite, the mother and the third, the children. Inside the houses, families display traditional warrior dolls and bathe the children in Iris leaves. The main purpose of this festival is to learn the importance of qualities such as strength and determination. Girls need to know these too, right?
