The
Comparative Theory of Religion: The Symbolism of the Mountain in
the Japanese Folk Religion and Buddhism
H. Yokoyama |
The
mountain has been very important in the Japanese Culture since ancient
times. Especially, the symbolism of the mountain has been and is
playing a significant role in the Japanese folk religions and Buddhism.
I tried to show this importance by comparing the symbolism of the
mountain in Shintoism with that in Buddhism. Through this discussion,
it was pointed out that the maternal aspect of the mountain was playing
a more important role than the paternal one. In Shintoism, this tendency
is more predominant than in Buddhism. The deity of the mountain is
a protector of the Japanese people and assume even a figure of the
goddess. In Buddhism, the spiritual aspect of the mountain is more
accentuated. But the quintessence of its spiritual meaning is very
different from that in the European culture. Although, in the European
culture, the relationship between spirit and nature tends to be an
opposite one, this is not contradictory in that of Japan. The close
relationship with nature is the most important point in the Japanese
spirituality. Japanese Buddhism typically expresses this quality.
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