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Welcome to Japanese Religion Online!

Questions for Class Discussion

Chapter 1

1.  What are the reasons why you want to study Japanese religion?   Share your reasons with others, being sure to bring out secondary benefits you might gain as well as your primary motivation.   Indicate to what extent you think these reasons could be satisfied by this introductory class.

2.  What does the background and structure of the Japanese language tell us about Japanese character and, by implication, religious attitudes?   Let those in class who know some Japanese explain what the language means to them, and what kinds of mentality and social behavior it seems to facilitate. 

3.   At this beginning stage of study, how would you respond to the question of how religious the Japanese are?   Be sure to have a working definition of “religion” in mind as you approach the query, and be aware of how conditioned it may be by your own religion and culture.

Chapter 2

1.  What function does the Daijosai or imperial accession rite, and the imperial institution itself, have in contemporary Japan.   What does its perpetuation, and the mysteries connected with it, tell us about Japanese culture and religion?   Why it is controversial for some Japanese?

2.  What does the diversity of Japanese religious sites and practices, from many different periods, tell us about the nature of religion in the country?  Yet Japan is also often called a homogeneous society.   Can Japan be described as religiously pluralistic in the same way the United States is often so described?  

3.   Let those in the class who have ever visited a Japanese temple or shrine, or observed a Japanese religious festival or rite, whether in Japan or America, share a description of it with the class, and endeavor to interpret what it seemed to be about.

Chapter 3

1.   What does the term “kami” mean, and how does it compare with other concepts of the divine?  How do you understand the religious meaning of polytheism?  To what extent is Shinto truly polytheistic?  

2.   The text states, “Participation in its Shinto worship is a manifestation of one's identity as a member of a community in Japan.”  Give examples from family to state, and discuss what this might signify in terms of the individual, the group, and the sacred.   What about persons in contemporary Japan to whom Shinto worship might seem meaningless or off-putting?

3.   Shinto is often said to be a celebration of fertility, festivity, and in general the good things of life in this world, while at odds with impurity, represented by blood, disease, and death; some now also associate Shinto with the pristine, primeval Japan of forests and streams before much human pollution.  How do you feel about this characterization?   Can you give examples from the world of Shinto to support your feelings?

Interlude

1.   Put the Buddha's Four Noble Truths into your own words, and explain their meaning.   Do you think it is really true that all suffering is caused by attachment or desire, past or present?   Do you think that living the way of life indicated by the Eightfold Path, culminating in right samadhi or meditation, is really the antidote to suffering?   What do you think is meant by right livelihood?   From what you know of Japanese Buddhism, how much emphasis do you think it has put on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path?

2.   How would you explain, in your own words, the difference between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism?   What was the appeal of Mahayana, especially in East Asia including Japan?   How does Mahayana Buddhism relate to other ethical and spiritual traditions, such as Confucianism and Shinto?

3.   Interpret Yogacara or Consciousness-Only Buddhism.   Given the psychology and metaphysics of this position, what kind of spiritual path would seem most appropriate to one who accepted its premises?  

Chapter 4

1.   What were the main emphases of Japanese religion before Buddhism?   How would you understand the role of women in that spiritual culture?

2.  How did Buddhism, and with it Confucianism, lead to the consolidation of Japan into a more unified and centralized state than before?   Can you think of any comparable process in more recent history?

3.  What does the case of Nara Japan tell us about the different roles and concerns of the “elite” and “folk” versions of a religion?   Are there current examples of the same split?

Chapter 5

1.   Do you find the world of the Heian court appealing?  Why or why not?   What were the main values of its inhabitants, and how did religion support – or challenge – those values?

2.   How do you feel about esotericism or secrecy in religion?   Is the way it is used in the mikkyo aspects of Shingon and Tendai justified?   How could these schools be said to offer a “holistic” spiritual path?

3.   Explain shinbutsu shugo, the merging of Shinto and Buddhism.  What role did this combination have in Japanese history?  Is it a good way to deal with the coming together of different religious traditions?

Chapter 6

1.  How useful do you feel is a comparison between Kamakura Buddhism in Japan and the Protestant Reformation in Europe?   What were some similarities and differences?

2.   What is the essence of Pure Land Buddhism?   Is it really an “Easy Path”?   If its goal is the otherworldly Western Paradise, why did it make such a difference in the social and political history of Japan here in this world?  

3.   Why has Nichiren been considered the most controversial figure in Japanese religious history?   Should a spiritual teacher present the unvarnished truth as he sees it in season and out, as did Nichiren, or should he seek accommodation and compromise?

Chapter 7

1.  What do you think is the key Zen experience?  What are ways it is encouraged or induced, and how would it change a person's life thereafter?

2.   How would you characterize the essential teaching of Dogen?   Why did he seem to like talking about just sitting, and about work in the kitchen?   What do you think he really meant by “being-time”?

3.   How do you see the relation between Bushido and Zen?   Is there a way it is truly connected to the core Zen experience, or is it simply a perversion of Zen?    Is there a difference between the martial arts (budo) and the other arts traditionally associated with Zen, such as those of tea and flowers?

Chapter 8

1.   Explain why Christianity was at first well received in Japan, and then rejected, at least by the leadership.   What did Christianity seem to offer that Japan lacked?   Were the acceptance and rejection justified?

2.   What were some major forms of Tokugawa Confucianism, from the “official” to the popular, and why did they have a wide response in the society of the period?   Confucianists often seemed to believe they had created a virtually perfect society, one in harmony with the fundamental principles of nature and humanity:  do you see any flaws in this assumption?   Are any of those challenging issues reflected in the period's literature?

3.   Why was there a gradual but significant revival of Shinto, especially in its nationalistic aspect, in Tokugawa Japan?    How was it expressed both intellectually and on the popular level?

Chapter 9

1.  How did the Meiji Restoration change the character of Japanese religion?   What would you say are the deep level themes in the Meiji attitude toward religion and its place in changing Japanese society?

How did the Meiji destinies of Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity differ?

2.  What needs did the imperial ideology of modern Japan meet?   How did Japanese apologists of the time explain the differences they saw between Japanese and European totalitarianism?   What inherent  constituents of the Japanese ideology made it prone to failure and disaster?

3.  What roles did Shinto, Buddhism, and Christianity have in the “Dark Valley” and wartime periods? Under the conditions of the times, how justified do you feel they were in accepting those roles to the extent they did? 

Chapter 10

1.  How do you see Shugendo fitting into the story of Japanese religion as a whole?   How does it relate to ancient Japan, to medieval Buddhism, and to the modern New Religions?   What persistent Japanese spiritual need does it seem to meet?

2.   Cite a few of the best-known New Religions and give an analysis of the reasons for their appeal.  Why do you think groups like Tenrikyo, Konkokyo, and Omoto emerged in the Meiji period or just before, Nichiren groups like Soka Gakkai flourished in the postwar era, and movements related to esoteric Buddhism more recently?    What do you think of the “Aum effect” in Japanese attitudes toward religion?

3.   Discuss and explain some common characteristics of new religious movements in Japan, and compare them to characteristics of similar movements elsewhere?   Which seem to be widespread, and which especially typical of Japan?

Chapter 11

1.   Why do you think most Japanese did not accept Christianity during the Occupation, but some turned instead to the New Religions?

2.  Do you think Japanese religion is most significantly given to innovation or conservatism?   Give recent examples of both, and compare their relative appeal.

3.   Are you familiar with manga, anime, and Nintendo and Sony games?   What themes with possible roots in Japanese mythology, folklore, and religion do you see in them?

 
       

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