Friday, February 12, 2010

What is Shinto?



It teaches about being grateful to the Great Nature. Not only does it teach being thankful but to "live" with the nature.

The Ise Jingu is a great example of using the wisdom of living with nature and produces their own natural materials in their daily Shinji rituals.

At the bottom of Isuzu River, the water from the ocean is jointed. A saltern is made at this place and a shrine is taking care of the production. This salt is actually used in the rituals or ceremonies at Ise Jingu. At Izawa-no-miya shrine, rice is entirely produced for the offering to the gods. At the shore of Ise Jingu, the priests in their white attire work on making dried seafood with abalones, squid and other types of fishes to be used in the ceremonies. They also use it to cook them and present as their daily offerings to the gods.

It's much like a self-sustaining housewife growing her own vegetables in her garden. Maybe the only difference is the conscious offerings of gratitude that comes along with the production. I think many of our readers are doing very well on this matter.

On the other hand, what is missing at the Ise Jingu? They don't send gratitude to the ancestral spirits. In the idea of Shinto, once we die we become assimilated with the nature. Therefore sending gratitude to the Great Nature = ancestral spirits. I still think it should also be directed directly to ancestral spirits.

For the Imperial Family, the Naikū is their ancestral grave. Thus, when they pay a visit, they will be worshipping their ancestors as well as the gods. And I believe that we should be doing the same; to have the altar for the gods and for our ancestors below. It makes sense. When the political system was established, the tragedy happened and the gods and ancestral worship had been separated.

Now that our nation is in prostration, it is important for us to follow the Imperial Family and work individually on sending gratitude to the Great Nature=Gods and to our own ancestral spirits.



From now on, if you cannot believe in your own choice and go ask for help to psychic readers who ask for money or selling products, your luck will turn downwards. The Earth will keep the souls that trust oneself and doing his/her best. The humans are the transcription of the Earth itself. If you abandon yourself, you are abandoning the Earth. Then you will be forced to leave this world.

If you make an effort, the effort will be rewarded and revival is possible.

Ikashite-itadaite arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

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