Cultivating sanctity
There are thousands - maybe tens of thousands - of shrines and temples in Japan. It really is a land of shrines. A land of gods. I know some people whose hobby is visiting shrines and temples and posting photos of their adventures to social media. I personally have visited only a few hundred shrines and temples.
When I first arrived in Japan, I used to think that if you’ve seen one shrine or temple, then you’ve seen them all. I don’t think so today, however. Visiting and photographing shrines and temples has now become one of my own hobbies. I look for certain common architectural elements. Then, I look for anything unique.
One of the features of both shrines and temples is the offering box, “saisen.” You throw in a coin, clap your hands, ring the bell, bow and pray. I never pray at a Buddhist temple or a Shinto shrine because I believe in Jesus Christ. A foreign, Christian chauvinist might say that the ‘worship’ going on here is base materialism. Not really worship at all, really. For Asians, “prayer” is little more than blasphemous self-centeredness.
But that doesn’t stop me from throwing my own offerings into the boxes. If I’m a Christian, why offer money in the offering box of pagan holy places?
The answer is that these are my people. And, while I do not believe in Siddartha or the spirits of my ancestors and the spirits of Nature, I do believe in sanctity, and I believe in the customs of my people. I think there is value in promoting reverence and sanctity in society. To adopt a mature attitude towards life is to learn to recognize and acknowledge the Sacred in everything around us. By giving offerings to temples and shrines I hope to help cultivate a sense of sacredness. That’s why I do it. I believe in the mysteries of the Sacred. The world cannot exist without prayer. So, enabling prayer, whatever the faith, must be a good thing.
Or not.
To adopt a mature attitude towards life is to learn to recognize and acknowledge the Sacred in everything around us.