Shinto: Gods and why so many of them

[AxaliaN]

Hello,

I have to make a project for school, and I chose Shinto as the subject. I need to tell people about the religion, and especially about the gods and why they have so many of them.

Can someone direct me to some good websites or does anyone have this information themselves?

Thanks in advance!
-Ax

[Silverbackman]

Wikipedia should provide you everything you need;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto

CR also has a Shinto page up;

http://www.comparative-religion.com/shinto/

[Vapour]

There are so many "gods" in shinto simply because shinto consider everything to be somewhat devine. That is why large rock or tree become object of reverence. "[a] waterfall, the moon, or just an oddly shaped rock might come to be regarded as a kami; so might charismatic persons or more abstract entities like growth and fertility." But if you check scripture, number of names of gods is no more or less than greak mythology. But it refers the collection of gods as Yorozu-no-kami (8 million gods), just to shows that there are lots of them. Go to Wikipedia.

[zeras]

Well, There are many sects with in the followers of Shinto.
Shinto it self has alot of borrowed ideas from Toaism. If you compare to the
house hold taoist deities and compare to the ones of the Shinto house deities they are very alike. Also, the word Shinto, it self are made up of 2 chinese words, Shin or Shen from the Yang word of Good or heavnly force, I belive it is called and the word To (Do) sound from tao (Dao) which means way.

[Nick the Pilot]

AxaliaN,

I have found this to be a good link.

Shinto Concepts - Beginners Guide to Japanese Shintoism

Here are a couple of threads at the Japan Forum.

Shinto God of Snow? - Japan Forum

Shinto Gods - Japan Forum

Both large objects of nature, and deceased (famous) people comprise Shinto gods. For example, the Shogun from Japan's middle-ages is considered to be a Shinto god.

Yoroshiku onegai itashima~~~su!

[dattaswami1]

Originally Posted by AxaliaN

Hello,

I have to make a project for school, and I chose Shinto as the subject. I need to tell people about the religion, and especially about the gods and why they have so many of them.

Can someone direct me to some good websites or does anyone have this information themselves?

Thanks in advance!
-Ax

One God many incarnations


The Lord also comes in different human forms at the same time for the convenience of people living in different places. Convenience (Sowlabhya) is one of His divine qualities. Everything is possible by His super power called Maya. Parusurama and Rama were present in the same time. Vyasa and Krishna were present in the same time. Akkalkota Maharaj and Shirdi Sai Baba were present in the same time. In the same time He comes in different forms to preach at different levels, since the devotees in the same time are at different levels. Even His servants and disciples come down in various human bodies. He comes down fully along with His whole department.

Many school teachers, lecturers, and readers are present in His department. He comes down as one professor because there will be very few devotees, who have reached the top level. In some human bodies, only a ray of His energy enters and this is called a ‘Kalavatara’ (e.g Sage Vyasa). In other cases, a part of His energy enters a human body and this is called as an ‘Amsavatara’ (e.g Kapila). When He enters a human body only for some time, it is called an ‘Avesavatara’ (e.g Parasurama). When He enters a human body and lives from birth to death but reveals Himself partially, then He is called as a ‘Purnavatara’ (e.g. Lord Rama). When the ‘Purnavatara’ reveals Himself completely, He is called a ‘Paripurnavatara’ (e.g. Lord Krishna). He is the professor and His preaching at the topmost level is the Bhagavad Gita, which is the essence of all the Vedas.

We must remember that the human body of the Lord is not a modification of the Lord (the Lord does not get transformed into the body) and therefore the Lord can leave the body at the end (Avyaktam Vyakti Maapannam). Due to this reason, the body retains its natural properties like birth, death, hunger etc., and these properties do not touch the internal Lord. The internal Lord is the True Infinite Knowledge as said in the Veda (Satyam Jnanam Anantham). The Vedas are only His preaching (Asya Mahato Bhutasya, Vedaanta Krut). The Vedas and the Gita are called as Shastras. Shastra means that which is spoken by the Lord (Tasmat Shastram). Therefore any human incarnation of the Lord at the professor’s level, will definitely quote these Shastras as said in the Gita. Scholars also may quote these Shastras but their preaching results in a headache.

The preaching of the Lord gives bliss in your heart since the Veda says that God is bliss (Aanando Brahma). Lord Shankara and Mandana Misra argued for 21 days. Both quoted the Shastras. But the knowledge of Shankara gave bliss not only to the audience but also to Mandana Misra. Therefore Shankara was considered as the incarnation of Lord Shiva. Shankara entered the house of Mandana Misra even though the doors were bolted from inside. He used His miraculous power since nobody opened the doors in spite of His several calls. The incarnation has all the super powers but uses them only when it is absolutely necessary. He does not exhibit His powers for fame or to attract people. If He were to do so, people would catch Him and press Him for granting them boons that they do not deserve. He gave His super powers even to the demons since the powers are like His jewels (which can be donated to anyone). However the demons could not get His characteristic property, which is the divine knowledge. Therefore great sages did not accept the demons as God even though the demons exhibited several miracles.


At the Lotus Feet of His Holiness Sri Dattaswami

Anil Antony

www.universal-spirituality.org
Universal Spirituality for World Peace
antonyanil@universal-spirituality.org