Shinto
Material
Experiential
Mythic
Doctrinal
Ethical
Ritual
Social
Purification in Shinto lifts the burden from the shoulders of the individual and washes it away.”
― (Stuart D.B. Picken, Shinto Meditations for Revering the Earth)
Sources
-http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/
- Stuart D.B. Picken, Shinto Meditations for Revering the Earth
"in the West we have the saying that 'cleanliness is next to godliness' but the Japanese conception may be closer to 'cleanliness is not distinct from godliness'.
Brandon Toropov and Luke Buckles O.P.
Purification Rituals
Temizu is a Purification ritual at the entrance of a shrine visit in order to make the visitor pure enough to approach the Kami.
Kami, and from Musubi are the creative and harmonizing power of the world
Tsumi - pollution or sin.
Going to temple
Humans are born Pure
Things related to death can pollute the person
There are no moral absolutes
Humans are basically good
jinja - a sacred place (temple) where the the kami lives
Stories of the Kami
"The spirits living in the land of the dead are malicious and lonely, and like to try to drag people from the land of the living
Human beings should keep away from anything to do with death
The kami have a duty, based on Izanagi's promise, to support birth and life in the world of the living" (BBC)
"Izanagi and Izanami thrust a jewelled spear into the ocean, and the first land formed where the spear touched the water. This was the central island of Japan." (BBC)