The question of rejecting old beliefs when one becomes a follower of Shinran is an important issue. It should be noted that while Shinran didn\u2019t specifically require people to abandon former beliefs, there was an implicit rejection of superstitious beliefs and self-striving, self-power practices. In light of Amida\u2019s vow, which embraces all beings and brings them to enlightenment, they\u2019re simply irrelevant. Trust in Amida\u2019s vow displaces trust in one\u2019s own efforts and offers spiritual liberation in this world and the next.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Shinran urged his followers to respect other beliefs. If they had business that involved attendance at Shinto (Japanese native religion) shrines, they might participate, following the well-known principle \u201cwhen in Rome do as the Romans do.\u201d However, one knows within oneself where the truth lies.<\/p>\n
Also, there\u2019s no need to condemn beliefs that one formerly held. Even though my family is deeply involved in the Methodist Church, we acknowledge that each person must find his or her own path to spiritual understanding and commitment. We must always put people first and respect their integrity, even when we don\u2019t subscribe to their beliefs. Buddhism has traditionally been known as an accepting and tolerant faith. It never tried to destroy or restrict the faiths in the areas where it spread. In Japan, Buddhist teachers developed a theory that other expressions of religion, particularly the gods, were actually manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas within that culture. The ancient native religion continued to exist even after Buddhism virtually became the state religion. Temples and shrines sat side by side. Buddhist flexibility and adaptability are things that western religion could well learn to adopt and apply.<\/p>\n
Gassho,
\nAl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The question of rejecting old beliefs when one becomes a follower of Shinran is an important issue. It should be noted that while Shinran didn\u2019t specifically require people to abandon former beliefs, there was an implicit rejection of superstitious beliefs …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bschawaii.org\/shindharmanet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}