Shugendo (修験道) is an old Japanese way of studying the relationship between Man and Nature. "Shugendo" literally means "the path of training and testing." It centers around an ascetic, mountain-dwelling lifestyle and incorporates teachings from other eastern philosophies. The focus or goal of Shugendo is the development of spiritual experience and power. Image of a man on the Pioneer plaque sent to interstellar space A man is a male human adult, in contrast to an adult female, which is a woman. ... The deepest visible-light image of the universe, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ... The word ascetic derives from the ancient Greek term askesis (practice, training or exercise). ...

En-no-Gyōja is often considered the founder of shugendo. En no Gyōja (役行者), aka En no Ozunu (役小角), born 634, was a Japanese ascetic and mystic, traditionally held to be the founder of Shugendō, a conglomerate religion incorporating aspects of Taoism, Shinto, esoteric Buddhism (especially Shingon Mikkyo and the Tendai sect but some Zen sects have also been heard of...

History

Shugendo evolved as a sort of amalgamation between state-sponsored Buddhism and several other religious influences in Japan around the 7th century, including but not limited to Taoism and Shinto. In modern times, shugendo is practiced by the Yoshino Yamabushi of Dewa Sanzan (Tendai sect), Kinpusenji and Ishiyama-dera Shingon sects, but it retains an influence on modern Japanese religion and culture. A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... // Overview Events The Roman-Persian Wars end. ... Taoism also written as Daoism is the English name for: (a) The philosophy and wisdom in the Dao De Jing and other teachings by Laozi老子 or the founding father of Daoism 道祖. (b) The Daoist practitioners in the past with special gifts and powers; (c) The ancestral and deity worship as... A torii at Itsukushima Shrine Shinto (Kanji: 神道 Shintō) (sometimes called Shintoism) is a native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ... Shingon (真言宗) is a major school of Japanese Buddhism, and the most important school of Vajrayana Buddhism outside of the Himalayan region. ... Most Japanese people profess to not believe in any particular religion. ... After several waves of migrations from the Asian continent and nearby Pacific islands, followed by heavy importation of culture from Korea and China, the inhabitants of Japan experienced a long period of relative isolation from the outside world until the arrival of the Black Ships and the Meiji era. ...

Followers

Those who practice Shugendo are referred in two ways. One term, shugenja (修験者), is derived from the term "Shugendo" much as "Buddhist" describes a follower of Buddha or Christian a follower of Christ, though the term centers around an idea as opposed to a person. Shugenja (修験者) were the 7th century practitioners of the Japanese religion of Shugendo. ...

The other term, yamabushi means "to lie in the mountains". Yamabushi often appeared in Japanese myths and folklore, as is evident in the demon Saito Musashibo Benkei and the deity Sojobo, king of the tengu (mountain spirits). Model portraying a Sohei in a 19th century photograph . ... Japanese mythology is an extremely complex system of beliefs. ... Benkei as portrayed in Kabuki plays. ... Sojobo is the mythical king of the tengu, minor deities who inhabit the mountains of forests of Japan. ... Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Elephant catching a flying tengu Tengu (天狗) are minor kami or yokai found in Japanese folklore. ...

Further reading

• "Sutra on the Unlimited Life of the Threefold Body" (translated into English)

External links

• A Useful Shugendo Index
• A Concise Explanation of Shugendo
• A Look at Japanese Ascetic Practice
• A useful Overview of Shugendo