Was the kamikaze against the Mongol empire considered a supernatural event in Buddhism?
Upvote:3
I don't think the line between Shinto and Buddhism has been very clear in Japan, just as the line between Hinduism and Buddhism was never very clear in India.
For that matter, whenever any religion travels it is forced to either defeat or integrate its newest cultures. Religion can't take prisoners of war, it has to conquer by assimilation or destruction.
I don't have personal knowledge of this branch of Buddhism, but I've made use of a search engine to find these sources.
Syncretism of Shinto & Buddhism in Japan
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/09/04/reference/japans-shinto-buddhist-religious-medley/
Most in Japan may know Buddhism has something to do with controlling lust and anger, and is associated with funerals and graves, while Shinto involves venerating nature, and weddings. But many people have trouble making theological distinctions between the two or even telling a Buddhist temple from a Shinto shrine.
The internationalists in the Japanese court welcomed Buddhism. Others saw it as a threat to the status quo, with Buddha nothing more than a “jajin,” or devil.
Prince Shotoku (574-622) promoted Buddhism and it took hold. Still, Japan would never see a full conversion away from its indigenous religion, as occurred to a much greater extent across pagan Europe with the introduction of Christianity. Rather, Japanese absorbed Buddhism gradually, mixing it with local folk religions.
This process played out in the divine realm, too, with certain Shinto gods coming to be seen as protectors of the Buddha. One was Hachiman, the Shinto god of war, who legend has it aided the construction of the Great Buddha statue in Nara during the Nara Period (710-784). This act of kindness won him the name “Great Bodhisattva (Buddhist saint) Hachiman” in 781.
Reflecting this meeting of religions, Hachiman was sometimes depicted in sculptures as a very unwarlike Buddhist monk.
But what does the eighth century have to do with mixups over temples and shrines now?
The syncretism, or weaving together of religions, would continue over centuries as Japan went about absorbing Pure Land, Zen and other Buddhist sects from China. Over time, cross-pollination between Buddhism and Shinto would deepen in a process known as “shin-butsu shugo” (Shinto-Buddhism coalescence), or less flatteringly as the “shin-butsu konko” (Shinto-Buddhism jumble).
Much of the convergence amounted to Buddhism trying to make a mark on the host culture. Buddhist monks felt certain Shinto divinities needed salvation. So they chanted sutras in front of shrines that were the gods’ sacred homes.
Meanwhile, temples started sprouting up next to Shinto shrines, to be called “jingu-ji,” meaning “shrine-temples.” By the 16th century, such mixing and matching had become official policy.
Kamis vs Butsus
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shinto-deities.html
In modern Japan, both Shintō and Buddhist practice among the common folk has taken on the air of “this-worldly benefits” (concrete rewards now; Genze Riyaku). To many Japanese, Shintō and Buddhist faith is primarily involved with petitions and prayers for business profits, the safety of the household, success on school entrance exams, painless child birth, and other concrete rewards now, in this life. Shintō deities are called KAMI, SHIN , JIN , SAMA , TENJIN , GONGEN , and MYŌJIN to distinguish them from their Buddhist counterparts. The latter are known as BUTSU and NYORAI (all mean Buddha or Tathagata), BOSATSU (meaning Bodhisattva), TEN (meaning Deva), MYŌ-Ō (meaning Luminescent Kings).
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