I’ll try and explain myself, me ex catholic turned atheist. I used to fully believe in the non existence of anything except nothing at all and nihilism. But I keep finding that I then become agnostic and realised I can’t say there is and there is not a god. I have recently discovered Shinto religion and have fallen in love with its culture and treatment of nature and living things. The only problem is that I’m so Damn conflicted about everything how we never are sure is something exists. I don’t know what to do?
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/17dy0lw/am_i_even_valid_to_join_the_shinto_religion/
10 comments
Not a follower of the Shinto religion, nor am I Japanese. But it struck a chord with me when you said you fell in love with the faith because I really find it amazing too.
Plus, being a former nihilist myself, I can tell you one thing that to be able to embrace any kind of faith, you’re gonna have to forgo that nihilist ideology because it’ll constantly contradict with anything you want to put faith in. Because in the end, you’ll keep boiling down to “nothing matters anyway”.
This is just what I experienced personally so I thought I’ll share. Might help you with building your interest in Shintoism!
move to japan as an english teacher and vibe with the nature spirits on ur time off
Religion of course can be a deeply personal matter and it sounds like you’re sorting through a lot of big questions. I’m going to speak in fairly broad generalizations about Shinto, hopefully without being too reductive (and apologies for bad formatting, on mobile). If you’re looking for a sense of spiritual fulfillment about the existence of a higher power (as in much of Christianity), I don’t think Shinto will provide that. These days, Shinto is closer to cultural practice than “religion” in the Christian (largely Protestant) sense (where belief / faith are crucial underpinnings). There are complex historical reasons for this, and this is not to say that there’s no one who takes great personal meaning from a connection with a certain kami. But in the vast majority of cases, Shinto (which, as a “unified tradition” is very much a modern invention based on a diverse assortment of local traditions and practice that shared in similar features) is about festivals at certain times of year and/or associated with certain places. It is often associated with wedding ceremonies as a “traditional institution” (compared to, as the trope goes, a Buddhist funeral — again reflecting complex historical trends, though also an indication of which tradition offers more comforting answers about things after death). Shinto is not a text-based tradition with a set cosmology (though some stories have become widely considered as standard, again for complex historical and political reasons). I’ll also say that, because of how the state institutionalized and operationalized it from the Meiji era through the war, aspects of Shinto can be seen as politically fraught (e.g., the commemoration of war dead at the Yasukuni Shrine), though this is distinct from, say, your neighborhood’s local shrine festival. This is all to say, if you’re interested, I’d encourage you to try to talk with a shrine priest (this could be hard if you don’t speak Japanese) to see if their approach and understanding addresses what you’re looking for. But I’d also stress that the framework many avowed Shinto practitioners operate in could be fundamentally different than what you’re used to. Best of luck in working through these questions.
What kind of Shinto you on about? There are many flavours. I know shinto priests who admit they do not even count it as a “religion.”
The “nature” concept is utter bullshit. Go to a shrine festival, look at the mess. Most of it is just a business.
Yeah, but come to Japan and start at a Shinto uni. They will just laugh at you.
Andrei Tarkovsky in the film Stalker put forward the thesis that faith is like a muscle, you must work it. Consider that in your approach to any religion, it takes practice to develop the muscle of faith.
I personally think it does not matter the object of faith, but faith itself is a potent human force. Truth in this sense is a psychological reality even if it’s not a physical one.
You should probably go to Japan and see how Japanese people treat nature and living things before you decide that the way Japanese people treat nature and living things is something you want to emulate.
Do you believe in the Shinto Gods? Or do you wish to follow the philosophy of Shintoism.
Shinto can be a religion or it can be a philosophy, must like Buddhism can be either or based on your personal beliefs.
If it’s the nature part that appeals to you, you’ll probably be better off looking into different varieties of neopaganism tbh. As others have said, Shinto is very much based on the local culture – not even Japanese culture, but the very very local culture of various small areas of Japan. A lot of it would be kind of removed from you and your own context if you haven’t at least been to some of the shrines before. And there are many parts that aren’t about nature at all.
I recommend animism, atheopahanism or something like norse or celtic paganism to you, perhaps also druidry. They all have a variety of spirits of place that you are encouraged to give offerings to, similar to the kami in shinto, and most of them consider respect for nature or nature worship as core to their practice.
If the bit about “can I be part of this if I don’t Truly Believe TM” trips you up, I also recommend non-theistic paganism and science/psychology based witchcraft to you. These are practices that do not require belief in the supernatural or godly worship, and instead focus on the good that ritual, nature respect and regula spiritual work can have our psyche and mental health.
Shinto and Japanese culture are lovely in many ways, and I do believe that it’s possible for non-japanese people to be part of them without that being an issue. But I also think that for those who don’t have a lot of experience or contact with the faith or the culture, it makes more sense to look a bit closer to home and see what our own cultural context has to offer us first. Good luck on your spiritual journey!
From what I’ve seen, the kami are satisfied as long as you go to the shrine rine and flip a yen into the bucket every New Year’s. I think it’s kind of like a kami tip jar.
I’m in the same place, kind of.
I’m atheist, I don’t believe there’s a god or any creator. But I’m open the the idea of there being… other types of existence? Some Spiritual influence or something? I’m not sure. I’ve been attracted to shinto lately just reading about it. I always feel the truth is somewhere in the middle.