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"I was so annoyed by his challenge," said Mr. Murakami, who had first seen the Shohaku image reproduced in Professor Tsuji's 1970 book "Lineage of Eccentrics" tracing the wild originality of six artists from the Edo period (1615-1868), a volume that Mr. Murakami had found inspirational as a young artist.

"I decided to place a bind on myself and just do the whole thing in one go within 24 hours," Mr. Murakami said, "eliminating the process of meticulously designing and going straight to the canvas as if I were drunk."

Mr. Murakami's "Dragon in Clouds - Red Mutation" mimics the sweet google-eyed personality and physical dynamism of Shohaku's dragon and his splashing of pigment against the surface of the paper, so different from Mr. Murakami's sleek trademark hard-edge forms.

"Takashi has interpreted this in a very expressionistic way that I find tremendously exciting," said Ms. Morse, who collaborated with Professor Tsuji for over a decade in cataloging the museum's thousands of objects of Japanese art, including the Shohaku collection. "Takashi sees himself as a spiritual heir following on Shohaku," she added.

While Mr. Murakami finds his dragon embarrassing technically, he said, "it led me to approach my own limit and begin making this series of massively scaled paintings that without my communication with Professor Tsuji would not have happened."

He is less disparaging of his 82-foot-long 2014 painting "In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow," a hallucinogenic landscape of figures and black skulls swept up in a tsunami of roiling water that is on view at the Broad museum in Los Angeles. Many studies for the painting are shown in Boston.

"That painting I feel is one answer I can give to Professor Tsuji," said Mr. Murakami, to show him "that I humbly received the 'Lineage of Eccentrics,' digested it myself and added something that is completely different from what I received."

Mr. Tsuji called it a great honor to be a part of this creativity as an art historian. Through the magazine project "which was filled with drama, unpredictability and nonsense," he said, "I realized Murakami's genius, rare in an artist, in which he is able to assimilate wide knowledge from others and incorporate it into his works."

Mr. Murakami's deep dive into his own Japanese heritage was a way of addressing a kind of identity crisis, said Michael Darling, who organized the artist's recent retrospective "The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. "He had reached this apex in his career around 2007, but I think it worried him and made him question why he was making art," said Mr. Darling, whose exhibition traced the artist's arc from smooth plasticized figures to mythical beasts and monks rendered craggy and gnarled and at gigantic scale. It was the most highly attended show in the Chicago museum's history and opens at the Vancouver Art Gallery next year.

"Without saying that Murakami wasn't interesting before, which I don't believe," Mr. Darling added, "I do think that his relationship with Professor Tsuji has had a real noticeable impact on his career and his development."

The show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston highlights works directly and generally inspirational to Mr. Murakami. He made an almost one-to-one copy of the conical lotus-shape base supporting a late-10th, early-11th century Buddha in the museum's collection and used it to prop up his own Buddha interpreted as an animation character in his sculpture "Oval Buddha Silver" (2008). Mr. Murakami's golden multipanel "Kawaii - vacances (Summer Vacation in the Kingdom of the Golden)" (2008), populated with a field of smiling flower faces, echoes the dazzling ornamentation of poppies on a gold ground in a 17th-century screen by the school of Tawaraya Sotatsu.

In a large-scale work commissioned especially for this show, Mr. Murakami aims to please his teacher. It incorporates the eccentric depiction of natural phenomena, including a direct reference to Shohaku's screen "Transcendent Attacking a Whirlwind" (circa 1764) where a tornado resembles a serpent's coiled tail. Speaking while the piece was still in progress, Mr. Murakami confessed that it has been very difficult and he had not yet succeeded.

"I want to show Professor Tsuji that I have been studying all he have given me," he said. "I'm hoping this work to be that."

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Takashi Murakami Teams With a Professor to Explore the Historical

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"I was so annoyed by his challenge," said Mr. Murakami, who had first seen the Shohaku image reproduced in Professor Tsuji's 1970 book "Lineage of Eccentrics" tracing the wild originality of six artists from the Edo period (1615-1868), a volume that Mr. Murakami had found inspirational as a young artist.

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new york city fine art photography gallery

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Toshio Shibata - Artists - Laurence Miller Gallery

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New York art gallery specializing in the promotion and sale of vintage and contemporary fine art photography and photo-based art.

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Buddha laid down the eightfold path for his followers and enunciated that by following this path, they could put an end to their suffering.

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- art crit activity
- pick a theme and have the class try and find that theme in different art pieces

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what does the work you did in the library have to do with your independant study? how is it connected?

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what does the work you did in the library have to do with your independant study? how is it connected?

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the work in the library helped me realize a common theme in Japanese art. that theme is change and how change is shown through the materials and methods. with certain methods of art, the artist is the one inflicting change on the material in a carefully thought out way like with origami and embroidery. with shibori dyeing, the artisan has to let go of complete control and let the dye affect the fabric without interuption. change is also found in the toughest of materials with the idea that everything in nature will change eventually. this can be seen in almost every art form in some way.

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- importance of beauty in nature
- tradition and family
- purification/physical cleanliness
- love of nature
- sincerity (makoto)

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how are Japanese art aesthetics used to show sociopolitical themes?

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how are Japanese art aesthetics used to show sociopolitical themes?

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- seemingly simple peices that reveal a deeper message upon closer inspection

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focusing on the aesthetics  of art and the sybolism used

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focusing on the aesthetics  of art and the sybolism used

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A book review that discusses the emerging contemporary art of Japan

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BEYOND CUTE.: Discovery Service for Cambridge School of Weston

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Tucked away in an old neighbourhood of traditional wooden houses and temples, SCAI The Bathhouse is one of Tokyo's most prestigious contemporary art galleries and perhaps also the most delightful art space in the city. Although the 200-year-old former bathhouse has been renovated as a white-walled art space, it retains evocative details such as the wooden lockers where bathers would store their shoes before going for a soak. Today, visitors can immerse themselves in Anish Kapoor's kaleidoscopic mirrored dishes, Tadanori Yokoo's surrealist paintings of streets at night, and Tatsuo Miyajima's zen-like installations of digital LED counters. * Kashiwayu-Ato, 6-1-23 Yanaka, Taito-ku, +81 3 3821 1144, scaithebathhouse.com. Open Tues-Sat noon-6pm

Tucked away in an old neighbourhood of traditional wooden houses and temples, SCAI The Bathhouse is one of Tokyo's most prestigious contemporary art galleries and perhaps also the most delightful art space in the city. Although the 200-year-old former bathhouse has been renovated as a white-walled art space, it retains evocative details such as the wooden lockers where bathers would store their shoes before going for a soak. Today, visitors can immerse themselves in Anish Kapoor's kaleidoscopic mirrored dishes, Tadanori Yokoo's surrealist paintings of streets at night, and Tatsuo Miyajima's zen-like installations of digital LED counters.
* Kashiwayu-Ato, 6-1-23 Yanaka, Taito-ku, +81 3 3821 1144, scaithebathhouse.com. Open Tues-Sat noon-6pm

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art

With its gently curved walls, quiet gardens and collection of permanently installed works by legends such as Nara Yoshitomo and Tatsuo Miyajima, the Hara Museum is one of Tokyo's most charming artistic hideaways. Hidden down a backstreet behind bland office buildings, this 1930s modernist residence gives internationally renowned artists an intimate space in which to show their work. One of the most memorable was Tabaimo's exhibition of animated videos that explore the ills of contemporary Japanese society, including a ghostly pair of writhing hands projected onto the museum's bay windows after dark.
* 4-7-25 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, +81 3 3445 0651, haramuseum.or.jp, admission ¥1000. Open Tues-Sun 11am-5pm, Weds 11am-8pm

Taka Ishii Gallery

If you're in the mood for pioneering Japanese photography, look no further than the Taka Ishii Gallery. Though the gallery does represent artists working in other media, it is best known for the gritty black-and-white blur of Daido Moriyama's street photography, the twisted eroticism of Nobuyoshi Araki's portraits of women, and the haunting detachment of Naoya Hatakeyama's industrial and urban landscapes. In addition to a second space next to the Mori Art Museum and a branch in Kyoto, Taka Ishii regularly appears at top international art fairs, including London's Frieze.
* 1-3-2 5F Kiyosumi, Koto-ku, +81 3 5646 6050, takaishiigallery.com. Open Tues-Sat, noon-7pm

Mori Art Museum

At the top of a 54-storey skyscraper in the Roppongi entertainment district, the Mori Art Museum is the behemoth of the Tokyo art scene. Its ambitious solo shows and thematic exhibitions range from eccentric to cerebral. In 2003, its inaugural retrospective of Yayoi Kusama presented a dizzying labyrinth of polka-dot-infused installations, while last summer's survey of the Metabolist architects - one of Japan's most critically acclaimed shows of the year - celebrated the bold ideas that shaped 1960s Tokyo. When you've finished touring the galleries, head to the observation deck on the floor below, where you'll find unrivalled 360-degree views of the metropolis.
* Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 53F, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, +81 3 5777 8600, mori.art.museum, admission price varies. Open daily 10am-10pm, Tues 10am-5pm

Wako Works of Art

Right next door to the Mori Art Museum, Wako Works of Art specialises in high-minded conceptualism, featuring big-name artists such as Gerhard Richter, Fiona Tan, Joan Jonas, and Wolfgang Tillmans. One of the gallery's leading Japanese artists, Shizuka Yokomizo, made her name by posting letters through strangers' doors in the UK, asking them to pose for a photograph in their front window at a specific hour after dark, in return for a print. The sometimes vulnerable, sometimes defiant postures Yokomizo's subjects adopt makes for an unsettling but poignant exploration of voyeurism, exhibitionism and anonymity in portraiture.
* Piramide Building 3F, 6-6-9 Roppongi Minato-ku, +81 3 6447 1820, . Open Tues-Sat 11am-7pm

Mizuma Art Gallery

The Mizuma Art Gallery champions artists who draw on the aesthetics of traditional nihonga painting to create distinctive fantastical images. Akira Yamaguchi envisions 19th-century battle scenes in which soldiers ride horses with motorcycles for bodies, while Manabu Ikeda depicts a floating, rocky city of waterfalls and winding rail tracks. The gallery is also the force behind Makoto Aida, the enfant terrible of the Japanese art world, whose provocative paintings tackle social issues such as the sexual objectification of schoolgirls and violent nationalism.
* Kagura Building 2F, 3-13 Ichigayatamachi, Shinjuku-ku, mizuma-art.co.jp. Tues-Sat 11am-7pm

Watari Museum of Contemporary Art

The Watari Museum (aka the Watari-um) is an impressive and unusual sight - an elegant wedge of concrete that rises from a narrow triangular plot in one of Tokyo's most affluent neighbourhoods. The museum has showcased a wide variety of work, from pioneering street photography by Katsumi Watanabe to the offbeat videos, drawings and photographs of Tam Ochiai, which included "Squirrels in the City", snapshots of strangers walking down New York streets with large instruments on their backs. The basement is home to On Sundays, one of Tokyo's best art bookshops, which stocks limited-edition vintage photo books.
* 3-7-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, +81 3 3402 3001, watarium.co.jp, admission ¥1000. Open Tues-Sun 11am-7pm, Wed 11am-9pm

Arataniurano

When artist Tatzu Nishi had a solo show at Arataniurano, he did much more than hang pictures: he pierced the gallery walls with a street lamp that glowed in the office, and he dramatically lowered the ceiling lights so that visitors had to creep around the edges of the space. One of a group of seven influential Tokyo galleries established since 2004 (known as the New Tokyo Contemporaries), Arataniurano has cemented its reputation for showing quirky, offbeat work, such as Izumi Kato's colourful, African-cum-extraterrestrial wood carvings and Tadasu Takamine's luxury product-like works, with which he campaigns for sustainable energy consumption using super-capacitors.
* 2-2-5 3A Shintomi, Chuo-ku, +81 3 3555 0696, arataniurano.com. Open Tues-Sat noon-7pm

Take Ninagawa

Take Ninagawa's exhibitions are typically an irreverent, scrappy, Pop affair, yet they are rooted in important historical and subcultural movements. One of Japan's most influential artists, Shinro Ohtake is renowned for his mixed-media scrapbooks - riotous, densely layered collages of vintage fashion magazine imagery, leaves and icons of soft-core porno, all encrusted with paint. Misaki Kawai's cartoon-like paintings and installations are influenced by the Japanese manga style known as heta-uma, which employs awkward, "bad" technique to achieve "good", unpretentious results. If you venture to this gallery, hidden in the narrow backstreets of Higashi-Azabu, in the shadow of the Mori Art Museum, you'll always encounter a memorable exhibition.
* 2-12-4 1F, Higashi-Azabu, Minato-ku, +81 3 5571 5844, takeninagawa.com. Tues-Sat, 11am-7pm

Misako & Rosen

In contrast to other cookie-cutter white cube galleries, Misako & Rosen is staggered over a small concrete staircase at its centre, which partitions the viewing experience into several different perspectives. The gallery's artists prove that painting is by no means dead. Maya Hewitt's oil-on-canvases depict bizarre, nightmarish scenes, such as a young man performing surgery on a women while tea is being served nearby, and Shimon Minamikawa's ethereal acrylic paintings juxtapose pastel-coloured geometric abstractions with washed-out portraits.
* 3-27-6 Kita-Otsuka, Toshima-ku, +81 3 6276 1452, misakoandrosen.com. Open Tues-Sat, noon-7pm, Sun noon-5pm
* Ashley Rawlings is the editor of Art Space Tokyo, a guide to Tokyo's most architecturally distinctive museums and galleries

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10 of the best contemporary art galleries in Tokyo

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Tucked away in an old neighbourhood of traditional wooden houses and temples, SCAI The Bathhouse is one of Tokyo's most prestigious contemporary art galleries and perhaps also the most delightful art space in the city.

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How to prevent flattening cultural context while encouraging foreign audiences to embrace the unfamiliar? Ms. Hasegawa tackles that question in "Japanorama." Having previously presented Japanese contemporary art in Brazil, Britain and Germany, she "looked very carefully at the past 10-15 years: what was organized, what kind of Japanese contemporary art has been collected in public institutions in Europe." She continued: "I want to bring awareness to context behind what people misunderstand, to the social commentary behind the works."

Ms. Hasegawa's vast and thoughtful synopsis encompasses six themes (called "archipelagos") that bridge art, architecture, video, fashion and music. She porously connects movements and multimedia across two floors, with a mise-en-scène conceived by the Tokyo architects SANAA. (The Pompidou Center Metz itself was designed by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban).

The first section, "Strange Object/Post-Human Body," confronts visitors with "Electric Dress," a multicolored cluster of lights, created in 1956 by Atsuko Tanaka, that prefigures today's evolving relationship between the physical and the digital. The piece resonates with Comme des Garçons garments on display, which present an alternative approach to Western ideas of beauty and body image.

Transfigurations unfurl throughout this section: Ms. Hasegawa notes "traumatic ideas about the atomic bomb and pollution-activated mutation" in two "very weird, very critical" late 1960s cocoon pods by Tetsumi Kudo). New technology informs the work of the '80s collective Dumb Type, the techno-pop musical outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra and the programmers and artists behind Rhizomatiks. Rhizomatiks contributes a visualization of Bitcoin's blockchain system rejigged according to live transactions, in a digital ballet that shows a forward-looking evolution of Japanese creativity.

Within the Pop Art sphere, Ms. Hasegawa has highlighted works with a strong conceptual background and Japanese specificity. She wishes to undercut the way in which Japanese pop culture is often understood as sunny or silly: The graphic kitsch is, in fact, inherently critical, she says. "It's vernacular - but also very sophisticated," she added. The artist Takashi Murakami's work in this vein, is perhaps the most well-known, but it is also the most misunderstood. The painted smileys of his "Cosmos" are not just bright and fun - the composition owes everything to 18th-century Edo paintings. His lesser-known "Polyrhythm Red" canvas, adorned with Tamiya soldier figurines, reflects, Ms. Hasegawa said, "Japanese culture becoming childish," and a malaise about violence and vulnerability.

The exhibition also overturns the seeming naïveté of "kawaii," Japan's signature brand of cute, to reveal assertions of sociopolitical frustration. A 2002 kimono using Bingata, the traditional dyed fabric of Okinawa - where the artist Yuken Teruya grew up, near a United States Army base - is especially striking. The cheery flowers and trees on the garment are, upon closer inspection, composed of fighter planes and parachutes.

The exhibition concludes with a section on "Materiality and Minimalism," highlighting examples such as Hiroshi Sugimoto's calm photographs of horizon lines and Ryoji Ikeda 's trancelike work based on numerical data. "It's a landing," Ms. Hasegawa said of the exhibition's finale, to "look at something sublime."

Kohei Nawa's breathtaking " Force," an installation of viscous black silicone oil, which rains down without making a splash, appears soothing, but this is deceptive: Its subject is radioactive fallout. Like many works in "Japanorama," it shows that simple does not mean straightforward, that beautiful things can contain disquieting fears.

To grapple with these nuances requires being open to another perspective. In this sense, the show's most emblematic piece is by the artist Shimabuku. His video "Then, I Decided to Give a Tour of Tokyo to the Octopus from Akashi," is as gently funny as it is affecting. He collects an octopus from his hometown and brings it to the metropolis on the bullet train - takes it to the fish market, introduces it to another octopus there - and eventually releases it back into the sea. It's a fitting narrative for visitors to the exhibition, who, at the end, are returned to their usual setting, more enlightened for having explored an unfamiliar territory.

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How to prevent flattening cultural context while encouraging foreign audiences to embrace the unfamiliar? Ms. Hasegawa tackles that question in "Japanorama." Having previously presented Japanese contemporary art in Brazil, Britain and Germany, she "looked very carefully at the past 10-15 years: what was organized, what kind of Japanese contemporary art has been collected in public institutions in Europe."

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In comparison and recognition, Shintoism is encompasses similar beliefs to that of buddhism and hinduism. They have no set doctrine of beliefs to follow nor abide by, but many customary teachings that have been passed down through generations can help us to understand the nature of their theories. Shinto beliefs are not a part of a creed or systems or theologies, but are instead sculptured around the sensibilities that underline their entire approach to the world. Instead of the Christian Ten Commandments, Shintoism contains a said Four Affirmations:

Tradition and family "The main mechanism by which traditions are preserved" (1 http://www.jref.com/japan/culture/religion/shinto.shtml)

Physical Cleanliness Must provide a clean physical appearance e.g purification

Love of Nature Nature is a sacred element in this world. Kami are related to all nature, so worshipping and care of nature is essential.

Matsuri The festivals where Kami are celebrated

Another element of belief throughout Shintoism is the notion of Makoto. Makoto means 'sincerity' and is the overall basis of the religion. It is not rules or codes, but simply emphasises the heart- and the sincerity within a good heart. Because of this belief in Makoto, naturally all ethics and morals will become of great measure and be united with the many other main religions of the world. This concept of Makoto is important to the core beliefs of Shintoism. It is the understanding that even with all the rules, regulations, commandments and orders consuming other religions, if goodness and sincerity is not in your heart, all of those acts are pointless.
Shintoism is known to not believe in life after death, just the celebration of what we know and have right now. However, they do see that once a person dies, they're now considered ancestral Kami. This is why many Shinto followers turn to Buddhism for a buddhist funeral

service after the passing of a loved one. Shintoism doesn't acknowledge death as a start, but rather as an ending of what should be a good life.

The belief in the importance and beauty of nature is also integral to the comprehension of the structure of Shintoism. Considerign that all Kami is present and is the cause of all existence, it is only understandable that within nature lies Kami. This belief causes the Japanese people to shoe utmost care and love for all nature, and celebrate and appreciate all life within it, for example: the festival of the cherry blossoms.

The Beliefs of the Shinto Religion are complimented by the Shrines.
The shrines are an important element to the Kami of the Shinto religion and are many over 100 000 active shrines in Japan today. They provide a home of celebration, devotion and praise, to give to the deities that provide them with the life they're given or the life they wish to have. When entering a Shinto shrine, majority of buildings are constructed with a Torii (As seen in image above), which is an archway symbolising the difference between the human into the Kami world.
Torii is translated as 'To pass through or enter'. They're very much constructed in the same way throughout all shrines, and also some also have two guardian animals sitting either side.

Before entering a shrine, it is a customary practice to perform a simple purification process. You must wash your hands and mouth before entering; a sign of cleansing and renewal. Inside, traditional japanese architecture is showcased amongst most shrines, and the experience within the shrine is peaceful and independent. Most festivals and major events are celebrated at Japanese Shinto Shrines, as they're elaborate colour and spectacular structure provides an alluring destination for all.

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In comparison and recognition, Shintoism is encompasses similar beliefs to that of buddhism and hinduism. They have no set doctrine of beliefs to follow nor abide by, but many customary teachings that have been passed down through generations can help us to understand the nature of their theories.

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- religious ideals (buddism, shintoism) are prominent in Japanese modern contemporary art forms

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- do not steal
- do not kill
- do not lie
- do not misuse sex
- do not consume drugs or alcohol

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dukkha- suffering exists
samundaya- there is a cause for suffering
nirodha- there is and end to suffering
magga- to end suffering, follow the 8thfold path

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sila
- morality
- principal of equality
-  the goledn rule (treat others howw you want to be treated)
samadhi
- concentration, meditation, developement
prajna
-wisdom, enlightenement

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Japanese art - Modern period: Japan's modern period is, for the purposes of this article, defined as beginning with the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and continuing through to the present. In the Japanese system of dating, this period encompasses the Meiji period (1868-1912), the Taishō period (1912-26), the Shōwa period (1926-89), and the Heisei period (began 1989).

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The origin of the word "shinto" means "way of the kami." Therefore, Shinto beliefs focus on the existence and power of the kami, or gods, that exist in the world, in nature, and especially in and throughout Japan. Click the "kami page" below to learn more specific information about these gods.

In general, however, this religion is an overall perspective more than a simple list of Shinto beliefs. This perspective - referred to by the phrase mono no aware - is a uniquely Japanese way of seeing the world and its beauty that contains many nuances, which includes:

- aesthetic sensitivity - a sense of beauty and of the beautiful

- sensitivity toward the aesthetic and the emotional as a basis for looking at life - this includes the sadness or pathos of life as well as joy, happiness and bliss

- seeing with the heart into the natural beauty and goodness of all things

These sensibilities undergird much of what is focused on in Japanese thought and artistic expression - things such as nature, harmony, balance - and their particular expression in practical and decorative arts such as flower arranging, architecture, landscape design, the tea ceremony and elsewhere.
Makoto & Kannagara-no-michi
Shinto beliefs, then, are not centered around official creeds or codified systems of theology or ethics, but instead are a distinct sensibility that underlies an entire approach to life and the world. This can be captured not only with the phrase mono no aware, but also with the concepts of makoto and kannagara-no-michi.

Makoto simply means " sincerity" and it is the basis of Shinto ethics. This religion is sometimes criticized by those who don't understand it for having no official list of rules or codes of ethics, such as the Ten Commandments. Instead, Shinto emphasizes makoto - sincerity in the heart.

Those who are sincere will naturally tend to behave in ways that cohere with the great, official ethical traditions of the world's religion. Sincere people don't steal from others, or lie to them, or try to murder them. Sincere people do not do things that undermine the fabric of society or bring harm to the community or family. Sincerity is the grounding of all ethical thought and behavior, in this view. Even were the religion to have long lists of dos and don'ts in its archives, only those with sincerity in their hearts will be prompted to live the rules.

This is partly what is meant by the phrase kannagara-no-michi which, in the ethical context, refers to the idea that virtue is inseparable from the rest of life, especially life lived in harmony with the natural world (enlivened by kami, or the gods). Beauty, truth, goodness, morality - these are all connected, inseparable from each other. Those who live life with the perspective outlined above - with an aesthetic sensitivity, an emotional sensibility toward the world, and with a sincere heart will behave morally almost naturally. List and rules are more important for training animals than for cultivating morality in humans, according to this view.

Having said this, purity rituals are common across Shinto practice, which points to the need for purity in one's heart. This purity of heart is a natural companion to makoto. Purity rituals use water as the cleansing agent, and the rituals include rinsing the mouth, washing the hands, bathing, standing under waterfalls, and other such things. Often, these activities are done at a shrine, and they symbolize the inner purity necessary for a truly human and spiritual life.

Return to the Shinto Basics Page from this Shinto Beliefs Page
Shinto Gods - the Kami
Shinto Shrines
Shinto Rituals
State Shinto

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The origin of the word "shinto" means "way of the kami." Therefore, Shinto beliefs focus on the existence and power of the kami, or gods, that exist in the world, in nature, and especially in and throughout Japan. Click the "kami page" below to learn more specific information about these gods.

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Buddhism

Core beliefs of Buddhism:

Buddhism, like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into many different traditions. However, most traditions share a common set of fundamental beliefs.

One fundamental belief of Buddhism is often referred to as reincarnation -- the concept that people are reborn after dying. In fact, most individuals go through many cycles of birth, living, death and rebirth. A practicing Buddhist differentiates between the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation. In reincarnation, the individual may recur repeatedly. In rebirth, a person does not necessarily return to Earth as the same entity ever again. He compares it to a leaf growing on a tree. When the withering leaf falls off, a new leaf will eventually replace it. It is similar to the old leaf, but it is not identical to the original leaf.
After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana. This is a state of liberation and freedom from suffering.
The Three Trainings or Practices:

These three consist of:

1. Sila: Virtue, good conduct, morality. This is based on two fundamental principles:

The principle of equality: that all living entities are equal.

The principle of reciprocity: This is the " Golden Rule" in Christianity -- to do onto others as you would wish them to do onto you. It is found in all major religions.

2. Samadhi: Concentration, meditation, mental development. Developing one's mind is the path to wisdom which in turn leads to personal freedom. Mental development also strengthens and controls our mind; this helps us maintain good conduct.

3. Prajna: Discernment, insight, wisdom, enlightenment. This is the real heart of Buddhism. Wisdom will emerge if your mind is pure and calm.

The first two paths listed in the Eightfold Path, described below, refer to discernment; the last three belong to concentration; the middle three are related to virtue. Sponsored link
The Four Noble Truths:

The Buddha's Four Noble Truths explore human suffering. They may be described (somewhat simplistically) as:

1. Dukkha: Suffering exists: (Suffering is real and almost universal. Suffering has many causes: loss, sickness, pain, failure, the impermanence of pleasure.)

2. Samudaya: There is a cause for suffering. (It is the desire to have and control things. It can take many forms: craving of sensual pleasures; the desire for fame; the desire to avoid unpleasant sensations, like fear, anger or jealousy.)

3. Nirodha: There is an end to suffering. (Suffering ceases with the final liberation of Nirvana (a.k.a. Nibbana). The mind experiences complete freedom, liberation and non-attachment. It lets go of any desire or craving.)

4. Magga: In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path.

The Five Precepts:

These are rules to live by. They are somewhat analogous to the second half of the Ten Commandments in Judaism and Christianity -- that part of the Decalogue which describes behaviors to avoid. However, they are recommendations, not commandments. Believers are expected to use their own intelligence in deciding exactly how to apply these rules.

1. Do not kill. This is sometimes translated as "not harming" or an absence of violence.

2. Do not steal. This is generally interpreted as including the avoidance of fraud and economic exploitation.

3. Do not lie. This is sometimes interpreted as including name calling, gossip, etc.

4. Do not misuse sex. For monks and nuns, this means any departure from complete celibacy. For the laity, adultery is forbidden, along with any sexual harassment or exploitation, including that within marriage. The Buddha did not discuss consensual premarital sex within a committed relationship; Thus, Buddhist traditions differ on this. Most Buddhists, probably influenced by their local cultures, condemn same-sex sexual activity regardless of the nature of the relationship between the people involved.

5. Do not consume alcohol or other drugs. The main concern here is that intoxicants cloud the mind. Some have included as a drug other methods of divorcing ourselves from reality -- e.g. movies, television, the Internet. 1

Those preparing for monastic life or who are not within a family are expected to avoid an additional five activities:

6. Taking untimely meals.
7. Dancing, singing, music, watching grotesque mime.
8. Use of garlands, perfumes and personal adornment.
9. Use of high seats.
10. Accepting gold or silver.

The Eightfold Path:

The Buddha's Eightfold Path consists of:

Panna: Discernment, wisdom:

2) Samma sankappa: Right thinking; following the right path in life

Sila: Virtue, morality:

5) Samma ajiva: Right livelihood; support yourself without harming others

Samadhi: Concentration, meditation:

References:

1. Guy Newland, Untitled essay at: http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/

2. Bhikkhu Bodhi, "The Noble Eightfold Path. The Way to the End of Suffering," Buddhist Information, at: http://www.buddhistinformation.com/

Copyright © 1996 to 2017 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2017-DEC-04
Author: B.A. Robinson

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Buddhism, like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into many different traditions. However, most traditions share a common set of fundamental beliefs. One fundamental belief of Buddhism is often referred to as reincarnation -- the concept that people are reborn after dying.

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(1) to lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

* What is Wisdom?
Buddhism teaches that wisdom should be developed with compassion. At one extreme, you could be a good hearted fool and at the other extreme, you could attain knowledge without any emotion. Buddhism uses the middle path to develop both. The highest wisdom is seeing that in reality, all phenomena are incomplete, impermanent and do not constitute a fixed entity. True wisdom is not simply believing what we are told but instead experiencing and understanding truth and reality. Wisdom requires an open, objective, unbigoted mind. The Buddhist path requires courage, patience, flexibility and intelligence.

Prepared by Brian White 1993, with thanks to Ven S. Dhammika.

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A Basic Buddhism Guide: 5 Minute Introduction

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(1) to lead a moral life, (2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and (3) to develop wisdom and understanding. * What is Wisdom? Buddhism teaches that wisdom should be developed with compassion. At one extreme, you could be a good hearted fool and at the other extreme, you could attain knowledge without any emotion.

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- where do we see religion in modern culture
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