[Advaita-l] Sun Worship is declining in Japan - Is Cause of Earthquake and Tsunami?

Venkatesh Murthy vmurthy36 at gmail.com
Sun Mar 13 10:53:22 CDT 2011


Namaste

The land of the Rising Sun, Japan is losing interest in Sun Worship.
Outside religions like Christianity and Buddhism has spoilt it. There
is a decline of anicent indigenous religion Shinto.  Natural disasters
will happen.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/astro/slaa/slaa09.htm

'In the spirit religion of Japan we find the worship of the Sun-God is
supreme. He is regarded as the "heaven-enlightening great
spirit,—below him stand all the lesser spirits through whom as
mediators, guardians, and protectors, worship is paid by men." Among
the Shinto deities, however, the Sun-Goddess was the central figure.'

The book 'Japan in the 21st Century: environment, economy, and
society' by Praduymna Prasad Karan and Dick Gilbreath

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vSDLLpn4K4UC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=shintoism+decline&source=bl&ots=8BfOYPHS-5&sig=2quIBAlYivrx-RhDmlYdFOQ13b4&hl=en&ei=oZN7TaboKc7orQfE6ZTGBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false

'In an increasingly secular Japan, Shinto shrines in large cities are
facing difficulty and losing support. Many urban shrines are finding
that renting out their land, always a premium in Japan’s cities, is
the best way to survive. ‘The problem today is the low level of
interest in religion. A commonly cited indicator is wedding practices.
A generation ago. 70 percent or more Japanese were married with Shinto
rites. Today, Christian-style weddings are in fashion, even though few
Japanese identify themselves as Christians, and Shinto marriages
constitute fewer than 20 percent of the total. It should be pointed
out that a wedding is a fashion celebration in Japan and not a
religious ceremony. A ceremony is not even necessary to become married
in Japan. The first Shinto wedding in Japan was that of Emperor
Taisho. After that it became popular to have a wedding ceremony. Now,
young Japanese women like the “look” of Christian wedding; they like
to dress up in that manner as part of their ceremony. It is not really
a Christian wedding—it is just a fashion show. Good money is to be
made these days by foreign men who look Western: all they have to do
is to put ois a priest’s costume and be ready to read the vows.
There are other indicators of Shinto’s decline, from statistics
showing fewer shrine visits nationally to a decline in observance of
the so-called 7-5-3 rites of passage for children on those birthdays,
when the chlld’s family goes to a shrine for prayers. Now shrines are
pushing the business angle.Priests in central Tokyo spend days
performing purification ceremonies for television studios that hope
for success with new plays or sitcoms, or blessing new construction
sites to ward off accidents or earthquake damage. Buddhism was
introduced into Japan in 552.'

Moral of Story for India-  Because India is losing interest in ancient
religion Hinduism and embracing Mleccha Christian and Islamic culture
and religion there may be natural disasters like in Japan.

-- 
Regards

-Venkatesh



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