http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/18/yehey/opinion/20081018opi5.html
NATURE FOR LIFE
By Anabelle E. Plantilla
Message from Shinto
Buenos Aires—“When I was standing outside the house all through the night, a white thrush sang in a distant mountain. Shortly, pheasants in the field started croaking. And later, chickens started clucking in her garden.” The gradual breaking of day is described in this Japanese myth about Yachihoko, a young divinity, who went to propose marriage to a beautiful and smart woman who lived far away. In front of her house, he dedicates a poem to show his love. However, she refused his proposal and did not allow him to enter her house and he stood at the door all through the night. In Japanese classic literature, the white thrush is described as a bird that sings in a voice with pathos and amplifies the anxiety of human beings. The pheasant is known as a bird that chatters and flies away at daybreak and the chicken is a bird raised at home and when it calls, it indicates the start of the day. This is an excerpt from a lecture of Professor Haruo Sakurai of the Kogakkan University of Japan on the “Intangible Value of Birds and the Nature of Shinto” delivered during the BirdLife World Conservation Conference.
According to Professor Sakurai, Shinto is a religion strongly linked to nature, which has not changed from ancient times until today.
Shinto is very much felt in shrines such as forests and woods known as “Chinju-no-mori” and killing birds and animals meaninglessly and cutting down trees violently are forbidden. It is believed that shrines represent the people’s will to protect nature and the environment and that the divinities in these shrines protect the lives of the people. Such a way of thinking is based on the idea that nature, such as mountains, rivers, oceans, fields, woods and grass surrounding the human life sphere is a precious existence produced by divinities. Furthermore, elements of nature were born as parents, children, brothers and sisters to each other.
Among Shinto’s important rituals is a rite called Oharai. This is performed at the Imperial Court and in Shinto shrines in June and December. This rite purifies sins that human beings commit unconsciously through everyday life by the power of divinities that exist in the natural environment. Shinto does not have the concept of original sin. However, its definition of sin includes activities that disturb agriculture or human relationships. Disasters caused by birds and animals are also defined as sins. In other words, human beings, birds and animals are all considered to be life in the same natural environment. Awe and respect to the recognition of changes and actions in the natural environment and from animals and plants as sacred messages are given and a lifestyle aiming for friendship and harmony are considered religious practices of Shinto.
In Shinto, it is said that divinity resides in each human being and it is the mission of each individual to live without clouding his/her heart. It is believed that each human being has divinity inside of him/her since birth. Cognizant of the different ways of thought, religions and cultures and the problems of poverty, struggle, violation of human rights and environmental destruction, Professor Sakurai reminded everyone not to be indifferent to the cries of others including those of birds and animals which are sacred messages from nature.
In order for us to receive and discern such messages, it is becoming more important to make our links with each other and with nature deeper and stronger and this is the message that Shinto delivers
