japanese religion :: essays research papers

JapanReligious and philosophic TraditionsThe values described in the preceding section are derived from a number of religious and philosophical traditions, both natal and foreign. Taken together, these traditions whitethorn be considered the Nipponese world bet, although the personal beliefs of an individual Japanese may interconnected some aspects and disregard others. The Japanese worldview is eclectic, contrasting with a Western view in which religion is exclusive and defines ones identity. Contemporary Japanese society is extremely secular. Cause and effect relations are frequently based in scientific models, and illness and death are explained by modern recoverth check theories. Yet the scientific view is but one of the options from which an individual may draw in interpreting lifes experiences. The Japanese worldview is characterized also by a pragmatic approach to problem solving, in which the technique may be less important than the results. Thus a Japanese who is i ll may simultaneously or sequentially seek the assistance of a medical checkup doctor, obtain medication from a person trained in the Chinese herbal tradition, and visit a local shrine. Each of these actions is based on a different belief in causation of the illness the atomic number 101 may say that the illness is caused by a bacterial transmission system the herbalist regards the body as being out of balance and the reason of the shrine visit is the belief that the mind must be cleansed to heal the body. In the West, these explanations might be viewed as mutually exclusive, but the Japanese patient may hold all of these views simultaneously without a finger of discord. Similarly, a student studying for university entrance examinations knows that without extraordinary hard work, memory access is impossible. Yet the student will probably also visit a special shrine to ask for the help of the spiritual world in ensuring success. The roots of the Japanese worldview can be traced to several traditions. Shinto, the only indigenous religion of Japan, provided the base.