Thinking about Shintoism after my father’s death | 父の死から神道について考える - サラリーマンまさよしの日記

*日本語は英語の後にあります

*English translation based on translation tools. Please forgive any mistranslations.

My father passed away in late September, about 3 months ago he told me he was feeling a little sick, but then it happened fast. The great sense of loss that I felt immediately after his death is gone now, but I still feel regret from time to time, like I should have done more ◯◯, and somewhere in my daily life, a feeling of sadness is born, but we all go through this, so we have to move forward. Don’t think it will always be there, parents and money. My parents used to say this to me, and it is something I realize when the time comes.

“Shinto” is included in the title of this blog. Since my father’s funeral was a Shinto funeral based on the Shinto beliefs, what is Shinto? What kind of view of life and death is it? I would like to write a little about it as a reminder.

What is Shinto?

According to a book written by a religious historian, Shinto is a faith unique to Japan that has continued since ancient times. Unlike Buddhism and Christianity, Shinto has no founder or scripture, and it seems to have been created by adding elements of foreign beliefs to those that arose spontaneously in various parts of Japan.

There are many gods (spirits), including the gods (spirits) of nature such as mountains, rivers, and oceans, as well as the gods (spirits) of national birth and the gods (spirits) who govern things.

He also mentioned the difference between shrines and temples. It was very easy to understand that shrines are places for gods (temples as the dwelling place of gods), while temples are places for people (stupas to honor enlightened Buddhas and ideal Bodhisattvas).

Incidentally, there are more than 81,000 shrines and 77,000 temples (reference source: Diamond Online).

Shinto View of Life and Death

As I conducted the funeral service and the 50-day festival (49 days in Buddhism), I thought again about the “view of life and death”. I knew about it partially from movies and cartoons that I have seen, but here is what I learned.

Buddhism

There are three major views of life and death: first, going to the Pure Land, second, ascend to nirvana, and third, reincarnation.

Christianity

Catholics apparently believe that immediately after death, one is judged by private judgment, which determines whether one is in heaven, hell, or somewhere in between, purgatory.

Protestants believe that people are born with sin and that only those who believe in Christ can go to heaven. I heard that it is taken that those who have faith will be at peace with God after death.

Shinto

It is said that Shintoists are believed to remain in their homes with their ancestors after death and become the guardian deities of their families. It represents the view of life and death that people born in Japan return to the gods of their ancestors when they die, and life is believed to be passed down from generation to generation.

This time, my father has given me an opportunity to think about “Shinto”, which I have not been very conscious of as a person. I would like to dig deeper, but I will leave it at that for now.

9月下旬に父が亡くなった。3ヶ月程前から少し体調が悪いと言っていたが、それから早かった。亡くなってすぐの大きな喪失感は今は流石になくなったが、もっと◯◯しておけばよかった、とか、時たま後悔の気持ちは出てくるし、日々の生活のどこかで、寂しい気持ちも生まれてくるが、誰もが経験することなので前に進んでいくしかない。「いつまでもあると思うな親と金」。親がよく言っていた諺だが、ここぞという時にやはり実感するものである。

さて、今回のブログタイトルにも入れた「神道」。父の葬儀が神道の考えに基づいて執り行う神式葬儀だったので、神道とは何か？どういう死生観なのか？という事を備忘録のために少しだけ記しておきたいと思う。