9 quotes
Shinto sees everything in existence as generated by and transformed from the ultimate origin of life; this is expressed in the idea that all forms of life are a child-spirit of the original Kami.
The Essence of Shinto (2006)
If you truly enter a deep state, then chinkon can also lead you into a realm exactly like the one known as “the realm of mindlessness and thoughtlessness.”
The Essence of Shinto (2006)
But Shinto doesn't mean by "the origin" the past which is gone, but rather the essence that is still kept in the present, which has always been alive within ourselves.
Now if you find yourself lost in the spiritual aspect, what will you do? A sage once told me, "Go back to your origin." And what is our "origin"? Nature, ultimately, if we trace back our roots.
Therefore, it has been widely believed in Japan that ancestral spirits exist in the invisible world, overlapping with physical reality and having intimate connection with people living in this world. In this unseen world, the ancestral spirits continue to work on their own purification.
The Essence of Shinto (2006)
For a jinja, one must choose a suitable place and then create an appropriate setting for a sacred space. Then it is necessary to ask Kami to descend upon it and make its presence felt. In other words, jinja need not be a place where Kami have dwelled eternally, or will always live.
The Essence of Shinto (2006)
The spirit of Kami does not visit unclean places, and an unclean shrine becomes a mere building devoid of Kami energy, even though it may still have mitamashiro (御魂代) there. Mitamashiro is a material object temporarily representing spirit, such as a mirror, for the spirit of Kami to descend upon.
The Essence of Shinto (2006)
Therefore in Shinto there is no doctrine of absolute and final salvation. Human beings continue to grow. Human beings keep growing throughout their lives, and after their lives on earth they go to the other world (see Chapter 7) and continue living for renovation and maintenance, or shuri kosei. Eventually, they may keep growing until they eventually become Kami.
The Essence of Shinto (2006)
Gradually, each human spirit-soul is purified so that it may become a highly advanced spirit, just as flowers bloom, bring forth fruit, and eventually mature. The soul who committed misdeeds undergoes a process of atonement. Having successfully worked through this, it is able to move on to further spiritual growth. Some very advanced psychics are conscious of this process taking place.
The Essence of Shinto (2006)