Shugendo (lit. the "Way of Trial and Practice", the "Way of Shugen, or Gen-practice") is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local folk-religious practices, Shinto mountain worship and Buddhism.
The final purpose of Shugendo is for practitioners to find supernatural power and save themselves and the masses by conducting religious training while treading through steep mountain ranges.
Practitioners are called Shugenja or Yamabushi (literally "Mountain Prostrator").
The mountains where shugenja is practiced are all over Japan, and include various mountains of the Omine mountain range such as Mount Hakkyo and Mount Omine.
The Shugendo worldview includes a large pantheon of deities (which include Buddhist and Shinto figures). Some of the most important figures are the tantric Buddhist figures of Fudo Myoo and Dainichi Nyorai. Other key figures are Gongen, which are considered to be the manifestation of Buddhas as Japanese kami. Zao Gongen is one of the most important gongen in Shugendo.
The most important Shugendo practices are "practices in the mountains" (nyubu shugyo). In Shugendo, sacred mountains are seen as a supernatural home of numerous deities and as a symbol of the entire universe.
The central element which forms both of these rituals is the symbolic action exhibited in a state of identification with the central deity Fudo Myoo." The main source of the shugenja's spiritual power generally understood to be Fudo Myoo and a shugenja gains the ability to use Fudo Myoo's power through mountain practices.
Fudo Myoo at the entrance of Nagasaki Kofuku-ji Temple. |
Kumano Pilgrimage Route. |
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