The esoteric heritage in …..

When I’ve spoken to Japanese people including high-graded martial artists and even a swordsmith they invariably say that although they perform the various spiritual rites associated with their culture/art, they don’t actually believe in kami or or that their rituals will actually do anything. This was particularly incongruous when chatting to a swordsmith, dressed in the white garb of a Shinto priest (for purity), with a Shinto kamidana on the wall at the back of his smithy replete with fresh sakaki leaves, a fresh pile of salt and rice in place!

Is this the evolution of spiritual and religious practises in a far more lucid world?
 
Gyakuto said:
When I’ve spoken to Japanese people including high-graded martial artists and even a swordsmith they invariably say that although they perform the various spiritual rites associated with their culture/art, they don’t actually believe in kami or or that their rituals will actually do anything. This was particularly incongruous when chatting to a swordsmith, dressed in the white garb of a Shinto priest (for purity), with a Shinto kamidana on the wall at the back of his smithy replete with fresh sakaki leaves, a fresh pile of salt and rice in place!

Is this the evolution of spiritual and religious practises in a far more lucid world?
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It could be that even though they do not believe in the supernatural aspects of the spiritual, going through the rituals provides a comforting routine and helps put them in the proper frame of mind for their art or life in general.
 
isshinryuronin said:
It could be that even though they do not believe in the supernatural aspects of the spiritual, going through the rituals provides a comforting routine and helps put them in the proper frame of mind for their art or life in general.
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Yes I think it’s exactly that: a little ritual, a procedure that allows you to collect your thoughts, centre yourself and prepare for what is to come. It’s like tennis players bouncing the ball a specific number of times before they serve. It’s a mental process and given humanity’s penchant for superstition, it became filled with spiritual woo woo.
 
Gyakuto said:
Yes I think it’s exactly that: a little ritual, a procedure that allows you to collect your thoughts, centre yourself and prepare for what is to come. It’s like tennis players bouncing the ball a specific number of times before they serve. It’s a mental process and given humanity’s penchant for superstition, it became filled with spiritual woo woo.
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…it’s like turning the light on and off exactly 7 times when you leave the room, and then starting over if you lose count…
 
Gyakuto said:
Yes I think it’s exactly that: a little ritual, a procedure that allows you to collect your thoughts, centre yourself and prepare for what is to come. It’s like tennis players bouncing the ball a specific number of times before they serve. It’s a mental process and given humanity’s penchant for superstition, it became filled with spiritual woo woo.
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For the sake of the light switch Kami of course.
 
Wing Woo Gar said:
Yes, SEVEN EXACTLY!
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I had a good friend at University who, to salve his OCD, would knock on his door when he left his room to remind himself, later, that he’dlocked his door. I suggested that he might later be remembering a knock from the previous day so needed to have an extra movement for each day- perhaps hopping on one leg and knocking for a Monday, spinning on the spot and knocking for Tuesdays etc. His OCD made him comply and then I added he needed to add something for each month to ensure he was remembering the correct event. It drove him insane as the ritual became more and more elaborate 😆

He’s dead now…😐
 
Gyakuto said:
I had a good friend at University who, to salve his OCD, would knock on his door when he left his room to remind himself, later, that he’dlocked his door. I suggested that he might later be remembering a knock from the previous day so needed to have an extra movement for each day- perhaps hopping on one leg and knocking for a Monday, spinning on the spot and knocking for Tuesdays etc. His OCD made him comply and then I added he needed to add something for each month to ensure he was remembering the correct event. It drove him insane as the ritual became more and more elaborate 😆

He’s dead now…😐
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That's just mean.
Back in the paper charts days, I worked with an ER Dr would would compulsively line up the charts in the rack. Whenever I walked past, I would move one, just a little, or reverse it in the rack.
I told him I was doing it as "therapy" to help hi overcome his compulsion to line them up.
 
Gyakuto said:
I had a good friend at University who, to salve his OCD, would knock on his door when he left his room to remind himself, later, that he’dlocked his door. I suggested that he might later be remembering a knock from the previous day so needed to have an extra movement for each day- perhaps hopping on one leg and knocking for a Monday, spinning on the spot and knocking for Tuesdays etc. His OCD made him comply and then I added he needed to add something for each month to ensure he was remembering the correct event. It drove him insane as the ritual became more and more elaborate 😆

He’s dead now…😐
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Well that’s an evil story to be sure. Jeez.
 
Dirty Dog said:
That's just mean.
Back in the paper charts days, I worked with an ER Dr would would compulsively line up the charts in the rack. Whenever I walked past, I would move one, just a little, or reverse it in the rack.
I told him I was doing it as "therapy" to help hi overcome his compulsion to line them up.
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Another evil story, but alas, I have no empathy for doctors. In regard to their feelings, I have simply run fresh out of care.
 
Wing Woo Gar said:
Another evil story, but alas, I have no empathy for doctors. In regard to their feelings, I have simply run fresh out of care.
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He was a good guy. He was a Wiccan who made really nice pens. So I now have some really nice hand made pens, and he had some fairly nice handmade knives.
 
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